Jump to content

First builds in 30 years - Folland Gnat and F4U Corsair 1/72


Recommended Posts

Argh.. Well.. The last model I made was thirty years ago when I was still at school. Thanks to a nostalgia fest last Christmas, when I received these couple of kits from my girlfriend, the 'hook' is back and will probably stay. Although I'm unlikely to have the time to develop the skills needed to produce the amazing work I see on these forums, the additional patience I've learnt since leaving school, as well as the wealth of information on forums like this does mean these first attempts ARE better than I used to make. Phew! :)


Both straight out of the box builds of the Airfix 1/72 Folland Gnat and the Revell 1/72 F4U Corsair. So I make that about £11.98 for the kits and about another £150 updating my tools and materials (even though 90% of my paints from 30 years back were ok!).

What went right: :)
They both kind of look like the aircraft they're supposed to represent.
I learned things about some tools and techniques that I wouldn't have been aware of previously.
Those roundels on upper wings of the Gnat were such low density I could see the orange paint through them. Replaced by 40 year old roundels the thickness of elephant skin from my spares box. Hurrah for Microsol!

What went wrong: :weep:

Masking errors and over spray - Gnat.
Carpet Monster - Bye bye Gnat control stick and Corsair Pitot tube.
Varnish hiccups - Thinning incorrectly meant it wasn't sprayed on densely enough. Which leads to....
Decals MIA - Oops.. Did I accidentally rip a decal off because I hadn't sealed it properly. Gnat and Corsair

Metallic finishes - aaaaaagh! Gnat
Weathering - Too much? Too little? Wrong colours? Bad application? Oh well.. I hadn't done that sort of thing before anyway so I learned something.


What's coming next:
More 1/72 aircraft. I lack the space. Cold war, USAF in the U.K. Korean War, Falklands, Op Granby, Arab - Israeli conflicts. All these things interest me.
But first, a 1982 Falklands SHAR I'm building from a second hand Esci kit that cost £5. Naturally, as it's a test bed for products I've never used before (resin, PE), that £5 turned into £20.

Thank you for your attention. There's some great work on this site, with some really inspiring stuff and I feel barely worthy.

8553349780_3a0b4ed68e_b.jpg
JM5_5845 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr

8552246759_458e312c4a_b.jpg
JM5_8499 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr

8552247013_27f2bfe0e4_b.jpg
JM5_8500 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr

8553350072_ee7985ac7e_b.jpg
JM5_8481 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr

8552246333_34508c1015_b.jpg
JM5_8484 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr

8552246545_ac67262fe7_b.jpg
JM5_8486 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr

Edited by IrritableRabbit
  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to Britmodeller.

I wish my first attempts had turned out so well, the Bf110 I made when I returned to the hobby has long gone. The panel highlighting on the Gnat looks particularly well done.

You say you won't have the time to develop but I bet this time next year you will have found the time, it becomes very addictive.

Well done and hopefully we'll see some more of your models soon.

Duncan B

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you to everyone. Your comments are all very encouraging. Makes accidentally super gluing my fingers together worth while. :)

Now as to the point about my girlfriend (thank you Martin), I think she thought she knew what she had started but actually, she had no idea as to the depths this little obsession could go. She probably will live to regret it.

And Paul... Thank you, it's a relief that the photos look ok. It's kind of what I do, except the models are a little bigger and talk back. B)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you to everyone. Your comments are all very encouraging. Makes accidentally super gluing my fingers together worth while. :)

Now as to the point about my girlfriend (thank you Martin), I think she thought she knew what she had started but actually, she had no idea as to the depths this little obsession could go. She probably will live to regret it.

And Paul... Thank you, it's a relief that the photos look ok. It's kind of what I do, except the models are a little bigger and talk back. B)

whats worse than superglueing your fingers together?

supergluring them together and getting accelerant on it!!!! it burns just a bit lol

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lovely pair there, love the gnat, fantastic for fist models after a long break.

And no, you other half has no idea what she's done, my mrs bought me the BoBM flight set a few years ago for xmas to go on my boys ceiling, big mistake!!

cheers

simon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lovely jobs. My wife bought me Airfix's '70 years of fighters' for Father's Day a few years back... Fool!

I had my first run-in with superglue,my fingers and Zip-kicker last week. It*does* burn, doesn't it?

Mike

PS: Any chance of some pics of the other models? (hem, hem, mutter...)

Edited by Chaotic Mike
Link to comment
Share on other sites

JM5_8500 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr 8482026562_37149b498f_b.jpgJM5_8499 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr 8482025334_050916daa1_b.jpgJM5_5845 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr 8480934897_f6238c894b_b.jpgJM5_8486 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr

:heart::heart::heart::wub:

:worthy::worthy::worthy:

The Folland GNAT is STUNNINGLY GORGEOUS. The orange color is fantastic.

The CORSAIR is one of MY Favorite aircrafts ..to say your first build thirty years who was one of them you had good taste!!

:goodjob:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lovely jobs. My wife bought me Airfix's '70 years of fighters' for Father's Day a few years back... Fool!

I had my first run-in with superglue,my fingers and Zip-kicker last week. It*does* burn, doesn't it?

Mike

PS: Any chance of some pics of the other models? (hem, hem, mutter...)

Ahem... :) If you can see my little signature, my usual work can be seen there. Although you'll be sad to see that it is work safe.

@Houston

Thankfully for ease of application and my sanity, all that orange happens to be is Humbrol 209 Acrylic Fire Orange over Tamiya Flat White.

As for the Corsair, I'd never built one, it's one of a number of interesting propeller driven aircraft to feature in the Korean war, so I just had to build one. And they are one of my fave aircraft as well. :)

Thank you everyone again for the additional comments, and there seems to be a theme of the ladies not knowing what they're getting into when they kindly buy us these little presents... Mwah ha ha haaaaaaar! :devil:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bloody marvelous, can't understand why you were away so long but welcome back. Two cracking builds, thanks for sharing them and I hope your girlfriend will forgive herself this slight disgression!.

Colin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...