Family Build - Airfix 1:72 Gnat and A-4

[alhenderson]

Afternoon All,

 

I've been lurking in here for ages asking the odd question about F-4 and Tornado kits with the aim of getting back into a hobby I was mad about in my teens.  Well, Santa was good to me, and bought a magnifying lamp as I found my eyes really weren't as good as they once were when I last tried this a few years ago.  That, and my 12 yo son got an Airfix A-4 starter kit for his Christmas, so it seems like the perfect time to get cracking.  I'm really keen to do a Phantom and a Tornado,  but before embarking on those, I have a barely started Airfix Gnat which I figured would be a good kit to get myself back into the swing of things.  I built a Red Arrows one of these a couple of years ago and really struggled with bits of it, so this could get frustrating!  Hopefully I can enthuse my son enough to get him interested, although even if not, its time we wouldn't otherwise spend together so win-win!

 

We've commandeered a corner of the spare room, and set up the new magnifying light:

 

IMG_20181227_115844 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

A sight for sore eyes!

 

IMG_20181227_110958 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

So far, there's not a lot else to show.  Done a fair bit of painting cockpits and interior bits.  The little pots of paint that came with the A-4 are not great, really runny and hard to apply, so we might invest in some proper tubs of acrylic for the colours used on the outside.  Keen to use acrylics as I remember when I was a kid the mess and hassle caused by turps and enamel - esp when it got on the carpet!

 

I've already gained a 'stash':

 

IMG_20181227_121252 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

This might not be the fastest moving topic in the world - also got a ukele for Christmas which I need to master!!

 

Al.