This
is the 32nd scale Revell Tornado Gr.1. Nice delicate surface detail. Kit
seat and cockpit detail look relatively good but I still decided to go
with the Paragon Designs resin seats – these are really quite stunning.
I added a bunch of detail to the basic kit cockpit as everything is so
visible with the canopy open.
I
also decided to present the aircraft in “everything down” mode –
this meant purchasing the Paragon Designs flaps and slats set. And so the
work began. Hacking away the kit flaps and slats took a fair bit of time.
This was followed by thinning the trailing and leading edge surfaces and
installing slivers of plastic card between the upper and lower wing halves
to provide the correct spacing. The insert for the slats posed the most
problems in that it was not too clear from the instructions as to how to
install these. Many hours of sanding, shaving and trial and error later,
these were in place. The full span double slotted flaps are quite flimsy
and were attached just before completion of the model. All in all, the
Paragon flaps and slats set adds a lot to the finished product. The
Paragon set also provides decent replacement wing/fuselage seals – the
kit parts look really anemic. Resin parts were primed with Tamiya gray
primer prior to final painting.
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No
intake trunking is provided in the kit, so I added this using thin plastic
card. A bit of a waste of time because the compressor face can only be
seen if one sticks a torch into the intake. The exhausts are well
replicated in the kit and once assembled and painted a sooty black look
the part.
The
rest of the assembly went by without too many problems.
I
decided on a GR.1 in the original RAF green/grey scheme. The painting posed
it’s own set of problems – I could not match the grey – I think I must
have applied at least 4 layers of various XtraColour and ModelMaster grey mixes
before I found a 20 year old can of Humbrol 5 Gloss Grey – perfect match!
The
green used was XtraColour X116 (Vietnam
green). Both colours were toned down a bit with about 10% white. Lots of
masking was required prior to painting the multitude of various natural metal
areas, avionics panels and antennae.
After
two years of on and off building, I finally got to that most dreaded moment
I’m sure all modelers experience – decals. Especially when you know
they’re those horrible Revell decals – nicely printed, but as flexible as
cardboard. I initially thought I’d scan the decals and print them on proper
decal sheet. The problem is that the decals are printed on blue backing paper.
So, clever me, using photoshop I converted the blue background to white –
problem solved! Wrong! The background when printing would be white (and not
transparent) which would not be of much help especially on the various text
stencils. At this point I gave up and decided that I’d have to make do with
the kit decals. A test sampling on my trusty F-16 showed that copious amounts of
MicroSol didn’t do a thing to the decals – silvering everywhere. Time for
more drastic measures – I’d “glue” the decals to the model using Future.
Once the decals had loosened from the backing paper, the decal area was wetted
with Future and the entire decal dumped into a pool of Future, positioned on the
model and left to dry. Only warning – mop up the excess Future as this dries
solid and creates a nasty yellow blemish. Much to my surprise, the Future acted
like a decal solvent drawing the decal down into the panel lines. I found that
for this to work, a very thin layer of Future must be provided between the model
surface and the decal. There were still areas where some silvering occurred but
this was minimal and was hidden mostly through weathering with pastels. Although
the base paint was gloss, the areas on which Future was applied ended up with a
totally different sheen, so the whole aircraft received a layer of airbrushed
Future after which a semi gloss varnish was applied prior to weathering. I’m
not too concerned with long term yellowing of the Future as the paint scheme is
generally dark.
The
weathering itself took two days and destroyed one paint brush. I applied a dark
grey pastel onto all panel lines using a brush. Excess dust is blown off and the
remainder wiped in the direction of air flow to blend in with the surrounding
paint. Various panels were treated with dark grey or white patches using pastels
– this to simulate random scuffing and wear and tear. Lower rear area was
treated to lots of black pastel staining to simulate the various leaks which
adorn these aircraft. Several panels treated to subdued chipping using sharp
brush and Tamiya aluminium.
The
famous black stains on the vertical stabilisers care of the thrust reversers was
achieved by lightly spraying Tamiya X18 black. Final finish was Humbrol Matt
varnish.
Weapons
fit is standard consisting of two 1,000 lb LGBs, two 1,500 liter wing tanks, and
the outboard station BOZ dispenser and Sky Shadow EW pod. I used the Concord
Publications Tornado book as reference and noted several aircraft post Gulf War
1 using various combinations of desert pink tanks and pods. I thought that would
add a bit of interest to the subject so I painted the EW pod and one of the
tanks desert pink. Frustratingly, after much work on the Sidewinders, I found
that the rear fins interfered with the dropped flaps and I could not install
these. The flaps look like they’re in the correct position (using photos as
guides) so there must be some dimensional error between wing, missile and pylon!
That’s
it – another addition to the collection.
Malcolm
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