Folland Gnat - Airfix 1:72 Red Arrows Starter Kit

[Guest]

So I bought The Boy a cheapie starter kit because I found them at Aldi before Xmas, and we finally got round to doing it. I was hoping he'd be able to do most of the build himself, but it proved a surprisingly tricky one. Reviews on other sites say it goes together reasonably easily, which gives me reason to doubt my abilities!

I found the fuselage a pain to get together, the cockpit ended up being quite off-kilter which made fitting the upper wing piece a bit of a mare too. Less said about my hash of the undercarriage the better - don't look too closely at the artificial horizon as you're lining up on the runway to take off...!

This is completely out of the box, with the exception of replacing the weird purpley-red paint that came in the starter kit (apparently Hu19 a glossy "Bright Red" - not in the pot you sent me, matey!) with one I already had (matt scarlet, Hu60). The colour was a great improvement, but that doesn't really cover the flaws in the rest of the model!

Still it was fun to do something with The Boy, but thing our next project will be something like a snap-together thing he can do entirely on his own (before I get to it with paints & weathering & custom decals or something...!!).

Enough jibber jabber - photos:

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And here's the co-builder in fetching red & white on his way to karate club...!

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[monica]

hi Alasdair, well done ,and a shame to hear it was a bit off a pain for you two, but you know whats most important , is that you did it

with ,him and had that time together, , As you said, there is snap kits , I think hobby-boss do some, I have seen them about for only a few ponds as well

do tell the lad from me great build and well done, and will wait till your next one

[Guest]

If he's happy with it that is all that matters. You have had some quality time together and enjoyed building a model, who cares how it comes out!! That will decorate his bedroom for many years and remind him of some time spent with you, you can't beat it.

[HAWKERHUNTER]

Remember to get it protected in a display case. First model built with your lad, priceless, this is one you will want to keep. Good job.

[flyjoe180]

Super job guys