A pair of reboxed 1/72 Gladiators

[Ologist]

A comparison build in more ways than one. Both kits first appeared in the 1970s, and whilst not necessarily the first choice for a Gladiator nowadays, both are still pretty decent,

The Heller version as repackaged by Humbrol, with rather uninspiring box art has some lovely surface detail, but is marred by the huge holes for the rigging and a cockpit that is very narrow to allow for the open canopy option. Matchbox biplanes were always some of their better efforts, and the Gladiator is still a worthy inclusion in Revell's range. It doesn't quite have the same surface finesse, but apart from the cowling the overall shape is probably better.

 

Both built mostly OOB, the Heller has the somewhat pointless addition of the the Airwaves cockpit etch, and some of the displaced plastic has ended up in the Matchbox 'pit. The Heller uncovered wheels are a poor effort, so were replaced with ones from Pavla, whilst the underwing gun barrels were Quickboost.

 

I've tried to show two aircraft from the same small batch at very different points in their careers. The Heller version represents an aircraft (N2313) of 605 Squadron just before the outbreak of the war, when 'nearly new', and was inspired by the superb aerial photo of the vic of three in the Wing Leader book. Decals from Kits-World, Alclad white aluminium undersurfaces with Mr Hobby aqueous dark earth (which is very light) and Tamiya dark green on the topside. In contrast, N2308 is represented as on the books of 247 Squadron in the Autumn of 1940 - from 605 Squadron, then to France with 615 Squadron, where it acquired the shadow compensating camouflage scheme, before being one of the few 615 Squadron Gladiators to return to England after the fall of France. At some point in time it was fitted with a Watts 2 bladed propeller. Xtradecal markings, Humbrol duck egg blue (23) for the undersurfaces, and the top surfaces in dark green, light earth (both Humbrol), light green (Colourcoats) and dark earth (Xtracolour).

 

Jon

 

 

 

 

[PeteH1969]

Very very nice.

[bigbadbadge]

Now they are lovely   great work on both these old kits.

Chris

[stevehnz]

Those have both come up wonderfully well, I like them a lot.

Steve.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Very nice pair of Gladiator's. 

[MACALAIN]

17 hours ago, Ologist said:

A comparison build in more ways than one. Both kits first appeared in the 1970s, and whilst not necessarily the first choice for a Gladiator nowadays, both are still pretty decent,

The Heller version as repackaged by Humbrol, with rather uninspiring box art has some lovely surface detail, but is marred by the huge holes for the rigging and a cockpit that is very narrow to allow for the open canopy option. Matchbox biplanes were always some of their better efforts, and the Gladiator is still a worthy inclusion in Revell's range. It doesn't quite have the same surface finesse, but apart from the cowling the overall shape is probably better.

 

Both built mostly OOB, the Heller has the somewhat pointless addition of the the Airwaves cockpit etch, and some of the displaced plastic has ended up in the Matchbox 'pit. The Heller uncovered wheels are a poor effort, so were replaced with ones from Pavla, whilst the underwing gun barrels were Quickboost.

 

I've tried to show two aircraft from the same small batch at very different points in their careers. The Heller version represents an aircraft (N2313) of 605 Squadron just before the outbreak of the war, when 'nearly new', and was inspired by the superb aerial photo of the vic of three in the Wing Leader book. Decals from Kits-World, Alclad white aluminium undersurfaces with Mr Hobby aqueous dark earth (which is very light) and Tamiya dark green on the topside. In contrast, N2308 is represented as on the books of 247 Squadron in the Autumn of 1940 - from 605 Squadron, then to France with 615 Squadron, where it acquired the shadow compensating camouflage scheme, before being one of the few 615 Squadron Gladiators to return to England after the fall of France. At some point in time it was fitted with a Watts 2 bladed propeller. Xtradecal markings, Humbrol duck egg blue (23) for the undersurfaces, and the top surfaces in dark green, light earth (both Humbrol), light green (Colourcoats) and dark earth (Xtracolour).

 

Jon

 

 

 

 

Nice, well done.

 

Alain

[Spitfire31]

A most excellent pair of Gladiators, and prime examples of what some (or a lot of!) TLC can do for elderly kits.

 

Inspiring modelling!

[Epeeman]

Great on these old Gladiator kits and well rigged too

 

Regards

 

Dave

[keith in the uk]

Wonderful , i have both of those kits and the difference between them is interesting , have you compared them with the latest Airfix offering ?

[Wulfman]

Glorious Gladiators

 

Wulfman

[Ologist]

Thanks everyone for your very positive and kind comments

 

On 10/3/2022 at 3:40 PM, keith in the uk said:

Wonderful , i have both of those kits and the difference between them is interesting , have you compared them with the latest Airfix offering ?

 

I haven't built the new Airfix Gladiator, but have it in the stash and intend to do so soon. The Airfix Gladiator is superior in every respect to either the Matchbox or Heller originals, indeed, as it should be with the benefit of four decades of kit development.

 

The older two were enjoyable and rewarding builds, but neither is by no means perfect. The Heller version has serious compromises in cockpit width to accommodate the open canopy, and the pre-existing rigging holes are huge and really have to be filled and redrilled. The undercarriage has some issues, and in retrospect, it would be better built with the supplied skis. The Matchbox seems to be a more accurate shape, except for the parallel sided cowling, and the split across the cylinder 'humps' makes for a difficult seam to eliminate. The trailing edge of the control surfaces are very thick.

 

If the Airfix Gladiator is to hand, it is the obvious, possibly only choice for an accurate, well detailed Gladiator out of the box, but the other two certainly represent some of the best of their time, and the end results with a little extra work are more than satisfactory in my opinion.

 

Jon

[jean]

Hi,

both Gladiators look like winners.

Congrats!

Having seen the Airfix offering, I wholeheartedly agree with Jon, @Ologist. It beats everything else hands down.

I can talk, as in my stash I only have the very very old Airfix Gladiator. Yes, the one with the head of the pilot molded with each half fuselage..... No comment!

I nonetheless intend building it one day to be part of my Classic Plastic section.

 

Once again, Super well done!

 

JR