Those of you that remember the Gnat SKGB may recall that it was my intention to build a flight display of two aircraft by utilising an SM Silk decal sheet and an Airfix Dogfight Double stand liberated from a Spitfire/Bf110.
And this was how far I got.
Unfortunately the canopies crazed slightly, possibly from some odd reaction with the Clearfix but removal and cleaning with a cotton bud got them clean and clear again.
Today I reattached the canopies and masked them off before giving the models an undercoat.
OK, they now look more like blackjacks than yellowjacks but black is a good base colour for yellow (plus I had a spray can to hand). I wanted one of the Gnats to be the lead aircraft, so some masking on the fin was necessary to leave a black identification panel. Then it was time for the finish colour.
For this I chose Tamiya X-8 (lemon yellow), nice and glossy and a good looking match for my references.
Now, as many of us know, yellow can be a bit of a pig to paint so it was fingers crossed. Mixing the paint with the correct amount of thinners was a little difficult and I eventually ended up with a rather thinner mixture than I normally like. Not discouraged, I set about building the colour up gradually. With two models on the bench this wasn't so difficult, with one model getting a few minutes for the paint to set while I applied a coat to the other. After about three coats each this was how they looked.
Unfortunately, at this point, I ran out of paint
. But, on the bright side, I'm planning a trip to Cardiff on Saturday and I always visit the model shops (don't we all) with a list of paint and supplies wedged securely in my wallet, and the X-8 has been duly added so more progress will follow in a couple of days.
