Folland Gnat T.1 Cockpit
Detail Set for the Airfix Kit

Pavla, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Mark Davies

Eduard's BRASSIN 1/72 GBU-10 Paveway I are available online from Squadron.com

Pavla offers an extensive range of resin seats, detail and conversion sets, and vac-form canopies. They often offer different degrees of enhancement for the same kit; which I think is a most welcome approach. This set offers a full cockpit, but if you wish, you can also purchase just the ejection seat, (S72075), or separate canopy (V72109) which has only just been released, and not yet listed on Pavla’s website.

The resin parts come packaged in a clear blister pack, cushioned by foam packing, and attached to a card header. Two small folded sheets of instructions are also inlcuded. The instructional diagrams are well drawn and quite adequate to guide assembly. They have generic colour call-outs that help with painting, but I suggest using reference photos of the real thing as well. What little text there is in Czech and English.

The detail set is intended for the recently released Airfix Gnat T.1 kit. Roger Hardy’s build article of this kit was featured here on HyperScale in October last year. I have seen a friend’s copy, and whilst the cockpit detail is reasonable, it can clearly be bettered by an aftermarket detail set.

The resin parts consist of a cockpit floor with rear bulkhead, side consoles, ejection seats, instrument panels with coaming, and control columns. No rudder pedals are provided, perhaps because these would not be seen within such a small cockpit. The floor includes a bulged section that provides room for the retracted nose-wheel on the real aircraft, and this has internal structural detail that will be visible within the model’s wheel-well. 

The set has good quality castings that will be easy to remove from their pour stubs. The kit’s front cockpit coaming and sidewall detail needs to be removed for the resin parts to fit; but this should be easy enough to do. An acetate sheet with the outline of the rear cockpit’s internal blast screen is provided to cut out and curve to shape, although this was missing from my review sample.

Detail levels are a big improvement over the kit parts, and generally good for the scale, but the just released vac-form canopy is really needed to make the most of them. It is perhaps a pity that this set does not include the canopy, as many Pavla cockpit sets do come with canopies included.

Pavla does a good job of offering a simple to use cockpit sets that instantly improve their intended subjects. Sometimes other brands may offer more elaborate cockpit sets; but Pavla’s formula of simple assembly suits many 1/72-scale build requirements.

This is a good quality, simple and easy to use cockpit set and canopy; it is just the thing to dress up your Airfix Gnat T.1. I happily recommend it.

Thanks to Pavla Models for the review sample.

Review Text Copyright © 2015 by Mark Davies
Page Created 31 August, 2015
Last updated 31 August, 2015

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