1:72 Sword Gannet AEW.3 - XL471/043 849 sqn

[alhenderson]

Back before Christmas I started the Sword 1:72nd Gannet AEW.3 - probably my biggest challenge since restarting the hobby a few years back.  I'd stuck to 'mainstream' kits (Airfix, Revell, Tamiya) until then and was pretty comfortable with those.  This kit, though, had a number of firsts for me, namely PE and resin.  I also decided part way through this build to invest in an airbrush so this was the first kit I completed using an Airbrush for the exterior paintwork (although I did a fair bit of practise on a Hurricane paint mule first).

 

The WIP is here if anyone wants a blow by blow account of the build:

 

On the whole, this was a challenge.  The fit of the parts was not as good as with the mainstream kits I was used to, and the instructions needed to be treated with suspicion as they were not always correct.  Lots of dry fitting and fettling of the parts are the secret to getting a decent fit - I used plastic card to provide extra locating points when fitting the fuselage.  Since these things are very tail heavy I also invested in some "Dark Matter" tungsten putty from the local fishing shop.  Filling the nose with this ensured she sits solidly on the nosewheel.  I left the front of the nose off for as long as possible to allow me leeway to add more if required.

 

The paint guide in particular was challenging as panel lines on the drawings did not reflect those on the kit!  This led to me getting the demarcation between the sky and EDSG wrong at the rear fuselage which only became apparent when I went to put on the tail decals.  A nervous masking and respray was required - but top tip from the peeps here was to use wet tissue paper to mask the decals 👍  The paint scheme also shows zaps from the USN AEW squadron VAW-120 on the rear fuselage, but these are not included with the kit.  They are available from an aftermarket sheet but @davepb generously provided me with these from his spares box - much appreciated!

 

Sprayed with Tamiya Sky and Mr Color EDSG, and then coated with Mr Hobby satin.  Weathered with Flory wash and AK weathering pencils.  I'm a little annoyed with the Flory wash - turned out to be very hard to remove in a number of places, esp round the nose so I think she's a little too grubby in a number of places.  Overall, though, a very nice result for a kit I was a little bit scared of starting!

 

Anyway, enough waffling, on with the pics 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks everyone for the advice and support over the months of this build - it was very much appreciated!

 

Al.

 

 

[Mig88]

Simply superb!!!

 

Miguel

[ForestFan]

Splendid job! Did you mask and paint the yellow n black on the tanks? Looks tricky but turned out fab 

 

[dolphin38]

Great looking Gannet, looks well used 

[alhenderson]

3 hours ago, ForestFan said:

Splendid job! Did you mask and paint the yellow n black on the tanks? Looks tricky but turned out fab 

 

I bought this nose cone masking set: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/MMS016.  Still tricky to use and took a couple of attempts, but ended up looking not too bad in the end.  Thanks for the kind words 👍

 

Al.

[F-32]

Very nice job

[Michael51]

11 hours ago, alhenderson said:

I'm a little annoyed with the Flory wash - turned out to be very hard to remove in a number of places,

Well I am very relieved to learn someone else has experienced this - always thought it was me.

 

A wonderful build!

 

Michael

[CJP]

Great work on your Gannet

[alhenderson]

17 hours ago, Michael51 said:

Well I am very relieved to learn someone else has experienced this - always thought it was me.

 

A wonderful build!

 

Michael

Thanks.  I've used Flory wash a number of times now and its usually reactivated with water really well, allowing me to clean it up.  But this time it wasn't so good.  I was being gentle around the nose, though, as I don't think the decals were quite down and I didn;t want to wreck them.

 

Al.