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George Chatzidakis
10 articles

This for me was the type of kits...

July 2, 2019 · in Aviation · · 25 · 2.7K

This for me was the type of kits that you start with optimism and ambition for a nice build and end up wanting to get on with it and move on with your life...

For starters, there are several small and delicate pieces and all of them needed major flash clean up. Then it's the complexity of some sub-assemblies. At the end, it's the itself, with its antennas, flaps, and various protruding points that leave no room to hold it... I think I broke an antenna about 6 times.

But I decided to make my life even harder, by employing the Eduard interior set as well as airwaves' wheel bay set which is designed for the frog kit. I decided that creative license was obligatory at some points and moved on to the build.

After painting, I wasn't happy with the result and decided to try again. Stripped the paint and re-sprayed. The second time was superior so on with the varnish. I don't know about you but I will not be using vallejo's metal varnish ever again. It seems to not dry completely, leaving a tacky feeling. Not wanting to ruin my paintwork again (also, I already had applied decals) I sprayed gunze varnish and improved things a bit.

Anyway, it looks nice from a distance; I guess the beautiful-ugly figure of the aircraft itself and the color combination save the day...

Reader reactions:
12  Awesome

13 additional images. Click to enlarge.


25 responses

  1. A most excellent piece of modeling right there...very nice indeed. Great work!

  2. That looks excellent! I'm glad you made the comment about the Vallejo metal varnish - I just bought a big set of Vallejo metal paints to try, along with the varnish. Seems I may be better off using a different varnish...

    • Well don't get my word for it. You should try it first. As a varnish is good, it is not too shiny nor too matt. It looks fine on metals. But why it leaves that tacky feeling I don't know. Maybe it's worth experimenting with various thinners. I tried gunze color thinner as well as leveling thinner, but it doesn't dissolve it, they're incompatible.
      Might try with pure ipa...

      • Haven’t used their metal varnish but I do use and like their gloss, satin and matte varnish. The gloss varnish does remain soft and sticky for a while in the high Oklahoma humidity. I have found Tamiya thinner and Vallejo to interchangeable. Do not use pure IPA with them, it turn into a gummy mess that you will have a less fun time cleaning out of your airbrush.

        • Thanks for your contribution Casey. I've long moved away from their varnishes. Gloss was too fragile for washes and weathering, and matt is, well, not that matt and it also muted the colors on some of my models.
          Personally I was disappointed and will not be using them again, although I m a fan of their color ranges.

  3. The model looks good, the same I cannot say about the actual plane 🙂

  4. You did a spectacular job with the ugly Gannet. Love the contrast and colours. O´boy, could the British make some of the most ugly AND the most beautiful aircraft ever produced.

  5. Form follows function mixed with "Mom said there'd be days like this". Sometimes a kit just has to be fought and wrestled with and given all of the steps that can go wrong with a aircraft model ... Murphy's laws applies which states that "Any thing that can go wrong, can and will go wrong. " Something like that. I had the opportunity to see Polar Aviations Gannet fly and George your model does an excellent job of representing the type. The paint job turned well indeed. Top notch work regardless of the pain and agony. Two thumbs up on this one.

  6. 🙂 … Greetings … 🙂 :
    Too tell you the truth … I really do not see anything UGLY with the GANNET … CHARACTER … yes.
    And your model … striking at the most is a visual testament to this. Very good work on this model and your fun can bee seen. Thanks for sharing these pictures.

  7. I say you did a fantastic job on the Gannet! I like this aircraft with it's funny shapes and all the bits sticking out everywhere like you mentioned. Despite all challenges you write about it, it just looks great. I got 3 of them in the stash, so have to build at least one of them now, lol.

    About Vallejo, well I use the Metal Color series with good results, but for the varnish I allways use Tamiya clear, gloss and flat, with very good results.

    Thank you for sharing the pictures of your Gannet, you don't see that many build.

  8. Excellent job on the slight fading of the flourescent paint. This is one of the planes I wish would come out in 1/48 scale. (I also wish the Gannet would come to EAA a bit more often.)

    • Thanks Josh. Vallejo fluo red was very difficult to work with. It left a powder like texture which I took care by rubbing/sliding my finger on it literally seconds after it was applied.

      • Although I use a lot of Vallejo I never made totally friends with their day glo paints. However, try Lifecolor´s range of dayglows, works much better. They are also mixable with Vallejo Air if you want to cut the colours to different nuanses.

  9. Profile Photo
    Shun said on July 6, 2019

    Congratulations, George, for the beautiful and attractive finish for the beautiful plane. Yes, I completely agree with you in that Gannet is lovely, not ugly, despite the reputation that she is one of the ugliest planes in the world.
    Actually I am now building a 1/72 Gannet AEW.3 of Sword. It is also a tough kit to build, but I have finally achieved the stage of applying decals. Anyway, your model is encouraging me. Thank you for posting.

  10. Hello George,
    Very impressed with the end result of the famous Gannet.
    You mentioned: "Looks good from a distance". Well, real planes should be looked at also from a distance. You get a close look at the patch work and the little spray here and there.

    As for varnish:
    Pledge thinned with Isoprophylalcohol (99%). For placing the decals. Gives the wanted shine.
    My finish is with parquet lacquer (matt) thinned with water as used in the iron or car battery.

    Regards,
    Dirk

  11. Thanks on review otherwise if there was no words just with photos I would head up for the shop...

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