Mountain goat Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 (edited) Greetings Fellow Modellers! I submit for your perusal a pair of small, so terribly small Gnats . Both models are Airfix's newish Gnat T.1 in 1:72 scale. They represent my return to the hobby, in that on these models I let loose every experiment from which I could learn. I initially wanted to build them OOB, but I ended up using quite a bit of aftermarket stuff: the pitot tubes are Albion Alloy Micro Brass Tubes and the nose wheels are from a nice wheel update set from the Hungarian company SBS. The nose wheels make an improvement over airfix's ones which are a little bit too small. The main wheels are from the kit, and the examples left over from the SBS set will be used later for a hangar diorama. The canopy was cut with a Revell precision saw to enable it to be posed open. The interior of the canopy was lightly detailed with thin plastic card and stretched sprue. For canopy work I mostly used bookbinder's glue, which is a strong PVA type. The windscreen was made flush with the fuselage with the aid of Gunze Mr. Dissovled Putty and then Mr Surfacer 500. Same story for smoothing the side walls of the nose wheel wells. Cockpit and ejection seats were detailed with plastic card of different thicknesses, stretched sprue and very occasionally thin brass wire. Paint was basically Gunze Sangyo Mr Hobby, except Vallejo for detail work and Citadel Runefang Steel for the silver. I had lots of trouble with the H1 gloss white, which I applies much too thickly and as a result wouldn't cure well. Thanks to tips from the Tools&Tips section (thanks DuncanB ) I learned some new skills. First matt white, a coat or two, then one coat of gloss. Works beautifully. Decals were from all over the place: lots of stuff from S&M models' sheet, wing stencils came from the home printer, and the rest was basically scavenged. Please forgive the format of some of the photos, I liked the idea of imitating 1970s film, so I edited the model's images accordingly. gnat2-7 by J Goat, on Flickr gnat2-9 by J Goat, on Flickr gnat2-13 by J Goat, on Flickr gnat2-1 by J Goat, on Flickr gnat2-3 by J Goat, on Flickr gnat2-15 by J Goat, on Flickr gnat2-4 by J Goat, on Flickr gnat2-5 by J Goat, on Flickr gnat2-2 by J Goat, on Flickr gnat2-14 by J Goat, on Flickr Thanks for looking! Jay Edited January 14, 2016 by Mountain goat 44 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeyboy76 Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 They look great dude. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwality8 Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Wowsers - tiny, but perfectly done! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForestFan Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 beautifully done and photographed! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishbed Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 What's not to like. Very nicely done. Tim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary West Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Liking those a lot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatbox8 Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 A superb pair of Gnats. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darby Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Nice alternative to the silver/orange scheme 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batcode Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Great looking pair, nice job on the schemes and finishes 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Amazing, they look 1/48, great paintwork and detail finish 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountain goat Posted January 8, 2016 Author Share Posted January 8, 2016 Thank you for the comments, I'm glad you like it! Nice alternative to the silver/orange scheme And, I must say, somewhat easier to apply Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blogs On Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 A very nice pair of pocket rockets! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent K Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Beautiful, brings back childhood memories. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigG Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Nice work. That 1st picture I thought was a ref photo, not your models. Grand stuff. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince1159 Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Top job,i didn't realise just how small they were until i saw the last photo.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stosh65 Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 As no-one has said it yet, I feel I must... What a lovely pair! The 72nd Gnat was also my return to the hobby. I'm not ashamed to say those those are several orders of magnitude better. Very well done indeed, especially with a kit that fiddly and intricate. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Those are superb,.....I had to double check that I`d read 1/72nd scale correctly!! I love this scheme on the Gnat and they look as if they are on a weekend booze trip over to RAF Germany, both nestled in that revetment,......as said earlier it almot looks like a photo of two real aeroplanes! Great stuff, Cheers Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Lovely job, two absolutely cracking little Gnats! Top job! Just one small thing though, I think 61 is a CFS jet rather than 4FTS. Doesn't matter a jot though as they're stunners! Keith 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingpiggy Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Even if I could build to this standard (and I can't) I would never be able to present them in this way. Truly inspiring on both counts. Regards Piggy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr T Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Really nice models, beautifully presented, might have to put a photo of my effort, although not a patch on those. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbaudru Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Great job ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountain goat Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share Posted January 9, 2016 (edited) Thank you for the comments, massively appreciated! they look as if they are on a weekend booze trip over to RAF Germany, both nestled in that revetment,...... Booze trip it is! I knew I missed something though - Should've added a couple of ashen faced pilots staggering back towards their mounts, shouldn't I? Just one small thing though, I think 61 is a CFS jet rather than 4FTS. Keith - thanks for the comment and yes, that's what I thought initially, but my very scant research (almost assumptions really) led me to believe 61 was reshuffled to 4FTS - solely based on a pic of it in this thread on Valley Gnats. But to be safe I'll edit the title and remove the 4 FTS anyway. By the way, looking at the pic again I realise how off the markings look on my example. Oh well. I would never be able to present them in this way. Thank you, I'm very much humbled by comments like these. Never say never though - in case you're wondering: most pics were shot with a smartphone - which is handy for making ground-level pics. No other lenses get that low - ideal for miniature photography. Also, modern smartphones are able to focus on objects very close by - more so than standard cameras I believe (unless you get expensive specialized lenses and gear - obviously superior!) Pics were made inside on a desk, using natural light. Beautiful, brings back childhood memories. Thank you - I'm curious about those memories! Jay Edited January 14, 2016 by Mountain goat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Stuning builds, and great photos. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 I've been thinking of getting a 1/48 one as these are far too small for my eyes, having seen yours, this will be the scheme I'll build 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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