Sea Gladiator, N2272/G No 804 Sqn Fleet Air Arm, Hatston Orkney

[ozhawk40]

Good start VB. I notice the machine guns were placed within kicking distance of the pilot, what a racket they would have made in an enclosed cockpit.

Cheers

Peter

 

[vikingBerserker]

Thanks fellas.

David, I have some familiarity with Pollyscale paints. What colours are you trying to get? The Pollyscales I have are all called up by the RAF or LW names. I have all the RLM ones and Dark Eartk, Dark Green, Medium Sea Gra, Sea Gray, Mid Stone, etc.....

I'm guessing you need Sky (I don't have that), Dark Green, and Dark or Extra Dark Sea Gray but the experts out there could certainly correct me.

Actually the ones I'm having the hardest time with are the Dark and Light Slate Grey. If I could at least find Dark I could make the Light myself.

I've been able to figure out these (hopefully):
Dark Sea Grey = 505086
Extra Dark Sea Grey = 505264
Sky Grey = 505290

 

[Crimea_River]

Hi David, I'll need to check later tonight but those FS numbers don't ring a bell. Take a look at my Hellcat and let me know if the colours are close to what you're trying to get. I won't claim to be an expert on FAA schemes but there was a lot of discussion about the colours when I did this kit.

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/5-d-day-invasion-stripes/finished-1-48-hellcat-mk-i-jv-131-no-800-squadron-hms-emperor-24239.html

 

[Night Fighter Nut]

That's a nice looking plane Dave. Would like to see how you do the upper wing. I have been struggling with my Fiat CR 42 CN.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Hi David, I'll need to check later tonight but those FS numbers don't ring a bell. Take a look at my Hellcat and let me know if the colours are close to what you're trying to get. I won't claim to be an expert on FAA schemes but there was a lot of discussion about the colours when I did this kit.

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/5-d-day-invasion-stripes/finished-1-48-hellcat-mk-i-jv-131-no-800-squadron-hms-emperor-24239.html

Perfect, THANKS!

 

[Crimea_River]

Well, if those are the colours you want, I used these Model Master colours:

FS34087 Olive Drab
FS36118 Gunship Gray
ANA 610 RAF Sky Type S

Now, these may not be right for your bird as the US supplied craft used US approximations of British spec'd paints. Check out this page and follow some of the links where there was discussion over the colours I used http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/5-d-day-invasion-stripes/done-1-48-hellcat-mk-i-jv-131-no-800-squadron-hms-emperor-23113-6.html. I would defer to others more knowledgeable if you want to get this right and hope that maybe Terry chimes in here since the Gladiators were around much earlier than the Hellcats.

Here are a couple of other references that may help:
http://modelingmadness.com/reviews/allies/gb/cleaversglad.htm
http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/1999/10/stuff_eng_profile_gladiator2.htm

 

[Airframes]

Seems about right. The upper surfaces would be in the two sea greys, one of which is sometimes referred to as Slate grey, and is more a greenish grey, a bit like RLM 02 is greenish in tinge.
Undersurfaces were normally 'Sky'. The 'Sky grey' was a US equivalent colour, made by Du Pont, used on American aircraft supplied to the RN. The Sky (or Sky Type S) is the same shade as used on Spits, Hurricanes etc during the BoB.
Far as i remember, the upper / lower demarcation was mid-way up the fuselage.
I'll admit that FAA aircraft, particularly UK-based, are not my strong point, but I'll check what info I have and let you know.
It should be a lot easier than RAF Gladiators, as these originally used the 'Shadow Compensating Scheme', which, if maybe not complex, is a bit tricky to apply convincingly to a model !

 

[Airframes]

I've done a bit of digging in my references, and it seems the Sea Gladiators in Europe used a similar concept to the RAF 'Shadow Compensating Scheme' after all !
I've attached a couple of pages from the 'Squadron Signal' book, and another profile page from the 'Warpaint' book. The latter shows a similar scheme used on Malta, but with the 'split' undersides - change these to 'Sky' or 'Sky Grey'.
The photos on the other pages show aircraft previously based at Hatson, now embarked.
The colours were as follows:-
Top surface of upper wing, upper fuselage and tail planes = Extra Dark Sea Grey (FS36118) and Dark Slate Grey (FS34096).
Top surface of lower wing = Dark Sea Grey (FS36173) and Light Slate Grey (FS34159)
Sides and undersurfaces = Sky Grey (FS36463) Changed to 'Sky' (FS34504) from August 1940.
I've checked all my other FAA references, and whilst there's little in the way of photographic/profile coverage on the Gladiator, the text confirms the above details.
Somewhere, I have a magazine article covering a build of the Roden Sea Gladiator, I think on Malta, but the pics might help as a visual reference for the upper surface colours. Let me know if you'd like me to find it and post some pics.
Hope this helps a bit.
NOTE: a stupid 'smiley' has intruded on the last digit of the Extra Dark Sea Grey FS number - this should be '8'.

 

[vikingBerserker]

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[B-17engineer]

I think he's happy T....good work

 

[Airframes]

You're very welcome David, and thanks H.

 

[Crimea_River]

Great info Terry. Should have lots to go on now. Thanks for chiming in.

 

[Airframes]

No probs mate, just wish I could have got something more detailed.

 

[vikingBerserker]

First coat of paint on.

Lower wing Light Slate Grey and Dark Sea Grey.
Everything else Extra Dark Sea Grey

 

[Jayl]

Looking good.

 

[Airframes]

Sure is !

 

[Crimea_River]

Nice!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Coming along nicely David, any chance of a close-up in that little engine of yours?

 

[vikingBerserker]

Thanks fellas, I'll add the engine shot tonight.

 

[ozhawk40]

Looking good VB 8)