Fairey Gannet Cockpit set
for Trumpeter's 1/72 scale kit
 

Pavla, 1/72 scale

When I reviewed Trumpeter’s 1/72 scale Gannet here on HyperScale a few months ago, I commented that it looked very good but it lacked cockpit detail compared to their Wyvern.

Since then, I've had the pleasure of reviewing a nicely detailed weapons bay from FAA Models in the UK. Now, Pavla has released the most important improvement - a resin cockpit detail set.

I like Pavla's resin sets. They usually don't include photo-etched parts, which drive me mad, and they seem to put all their effort into maximizing detail in resin, which makes them easier to assemble compared to some other resin manufacturers. Their quality is as good as any others and it's normally reasonably priced. This set is up to that very high standard that we've come to expect from them.

This set includes floors, sidewalls, bulkheads and seats for all three offices and they are all beautifully detailed with all necessary equipment. There is also a resin control column supplied, but mine was broken and as they tell you to use the kit rudder peddles I guess I might as well use the kit stick as well.

Colour recommendations are picked out in the build diagrams using the ABC method which is common these days. I thought these aircraft had mostly black interiors yet Pavla recommend Dark Gull Grey for most of the surfaces. Scale effect perhaps?

My only other concern with this kit is the seat belts. Lap belts are moulded onto the resin seats and very nicely done too. However, there are no shoulder harnesses. I could not find any photos of the belts in a Gannet but surely they had shoulder straps, especially in the two front pits and there is no mention of them in the instructions like “Please scratch build them”. The rear seat has no back and can face forward or back depending on what the crew member is doing at any given time so it may not have had them but I'm sure the front would have. Oh well, a bit more research to do.

I'm not surprised that the after market people are onto this kit so quickly as its such a leap forward compared to the old Revell/Frog kit, and it is just crying out for someone to fill in the missing pieces. Well done Pavla

Highly Recommended