Fatboydim

Thank you Ced. It does have some nice internal details. Thank you Dave. Airfix provide two sets of seats. I just included one of each to show the difference.

Great progress Dennis. Your Harrier is coming together nicely.

Well done Ced. You've made so much progress since I last looked. 🙂

Hello gentleman, I've not made much progress after my holiday since I returned to work. The cockpit has some nice detail, which I test fitted together. The cockpit tub has 25 parts, and none have been glued into place. There is also detail on the inside of the fuselage halves. The different seats can be seen. One is moulded with the harness in place. The other is left plain should you wish to use the pilot figure, or use your own harnesses. The parts still need to be cleaned in the areas where they have been removed from the runner. The instrument panels also come with a decals. The cockpit test fitted in the fuselage. Thank you for looking. Joe.

You've put a lot of work into this build Ced. Not just the on the model, but answering all your fan mail as well. 😄

Thank you Dave. It's is in good hands now. The gentleman that owns it is a genuine aviation enthusiast. Thank you Ced. It's in safe hands now. :)

Hello gentleman. This is a model Gnat I was lucky enough to have shown to me while ago. I only wished I owned it! I believe it was manufactured by Follands in the 1950s. Being a manufactures display model, it came in a purpose made box for safe keeping. It really is a superb piece of aviation history. I can't remember all the details from when I saw it, but it comes apart like a jigsaw to demonstrate different components of the Gnat. I can recall, the main wing is removed to reveal the engine. The current owner saved it from a skip! I would like to thank him for sending me these photo. As you can see, it really is a thing of beauty. I hope you found this interesting. Thank you for looking, Joe.

Thank you Ced.

It certainly does! It's made by Zouku-Mura. Thank you Dave. I often pick ideas from other people on Britmodeller. Even people who have just started making models, come up with some good ideas with a fresh pair of eyes.

Thank you Colin. From what I remember, the Aeroclub Gnats were very nice. If I recall correctly, I remember seeing one on display on the Aeroclub Stand. It was in Red Arrows colours, and the navigation lights worked. I've started to clean off the glue on the parts that have been glued together. I use a homemade flat file to keep the edges straight were possible. I also use a, scrapper, and, to finish off, a loose piece of Micromesh on a Flex-I-File Frame. This is to maintain the curve on the leading edge of the wing. The small parts of tape you can see attached on each side of the wing, are to hold when I positioned them in place. I use this tape method a lot, as I find it easier than using my fingers to hold pieces when gluing them in place. Starting with the seats, I'll make a start on the cockpit in the next few days. Airfix provides two types of seat backs. They can be seen in the above photo in the bottom right corner. One is plain, while the other type has seat harnesses moulded on. The poster below shows what a small aircraft the Gnat was, and still is! The instructor can instruct the pupil from ground level without the need for a ladder. I would like to thank Dave from, Aviation Ancestry who suggested putting a boarder to highlight the poster. Thank you Dave, they look much better. https://www.aviationancestry.co.uk/blog/ Thank you for looking, Joe.

Looking good Colin. The Islander is such a lovely aircraft.

Nice progress. I enjoy the Murray Walker quotes.

Thank you Hockey boy. That's much appreciated. I'll try and add a bit more information about the Gnat as well as the excellent posters from Aviation Ancestry. Joe. Thank you Dave. I'm pleased you like it so far.

Hello gentleman. I've made a start of gluing some of the plastic kit parts together. This gives me a chance to see how the model will go together and make a bit of progress at the same time. The fuselage is made up of the main section, and a panel which runs from the jet intakes, to just past the undercarriage bay. The other sections fitted to each half are, the remaining intake section, and the undercarriage bay. As you can see, in the photo above, the tail plane is only moulded on the port side. The starboard section is added separately, along with the rudder. The rudder is held in place by the two tail sections. This is movable after gluing the tail together. I placed the rudder on the port side, holding in place with masking tape while the two halves were glued together. When fitting the tail pipe, there was a gap between the fuselage halves. I thinned the pipe, and the fuselage halves slightly where they touched, and the fuselage halves fitted fine. This photo shows the jet intakes, and undercarriage bays test fitted. The two fuel tanks are also shown. They are assembled from three parts each, and need a little cleaning up after gluing together. One has been started, and the other shows the glue seams. I used Revell Contacta glue for this. I like the way it leaves a bead of glue. Leaving it harden over night, it can be rubbed down avoiding the need for filler. I've glued the main wing sections together. The top is in one piece, with a port and starboard lower half. Like the rudder, the ailerons are movable after the model is completed. The tape I used to hold them in place can be seen at each wing tip. This was to hold them level in case I accidentally glued them to the wing. At least, that why they would be where I wanted them. Visible on the starboard leading edge, is a glue bead that helps me avoid using filler in some places. Thanks for looking Joe.

Was that a Fokker Dr1 Triplane I noticed in a couple of pictures?