TRUMPETER
1/72 FAIREY GANNET |
References:
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Aviation News Dec88
Warpaint Plans – Ian
Huntley
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Maritime patrol Aircraft since 1921 – Topmill
Press
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Wings Across the Sea – Ross Gillett
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Assorted pictures
of the Moorabin Gannet
Initial impressions: - All in all it
appears a well engineered kit that looks the part, streets
ahead of the Frog jobbie and way cheaper than the CMR one. If
you’ve got the Aeroclub/Airwaves bits lying around
(who hasn’t) you can make a call on how much you will
want to substitute for the kit parts.
The comments below are a random walkover
of the sprues vs the scant refs I have and come fully qualified. Heck – to
me the Frog beast looked the part ! If you didn’t
have a plan set or a real Gannet nearby, you’d be pretty
happy with the kit OOB. I know i'll think long
and hard about the return/reward before I correct anything
on my build.
Fuselage: Line of best fit reveals
a discrepancy around the pilots canopy/windscreen line.
Compared to the plan the lower windscreen
slopes up too gently ending up about 2mm too far forward.
From the major vertical panel line (just forward of canopy)
about 1mm needs to shaved off (and commensurate trimming
of the canopy). This area is the ‘major‘ mismatch
point twixt plans and plastic. But against the
Mk1 eyeball, it doesn't look that different?
Measuring off the Moorabin Gannet (which
is now getting some attention and a lick of paint), confirms
the approximate overrun.
 
A keen
person may want to scribe in a missing panel line behind
rear position and add the ‘taillight’ to the
rudder.
  
From pictures it doesn’t totally capture
the subtle bulge curves around the exhaust, but that’d
be hard to rectify and better than the Frog kit (nitpicking).
From the wing root back to the apex of the bulge it is a
fairly straight line rather than curve, with a ‘step’ at
the vertical panel line (where the red intake is).
  
There are separate exhaust ‘tubes’ with
alignment notches in the fuselage, a nice touch. The
small (red) intakes are missing on both sides
Nose Intake: Too
thick/deep (looking from side). The old Aeroclub one matches
the plan better, both in depth, and capturing the lower bulges
(looking from front) – the Trump one is more ‘straight
up and down’. Oddly they are pretty well the same
size x-section at the rear but the Aeroclub part captures
the more bulged look at the front, so no adaptive surgery
should be needed. The Trump one has bulges in the intakes
that don’t
seem as prominent in pictures of the plane, so
maybe another vote for the Aeroclub piece. The small
intake on top of nose is better defined on the Aeroclub piece.
  
Spinner – is a smidgen
big at the rear, but otherwise looks the part. The
Aeroclub spinner/blades are also on the money.
Nose gear bay – it
has ribbed interior effect with details on the interior of
the separate gear doors. This area has ejector
marks to clean up.
 +
Wings – pretty dang close (so are the
Frog ones). If
you really care you could cut of the wing tip on the extreme
outer panel line, then take a millimetre off the wing and reglue the tip. I
think that’s
where the ‘obvious’ difference lies. Measurements
off the Moorabin one confirms that suspicion.
 
Also there should be three subtlety bulged panels ( that
cover flap actuators?).
Compared to the plans some of the aileron
hinges are out of position but that’d be a bit of buggerizing
around to fix for marginal benefit. The kit has separate
flaps and ailerons. A smart
addition is a central spar set that fits thru the fuselage
to strengthen and align the wing/fuselage joint.
The kit has good deep wheel wells with simplified
structural details, similar
to the CMR ones I believe. Heaps of scope for the detailers – wiring,
compressed air bottle, assorted latches etc.
 
Wheel well looking rear Outboard
bay – looking rear
Horizontal Stabilisers – spot on, but
the finlets(?) don’t seem to be ‘flat’ on
the bottom in profile. The Frog ones are only marginally
better. A judicious swipe of a sanding stick will provide
the outline illusion but they’ll still be a tad undersize.
  
Undercarriage – looks
the part, good
sturdy units with acceptable details.
Wheels – ok,
maybe the Aeroclub ones have more depth to the detail of
the wheel hub but a moments work with a drill bit
and paint washes will enhance the kit parts.
 
Cockpit – the kit
has basic tub details so don’t
throw out your Airwaves etch set as it could easily
find a good home in here, especially with the separate ie
poseable, canopies. The Aeroclub or Airwaves detail set
can be used for the various instrument/operator panels as
they are far superior to the nondescript kit offerings.
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