Hooray - The AEW3 Gannet is finally finished!

Ken Withey picked this kit up for me from the Alley Cat stand when he went to Telford last year so I have had this for 11 months now. It has sat languishing in the cabinet without legs, wheels and props while I contemplated what to do about building up two sets of propellers when what I had was two resin prop bosses and 8 white metal prop blades. I decided last week that I would cheat and use the props for a Trumpeter kit that I have lying here (it's the donor kit for canopies to replace the vac form ones in the COD Gannet that I still haven't finished - but that is another story. The more I thought about it, using plastic props would have been a cheat because I was either going to crack this resin thing or not - no half measures.

So, Saturday afternoon I sat down and had a go at the kit set up. Amazingly, it was quite easy. I am getting a bit more used to super glue now. However, I did fill in the gaps around the end of each prop blade when these should be clear - but I was pleased just to get everything in the right place. The resin canopies seem like a good idea. I framed them with painted Tamiya masking tape and then gave them a dunk in Klear to make sure that the tape stays on.

Anyway, this time I won't give you a list of all that is wrong. I know how many things there are and if you can spot them then kindly be quiet. I have made - AND FINISHED - a resin aircraft and I think that is a pretty good achievement. Anyway, here are the photos. Don't forget that you can double click and get bigger views - but that might not be a good idea - grin.

This one is for John Sillett - although this isn't the one he ditched in Singapore, it is one that he is listed as flying so that is something.

One last comment - it is stuck to the base - which is painted the colour of a Carrier deck - because it is a tail sitter. However, with a resin body, there is no space to put any weight in so there is not much you can do about it.