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airfixteen

Thomaswiers build will be reported here!

Good Luck and Enjoy
_________________
You must listen to what the baked potato say.....

Luke

thomasweir · Posted: Mon 31 Mar 2008 13:19 pm Post subject:

Hi all

As I am part of the harrier group build I will be starting once the harriers are complete.

Going through the stash I have the following in 1/72 waiting to be built.

Jaguar GR 1
Jaguar GR 3
Tornado F 3
Tornado Gr 4
Tornado GR 1
Hurricane 1
Spitfire 1A
Hawk 1182
Lightning F 3

I am going to try and not to repeat anybody else's build so will most probably plump for the Tornado GR 1 in 45sq marking (thats if the decals make it). If I have time I have the Airfix Club Spitfire thats burning a hole in the model bench to do.

thomasweir · Posted: Sat 05 Apr 2008 19:55 pm Post subject:

Will be building the tornado once the harriers are complete

thomasweir · Posted: Mon 21 Apr 2008 14:37 pm Post subject:

The harriers will be completed this week so I'll get cracking pre-painting the pilots and other stuff on the tornado.

thomasweir · Posted: Mon 21 Apr 2008 22:50 pm Post subject:

Here's what I will be building. Decals look shot though. Not bad for £1 though.

thomasweir · Posted: Sat 26 Apr 2008 13:12 pm Post subject:

Started painting cockpit, pilots and fiddly bits on the sprues. Will make a determined effort this weekend to glue some of the fuselage together. Pictures to follow.

thomasweir · Posted: Tue 29 Apr 2008 00:08 am Post subject:

Started basic assembly - building bombs, wings fins etc should be assembled by the weekend.

thomasweir · Posted: Sun 11 May 2008 17:35 pm Post subject:

the progress so far

Canopy is still to go on. A few touch ups and radome painting and hey presto decals to finish.

I obtained the kit second hand and some of the smaller parts are missing or damaged hence the closed air brakes and lack of a nose probe at present.

thomasweir · Posted: Wed 21 May 2008 10:32 am Post subject:

Canopy is painted now. I am going to display it in the open position as the nav's head is too big to allow it to be closed. Masked the areas for painting the metallic areas of the tornado. Wing roots, drop tanks and ECM pods still to detail and paint.

The Kit only has the weapon load from its previous 83 incarnation namely dumb iron bombs. As I have only restarted modeling in the past 6 months I don't have a weapons cache to hand to add JP233 etc.

The model will be detailed as a late eighties 45Sq Tornado

thomasweir · Posted: Tue 27 May 2008 15:07 pm Post subject:

Hurrah its finished

I said it would be a late 80s 45 Sq but looking at my refs and the decals I had its an early 80s TWCU pre 45Sq beast

AIRFIX TORNADO GR MK 1 04027
TWCU 1982/83

REF USED:

World Air Power Vol 3
Airplane Part 24
SAM Vol 9 Number 8 May 87

Kit used was the Heller owned re issue (91?) with no up dates since its first 1983 incarnation meaning no new weapons or decals. The tail fin is still based on the MRCA prototype.

The model was built out of a rather crushed box and depicts a Tornado GR MK 1T ZA541 of the TWCU around 1982/1983. The actual aircraft was delivered in 1981 without the laser range finder. Batch 3 Laser equipped Tornados were delivered around mid 83 to both the TWCU and IX Sq (the first operational squadron) so when the laser range finder was retro fitted I don’t know. From 1984 the TWCU was also designated 45 Reserve Sq with the addition of 45’s sq emblem replacing the RAF roundel underneath the cockpit – the roundels migrating to the air intakes. The Kit only has the decals for the 81-83 periods.
The real aircraft was later converted to GR MK 4 and operated by 31 Sq in Germany and later at RAF Marham.

The Kit went together well. It’s the first Airfix Tornado I’ve built.
As the kit was second hand some of the smaller items had been lost off the sprues with the result that some of the aerials are missing. The pilot tube is also on the small side.
I couldn’t get the canopy closed over the Navs head so that is why it is open. Unfortunately the superglue has fogged the rear of the canopy and my canopy masking at 3am in the morning isn’t the best.
Another error is placing the RAF roundels under the cockpit too high.

Apart from some minor misdemeanours it doesn’t look bad from a couple of metres away!