This resin model kit
is the Folland Gnat FO-141 British jet. This jet dates from the mid 1950's
time period and although it was developed by the British, the Hawker Hunter
proved to be a more robust and universal aircraft. India acquired the
Gnat.
This new resin
kit from Olimp
Models is part of their
new Pro
Resin line of resin kits.
This little 1/72 kit comes packed in a VERY sturdy little box. Upon
opening the box, I was overwhelmed by a large number of delicate little resin parts,
4 clear vac-u-formed canopies
and a decal sheet. I was very impressed by the level of fine detail
especially when I saw the instrument panel and the ejection seat with
molded on seatbelts and the tiny instrument panel with it's fine detail. For 1/72, the detail in this kit is
a beautiful little kit.
Click on
images below to see larger images
Now....this is a resin kit, so it
will require the use of CA glue (Crazy Glue) to assemble it and the parts are
going to need a tiny bit of cleaning up, but this is very minimal and will not
in any way detract from the joy of building this kit. If you've ever done
any work with resin parts before you will have no problem tackling this
kit......go slow....be patient and enjoy the build. I did a dry fit of the
fuselage halves and they lined up very well but you will need to clean up the
mating surfaces before assembly.....this kit should go together well if the rest
of the kit has the same very good level of fit.
As you can see from the sample of
photos of the resin parts below, the fuselage detail with recessed panel lines on the sides of the
fuselage is well done. The wings have excellently done panel lines and
will look quite convincing on the finished kit. The seat is amazing....and once you paint it up....it will look very
good.
The attachment points for the
resin parts is wonderfully thin making the removal of the parts from the resin
casting blocks a quick and easy job. Detail is very crisp on most parts
and the finished products will be a treat to behold.
I really do get a kick out of
seeing the latest kit from Pro
Resin as they
produce kits of an interesting variety of aircraft .
The kit parts are pretty straight
forward and the 6 pages of instructions cover the assembly process in a clear
and easy to follow way. The instructions include paint codes in Humbrol,
Model Master and Revell colours.
There are one decal option of a
RAF Folland Gnat F.1, Southhampton in 1957 in grey/green camo and a Folland Gnat
F.1, the first Gnat of the IAF in 1957. The RAF aircraft uses a longer
canopy and the Indian aircraft uses the shorter canopy.....both types are
included in the kit and you get 2 of each type of canopy.
The decals are very clearly
printed....not too thick...not too thin and of good colour coverage.
In 1/72 you are dealing with tiny,
tiny model kits but this kit goes to great lengths to provide cockpit and
exterior detail
that will impress any modeller.
This is a great looking little
aircraft kit and is sure to be of interest to modellers with a passion for
British aircraft. If you build British aircraft, then a Gnat should be
part of your collection. You can buy this Pro Resin kit
directly from Olimp
Models.
Steve
I would like
to thank Olimp
Models for
sending me this review sample.
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