Finnish Air Force Folland Gnat F.1 GN-112 Special Hobby 1/72

Size comparison: clockwise from top left MiG-21UM, de Havilland Vampire Mk.55, MiG-15UTI, Folland Gnat F.1

Clockwise from top right: MiG-21UM, Folland Gnat F.1, MiG-15UTI, de Havilland Vampire Mk.55

Special Hobby 1/72 Folland Gnat F.1 No. SH72137 "Finnish and Yugoslav Service"

Camo A FiAF GN-101 'Kreivi von Rosen' summer 1971. Camo B FiAF GN-110 June 1970. Camo C YuAF old British camouflage. Camo D YuAF new camouflage.

This is a scale model I've wanted to build for a long, long time. Before this Special Hobby #SH72137 kit building a Finnish Folland Gnat F.1 model wasn't always easy in 1/72 scale, especially for this photo reconnaissance version. The kit is really nice and true to the original plane, despite that the original plane and thus the model are quite small in size it's reasonably easy to build, too.

Although not especially marketed or mentioned this Yugoslav/Finnish Air Force boxing has the optional photo reconnaissance parts included. Decals for the GN-112 were modified from kit decals and spare decal stash specials. Painted with Revell and Humbrol enamels, final clearcoat Revell Matt Enamel.

This model represents the Finnish Air Force Folland Gnat F.1 GN-112 on display at the Päijänne-Tavastia Aviation Museum, Finland - like it once was when the paint job was new. The original Gnat is unrestored and only slightly weathered, so it's quite easy to turn back time and imagine what the original British camouflage looked like back in the day.