discussion Post War 1/72 FAA - Part 1 - Sword Fairey Gannet AEW.3

[Dave Ward]

This will be first of 5 FAA aircraft I intend to build - the others, in no particular order, are, Sea Venom, Sea Vixen, Sea Hawk. and Gannet AS.
The Sword model is a limited run kit, with a tiny PE fret, and resin parts ( more on this later )
Sprue & other parts


There are resin parts for the radar operators cab, but I'm not going to use them

You have to cut the hatches out from the fuselage & replace them with resin parts - even then the view will be limited, so no thank you.

The Gannet is a limited run kit, which means clean up & dry fitting will be very important.
A few detail shots

Some of the detail is a bit heavy, for 1/72, but may look OK under paint.
This is the sort of thing you have to be aware of:

Upper & lower tailplane - no locating pins, and ejector pin towers on the mating faces.
Of the two versions, I think I'll go for the 1968 HMS Hermes - with full red/white/blue roundels.
I'll be finishing my Saurer, but will start on the construction of this when paint/varnish/washes are drying.
Dave

 

[Tim Marlow]

Interesting subject, be interesting to see how it works out....it’s an ugly looking beast though....

 

[yak face]

Brilliant , i love a series build , really looking forward to the progress. Great choice of subjects too , this one looks a typical limited run , but nothing a bit of good old school modelling wont sort out. BTW if you think this is a bit rough you want to have a go at an Amodel kit!!, cheers tony

 

[papa 695]

Think I’ll pull up a chair for this Dave.

 

[Neil Merryweather]

I'm watching this one ,Dave
I've got a soft spot for the FAA myself

 

[Guest]

I’ll be watching with interest!

 

[Lee Drennen]

Very nice Dave

 

[dave]

Interesting to watch this one, always had a soft spot forth Gannet, even if it is a bit of an ugly duckling.

 

[Guest]

Watching this.

 

[Dave Ward]

Construction finally starting.............
The instrument panel PE & film added together

The cockpit assembly, ready for priming

I'm going to add a pilot - don't think a lot will be visible, at the finish.......

The wings: the undercarriage wells are built up from flat parts - note that there are no locating pins, and all mating faces have to checked and prepared

Due to the short run nature, you have to be aware of problems.......................

On this half of the fuselage, you can see a 'lip' along the edge - the other half doesn't have one! You can either remove it before, or after assembly. I'll do it after joining the halves, just personal choice.
Dave

 

[Mickc1440]

Ugly duckling it may be but looking forward to seeing what you do with this one Dave

 

[Fernando N]

Nice start Dave and good luck with this short run one.

Neat chosen scheme too, simple and functional just like the plane :thumb2:.

 

[Dave Ward]

In my exploration of the darker part of my stash - I found an Aeroclub vac-form conversion for the Frog Gannet and half the fuselage of the donor model - top to bottom - Sword Gannet AEW, Aeroclub Gannet AEW, and Frog/Novo Gannet AS

The brown plastic Gannet, with crew heads moulded in situ

The pilot, and cockpit for my Gannet - a dry fit reveals ( or actually doesn't ) that the instrument panel will be hidden..............

There is no mention of nose weights in the instructions - but I think I will have to make provision for some between the cockpit floor, and the nosewheel bay
Dave

 

[Jim R]

Hi Dave
I like the FAA project. This is a very iconic aircraft - served its purpose well. You seem to have everything in hand, recognise the problems of a short run models.
Jim

 

[Dave Ward]

Jim,
many years ago, I used to make vacforms of the more obscure aircraft - short runs kits are much easier!
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

Joined the fuselage, and added the wings...................

Was pretty good fit, but, as is normal, there was a lot of dry fitting & sanding before any cement was applied, the worst being the width of the cockpit floor - keeping the fuselage halves apart.
No filler used ( yet ), and the only part that may need it may be the nose - I haven't even taken that off the sprue so far...............
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

Despite having visitors, I managed to get some benchtime. The nose went on - just a little sanding - no filler. Primed! I've left off the tailplanes, to make masking the top/bottom easier.
Not too bad - I've been looking at my choices for the undersides - I have 4 candidates, so I've painted swatches, and when they're dry I'll decide which seems best.
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

One of those days........... I realised that I had missed off the prominent exhaust shields. They come in halves, and are a poor fit - so out comes the putty! Overnight drying, then sanding sticks. The putty just fell off! I tried another application, left it for about 6 hours - same result! It's Perfect Plastic Putty, I've never had this happen before. I'm going dig out some AK putty, and see if I have the same problem - maybe its teflon plastic..................
Dave

 

[colin m]

I caught a documentary on the Gannet a while back. It was amusing to watch the jets land first, with all their speed and noise, then the Gannet landed. Well I say landed, it sort of eventually 'rested' on the deck, not in a real hurry.

 

[Dave Ward]

There's a YouTube video of one starting up - odd to see one propellor turning, and the other stopped - the Double Mamba engine was effectively two engines - each driving it's own prop. One engine could be shut down in flight, to increase endurance.
I used AK putty on the exhaust shields - they needed a bit of fettling to get a good fit ( they're the bits between the radome & the wing ). Basecoated with Vallejo Air 'Sky'

Props painted, and the spinners painted overall red, so I can mask for the black portions. Despite the instructions showing axles on the main undercarriage, and holes in the wheels, neither existed, so holes were drilled, and copper wire CA'ed in place

I'm going to leave the Sky basecoat to dry overnight, then I'm going to mask for the dark grey uppersurfaces - fiddly, but nothing too taxing
Dave