Rob G
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Posts posted by Rob G
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Airfix Gnat T1? Another in this group build I have in the stash so this thread will be useful research! I was a bit dubious about Humbrol Hu209 Fire Orange as being a bit 'loud' for 1/72 and considering Hu 82 Orange Facings instead, I'll be watching this one to find out.
Good luck Rob, going to be interesting this one?
. . . Dave
Dave, I'm not sure how useful it'll be. But you're welcome to sit in and watch.
As it turns out, my LHS didn't have any Fire Orange anyway, so I've ended up with some Gunze Sangyo Fluoro Orange instead. I will be conducting experiments with it over a base coat of both white and orange to see what looks best. The other colour you mention, Hu82, looks way too drab to my eye - from what I see, the colour should glow, which Hu82 doesn't. But that's just my opinion, and I've never seen a dayglo Gnat in real life, so my opinion may be invalid.I thought that about the nose. But when you put the kit nose and the AM nose side by side there is a definite difference, and I thought it was for the best. I think the resin added a bit off additional weight too which is needed with some lead to stop it from tail sitting.
I used your logic with the seat, I only changed the pilots too. The kit supplied ones are more like 1/144 so it was essential.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I ordered a nose. And a seat. Now shut it.
I'm sure that the extra expense will be well worth it. (There, happy now? )Interesting choice of models. I'm considering building the Gnat as an OOB 3rd entry. I just need to do a quick easy build to don't feel submerged in all the other AM-loaded builds I'm going through...
Cheers
Jaime
Thus far, I'd not recommend the Airfix 72th Gnat as a quick and easy build; it's fiddly. Instead, try the new Mk.1a Spitfire - mine went together without a touch of filler. I was well impressed, and there's an RFI somewhere of it.
Two cool subjects and a rather nice new work area Rob.
With regards to your Gnat colour question: a painted finish rather than natural metal and one that exhibited considerable dirt and wear on occasion if you wish to weather it
Thank for both the compliments and the color info Col, saves me looking it up. I would indeed wish to weather it, but sadly, all that happens is that I end up with a model that looks like I messed the paint up on. It would appear that I'm not sufficiently artistic to make it look like it's meant to be dirty.
Build updates to this thread happening later today, I hope.
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57? Really? Does that count all the people who said in their first posts "If I get time, I'll also do x as well"?
That's a goodly number - good luck with organising the vote. Mish will no doubt be wishing she'd retired LAST year.
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Something a little different from me - I'm doing a pair of Thunderbolt models of the same a/c, one in USAAF colours, the other German, as shown on the sheet below.
I've had this particular sheet from Cutting Edge since my UK visit in 2007 (!!), and haven't managed to do anything with it - this GB is a good place to start, I think. To that end, I have 3 Academy P-47D kits, 2 of which will be used for this GB as a joint build - appropriate, seeing as they will be representing the aircraft named 'Beetle', as flown (and lost) by 2nd Lt William Roach, 358th FS, 355th FG, 8th AF both while it was in his charge and then as it was operated by the Germans, in the guise of 2./VVB OKL (aka Wanderzirkus Rosarius) at Wunstorf, July '44. The 3rd P-47 will at some point in the future fill the role of the other captured a/c on this sheet.
Also on the sheet are a Mosquito and a couple of P-51s, which may be my entries in the upcoming STGBs for those types - we'll see.
Obligatory box/sprue shots to start
Those of you with a keen eye may notice the missing bits - bombs, drop tanks, and one of the props. They were cut out and dispatched to a fellow BMer at some point last year when he put out a call for P-47 things. I knew I wouldn't need them for these builds, so off they went. I hope they were useful.
The kits are apparently not perfect, but they look like P-47s, which is close enough for me. A major attraction is that they're pretty simple kits, which should allow me to get them done in the allotted time span - like many of us, I find that I have signed up for rather too many GBs this year (it was a vintage crop, so whaddaryagunnado?)
Before I start these, I plan to finish my Gnat for the Made in GB GB, then I'll be right into these.
For thems as might be interested, Lt. Roach was on only his 3rd mission when it all went pear-shaped. On November 7, 1943, escorting B-17's of the 8th Air Force's 1st and 3rd Air Divisions, he became disoriented in poor weather, and with his fuel running low (and after watching the squadron leader crash land), he began looking for an airfield for an emergency landing. Lt. Roach spotted a runway and landed, then followed a vehicle to a parking place and shut down. He then realised that the people surrounding the plane were Germans - must have been a little bit sad-making for the poor chap. Lt. Roach had inadvertently provided the Luftwaffe with its first intact P-47D-2-RA, and spent the remainder of the war at Stalag Luft I. He survived the war, rejoined the USAF and died in 2010 at the age of 88. So although it's a bit of a sad story, it's a funny and sort of good one too.
(Thanks to Warbirds Resource Group for the potted history.)
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Everywhere that I've looked seems to have them listed as 'multi-use'. Which is about as informative as the Christmas light set I saw a few years ago that said 'For indoor or outdoor use only. Not for the other use.' (sic)
Mind = boggled.
Templates are about the only things that come to mind. A bit tough if you really need 52.3mm though.
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If the missing bits ever show up, please cast around and see if the engine nacelle from my Matchbox Walrus is there too. It went AWOL about 30 years ago, and even when I moved out of that house it didn't sow up stuck in a corner anywhere.
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I'm fairly new here, and even newer wrt GBs, but I appreciate the work you've put in Mish; it's never easy being the public face of any organisation, especially when there's so much work to do in the public eye. A big WELL DONE and THANK YOU from me.
Three cheers for Mish!
And three stiff whiskies for Enzo! He's got some big high heels to fill.
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Alllllrighty then! I'll take that last place.
A question, if I may... Would an Me209 be eligible? Technically not part of the lineage, but Dr Willy claimed that it was so that they could get that speed record in '38.
If not the original 209, how about the 2nd version, the 'super-109' (or should that be 'uber-109'?)? This was actually based on the real 109 airframe, but ended up looking somewhat like the Fw190.
If it's no, that's OK, I don't have any kits for any of them, just throwing ideas out. I'm in, whatever happens.
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First thought would be to find out which (if any) aircraft the real one came from, then source a vacform version of it, modify as required.
Second thought, if you can't find out or it was a custom job, is to carve a buck from balsa/epoxy clay/whatever and mould your own. Not that difficult, and there's lots of stuff online about how to do it.
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I have 2 of these in the stash, both fairly recent additions (couple of years). One thing that's on my list of 'must improve' are the guns. I've been looking at the Gaspatch Models range, and trying to work out which ones I need to best replace the somewhat blobby kit versions. The rest of the kit is quite nice, despite its age.
I'm watching this one, too.
And hoping against hope that Wingnut Wings run out of Great War esoterica and make a start on interwar biplanes. One of these in 32nd... I'd buy 2, at least.
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Nioce! Gives me some hope for mine.
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One of my all-time favourite Brit cars, I always wanted one (not any more though). I'll follow along as well, while trying not to slip on the oil drips.
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Looks like you're having more fun with this one than I am with its 1/72th cousin. The little one is horrible, nothing fits. It reminds me very much of a limited run kit...
I shall be watching this build and envying you every step of the way.
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(Is Cold Lake not the most Canadian place name ever, eh?)
You missed a word, I fixed it for you.
Good looking 104.
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Looking forward to seeing your progress.
.......and me and my occasional space on the kitchen worktop are very jealous of your new workbenches!
Stix, one of the benefits of being single is that I can use any space I want for anything I want. Sometimes though, that doesn't outweigh the disadvantages of being single...
Nice build choices!
I'm just tieing up the lose ends on my Sea Vixen FAW 1 build. It was a nice kit, went together well, nice details and the decals are good. As you mention there are a few issues. I'm not sure how the 1 and 2 kits compare. I bought a pavla seat as the kit ones were way out of scale. The nose was also a bit of a dodgy shape so I bought a resin replacement which looked loads better.
Keep your eyes peeled, the RFI will probably be up tomorrow.
DAG, I'll keep an eye open for the RFI. I believe that the 2 kits are effectively the same, with the FAW.2 having just the extended boom noses added as per the real a/c and a few other small bits done to make it a little more accurate. I may indulge in a new seat for the pilot, won't bother with the observer, and almost certainly won't add a new nose - that's a step too far for me.
But then I only count rivets on things I realllly like.
EDIT: I HATE it when I go looking for stuff and find out that it's not as expensive as I'd feared... <sigh> I may be adding a nose to the SV if I get that far.
Drat.
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Right, this year is the year. I'm doing stuffs for me, and everyone else can go hang. To that end, here's my first entry for this GB, the 1/72 Airfix Folland Gnat T.1. It will be a straight OOB build, hopefully quickly, to set the tone for the rest of the year.
IfWHEN I get the Gnat done, I'll have a good go at thiswith all its warts intact. I know about the issues, don't much care. It'll just be nice to have a couple of things built quickly. (Did anyone ever come up with a definitive answer for the possibly over length boom issue? That's the only thing that I might address, if I can find out for sure. I've done a bit of looking around, and can't find an answer that answers the question.)
Inspiring all this is a new work area, nearly 3m long and all new (and ALL MINE!)
Still in a state of being fine tuned, but the important bits are done, so I can crack on when the appointed hour for the start of this GB rolls around - I can add shelves to the wall later. 2 work areas, one for the 'shelf-of-doomers' and t'other for the new works. That's the theory, anyway.
As for the Gnat, I have to wait until Monday to be able to get the recommended Humbrol Fire Orange (no hurry, ain't got nowhere to put it anyway), and I'll have to look up and see if they were painted aluminium, or were in natural metal (I suspect the former - Airfix just specify good old Hu11
)New blade fitted to scalpel, glue sniffed and confirmed OK, ready to roll. Just waiting for takeoff clearance...
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More than I managed, and all much more than acceptable.
Trevor, that's a Hasegawa kit, the ramjets are in the box as resin add-ons.
http://aeroscale.kitmaker.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=7965
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What does the manual say?
As a rule, from the back is the way it's done.-
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Great job of an absolutely hilarious marking scheme. I wonder how much trouble the painter was in...
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Good to see you back at it Mr C. Don't overdo it, we can wait.
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I have found an old old Fairey Delta 2 kit I had tucked away. It's so old though and probably quite rare I would be terrified of ruining it.
BUILD IT!! That's what it was made for. And if it gets ruined, so be it. IMO, there's nothing sadder than model kits that don't get built because they're 'rare'.
Besides, the Delta 2 is not only lovely to look at, it's also a very historical whatsit, 2016 being the 60th anniversary of it breaking the 1000mph barrier. Speaking of which, Peter Twiss' book 'Faster than the Sun' is a darn fine read, full of that laid-back, non-heroic narrative that the Brits do so well. And it's also an interesting insight into the way that the UK's aircraft industry was being mismanaged by thems what was in power. Recommended reading.
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Like every tool, they have their uses. I find that diamond bits are excellent for opening up intakes etc, because they don't take big bites they seem not to heat up like steel tools do.
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Presumably, we need to set light to the packaging to provide the flame for stretching the sprue, rather than use a candle !
Cheers Pat
Yep, that'd be the requirement, but you have to rub 2 bits of sprue together to make the heat to light the box - none of them newfangled Lucifers allowed!
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Or for the well heeled, there's this
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Pat, the only things that come to mind are the Contrail/Aeroclub strut packs in plastic, and in brass there was a product called 'Strutz'. I haven't seen hide nor hair of either product for many years - Aeroclub's John Adams may be able to help you out, it's worth an IM.
Failing that, it's fine brass tube and squash it a bit - right royal pain in the behind, but doable. This link may help
As for decals.... mask and paint?
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As it turns out, my LHS didn't have any Fire Orange anyway, so I've ended up with some Gunze Sangyo Fluoro Orange instead. I will be conducting experiments with it over a base coat of both white and orange to see what looks best. The other colour you mention, Hu82, looks way too drab to my eye - from what I see, the colour should glow, which Hu82 doesn't. But that's just my opinion, and I've never seen a dayglo Gnat in real life, so my opinion may be invalid.
)
An Albert's Tale (or four, or even five)..... Actually a Beady Eyed Herky Debs Albert Epic...
in Work in Progress - Aircraft
Posted
If it's gnomes, ye'll be needin' a blunderbuss. Summat abart tha' big trumpet-shape scares the wee folk silly.
(OK, I'll stop with the silly voices. For now. There's waaaaay too much D&D in my deep, distant past.)