Airfix 1/72 Folland Gnat T.1 Yellowjacks

[TallBlondJohn]

Airfix 1/72 Folland Gnat T.1 in Yellowjacks (No. 4 Flying Training School display team) scheme, 1965.

 

 

I won't go into the history but here's good links:

 

https://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/gnat/index.php

https://aerobaticteams.net/en/teams/i208/Yellowjacks.html

 

 

Airfix’s neat little Folland Gnat was tooled 2012 I believe. Just £5 from Lidl in starter set boxing and built in a record time for me of only four weeks! It’s a very nice model, some builders have reported flash but mine had none. Panel lines might be a bit big – think 2010s Airfix – but they fill up with all that paint to look nice and subtle. I built it out of the box, just added seat belts and ejection handles. I added some nose weight just in case, but none should be necessary. It went together very nicely with excellent fit all round, the only fail being the intakes that needed some sanding and filler to blend in with the fuselage (there should be panel lines but in 1/72 I didn’t bother - though I did use an etching tool to create the slight divide between the intake and the side of the fuselage). The rear undercarriage has to be installed early which complicates masking, but don’t be tempted to try adding it later, that doesn’t work. Take care with the forward undercarriage strut, its very delicate and broke coming off the sprue. I’ve seen other builders have exactly the same issue, and make sure the wings are level, mine ended up slightly off which was fixed with brute force.

 

 

 

 

The one problem I had was the pitot tube, which wasn’t well cast at all and wouldn’t have fitted anyway. I’d advise planning this in advance, maybe replacing with brass rod and a needle and carefully prepare the fit before the fuselage halves are joined.

 

This particular scheme is one of those slightly annoying builds where you go online to look for photos, and are deluged with images of a not 100% accurate modern re-paint job, in this case G-MOUR. In original photos I found the yellow to be a bit warmer than the recommended raw Humbrol gloss 69. That might have been the vintage film but looks better, so I added about 15% Matt 154. Yellow is notoriously hard to paint but it came out nicely airbrushed in several light coats, patience is the key. Which is an issue as I hate airbrushing. Being able to shove a dowel up its pretty little rear end really helped.

 

 

The kit has a small aerial vane on top of the nose but I can't see it in this 1964 photo:

 

 

So I cut it off, presumably it was added later:

 

Airfix also don’t have the correct colours for the aerials, again I suspect because they used G-MOUR as inspiration but I followed the old photos.

The Yellowjacks of course went on to become the Red Arrows, trading in their colour scheme for a red more suited to Britain's grey skies. Here is an excellent short potted history:

 

 

XR992 received a black fin for 1965 with a yellow rudder in honour of Watford football club*. I couldn't find any original photos of an all-black tail outside of museum paint jobs so that may be another modern interpretation. It added interest so I applied Tamiya X-1 acrylic, brush painted after another airbrush disaster. Note the video shows the black should stop at the panel line at the front of the fin, the box art and G-MOUR are wrong. Varnish was Future flattened down to satin.

 

Finally boy this is a dinky little thing - its like a bathtub with wings. Here it is compared to Laura the Sopwith Camel:

 

 

And my Buccaneer, Big Bottomed Becky:

 

 

XR992 herself came to a rather comic end in December 1969 when another pilot reported its engine was on fire. Fl Lt Dickie Duckett immediately ejected as required by procedure, whereupon Mr Observant said oh terribly sorry, it’s XR995 that is on fire. So she got ditched as well. Our hero was credited with the kill.**

 

* Possibly. Or it may have been for easier identification of the flight lead.

** Probably.

 

Thanks for looking!

[swralph]

Very nice build.😀

[Head in the clouds.]

Smart build and finish on a diminutive kit. Love the footnote to the narrative 😁

[almac]

Excellent work. Thanks for the build tips and the link to the video, some great images there. I nearly started this one last week but it went back in the box for some reason. 
 

Cheers Allan 

[James G]

Nice build! I finished one a couple of months back, same £5 Lidl deal! I have not posted pics yet as it is an 'in flight' build and needs securing to its base. It is a nice little kit. 

[djos]

It is very hard to get overall yellow color looking correct...... you managed it beautifully

Great looking Gnat

Regards Djordje

[F-32]

Lovely work, that's really really nice

[Homer]

A beautiful eye catching model, well done 👏 

[canberraman]

Top modelling on such a small craft in 1/72 and the airbrushed yellow shade looks spot on.

 

Mark