Kit: No. 4135
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Classic Airframes, 773-883-8888,
www.classicairframes.com Price: $65
Comments: Mixed media, 93 parts (63 injection-molded plastic, 30 resin), decals
Pros: Accurate shapes; good detail and decals
Cons: Nose is undersize; canopies don't fit well
Issue Published: February 2008
Classic's kit of British aviation's ugly duckling has 93 parts. The bulk of the airframe was bluish-gray plastic with fine engraved detail. There were no locating pins on the parts, nor numbers on the parts trees, so you need to pay close attention to the instructions and refer to the small parts map while building.
Resin provided the balance of the parts, including cockpit sidewalls, seats, rear tub, exhausts, wheels, and landing gear bays. There is a very nice panel for the middle seat, but, strangely, the pilot's instrument panel is injection-molded with mediocre detail. The highlight was the resin nose, which included the elaborate intakes.
Cartograph decals featured British, German, and Indonesian Gannets, and the Australian aircraft I modeled, all in sky and extra dark sea gray camouflage.
After washing the resin parts clean of mold-release agents, I sawed away the molding plugs. The medium gray resin cut easily and was strong, so even the smallest parts could be handled.
I painted the cockpit floors and walls black gray, then assembled the front and rear tubs. The diagram for locating the side consoles is confusing - the parts align with the engraved lines on the floor.
In Step No. 4, instructions call for installation of the nose gear into the resin well; I left mine off until after painting. The front cockpit fit easily into the fuselage halves after I opened up the wing-spar holes slightly. The rear cabin's location is imprecise; I placed the ridge in the side panel into the groove, aligning the rear panel with the back edge of the opening. Part No. 11, the instrument panel, does not have a positive location; I had to trim the top considerably for a good fit.
Before gluing the fuselage, I super glued lead fishing weights into spaces above the nose well and behind the well under the cockpit. I added almost 3 oz. yet my Gannet barely sits on its nose.
The resin nose is too small. I glued a piece of .040" sheet styrene between the fuselage and the nose, being careful to avoid blocking the intakes. Sanding and Mr. Surfacer 500 refined the shape.
The resin main gear well fit between the wing halves. The rear edge of the wings is thick. The wing-to-fuselage fit is poor, requiring styrene shims and putty to make the gaps disappear. The horizontal stabilizers merely butt the vertical tail, but the soft plastic responded well to Testors cement and the joint was strong enough. Brass rod would improve the strength.
After dipping the canopy sections in Future floor polish, I attached them. They were a little thick and seemed too narrow for the cockpit openings. I filed away a large part of the pilot's seat bulkhead to allow the canopy to fit over it. I also had to file and trim both the middle and rear canopies to fit them.
After masking the canopies, I applied the camouflage with Gunze Sangyo and Polly Scale acrylics. I painted the wheel wells and legs Hawkeye's Talon acrylic aluminum, then gloss-coated the model. The decals responded well to Microscale setting solutions. I applied all the stencils, then discovered Australian Gannets had different yellow RESCUE arrows.
I attached the landing gear with super glue. Each main gear leg has three struts, and attaching them made me wish I had a couple extra hands.
The big spinner is in four parts with eight separate blades. I assembled the spinner, painting it a mixture of four different Polly Scale railroad greens to approximate the nose of the RAN aircraft. The yellow stripe is a straight decal strip that required finagling and lots of Micro Sol to conform. I attached the blades in a feathered position.
With the arrestor hook, antenna, and a stretched-sprue wire, my Gannet was done. It took me about 40 hours to build, a lot of that spent on preparing the resin parts and refining the fit issues.
Classic Airframes' Gannet requires patience and some problem-solving, but I enjoyed the build. The finished model captures the awkward grace of the full-size airplane. I recommend the kit to modelers who have worked with resin before and can deal with the fit problems.