Nickthebrief

All that work was well worth the effort - it looks great. Like many others who have responded to your thread, I have one in the stash and view it with varying amounts of enthusiasm and trepidation.... Mine will be a Fleet Air Arm one - overall yellow just to add to the potential for disaster.... Nick.

It's a lovely looking model - that trainer scheme is great. If I might make two suggestions - I think (I'm no expert) that it would be unlikely that both ailerons would be drooped at the same time. Also, the front wheel hubs on some Gannets were painted red on the port (left) side and green on the starboard (right) side - I understand it's because the Gannet had a fully castoring nose wheel and so it helped to make sure it was the right way round.... Always great to see one of these ugly but somehow lovely planes built. I have done the Classic Airframes one in 1:48 - challenging but eventually turned out ok.... Nick.

I remember building the Matchbox version too... I seem to recall needing so much weight to stop it tail sitting that the main gear legs gradually bent under the strain.... Good luck with the yellow - will look great in that scheme. Nick.

That looks great - subtle weathering and I particularly like the exhaust staining... A great start to 1:48 scale modelling! Nick.

That is superb - great kit of a great aircraft - and beautifully built. Nick.

I've just built the Special Hobby kit in these (Korean War) markings and used XF21 (Sky) and XF24 (Dark Grey) and it looks fine to me... Plus, the Tamiya paints are lovely to spray when used with their own brand of thinner. I've never been one to become too hung up on precise paint shades as I've always believed that, in reality, it was unlikely that every machine would be identical in colour - exposure to the elements, re-paints in different paint shops/depots/repair facilities etc. must have caused a degree of variation. Hope that helps... Nick.

Thanks for the review. The deep recessed lines in the rear fuselage suggest a "cut and shut" for the FRS 1 in due course? I haven't looked at my Airfix Shar FA2 for ages so will resist the temptation to make comparisons - but I will definitely have to buy one of these! Nick.

Hi Navy870, I don't think I described what I was trying to say very well.... Referring to the 90 gallon long range tanks (of which you have included an excellent photo in your linked article) - Special Hobby have moulded these in halves. But (in my two copies of the kit at any rate) the four tank halves (i.e. two per tank) are all of the same half. My "not symmetrical" comment was meant to refer to the tank halves, rather than the whole of the tanks themselves... Perhaps the easiest way to explain what I'm trying to say is "have a go at gluing the tank halves together" and I think you'll see what I mean! Your reference article is excellent. I love the Firefly and the Australian TT scheme is very attractive. Nick.

I've been after one of these for ages. Current prices on eBay recently have been £70 and upwards, so, relatively speaking, I guess these are better value - but certainly not cheap.... I agree that it is intriguing to see new Classic Airframes kits. I really like them, partly because they did lots of Fleet Air Arm types, and the resin was usually very nice. Not always the easiest to build, but worth the effort. I also agree that to see the AEW Gannet would be great. Nick.

Please get that finished! It looks absolutely superb! Nick.

Hi Enzo, Always good to see another Firefly in progress - it is a great looking aircraft. As far as the kit is concerned, I was intrigued by the third seat and alternate rear cockpit surround - "not for use" for a Mk IV or V but which shows, I assume, that Special Hobby have at least thought about producing an AS7 or U8 version.... One other thing I've noticed in building one of mine as a Mk IV with the additional "drop tank" style tanks is that all four parts are moulded as the same side of the tank - have a go at gluing them together and you'll see what I mean! Not a problem for a Korean War machine, but an unusual mistake....! Nick.

Hi Larry, I'm just in the process of building a couple of these Special Hobby Fireflies myself, (using the Mark IV and V boxing) and on one of them I wanted to add the "drop tank" style tanks that I think you are referring to (I don't know whether they could actually be dropped or not...) Assuming the sprue is the same for all versions, and as you might already have discovered by now, it seems that Special Hobby have moulded all four parts as the same side of each tank! As they are asymmetrical, this makes it rather more difficult to assemble them than it should. My solution was to cut the "pylon" part off two of the halves, glue the tanks together, then re-attach the half pylons in the right place. Needless to say, all the sanding to correct this meant I had to re-do the strapping that runs round the circumference of each tank... As for locating them, essentially the answer is "just inboard of the innermost cannon ejection port" - if you look closely at the pylon part of the tank there's a small cut out that was intended, I think, to clear the ejection port rather than cover it up. I hope that helps (you probably finished the kit weeks ago...!) Nick.

"Lovely pair" as the saying goes...! Beautiful builds - and the weathering is just superb. The subtle colour differences on the black undersurface parts of the Romanian scheme particularly caught my eye. Great work... Nick.

Really lovely job there - a favourite aircraft of mine beautifully built. Yet more inspiration to attack the stash... Nick.

I only read bad things about this kit, but that looks like a cracker to me... Might even inspire me to break one out of the stash.... Nick.

That is looking really lovely - the subtle weathering of the EDSG looks spot on. One small and slightly less positive comment though - your underside photo demonstrates that your port underwing serial should be the other way round - the X should be nearest the wing tip... I happen to have a set of Model Alliance underwing serials for RN Phantoms - if you pm me I will happily send you a replacement! I hope I haven't spoiled your day - it's great work you're doing there. Nick.

Peter, That's looking lovely - your paint finish is flawless - and not just the camo but also that spinner. I've tried the Xtracrylix paints, but find they clog my airbrush needle really quickly - even when thinned with water or Tamiya acrylic thinner.... May I ask what, if anything, you add to the paint to help produce such a great finish? Looking forward to seeing it with the decals on. Nick.

Wow! I really don't like the F35, but that looks amazing. Nick.

Let me guess - you're going with the Quickboost seat? Looks like a crack in' job you're doing there. The "wing to fuselage" gremlins that beset my two builds of this kit you seem to have tackled without any fuss at all! Looking forward to seeing it with some paint on. Nick.

Hi Ian, Looks like you're doing a very nice job on an interesting, if rarely modelled subject. I just happen to be putting the finishing touches to the same kit - only the canopy to go... I've built it as WP328 - is this the same aircraft as you're planning? The silver/yellow/orange combination is difficult to resist. I'd agree that the kit goes together well - even after I failed to read the instructions properly and sawed off most of the locating plug for one of the wings...!!! I've yet to master Photobucket so would struggle to post a picture at the moment, but this might be the inspiration I need to get on and learn how to do it! I look forward to seeing your progress - and loved the Devon - one of which lurks in the stash. Nick.

There have been some stunning builds of this kit on here - but this one has to be the best. An absolutely beauty! Nick.

I wanted some bolt heads for a piece or armour plate and found that by melting and stretching the sprue from a 1:24 Airfix Hurricane to the desired thinness it worked a treat as it is more or less hexagonal in cross section... Don't know if that helps - or if you happen to have a 1:24 Hurricane in your stash, but thought it worth mentioning! Nick.

That's a lovely build of a lovely aircraft - nice work! I've built a couple of these and seem to remember that the advice was to glue the wings to each fuselage half before gluing those together. Don't know if you did that - but you've produced a really great looking model. Nick.

One Gannet left in the stash (Classic Airframes 1:48) - do I go with a COD 4 or a T5? This build might just have made up my mind for me - it's a stunner! Very nice work. Nick.

There used to be time when modelling the Fleet Air Arm in 1:48 was cheap - there were relatively few kits out there to buy! How that has changed... Just when I thought the stash (which I really try to keep under control) was just about full (I know, don't laugh) here comes another "must have" type to dent my already battered bank balance.... Nick.