Folland Gnat Yellowjacks XR992 1:48

[Flying Badger]

6 years ago I started a "Fast Build" over a weekend..... it went fairly fast so last night I finally finished the decals! 😉

 

Why the delay?  Like all my builds I seem to have a pathological inability to build a kit exactly OOB... In this case I decided to build the lead aircraft of the Yellowjacks RAF display team flown by Flight Lieutenant Lee Jones from their formation in 1963 at RAF Valley as I was inspired by the G-MOUR aircraft I'd seen up close at the Yorkshire Air Display the summer before.

However the kit did not have the decals to suit XR992. Being a yellow paint job the no-step and jack here etc. decals in the kit wouldn't work and I needed the aircraft serials etc. so decided to print them myself based on the decals for the No.4 Flight Training School at RAF Valley (where Jones was an instructor).

I also had a bunch of other custom decals I needed for other projects so held off to do them all at once so as to fill a full A4 sheet.... then I wrote a PhD, we had a baby, changed jobs (twice), moved house and had another baby and the Gnat sat on the shelf of doom / house moving box of model breakage until last week! 

 

There seems to be some debate on the colour of the aircraft serial numbers... black or blue (presumably RAF insignia blue) being the debate.... I printed my home-made decals on transparent decal film in RAF insignia blue however.... when added them to a yellow background they appear black... ah well never mind I'll go with the black decals.

 

Anyway... I got it out and decaled it up so I'm calling it done. (Lots of other models are calling plaintively from that box for attention and decals!). 

Here are some photos:

 

The yellow looks a bit lighter than it really is due to the kitchen lights.

 

Flying Badger

 

WIP Thread. (many of the images got fubar'd by the Photobucket thing

Edited April 5, 2022 by Flying Badger

[Matt W]

That’s lovely. I bet that yellow finish took a lot of work, looks great though.

[Flying Badger]

Thanks. Yes I was expecting it to be a real ball-ache... but it wasn't too bad in the end and went on relatively well.

 

From memory I sprayed a thin coat of Tamiya X08 on first and it was too bright so the top coat is Xtracylic's RAF Trainer Yellow and their paints have always seemed to go on really nicely for me. 

It's not 100% smooth as it was a fast build and so I didn't spend ages wet sanding it back with a fine grit to get a perfect gloss finish before decaling,  but I was happy with it at the time. 

 

 

Edited April 5, 2022 by Flying Badger

[speedy]

I love that, even if you think it’s the wrong shade, that’s brilliant👋

[DaveH]

Very nice, well worth the wait...

 

DaveH

[exdraken]

Wow, great!

Not the most seen scheme!

[Pete in a shed]

Lovely Gnat. I like the open 'bonnet'. Does the kit supply that feature or is it your own work.

Pete

[Homer]

Congratulations on a beautiful model well done 👏 

[Flying Badger]

29 minutes ago, Pete in a shed said:

Lovely Gnat. I like the open 'bonnet'. Does the kit supply that feature or is it your own work.

Pete

Hi Pete,

 

 The kit supplies that as an option along with the open canopy.

 

Its a great kit and for once there is very little extra that I scratch built beyond the custom decals and the striped pull handles for the ejector seats (see the WIP).... I can't remember if in the end I replaced the flat blade antennas with scratch built brass ones - I often do but I have no memory of doing that on this kit. 

 

If I were building this kit again there isn't much I'd change.... I might use the canopy kit part to make a plug to plunge mould/vacuform a thinner canopy and either cut out the kit canopy frame or scratch build a replacement. Additionally I'd replace the really long pitot probe with a sewing needle of the right diameter, (file the point down some, cut off the kit part at the mount point, then drill a hole to take the needle and CA glue it in). The kit part is plastic and a bit too fragile and the pitot tube in real life is shiny so a needle looks just right once it's point isn't so pointy.

 

That and I'd remember to attach the nose gear door to the gear before attaching it to the fuselage - found out the hard way that the clearances are too tight to fit it after the fact 😖

[Samuraiwarrior]

Lovely looking Gnat! 

Always liked the Yellow colour scheme, and on yours it looks just right. 

Perhaps your next build will be a bit quicker? 

Kev 

[Dave Slowbuild]

Great job!

I have a lot of Xtracrylic paints but my finishes are bit hit and miss.  I’d love to know how you get consistent results with them?  The magic formula?

 

Dave

[VolkerR.]

Congrats! Yellow is definetly difficult to paint.

Great result!

[Flying Badger]

1 hour ago, Dave Slowbuild said:

Great job!

I have a lot of Xtracrylic paints but my finishes are bit hit and miss.  I’d love to know how you get consistent results with them?  The magic formula?

 

Dave

I start by giving all kits a good wash in warm soapy water - get rid of any release agent etc. and ensures the plastic is clean to take paint.

Then a good primer (Tamiya fine surface primer usually), shake the xtracylic paints well then thin them with Tamiya thinners (or my home mixed copy of it) before airbrushing nice thin coats with a decent quality airbrush (It's a Harder & Steenbeck Infinity I think). 

 

For this model though I had already put a coat of Tamiya gloss yellow on over the primer before I realised it wasn't quite the right colour so I then gave it two thin coats of the Xtracrylic which was spot on. But this is nothing different to how I get most acrylic to work OK (Except humbrol which is horrible stuff).

 

I think multiple thin coats on a good base or primer (preferably white) is the key to yellow, orange or red - I have had those colours go horribly wrong in the past and it's always been when I've rushed and tried to put too thick a coat of paint on. 

[Dave Slowbuild]

54 minutes ago, Flying Badger said:

I start by giving all kits a good wash in warm soapy water - get rid of any release agent etc. and ensures the plastic is clean to take paint.

Then a good primer (Tamiya fine surface primer usually), shake the xtracylic paints well then thin them with Tamiya thinners (or my home mixed copy of it) before airbrushing nice thin coats with a decent quality airbrush (It's a Harder & Steenbeck Infinity I think). 

 

For this model though I had already put a coat of Tamiya gloss yellow on over the primer before I realised it wasn't quite the right colour so I then gave it two thin coats of the Xtracrylic which was spot on. But this is nothing different to how I get most acrylic to work OK (Except humbrol which is horrible stuff).

Thanks for the advice.  
I find it hard to judge the right level of thinning, there seems to be a narrow window between too thin and too thick.  What doesn’t help is that I don’t get enough practice, getting the airbrush out every few months isn’t really often enough.

 

Dave

[Flying Badger]

Yes that's a tricky judgement call... and one I'm really rusty on now having not had the opportunity to get the airbrush out since before lockdown started (starting a family and moving house). I had a lot of the paints I used regularly ready thinned in dropper top bottles with a label on them stating the thinning ratio used - they're all dried up now but I can check what thinning ratio I used on Xtracrylics next time I go into the garage workshop.

The other advantage of that approach was if it wasn't spot on I could add a tiny bit more paint or a thinners to the bottle to push the mixture either way. I found it more controllable and reproducible than trying to thin paint in the airbrush cup.

 

The bottles were small cheap ones I bought online in bulk from somewhere (probably not ebay or amazon as they're cheaper direct for larger numbers)

This sort (the 20ml ones I think):

 

[Dave Slowbuild]

1 hour ago, Flying Badger said:

Yes that's a tricky judgement call... and one I'm really rusty on now having not had the opportunity to get the airbrush out since before lockdown started (starting a family and moving house). I had a lot of the paints I used regularly ready thinned in dropper top bottles with a label on them stating the thinning ratio used - they're all dried up now but I can check what thinning ratio I used on Xtracrylics next time I go into the garage workshop.

The other advantage of that approach was if it wasn't spot on I could add a tiny bit more paint or a thinners to the bottle to push the mixture either way. I found it more controllable and reproducible than trying to thin paint in the airbrush cup.

 

The bottles were small cheap ones I bought online in bulk from somewhere (probably not ebay or amazon as they're cheaper direct for larger numbers)

This sort (the 20ml ones I think):

 

Thanks - great tip.  I will try that with the white that I use most often, mix a bigger batch and store it.  Mixing minuscule amounts in the cup is too random.

 

And once again, the Gnat is fabulous!

Dave

[RMCS]

Fantastic 

[Flying Badger]

3 hours ago, Dave Slowbuild said:

Thanks - great tip.  I will try that with the white that I use most often, mix a bigger batch and store it.  Mixing minuscule amounts in the cup is too random.

 

Hi Dave,

 

These are the bottles I use - not sure where I found them but if (whilst sorting the garage at the new house into some semblance of a proper workshop) I find out I'll message you the details. 

Quite impressed with these ones as the lids are good enough to have kept the paint in useable form even after over 4 years of inactivity!

 

My mixing ratio for the Xtracrylics seems to be 6 parts Tamiya thinners to 4 parts paint (probably 6ml/4ml using a pipette) i.e. 3:2 ratio and with some I've added one drip of flow improver:

That last will be Winsor and Newton acrylic flow improver: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Winsor-Newton-Professional-Acrylic-Coverage/dp/B0060KRGQA

 

The reason only one has the flow improver and the other two don't is I now add it into my homebrew equivalent of Tamiya thinners (happy to share the recipe its far cheaper and just as good) 

 

Andy

Edited April 6, 2022 by Flying Badger

[robgizlu]

Really nicely finished

Rob

[Flying Badger]

Thanks Rob,

 

I think I may add another coat of clear over the top to seal all in as the ink layer on the home made decals can be a bit delicate.

Now I have to decide where to put it. Always the problem as I enjoy building the things but I'm not all that bothered by having them on a display etc. (with a few exceptions.)