Eduard

1/72 Fairey Gannet 'Big Ed' For the Revell of Germany kit

Stock Number: 7250

Reviewed By  Rod Lees, IPMS# 10821

MSRP: $49.50 Website: www.eduard.cz This Item: catalog item First, many thanks to our friends at Eduard for designing and providing IPMS/USA this set. As usual, the quality is unmatched, and NOBODY comes close to their color etch. This "BIG ED" Eduard set consists of four individual sets: One interior with color PE and one standard detailing etch fret, (Set 73315), one set for detailing the flaps, (Set 72487), a fret with remove before flight flags, (Set 73008), and a Kabuki tape die-cut set for masking the clear parts and wheels (Set CX223). I started with the interior; the color instrument panels are all self-adhesive, and only in two cases did I require extra superglue to ensure they stayed in place. (The seat belts and a couple of smaller Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) panels needed the CA). The seat belts are color PE, and look great when installed into the seats. Power panels, radar and sonar displays are prominent and look good once installed. Much of the remainder of the fret is geared toward detailing the main and nose gear wells, and wheel well doors; each part fit well and added much detail to the original kit part. I particularly liked how using a ball-point pen formed the forward gear door cooling louvers into a realistic scoop shape.

Included on the fret are two exhaust assemblies. I removed them and used a propane torch to anneal them (almost burned one up but recovered). They rolled out nicely and fit well into their positions on the aft of the fuselage. Made a MAJOR difference in appearance!

The flaps were an interesting exercise; detailing is focused on the inner well, upper flap assemblies, and attachment arms. I tried to manufacture the etch arms from the instructions; They are mirror-etched, attached in the center; two arms, requiring you to remove them, fold and glue, then do the same with the second arm over the other one, making the scythe-shaped scissors for the fowler flaps (which extend far back and down in the deployed position). In the end, I was only successful in working one of these into place. More a fault of my ham fists, certainly, than the engineering. These attachment arms are a bit "fiddly", and I mis-handled two right off the bat, so much so they were not useable. I resorted to the kit clunky-bits fowler flap arms, which in retrospect were sufficiently sturdy to take my handling. The one successful set I was able to install are shown in the photos; as are the PE airfoil end caps for the outer flaps. Cool. The bomb bay has several PE trays installed within it, which I suppose are for sonobuoys. These fit well, and added a lot of detail for a little work.

After all this was completed, I installed the canopies and used the Eduard Masks. Here's where I had one problem; (NOT THE FAULT OF THE MASKS!)… the Micro mask appeared to attach itself to the canopies, or my primer ate through it. Either way, the results are seen in the pictures of the finished model in the form of etched opaque ovals in the center of my canopies; I recommend more kabuki tape instead of using liquid masking film. Ah, I feel the urge to polish with plastic polish for an hour on miniscule bulged canopies. Monkey screams. I will state this is the first time I've used wheel masks… major difference in appearance verses what I usually do with a small brush and thinned black paint. Worth their weight in gold, they are… As to the rest of the model, it was a straightforward build with no filler required; just a bit of persuasion with clamps and sanding sticks. After priming the whole thing (Metal is really picky about finishes without a primer coat…I used Rustoleum auto body primer) I sprayed the topside dark sea gray (Testors FS36081 Gray rattle can) and used British Sky type "S" from Modelmaster Acryl for the lower surfaces. I painted the spinner white and Red; don't know if it's correct because I lost the key sheet and don't know what color "M" is in the Revell line. Gloss Tamiya clear was used for an overcoat before decaling. I used the kit decals, which went on well, settling in without any solvents required. Final coat was Flat Tamiya clear… I had a bit of blushing on the flatcoat due to almost 100% humidity (rained here in Oklahoma over the weekend) but it doesn't look out of place. All in all an enjoyable build of an interesting, "odd yet cool" aircraft. The PE improved the kit immensely. Thanks again to Eduard for providing another marvelous PE master set, and to Revell Germany for a great kit to work with.