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Hello everyone … Longshot here but has anyone ever seen an F6F Hellcat in either of the Atlantic ASW schemes. The differences between the two are listed in @Tailspin Turtle’s thread here. http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2011/09/world-war-ii-asw-schemes-versus-norfolk.html?m=1 I have seen F4F’s, TBM/F’s, Dauntless’s, and various patrol types in the schemes. Yet to date Ive never seen the Hellcat, or for that matter a Corsair ? Im not shocked because most of these were slated for the Pacific or allied use in other Camouflage's. However I thought Hellcats and Corsairs were used in composite squadrons at the end of the war ? I know some of those units served in the Atlantic. Though so far I’m guessing these were the wildcat equipped units. I know I have seen at least one photo of an Atlantic scheme being used in the Pacific North-west. I believe the aircraft were wildcats but possibly Avengers ? Maybe a transfer to a different theater after being painted. Dennis

Fairey Gannet AS.1/AS.4 (A11007) 1:48 Airfix The Gannet was another great British aircraft that began development while the fires of WWII still burned, and was specifically designed to take advantage of new radar technologies that had been developed during wartime to perform the complete anti-submarine warfare task, taking the role of both the hunter and the killer. Early design work experimented with the use of a single turboprop engine for fuel economy to allow the aircraft a long loiter time, but this was found to be sub-standard, and Rolls-Royce cancelled the engine design to concentrate on more pressing wartime needs. The Armstrong Siddeley Mamba engine was considered as an alternative, and it was decided that two of these engines with a common intake and gearbox would be suitable. Known as the Double or Twin Mamba, that gave the design a wide ‘chin’ and twin exhausts. The engine would power two contra-rotating props that had dual roles, eliminating any torque steer effect on take-off and landing, and giving the crew the option of shutting one engine down to save fuel and extend loiter, as there was enough power in a single engine to keep the aircraft aloft. By 1946 Fairey had been given a contract to produce two prototypes, which first flew toward the end of 1949, and the testing programme ironed out the bugs, which included a crash-landing that damaged one of the prototypes and caused some delays. By 1950 the testing process had progressed to the carrier trials portion, carrying out the world’s first carrier deck landing by a turboprop aircraft. The second prototype was completed later, and had benefited from changes to the design based upon experience with the first airframe, which had now racked up two crash-landings. Other changes to the specification were forced upon them too, including a larger bomb bay, an additional crew seat and canopy, and relocation of the radome, all of which was mirrored on the first prototype to ensure its ongoing usefulness to the testing programme. Successful completion and the increasing likelihood of war in Korea led to an order of 100 AS.1 airframes, reaching service by 1954 after resolving a compressor stall issue that had grounded the first production batch for two months. The AS.4 was created later in the 50s, with better engines and avionics, then to replace the ageing Skyraiders in the AEW role, a fundamental re-design of the fuselage was made to accommodate the large radome centrally mounted under the wings, which was designated AEW.3, and was fitted with a new variant of the Double Mamba, which can be easily differentiated from the earlier marks by the fuselage design and the heavyweight radome underneath. Export customers included Germany, Indonesia, and Australia, where they stayed in service for a long time. In the 1960s the Royal Navy transitioned the ASW role to helicopters, effectively making a proportion of the Gannet fleet redundant, but they were found alternative employment with a few alterations, some performing the Electronic Warfare role, and others converted to mail delivery and communications aircraft, travelling between the carriers and shore establishments. By the late 70s, the British Government had mandated a retirement of the Navy’s last carriers, which it was assured were unnecessary, and the Gannets were retired at around the same time, leaving the fleet with a capability gap just in time to make protecting the “through-deck cruisers” and the rest of the Task Force ships during the Falklands War. The Kit 1:48 modellers have never been well-served with Gannet models, although for years the best choice was the Dynavector vacformed kit, with the Classic Airframes coming second, despite being at least partly injection moulded. Both required more modelling skill than your average injection-moulded kit, and both are long extinct, although I still have one of the Dynavector kits on my shelf as I type this. A few months ago Airfix announced they would be releasing a brand-new tooling of this classic post-war British work horse, which caused a great deal of happiness amongst British and anglophile modellers, promising a modern injection-moulded kit that wouldn’t take arcane incantations or selling one’s soul to a deity of your choice to successfully complete. It has now arrived, and the wait has been worth it. The kit arrives in a large top-opening box that is filled with seven sprues in Airfix’s recent dark grey styrene, plus a single sprue of clear parts, finishing off with a large decal sheet and the instruction booklet, which is printed in colour and has two separate A4 sheets of glossy paper depicting the markings options and stencil locations. If you have seen the newly tooled 1:48 Buccaneer or Sea King, you will know exactly what to expect, which is a ton of detail, clever engineering, and multiple options that give you flexibility of completion of your model without the results looking toy-like. The surface detail is excellent, covering the skin with engraved panel lines and fine rivets, plus deeply recessed detail in the bomb bay, cockpit and landing gear areas, which are the focal points of any aircraft model that carries a pilot. The front page of the instruction booklet carries an emboldened note about nose-weight, as the Gannet was a tail-heavy aircraft in real life, a trait that also extends to the model. You are advised to add 12g to the purpose-made box under the cockpit floor, and a further 55g in the nose area, with a cut-off line shown on the instructions to avoid baulking the prop insert and intake fairings. That’s a lot of weight, so ensure you have plenty to hand, and weigh it accurately beforehand, as once you close the fuselage there will be little opportunity to add more. Remember that if you are planning on installing any aftermarket, the balance may change, and you may have to increase the amount of weight to compensate. Once you’ve finished salivating over the sprues, clean the drool off, then construction can begin with the bomb bay for a change. The main length of the bay is moulded as a single well-detailed part, which is completed by adding the front and rear bulkheads, both of which have a gaggle of stencil decals applied to create some additional visual interest. The nose gear bay roof is fitted to the front, and a large H-shaped twin spar unit is laid over the exterior of the bay roof, adding a support on the aft faceted segment, then gluing the first nose weight box over the front of the bomb bay, inserting 12g of nose weight inside. It’s advisable to glue the nose weight in firmly to prevent rattling, and if you use lead shot, it’s possible some may escape if you invert the model, unless there is space to add a lid to the box using styrene sheet – the instructions seem to imply that there will be, but everything is still on the sprue as I write this, so it’s hard to tell conclusively. The cockpit floor is a long part that covers the length of the existing assembly, overhanging to the rear, and at this early stage only a circular decal is applied to the pilot’s side consoles. The model is flipped onto its back to add the tapered side walls to the nose gear bay, inserting a detailed rear wall flat against the front bomb bay bulkhead to give it some visual impact. Another 180° roll is needed to start adding detail into the cockpit, starting with a three-part assembly that includes decals for the 2nd crewman’s instrument panel, mounting over a raised block on the cockpit floor. The bulkhead behind the pilot is applied to the other side of the separator, with a curved part linking it to the instrument panel, adding another bulkhead with added seat backrest for crewman no.2, followed by the seat base with recessed pan to accommodate the operator’s parachute pack. The pilot’s seat is a single part, and a short control-column is fitted in front of this, creating his instrument panel with gunsight and decals to depict the dials, which is attached to the side consoles in his cockpit. Another bulkhead is built with two equipment boxes on the sides, and a rack with another box and three circular screens that all have decals applied for the rear seat crewman. The third cockpit is separated by a bulkhead that is basically a rack with two large equipment boxes mounted within it, behind which the rear seat is fitted, comprising two parts, so that the crewman can play with his toys to the aft. The fuselage halves are prepared for use by adding cockpit side wall inserts at the front and rear of the compartment, painting the rest of the area in grey, and adding stencil and dial decals to the inserts to add more interest for the intrepid viewer. The starboard fuselage half is then slid into position over the two spars, and at this point the large 55g of nose weight can be added under the cockpit, but taking care not to let it creep forward and baulk completion of the nose. The port fuselage half is slid over the opposite ends of the spars, permitting closure of the fuselage and the hiding of seams in your preferred manner. Once the glue is dry and the seams dealt with, you can choose to depict the rear radome under the fuselage as deployed for operation, or retracted for the rest of the flight envelope, bearing in mind that the extended option can only be used whilst in-flight, as it will cause the model to tip forward when on the ground. To extend the radome, the fairing around it has a flat plate inserted, onto which the radome fixes, whereas the retracted option leaves this off, and the radome too is left until later for both options. The main gear bays are built up inside the lower halves of the wings, and are just one of three rectangular(ish) spacers that set the distance between the upper and lower skins. The innermost spacer has bay wall detail inserts applied all round its inner face, with a small fire extinguisher installed in the starboard bay, and remembering to test-fit the inner bay doors so that they fit easily into their slots, saving anguish later if you find that they don’t fit. Someone has clearly test-built this model, which is good to know. The ailerons are made from upper and lower halves, as are the inner flap sections, the outer flap panel are single parts that have two fairing bumps inserted into recesses, putting them all to one side until near completion of the wings. You have the choice of building the Gannet with its wings folded for storage below decks, or deployed for flight, with different parts included for both options so that there is no fiddling with wing sections to align them in relation to each other and the ground. To build her ready for flight, the full wing halves are prepared by drilling out flashed-over holes in the lower surface for rockets and pylons if you are using them, then gluing the three internal supports into position on their raised brackets, the innermost one being the gear bay with inserts applied earlier. The roof of the bay is detailed with moulded-in ribbing, and should be painted at the same time as the rest of the gear bay, closing the wing halves and installing them over the spars once the glue is fully cured. The ailerons are then inserted into their cut-outs at the ends of the wings, and a clear wingtip insert is slotted in, masking the tip lights off so that they remain clear after painting. Building your Gannet with its wings folded is a necessarily more complex affair that will result in a more impressive model that will take up less space in your cabinet, but will take more care when building and painting, so it’s a two-edged sword. The only way to get around this thorny decision is to buy two, which is a tempting prospect. The fixed inner wing portion is built first, fitting the already assembled bay inserts into the lower inner wing panel, adding the fold mechanism, then applying the upper wing surface, and installing the flaps into their tracks in the retracted position. Both the inner wing sections are then slipped over the twin spars and glued into position. The central section has holes drilled out for rockets if you plan to use them, adding the inner support box and a two-part fold mechanism to the outboard edge, the outer flap panel (retracted again), and a rib is inserted into the inner edge. The wingtip panel is joined around its support box, adding a clear wingtip to the outer end, a landing light in the leading edge, and fitting a rib into the inboard end. They aren’t added to the model at this stage however, instead putting them to one side while you build the rudder from two halves, the two elevators from two halves each, and the flying surfaces, again from two halves. The fins are inserted into slots in the tail, gluing their flying surfaces to the rear, and adding the little finlets into sockets above and below the elevators, taking care to align them with each other. The version with extended wings can be modelled with the flaps deployed for landing and take-off or flush for normal flight. To pose them flush, they are glued into position without further parts needed, while the deployed option adds two actuator arms inserted into notches in their thick leading edges, which have extra plastic moulded into the forward mounting point, which should be removed after painting and before installation, presumably to aid handling during this process. They are glued into position in their tracks, taking care to have everything painted and weathered to your liking before you do. In case you were wondering, the installation of the mid and outer panels for the wings-folded option are left until much later in the build. The nose of this turboprop is a particular curved shape, and the exterior is moulded as a single part, into which you slide a long prop shaft without glue, instead gluing a washer over it, taking care not to flood the area with too much that may seize the prop shaft inside. A pair of conjoined cylindrical inserts are glued behind the intakes that add extra strakes and some depth to the intake, with a scrap diagram showing how it looks from behind. The completed insert is then offered up to the front of the fuselage, which is when you will find whether you left enough space between the nose weight and the fuselage front. If you can’t fit the part as it stands due to the nose weight taking up too much room, my callipers suggest that there is around 2mm of styrene at the base of the trunking part that could be removed if necessary. Sand and check as you go however, or be prepared to paint the front of the nose weight black if you accidentally break through. This short diversion leads us to the landing gear, which can be portrayed retracted or deployed for landing by using certain parts and omitting others. As you’d imagine, the retracted gear option is the easiest, first building up the main wheels from two halves plus two hubs, which will be used for both options. They are attached to their respective retracted legs that creates enough of the structure to pass inspection once the outer bay doors are installed over them. The nose gear bay is a single part that covers the whole bay. To deploy the gear, the outer main bay doors are slotted into the grooves that you test-fitted earlier, then the gear legs are built from three parts and inserted into the bays, plugging into sockets moulded into the roof, ensuring that the scissor-links point aft. The nose gear bay is prepared by installing a retraction base in the roof, then building up the leg from three parts, plugging it into the bay roof, and fitting the retraction jack frame at the ends of the base and to the forward face of the strut, which requires the jack to be slipped over the leg, and must be done before installing both two-part wheels on the axles, adding another part to the axle between the wheels. The bay doors are split into two sections per side, and they open at the centreline, hinging down at slightly different angles, the large doors supported by retraction jacks near their forward edge. I do love a contra-prop, and have a few in my cabinet already. Each prop has four blades moulded into a central boss, which mounts on a plate behind it. The rear prop has a tapered spinner portion fixed to the front, while the front prop has the tip of the spinner glued to it. The rear prop is pushed over the axle without glue, fixing the front prop in position with a little glue on the tip of the axle. If you used too much glue when securing the prop shaft earlier, the front blades won’t be movable once glued in place, so take care. The next choice is to have the bomb bay open or closed. Again, the closed option is simple, requiring one part with an engraved join line moulded into it, sealing the bay detail away forever. If you want to show the detail, first you must choose one of two weapons loads that you will find on the sprues, which comprise the following elements: 2 x Mk.30 passively-homing acoustic torpedoes 6 x Mk.11 250lb depth-charge 5 x Sonobuoy The torpedoes are built from two halves, a two-part fin/prop assembly, plus an annular stabiliser, the depth-charges two halves plus flat nose and fin sections, and the sonobuoys are made from two halves and two flat ends. The torpedoes are fixed into the front of the bay on mounting blocks, the depth charges are fitted to two supports in racks of three, while the sonobuoys are bundled together on two rails in a pack of five. One loadout has the torpedoes plus sonobuoys in the rear, the latter on an adapter plate, while the other load has four depth charges on individual mounting blocks instead of the sonobuoys, fitting bay retraction jacks at the front and rear of the bay on each side, supporting the two double-thickness bay doors in the correct open position. The Gannet can also carry underwing stores on pylons just outboard of the main gear bays, which are made from two halves plus a mounting plate that is contoured to the wing, so take care to mark them with L & R or S & P to prevent confusion later. The individual rockets are carried under the mid panel of the wings, and are fitted on single-part rails that slot into the holes made earlier, installing one three-part rocket to each rail after painting. A scrap diagrams shows that the rails are fitted perpendicular to the wing surface, not the ground. It's now time for some small parts, starting with a short blade antenna on the spine that should have a hole drilled 28mm behind the second cockpit. An alternative requires two holes drilled in the spine, one each side of the centre, which sounds a terrifying prospect until you see the jig that is included. This curved jig has a pair of lumps on the inside, which should marry up with two depressions behind the second cockpit, and the two holes in the rear should allow you to drill two 0.8mm holes accurately to fit the antenna into position. An antenna glues to the fixed portion of the canopy between the front two cockpits, which is next to be glued into place. Most of this will be painted, leaving just two small windows on each side of the part. The windscreen gives you options too, supplying windscreens with and without a moulded-in wiper blade, catering to those that purchase aftermarket sets that include replacement wipers, saving you some time removing the moulded-in blades and polishing the screen back to clarity. That’s pretty thoughtful of them, and an option I’d like to see more frequently. There are a trio of pilots in the hands-on-knees pose if you wanted to fill the cockpits, and they’re all moulded identically with bone dome helmets and oxygen masks, unlike the guy pictured in the instructions, who has a WWII era leather helmet. There are three individual canopies for each crew member, and they can all be posed open or closed, as you prefer. Just when you think it’s safe to put the glue away, you need to flip the model onto its back to install the radome, and hope you built the landing gear option appropriate to your choice of radome position. Radome down – wheels up. Radome up – wheels down. While the model is inverted, the arrestor hook is inserted into the step under the tail, fitting a small T-antenna under the port elevator, a small light under the starboard wingtip, and a pitot under the port wing. Lugs are attached under the wing roots to hold the looped ends of the catapult strop, and the tubular exhausts with angled tips are inserted into their fairings on the fuselage sides, the longer edge closest to the fuselage. You were probably thinking we’d forgotten the folded wing panels, but they’re on the very last page of the instructions, starting by adding long pivots to the fixed inner panels to mount the centre panel, helped by a scrap diagram. The outer panel is attached to the centre panel via a hook-shaped pivot, adding the ailerons to the rear edge, so that the wing forms a Z-shape when viewed from the front. A rod is used to prop the wings when folded, fitting into the inner rib of the centre section, and a hole under the wingtip, as shown by a silhouette drawing in the top corner of the step. The port centre section has the pitot probe inserted, and here I got rather confused, as for the straight winged option, the pitot is under the port wing, and the tiny light under the starboard. The folded option shows the light and pitot under the port wing panels. Markings There are three decal options included in this first boxing, both wearing the well-known Royal Navy scheme of Extra Dark Sea Grey over what Airfix calls Beige Green, or Sky if you prefer. From the box you can build one of the following: Gannet AS.4, 849 Naval Air Sqn. HQ Training Flight, RNAS Culdrose, c.1959 Gannet AS4, 815 Naval Air Sqn., HMS Ark Royal, 1958 Gannet AS.1, 847 Naval Air Sqn., RAF Nicosia, Cyprus, 1957 Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion It’s a fine model of a superbly ugly aircraft that was also very cool, and performed a thankless task of vigilance through the deepest period of the Cold War, quite literally. It’s well worth picking up at least one for the collection, maybe more. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hello all, As indicated in the GB chat a number of months ago, I will join and doing a Kyushu Q1W1 Tokai (allied codename, Lorna) in 1/72 by Pavla. The Lorna was the first purpose-built anti-submarine aircraft: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyushu_Q1W Sprue shots: This project will need some masking (although the product is for Fine Molds kit, not Pavla): Some extras I may use. I'm still undecided how to model the Lorna... This should be a great GB, and I look forward to checking in on all builds! Regards, David