Pete's Gnat

[stillp]

I thought I'd already started a thread for this, but if so I can't find it!

Because there were two pilots in the kit, and they looked well moulded, I spent a bit of time painting them to resemble the pilots shown on the RAF Red Arrows site. However I put them aside while I built that wooden Tower Bridge model, and now can't find them! I suspect they fell off the bench into the waste bin and got thrown out. ☹ So the build won't have pilots.

Quite a few parts went into the cockpit, and everything inside is black so there's not much to see. On to the fuselage; sadly the two halves didn't fit at all well together. They seem to be twisted, so if I held them so that the top front was aligned, the rear lower would be way out, and vice versa. I've done the best I can with clamps, but the join is going to need a lot of filling and sanding so I'll lose a lot of detail.

It's had a first dose of Mr Dissolved Putty and I'll start sanding tomorrow.
Pete

[flyjoe180]

Looking good Pete. Maybe the pilot fell into the Thames?

[stillp]

From Tower Bridge? Nice one Joe!

[flyjoe180]

From Tower Bridge? Nice one Joe!

Late night on the town

[stillp]

I spent a couple of hours yesterday trying to get the wing to fit, but the twisted fuselage had other ideas:
The wing roots are not too bad, but the rear part is just a mess. I'm trying to decide whether to bin it, paint it red and apply the decals then bin it, or try to smooth out that mess with filler - then hope I can sand it smooth without knocking off that antenna.
On a more positive note, the canopy was easy to mask and seems to fit well.

I've been really disappointed with this kit, particularly as it's a fairly recent Airfix kit and they're usually pretty good, but this one has some serious issues.
Pete

[stillp]

It's not as good as I'd like, but it's better than it was, so time for some paint:

I thought it will be easier to mask off the red and then spray the u/c bays white rather than the other way around. I've also left off the pitot tube to avoid the inevitable breakage! The wheels will be brush painted and added later.
I'm quite pleased with the red; it's Mr Hobby Aqueous red gloss. Bought it by mistake thinking I'd ordered matt red, but the coverage was pretty good and the finish is fine.

Pete

[Richard48]

Shame its been fighting you Pete.Dissapointing as its a fairly new kit.Ive seen some nice models of these at model shows.
Keep going nearly there!!!.
Richard

[colin m]

It's disappointing to read you are having problems with this kit Pete. I built one ages ago and it was fine, certainly no sign of a twisted fuselage.
But anyway, it looks good in red. Looks like you are nearly there.

[stillp]

It was a £5 bargain from a charity shop Colin, so maybe the person who donated it had left it somewhere hot, and noticed the twisting so donated it?
Pete

[stillp]

Well, it's finished. Could be a lot better but I lost interest after losing the pilots and finding the warped fuselage.

I'll put a finished thread up later.
Pete