Pete in a shed Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Hi, I’m having a little rest from big aeroplanes with red stars, and as I’m in the Asian Air Arms Sig and this Trumpeter Gannet was lurking in my stash, thought Id give it a go. Found a picture of an Indonesian Navy Gannet so tried to find some markings the right size but to no avail. In the end I decided to make my own with Visio and Crafty Paper. The result is shown in the photo. I have the FAA resin bomb bay, Eduard colour cockpit detail set, and the CMR resin wing fold set to play with as well. So in we go! The first stage was to clean up the resin bomb bay and then assemble the fuselage to the end of stage 1 of the kit instructions incorporating the cockpit detail set. This also involves cutting away the nose u/c bay rear mount, bomb bay doors and centre section of the wing spar. Once done the bomb bay was slotted in and with a bit more scraping it fitted nicely. Just a bit of a gap at each end. A bit of filling next and some sanding to remove my bloodied finger prints that the super glue ripped off while I was fitting the bomb bay! The transparencies distort quite a bit so I don't think much of this will be visible in any clear detail! Bit of a gap front and back 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 I didn't realise Indonesia operated Gannets, interesting subject, did it have the same paintwork as RN Gannets? Nice progress Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 A very interesting take on the Gannet. Martian 👽 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71chally Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 5 hours ago, Romeo Alpha Yankee said: I didn't realise Indonesia operated Gannets, interesting subject, did it have the same paintwork as RN Gannets? Yes, though a lot of the profile illustrations seem to introduce new colours. There are some nice colour shots of the Angk Laut Gannets being delivered in the 'From The Cockpit' Gannet book. Great subject Pete, and looks like you are off to a great start, with plenty of detail being added. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in a shed Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share Posted July 17, 2020 Thanks Gents A little bit further on, needed to do surgery, I had to take about a mil off the lower part of the exhaust fairings to make the wings fit in the right place. Ended up with a large gap on the underside of the wing/fuselage join. The radome housing is an appalling fit as are the finlets on the tail planes. Being a mainstream offering I would have expected better quality of fit. Oh well, onwards and upwards The site of surgery. Gaps filled (various fillers) and sanded Tail units on awaiting more filler round the finlets. The exhaust deflectors had to be cut down because they impinge on the trailing edge of the wing inside the exhaust fairing. not a pretty sight 9 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71chally Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 11 hours ago, Pete in a shed said: Being a mainstream offering I would have expected better quality of fit. I consider it to be the worst Gannet kit, for the reasons that you are running into, and that some of the shapes are off. In some ways I think it's a better option to start with the ancient Frog kit ( ask @perdu!) as the shapes are very good and you can then add the detail sets. But you would need everything including undercarriage and canopies, and it is a labour of love The Revell kit is the best of the bunch. You are clearly doing very well here though, and great work blending in the aftermarket wings. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifeline Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 (edited) On 7/16/2020 at 3:19 PM, 71chally said: Yes, though a lot of the profile illustrations seem to introduce new colours. There are some nice colour shots of the Angk Laut Gannets being delivered in the 'From The Cockpit' Gannet book. Great subject Pete, and looks like you are off to a great start, with plenty of detail being added. Yes, Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL / Tentara Nasional Indonesia - Angkatan Laut) did use Gannets between 1960-1970ish. As for the color scheme, they mostly had the same scheme as FAA's ones of Dark Sea Grey / Sky, with either black or red spinner. I saw a picture of one of the gannets was painted very light grey or aluminium, with what looks like a light colored (yellow? Red?) spinner and stripe on the tail area and wings but I only saw couple of picture of it. No records saying/showing the gannets being repainted, up to being retired on the the early 70's. Very interesting project with beautiful details, and I'll certainly follow this. Cheers, Mario Edited July 18, 2020 by Lifeline 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 Got to love a Gannet! I'm in for this one. Great work so far. Terry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawk Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 5 hours ago, 71chally said: The Revell kit is the best of the bunch. Agreed but both kits have their problems. See this thread from 2010 illuminated by close-up photos of the real thing. My own conclusion is in post 19: a win on points to Revell because the faults can be attenuated more easily than the Trumpeter's but certainly no knockout. BTW Danni's measurement of 945mm as the radome diameter is 37.2" in proper money, which means that Revell's radome is only slightly too big (equates to 37.6") but Trumpeter's is considerably too small (equates to 29.5"). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy54 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 An interesting thread and one which I play to follow. A kit I have in the stash and a lot of good information concerning it. Thank you Pete for starting this build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in a shed Posted July 20, 2020 Author Share Posted July 20, 2020 A bit further on as this really is a case of one foot forward a complete biped backwards😫. After filling and sanding the radome housing the cockpit areas were touched up ready for the transparencies. Not so fast! I had yet to remove the raised mould seams, enormous gates and considerable amounts of flash from each component. A sharp scalpel ,wet and dry, micromesh and plastic polish later the canopies were just about ok, so on they went. Did they fit? of course not, gaps all round so out with the milliput again. I use this with a wetted finger to gently fill gaps round transparencies, seems to work quite well. Then to the u/c. I used the kit wing to determine the correct fitting depth for the legs on the resin wings and put them on, the struts had to be cut down in length to fit. The nose leg and strut were added, then the rear nose doors in the shut (plans incorrectly shows open) position. and lo another gap. This time I used a strip of plastic card (mainly to relieve the monotony of using filler) to build up the area. I built the propellers by cutting off the knobbly bits that were supposed to fit into recesses in the spinners and stuck them straight into the assembled spinners. Must have been getting tired as I should have realised more filling was required on the spinners, now because of oversight, between each blade. Time for coffee!! cockpit detail ready to be covered up! scraped, sanded, filled and polished small addition to the leg to account for the mounting point in the kit wing legs on doors on, another day another gap Time for coffee 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 Migod this model hates you doesn't it But you are definitely winning. I came to the conclusion, inevitably I felt, that you cannot beat a Gannet it will always beat you. Seems I was wrong, keep going this is going to be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in a shed Posted July 22, 2020 Author Share Posted July 22, 2020 On 21/07/2020 at 08:57, perdu said: Migod this model hates you doesn't it The feeling was beginning to become mutual Perdu . But then some progress! I decided to make some of the resin wing fold parts from brass rod. This was to enable me to basically hang the model together, then check all angles and fit of wing fold parts before painting. The lower wings had the bare minimum of resin hinges applied and was then drilled to accept the fuselage wing fold stops. The upper wings had the home made curved pieces glued in (I think these might represent flexible cable conduits). The whole thing was then rigid enough to hang together. The wings were then disassembled and a coat of Xtra Colour sky applied. It was at this point I realised the propeller blades were looking strange!! They appear to be two different types, lengths widths, tips everything! looking at the kit colour plate diagrams and comparing to photos on the internet it seems Trumpeter have made the propeller arcs two very different sizes. I think they should be similar in radius, if not the same. If anyone can confirm or deny that would be great. I'm now going to see if there are aftermarket items available as I don't have propellers in my spares box and Ive removed the blades from the boss. n home made brass bits. fuselage stops The wings fitted in the near as dammit right places. After painting and decaling the wings will be refitted and the other wing fold details added to the rigid structure. Same process for the outer wing parts. Now I'm off to look for propellers. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smudge Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Nice work on the wing folding. That looks like quite an undertaking, thank goodness for aftermarket conversion sets. I rather fancy one of those wing fold sets myself 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Not entirely sure what the beef is with the propeller blades but I would suggest the forward ones ought to be longer than the rear set so that they take the similar path through the air Photos I have show the same diameter props which means the front ones have to be longer given the narrower blade root diameter. (I cannot find any online pictures in my postimg files so I used the Frog model) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in a shed Posted July 22, 2020 Author Share Posted July 22, 2020 4 minutes ago, perdu said: but I would suggest the forward ones ought to be longer than the rear set so that they take the similar path through the air Yes agreed . The photo of the model looks correct. I think the kit instructions have you fit the shorter blades to the front, unless I got just them the wrong way round. Anyway the result I ended up with looked decidedly odd hence I removed them. The kit blades seem also seem smaller than the ones on the photo of your model which seem to be in better proportion to the rest of the airframe. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71chally Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 The two propellers have the same overall diameter of 11ft. However, the front individual blades are about 4 cms longer than the rear, due to fitting on to a smaller prop boss and driveshaft. Doing great there Pete, looks like the kit seems to need more work than the aftermarket stuff, but some great work going on. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmike Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 HI Pete Just came upon your Fairey Gannet build and I've been following it with interest. I have a 1/48 Dynavector Gannet - inherited from my Dad (see below) - in my stash, but as it's a vacform I'll be leaving it for some time until I can work up the nerve/experience to start on it! The pictures, below, are from my Dad's album. The first three pictures show the German Navy working up at RNAS Eglinton around 1958-59. After he left after the FAA my Dad joined Fairey Aviation as ground crew and went to Surabaya, Indonesia on contract around 1960-61 (where the three lower pictures were taken). The penultimate picture of LA-01 is the aircraft pictured on page 21 of the Warpaint Series 23 'Fairey Gannet.' If I can find any more useful pictures I'll post them; we do have some of his cine film he took on a flight with the Angk Laut but this is away, at present, being digitally processed. I'm sure you've found all the good source material but - besides the Warpaint book - one that I came across is the FlyPast Spotlight on the Gannet: https://www.jets-are-for-kids.ch/pdf/fairey_gannet_FlyPast_10-2019.pdf Keep up the very impressive work on this model! Mike 5 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71chally Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Superb pictures @Blackmike, very unusual. As a huge Gannet fan I would love to see the cine film when you have processed and uploaded it. Sounds like your father had a great career. As for the Dynavector kit, go for it. It was the first model kit I built after a six year hiatus and it went together beautifully, even the prep work was pretty straightforward. I used the John Adams/Aerclub technique for removing the backing plastic. Dynavector Fairey Gannet AS.1 by James Thomas, on Flickr 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifeline Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 8 hours ago, Blackmike said: HI Mike, As Indonesian, and someone who's being greeted by the sight of a Gannet when arriving in, and going from Surabaya in almost monthly basis... Your photos are treasure! And Cine Film... I don't familiar with the words, but do you means videos? Wow.. I never seen any videos of Angkatan Laut's Gannet flying. Several seconds of Grainy clips probably... Please.. please keep it coming, and I'm sure it will help pete with his projects too.. One info you probably have in your collection is whether Angkatan Laut ever fold the wings of their Gannets? I never saw a picture of it, but I do know that I want to build mine as folded too Cheers, Mario 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in a shed Posted July 24, 2020 Author Share Posted July 24, 2020 Hi Mike, Those pictures are fantastic, your dad must have had an amazing career in the FAA, like Mario I can't wait to see the video when its done. The link is great too, thanks for popping it into the the thread for us (especially me as I had'nt seen it) to read. That a cracking result from a vacform Chally, I'm well impressed. Cheers Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmike Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 5 hours ago, Pete in a shed said: Hi Mike, Those pictures are fantastic, your dad must have had an amazing career in the FAA, like Mario I can't wait to see the video when its done. The link is great too, thanks for popping it into the the thread for us (especially me as I had'nt seen it) to read. Hello, Pete - my pleasure and I'm glad if I can help. My Dad did have an interesting career in the FAA - including service in the late 1950s, under the command of (then Lieutenant-commander) Eric 'Winkle' Brown in, Keil, Germany, as a member of a FAA party setting up the reconstituted German naval air arm. Though some deride it I have always liked the Gannet (and not just because my Dad worked on them)! Your current project is both ambitious and inspiring. Keep going - I have a feeling it's going to be a good one! 20 hours ago, Lifeline said: And Cine Film... I don't familiar with the words, but do you means videos? Wow.. I never seen any videos of Angkatan Laut's Gannet flying. Several seconds of Grainy clips probably... Good day, Mario: thanks for your kind words and I look forward to seeing your Gannet build. As for the video we'll have to wait and see how it turns out as the original cine film is nearly 60 years old. But we live in hope and if I can post it, I will. Regarding the wings folded on the Angkatan Laut's Gannets, sorry I've no idea: my father passed away some years ago, and I was very young at the time! 22 hours ago, 71chally said: As for the Dynavector kit, go for it. It was the first model kit I built after a six year hiatus and it went together beautifully, even the prep work was pretty straightforward. I used the John Adams/Aerclub technique for removing the backing plastic. Hello, James and thank you, too, for your kind comments. Good to know there are fellow Gannet enthusiasts out there! Your Gannet build is lovely and if mine were to turn out half as well as yours I'd be delighted. I've built a few 1/72 vacforms so far but nothing bigger. I'm curious about the John Adams (is that the John W. Adams of 'Vacuform modelling: a new approach?')/Aerclub technique for removing the backing plastic. Also any tips you might have would be most appreciated. Best wishes to all of you Mike 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifeline Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 1 hour ago, Blackmike said: Good day, Mario: thanks for your kind words and I look forward to seeing your Gannet build. As for the video we'll have to wait and see how it turns out as the original cine film is nearly 60 years old. But we live in hope and if I can post it, I will. Regarding the wings folded on the Angkatan Laut's Gannets, sorry I've no idea: my father passed away some years ago, and I was very young at the time! Mike Hi Mike, My Revell 1/72 kit is still in my stash, patiently waiting for me to have enough better reference about the Gannet, Better than the ones I found on the internet, and those I grainy clip I once saw. That's why postings like yours and Pete's In-Progress really exciting for me. The aftermarkets parts really challenging you there, @Pete in a shed. But looking at the wing folds and bomb bay detail it sure looks worth the fight.. really good Cheers, Mario 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71chally Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 (edited) Isn't it great that all this Gannet information comes out during the course of a build thread. There are some great details in the pictures posted aswel. Mario, do you remember the Gannets in service? Mike, yes that is the way, sounds like you've found the thread. I think I must have seen the technique in a modelling mag as I built mine in 1997, post #22 describes how I did the Gannet There's a little bit on the Angkatan Laut Gannets here, https://www.kaskus.co.id/thread/51d4f3921cd719af7c000014/fairey-as4-gannet-tni-al https://www.hobbymiliter.com/7070/fairey-gannet-pesawat-aks-legendaris-tni-al/ Edited July 25, 2020 by 71chally Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmike Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 10 hours ago, 71chally said: Isn't it great that all this Gannet information comes out during the course of a build thread. There are some great details in the pictures posted aswel. Mike, yes that is the way, sounds like you've found the thread. I think I must have seen the technique in a modelling mag as I built mine in 1997, post #22 describes how I did the Gannet Hi all - as 71chally has said there is a lot of great Gannet information coming out during the course of this build thread! Thank you, James, for sharing the build of your lovely Dynavector Gannet. It looks as though it might be more fun than the recent wrestling match I had with a vacform Gloster Meteor F.8! Pete - looking forward to seeing your progress with the build! Happy modelling, everyone! Mike 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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