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Gnat T.1 - Airfix new tool


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I'm really going for this Dayglo thing at the moment. I've had tins of Precision Fluorescent Red/Orange in the box for about 25 years, mainly because my experiences when I used it back then were not brilliant. It seemed hard work so I backed away.

However I just finished the new Airfix Vampire which was a delight to build and I had an equally good experience with the old paints - sprayed beautifully tbh! What's that all about then! I guess a more measured approach to paint prep is one of the benefits of getting older!

Anyway, I was hankering for a bit more bright orange so with the confidence in dayglo application suitably reinforced I broke out the beautiful new Airfix Gnat and set about scratching an itch I've had for many, many years.

I shan't dwell too much on the kit as much has been said about the surface detail and so on. Suffice to say, it went together like a dream - needed a little fettling under the wing root L/E and you should expect a fair amount of work around the joins on the 3 piece slipper tanks - and the decals were superb. Recommend a white disc under the upper wing roundels as they straddle the orange/silver divide but the rest are just fine. Lots of stencils! Well over 100 decals if you use them all!

Mine proved to be a marginal tail-sitter (nothing mentioned in the instructions) but that may have been due to me cutting the canopy open with the associated weight move to the rear. Couple of lead shots down the pilot's footwell sorted that.

All OOB except the addition of some seat firing handles and some straps from lead foil - seats by the way are OK but I do feel the head-box is undersized.

For the silver I used Xtracolour Aluminium which, in retrospect, I think might be a little dark for high speed silver.

Enough waffle, here she is - looks like a Gnat to me which pleases me immensely.

Hope you like her, comments and criticism welcomed in equal measure. My apologies again for the poor photos - still not got my tri-pod back.

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And here it is with it's older cousin - bit of a throw away shot to emphasis how small the Gnat is!

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Will I build another? You bet! I already have a second in the stash and designs on another - 'nuff said!

Now, where's that Hobbyboss H-34 for an all-over dayglo finish...getting brave now...!

Cheers all - ATB!

Rick

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Hi Rick, welcome aboard. I enjoyed reading your account of the build. I was lucky enough to build the Gnat last year during a holiday and had a similar experience. It proved to be a pleasure to build.

Your Gnat looks fabulous in the silver/dayglo scheme and makes a terrific addition to your dayglo family. I can't offer and constructive criticism (the reason for this particular forum) but if anything, the orange looks very red on my monitor but perhaps it has to do with the blue background.

Thanks for taking the time to share your build.

Cheers.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Very nice little jet,sadly it's too small for me to begin to make anything like that with my eyesight & fat fumbs!

Bit of trivia,the ejection seat didn't use pins like other ones,it used a lever between the headrest & the seat body,if you could feel the knob of the lever in the back of your neck,the seat was safe...

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