Folland Gnat F. Mk. 1 - Indian Air Force, Dec.1971

I built this model of the very unique Folland Gnat F. Mk. 1 using the elusive Aeroclub kit that came in a little bag. The kit is all of 6 injection moulded parts with a white metal seat and wheels (along with gear bay doors / airbrakes ) and a vacuform canopy. This kit is clearly not aimed at beginners with a lot of putty and sanding needed. I also drilled into the intakes to make them look a little more believable. The cockpit tub is another area that needs attention as it lacks any detail whatsoever. I carved out a little dashboard and some instruments and decided to keep it closed with a pilot seated to hide what's missing. 

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Having said the above, I think all the effort paid off well with the kit looking very convincing, at least to me, once done. The model has been painted in Alclad Chrome over a base coat of gloss black Tamiya Acrylic. The decals are from the DP Casper sheet on the '71 Indo-Pak conflict and went on without too much trouble. I scratch-built the wing mounted fuel tanks (I have hardly seen a Gnat without it.  Ajeets had wet wings and didn't always need them.) using some bombs from the spares box. I used stretched sprue for the long pitot tube on the wing. 

It is hard to quantify the role of the Gnat in the history of fighter design, but there is no denying that it was a revolutionary design far ahead of its time. The Indian Air Force was the only air arm that found it fit for what it was designed to do and helped develop it into a formidable dog-fighter. The aircraft played a stellar role in both the '65 and '71 wars and was termed the 'Sabre-slayer' by the Indian media for its many successful encounters with the more famous US jet. Hope you guys like my rendition and stay posted for an Ajeet in the future. 

Ratish Nair