FighterControl

Hi all,

A nice small project whilst on ship this time, have got my mits on the 1/72 Revell Panavia Tornado GR1 (04619) kit, plus decals from XtraDecal and the aftermarket nose updates from Freightdog!

So here's the kit



The sprues







Lots of lovely receased panel lines and details on this bird



And finally a screen shot of the decals - which I haven't got onboard, so ill be getting as far as I can, should be full assembly, but leave the tail off as it is going to be easier to decal when off!



Hope you guys join me for the ride, will be starting in the next day or so

Cheers

Steve

Watching this one as this is a future subject for me!
Arabest,
Geoff.

Great choice Steve.

Hi Steve

Can't wait to see your progress with this beast

Keep us all posted

Best regards

Patrick

Thanks guys,

Ok the build has started, abit of a mixed bag in the cockpit area, which I'll get to in a minute. First up the Bang seats - the kit seats have detail and moulded belts, but I wanted to scratch my own. So I laid out some Tamiya tape on plastic sheet (laminating sheets), and painted with various Tamiya colours



Next up the kit seat and reference photos, note the ejector seat activation handle is not present on the left hand side in the RAF version, so this was cropped off and 0.2mm wire used to create loop for centre of chair



Then I used a sharp knife to cut very thin strips of the painted Tamiya tape and assembled the seats. Come out rather well I think. No decals for the head of the seats, so I cut up the 2250 litre tank ones, as I won't be using this monster tank.





Next up the blanking off of the two gun barrels, Tamiya tape again used to prevent overflow and protect those panel lines. Also the side panels for the pit are very shallow, so I have opted for the kit supplied decals for the sides



The instrument panels however are very nice, so I will be painting these up next



So that's it, not much progress as we've had 4 to 5 metre seas to cope with today, hoping it stops being rough soon

Cheers

Steve

Hi Steve

Seems like a good start to me

5 metre seas

Think I will stick to dry(ish) land

Cheers

Patrick

Thanks again guys!

Well she's coming together quickly now - first up the cockpit is buttoned up, ended up going with decals on the lower instrument panel too, and to be honest it doesn't look that bad. FW more bits to add, such as control column and top of instrument panels, plus removing the centre seam





Elsewhere the rear end is built, tail together. As said earlier, I'm keeping the tail off until I've decalled it, but I've spent a lot of time sanding and dry fitting to minimise the gaps, so it should be a straight forward fit later



And then finally I had to add a window to both sides that the GR4 has, so here it is in three shots, my plan is to then reuse the same stencil when I spray later







Gun ports are now smoothed off, and I'm working on removing the join lines on the fuselage, then onto the fuel tanks and weapons!

Cheers for now

Steve

Hi Steve

Nice job there

Keep it up

Cheers

Patrick

Thanks Patrick!

Ok moment of truth as I joined the halfs together, a little sanding and dry fitting to get a good join, and voila, no filling required! A small amount of sanding and reriveting done



Then I fitted the engine intakes, I was cursing and swearing as they were too high



But then checking my reference photo again, I noted that they was infact true (photo copyright to RAF). Something I'd never noticed, and full credit to revell on this.



I've still got a small amount of work to do on the join, sanding and rescribbing, but she's coming. Whilst that is drying I've moved onto the starboard FLIR/camera. The kit part is very crude, but I've used the housing and scratched on the front area. Thy needs to dry before I fill and sand down. It is infact the front and small sections of an LGB from the kit!



The resin parts will go port side and centreline once I'm happy. Few small parts to start, such as fuel tanks and racks, plus undercarriage, but she's coming.

Thanks for looking

Steve

Hi Steve

More nice work mate

I had never noticed the alignment (or lack of) of the intakes until I saw your pic

Cheers

Patrick

Thanks Patrick,

Well things are starting to slow down now as I progress with the build, getting really close to spraying time!

Weight added to the nose cone, coiled lead wire and set in place with PVA glue



Fuselage pylons added and resin parts in place. I'm not sure what weapon load to give her on the belly yet, as I have no lightning pod, so I might have to scratch one.



Close up of the resin parts



And finally the wing tanks/pods. Upper two are the 1500 Ltr fuel tanks, then Sky shadow, and finally BOZ101 at the bottom



Job today is to get the cockpit finished off and sealed up! Just hope the weather drops off so I don't bump around so much, cheers for looking

Steve

Hi Steve

Looks like it's all coming together nicely

Best regards and hope you have a good supply of 'kwells'

Patrick

Thanks Patrick and Steve

Mark - yes this was the reason, lol. The decals came out about a month ago.

Well I've progress slowly, but got to a stage where I can't really do anymore without being home. The HUD is in place and painted with Tamiya clear green, plus the retracted fuel probe in place.



I've also opted for wheels up on this beauty, here with all the parts ready



The small slit cut into the belly is for an Airfix clear stand, which is rather nice. Here she is dry fitted and sitting pretty on the stand



A few small jobs left to do, such as masking up canopy, couple of small rescribes. But on the whole she is ready for the spray bay sometime next week! Still unsure of payload for the centre, may bit the bullet and buy a resin lightning pod.

Cheers for looking, comments always welcome

Steve

Hi Steve, great job so far, especially liking the job in the 'pit.

With the Litening pod, Hasegawa do a few weapons sets with one in(actually usually 3), but you will have to cut either the front or rear end off and rotate it 180 degrees to be correct for an RAF one. I have only ever seen RAF standard one's in the Olimp set's for the Typhoon and Tornado ( http://www.olimpmodelsgroup.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) which are around £15.99 in these gloriously moist isle's. Also, Freightdog do the TIALD pod, http://www.freightdogmodels.co.uk/produ ... vunzokulfm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and below that a nice weapon which you may find useful for this build..

HTH

7

Hi Steve

I am amazed that 'Airfix' still make that stand

My Kits from 1960 onwards always had the very same article as part of the kit

She's lookin' cool even pre-paint

Best regards as always

Patrick (ever so slightly green-eyed)

Thanks Guys,

Seven - thanks for the links, I might consider adding a payload in the future, I've got some 1/72 brimstone from Freightdog.

Patrick - it's the same one from the 60's, well I guess if it ain't broke don't fix it, it's a nice sturdy frame.

Mark - why not buddy! Ill let you know how this one goes (fingers crossed)

Cheers

Steve

Guys,

Just to let you know that I have forgotten about Shiny Two

She has had her coat of white primer and is sitting in the cupboard drying for the standard two weeks to let the primer cure and harden correctly, or atleast that is my excuse

Will be back on her once home

Steve

More progress -it's been a good day

Preshading done on the body and fuel tanks, I really thinned the black down 50/50 to get in close, and apart from a few mishaps (on my eagerness) it went ok



Then the tail - Gloss white X-2 applied, as can be seen from the transfer it only gives the black. I have a few small strips to paint black tomorrow before stencilling - these are the leading edge of the fin and the ECM box



Cheers

Steve

Hi Steve

Coming along nicely

Cheers

Patrick

Whoa - has it really been sat on my shelf 8 months! Well with the Swift F7 all finished and my modelling mojo slowly returning I have cracked on

First up I did the tail in gloss white and gloss black - then attached the decals - with a few problems - ie not big enough! Tail test fitted to a primed and preshaded body



Then I sprayed the body in Vallejo light grey which was thinned slightly to allow the preshaded through (that's the garage in the background oops)



Then I opted to step out of sequence for the wash - I did the body in Klear allowing it to dry and have applied the black Flory Wash - which I spent a lot of time then cleaning up as Shiny Two is reasonably clean. This is where I am at - few small paint jobs still to do, mainly the ring around the nose just forward of the cockpit - dry fit photo



Next up I am going to seal in the wash with Klear and put on the decals for the body and payload - then seal this with the Matt or satin coat. Once this is done I will mask up the spine and cockpit area to spray Gloss black and apply the decals to the spin. This should mean that I won't have to mask over any decals and end up with a Glossy spine and stain/Matt body.

But alas this will have to wait for three weeks as it is back to ship

Cheers

Steve