World War II saw the emergence of heavily armed monoplane fighters. However, early on, a handful of anachronistic holdouts served, including the Gloster Gladiator.
ICM’s 1/32 scale kit of the Mk.I variant of this important fighter includes one pre-war silver scheme and three camouflaged options. There’s a large, two-blade Watts wooden propeller specific to this version, and an optional desert air filter used in North Africa.
Surface detail looks great with appropriate fabric sag on the wings.
The interior is simple but effective and fits well. The instruction neglect to mention adding the included instrument decals to the nicely molded instrument panel; they are printed in the correct orientation, so placement is easy.
Check references for painting the interior. The kit calls for Tamiya green, but I used cockpit green. Two nicely molded machine guns are included for the interior. The barrels are fully exposed outside, so I cut them off and mounted the gun breeches in place; the barrels were added back on at the end of the build. A number of parts showed mold mismatch, but I scraped away those seams easily. I also filled a prominent ejector-pin mark in the seat.
The tail wheel is designed to be mounted prior to joining the fuselage halves, but that is a recipe for disaster. I cut off the mounting lug and added the wheel after painting. Both cockpit doors are separate, so I added the starboard half in the closed position before assembly.
Separate control surfaces are included, but the substantial locating tabs will need to be modified for any position other than neutral. I left off the elevators, stabilizers, and rudder for painting.
The full span lower wing halves fits well and the assembly fit the fuselage nearly perfectly.
Generally, fit overall was excellent. Even the lower fuselage insert, which hints at a tailhook equipped Sea Gladiator fits with a little careful trimming and a swipe of filler.
The crystal-clear canopy parts fit like a glove and I was impressed by the landing gear legs, which adapted the correct angle without drama.
The detailed engine has separate cylinder head covers and optional cowl parts to expose the engine. Outstanding describes the fit of the exhaust collector ring and three-piece cowl, and the whole assembly mounted easily after decals and rigging are complete.
At this point, I painted and decaled the Gladiator before completing assembly. I spiced up the pre-war markings by masking and painting full squadron striping as seen in photos of the aircraft later in its career.
Treat the decals with caution, especially the numbers, because they will fold under themselves if you aren’t gentle. They don’t take kindly to a lot of movement, so be precise with placement.
The large interplane struts fit well and align easily. I mounted them first, then when the glue was set, added the cabane struts.
The kit includes a detailed rigging diagram; I rigged my Gladiator with a combination of EZ-Line and shiny white “Knitting In Thread” that looks like stainless steel at this scale; both are stretchy nylon.
I spent a little over 30 enjoyable hours on my Gloster Gladiator — more than necessary, actually, due to some primer problems and painting the squadron markings. ICM has done an outstanding job, not only with the fit and finish of this kit but also making a biplane kit that behaves during assembly.
Note: A version of this review appeared in the November 2020 issue.