[landrocket]

Originally Posted by PappyB

Confused as to why the Typhoon and Lysander are listed as they didn't make it out in 2006 ??

Well, it's simple, the guy who set this up was an "idiot" and didn't do enough research... I will endeavour to do better next time!

I am surprised by the flocking results! (Sheep reference not swearing... ) I like the Swordie, and I think it is extremely well done, but it doesn't do it for me like say the Lancaster which is another mold which would seemingly get the nod for this much popularity. Then again, I picked the Me262 which in hindsight I would probably change to the Catalina as it is spot on for me.

Cheers!

[djjeffhall]

Corgi stepped up and did some nice moulds this year. My personal vote went to the Gladiator. Why? Despite my intentions of just getting one I ended up chasing down several.

Perhaps I'm a little more biased towards them as I didn't get any lemons amoung my Gladiators. (I seem to recall some serious QAQC problems with the rigging on some folks birds.)

This is not to dismiss the Catalina or Swordfish, both of which are great. But none of those birds hold the mystique for me as do Faith, Hope and Charity. I couldn't name one Swordfish before this year and I'd only remember Strawberry 5 (Catalina) from the calls of one of the posters on this forum. However, Faith, Hope and Charity are three planes that I've known of as long as I've held a fascination for aircraft.

[Merlin G.C.]

Living in Malta, I know all about the F, H & C gladiators... However they still weren't my first choice as opposed to the sword fish because Corgi just didn't do their homework well on these and they are depicted in the wrong colours. All they had to do was to consult the local aviation museum and they would have been only too pleased to help....

[djjeffhall]

Merlin,
Hey there.

I did not know that. Sorry Corgi didn't get it right on these birds. Though, sloppy quality control seems to be par for the course with Corgi.

Do you by chance have pictures of the proper liveries?

Nonetheless, it doesn't lessen my pleasure in the two of the pair that I have. To me, they are perfect. (Yeah, I'm a little to easy to please sometimes. )

[timbo]

As F, H & C are Sea Gladiator's, shouldn't they also have had the Arestor hook like the previous release???

[Cardinal]

Originally Posted by Canucklehead

... But I'm sure if "they" say it it must be true.

... "they" can be downright contentious at times, aren't they...?

[Merlin G.C.]

I attach a pic of 'Faith' taken during the battle for Malta.... First of all, the picture clearly shows that Gladiator N 5520 (Faith) also had the fuselage code 'S' (omitted by Corgi) whereas N 5519 was 'R' (as correctly depicted by Corgi).

The codes on the fuselage clearly indicate that these Gladiators were intended for use on a carrier. One can also see that this particular aircraft was re-painted locally at some stage, since the camouflage pattern has been taken down all the way to the under side. However initially they they were painted in the standard navy colour for the Mediterranean theatre - i.e. sky grey on sides which also ran under the wings ( not black & white as depected by Corgi!) The upper wing roundels should alos be standard Navy for the period, i.e. Blue & Red.

The red, white & blue roundels were used pre-war when the Gladiators were silver in colour. An interesting photo held at the Malta Aviation Museum situated at the former RAF base of Ta' Qali, of N 5519 taken during the Malta blitz, clearly shows the pre-war silver scheme as a section behind the cockpit had peeled off showing the colour.

There has been quite a controversy recently in the local aviation scene, as a number of 'new' & never seen before pictures have been published. One of the pictures in particular, is of three gladiators with a navy fulmar in the background. This picture gives the impresion that they may have even been painted locally in shades of brown & green, however the poor quality of the photo makes it quite difficult to decipher properly.

Hope that clarifies the situation somewhat. If any of u will be visiting our island in the future, I recommend a visit to the locakl museum.