1:48 Fairey Gannet AS.4

The real subject

The Fairey Gannet AS.4 followed on from the first production form of the same carrier-based anti-submarine aircraft and differed mainly in the more powerful form of the coupled Armstrong Siddeley Double Mamba turboprop unit. That turned two contra-rotating propellers and one half of it could be shut down during sustained patrolling. The three members of the crew sat in separate cockpits one behind the other, and the load was carried in a weapons bay in the fuselage. Machines of this version reached service with the Fleet Air Arm in the second half of the 1950s.

What the set contains

This is a photo-etched set of metal parts for detailing a plastic model in 1:48 scale. The parts are held in the fret by thin tabs and are separated with a sharp blade. What exactly the set deals with and in what order the parts go together is described in the manufacturer's instructions. The particular item is set apart by the manufacturer code 491425.

Building and painting tips

Photo-etching is worked with differently than plastic, and a few habits will save a lot of searching for parts that have flown off.

• Cut on a hard surface with a sharp blade and hold the part down with a finger or with tweezers.
• Run the bends along the whole length at once, over the edge of a ruler or in a bender.
• Glue with cyanoacrylate glue drop by drop, and on larger areas with two-part epoxy.
• Degrease the metal before gluing and painting.
• Give the painted parts a primer intended for metal.

Who it is for

The set will appeal to modelers who are bothered by the thickness of injection-molded parts during a build and want to replace it with thin metal. It is an accessory to a kit: the model itself, the paints, the glue and the tools are not part of the delivery, unless stated otherwise.