Price: around £11.99 GBP (Apr 2013)
Review by Geoff Coughlin
Our thanks to Revell for supplying our review sample. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit www.revell.eu or email ukbranch@revell.de
A little bit of inspiration here…
A little bit of background
Completely unmistakable in shape and design – nothing else ever seemed to look like it before or since! The Fairey Gannet was a British carrier-borne aircraft of the post-Second World War era developed for the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm (FAA) by the Fairey Aviation Company. It is a mid-wing monoplane with a tricycle undercarriage and a crew of three, and double turboprop engine driving two contra-rotating propellers.
Originally developed to meet the FAA’s anti-submarine warfare requirement, the Gannet was later adapted for operations as an electronic countermeasures and carrier onboard delivery aircraft. The Gannet AEW was a variant of the aircraft developed as a carrier-based airborne early warning platform.
The Revell Kit
This isn’t a new-tool Fairey Gannet but that doesn’t matter, it’s good to see it back! What you get is a well-tooled model that’s current in terms of approach and breakdown. Revell has re-released a model first released in 2007 and is moulded in grey plastic. Read on to find out more about what’s actually included…
Box and contents
Revell persist with rather flimsy boxes that are doubtless cheap to produce yet somehow manage to protect the contents although prove less useful during construction. Having said that, the artwork is usually impressive enough and the one on this box shows a Gannet T.5 on coastal patrol.
So what’s inside…?
The grey sprues are packaged well and no damage is apparent. Taking the main components first, they are well tooled, recessed panel line detail and having a quality feel, if a little brittle. No distortion was apparent and a dry fit of the main fuselage sections offers a reasonable fit although some re-scribing will be almost inevitable given all the detailed panel lines around the joins. Some flash is apparent on a number of smaller parts and you can see this in the accompanying photos
The cockpit looks busy enough with reasonable seats and detailed internal side instrument panels for the scale with decals provided on the sheet for the main instrument panels.
You can see the manufacturer’s photos of their completed model in the Gallery Grids included with my review and I for one think this model looks every bit a Fairey Gannet T.5
Weapons and stores
You don’t really get anything in the way of weapons and stores although the bay is well detailed and will look good when weathered.
Undercarriage sprues
The wheels bays and main gear units are pretty decent and it’s good to see that they are well detailed here.
Clear parts
The clear parts look clear and the canopy portions are separate allowing you to display your model with canopies open. The parts are clear and no defects apparent.
Instructions and decals
The decals look to be good quality – certainly good subject choices, you won’t be able to miss your Gannet model on a display table! Stencil detail is also provided and is almost always well worth adding, even in 1:72 scale to add additional interest to your completed model, but I suspect you’ll have your own views on this. All the colours are in register and colour density looks impressive and carrier film limited, so I wouldn’t expect any problems with application.
Conclusion
This is a great subject should sell well again this time around and be popular with modellers, especially those that have an interest in all things Royal Navy, Fleet Air Arm or just quirky! The inclusion of bright Day-Glo colour schemes on Revell’s decal sheet is great and of course the model itself looks to be well engineered at first glance and from the dry/test-fit. Moulding is good and the panel detail perfectly reasonable for current 1:72 scale kits.
Recommended for all scale modellers
Geoff C.
SMN Quick summary Star rating out of 5
| FEATURE | STAR RATING (out of five) |
|---|---|
| Quality of moulding | **** |
| Accuracy | **** |
| Instructions | *** |
| Decals | **** |
| Subject choice | **** |
| Overall | **** |