bushande Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 (edited) Hello everybody. It's been looooong since I last finished a model and this is my first serious try on a Tornado. Since I don't manage to build a lot models I always start a little world tour IF I get something done every once in a while and since I am sweeping through this forum anonymously for years now but never ever found the spine to actually put something up here I thought eventually this little Tiger Tonka would be a nice first entry. I know there are many Tornado specialists around here so please don't be too harsh with me. Maybe a little background first: In late 2010 the first squadron of the German Airforce's Fighterbomber-Wing (JaBoG)32 in Lechfeld / Bavaria, the 32-1 Tigers, conducted a design competition for the anniversary tiger scheme for 2011 and I was lucky enough to be among the first three awardees in that competition. Sadly the JaBoG-32 is due to be disbanded in 2012 or early 2013 the latest and with it also the 32-1 Tigers and the sister squadron 32-2 Monsters due to the financial cutdown in the German Forces. Hence this Tiger-Toni is very likely the final Tiger in a long line but will hopefully end in a museum next year. So I gotta say I am quite fond of that particular Tornado. Before I shoot off some pics of the model, here is the original and little me during a visit to the Lechfeld Airbase in Bavaria in early summer 2011 just after the NTM as a reference. And here is an impression of the 1/48 rendition: Edited April 30, 2012 by bushande Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushande Posted April 30, 2012 Author Share Posted April 30, 2012 (edited) Base for the build was the well known Italeri kit with all it's shortcomings but also most important advantage over the HB kit. It just looks spot on like the original (unlike HB and apparently even unlike the 1/32 Revell kit!) My opinion is, better have a less detailed kit but a correctly shaped one than the other way around. Details can be added with a little spit and time, a wrong shape can be a real pain to erase. In that respect the great HB-Tornado thread here on this forum was a real eye opener for me. So what went in: - Despite the great shape of the kit itself, the pylons are way off and needed to be reshaped to resemble the original. - The BOZ chaff dispensers may not be dead on the original but they come close enough to render a reshape a rather easy task. - I used a set of Aires nozzles and some Eduard etch parts to gain some more realism. - The cockpit and respective detailing is mainly scratch built. - Pilots are reshaped USN-Pilots from the Hase-Carrier set. - Of course some rescribing of panel lines along the rivets had to be done but no major thingy. - The tailerons received strengtheners and extra plates that are missing in the kit. - The pylons for the HARM missiles are scratch built as well and AIM-9's were replaced by IRIS-T's which received a glass eye. - Position lights were replaced by scratched clear parts and missing lights and antennas for the current German ECR version were scratch built and added to the hull. - I had to use quite some amounts of putty here and a lot of sanding had to be done on the wingroot and the winggloves itself received a little reshape as well but eventually it wasn't an all too big deal of work. - The biggest part of related work were the Tiger markings. Since there are no manufacturers yet for this scheme I made all decals myself. As I do not own a white printing ALPS-printer or the like I had to design all decals as a kind of full-body-condom but in the end I am not all too unsatisfied with the result. Here actually the correct shape of Italeri's kit showed all the way. After some thought I haven't used any vector graphics but high-res shots of the original as a base for the DIY-decals. There are some slight differences between the left and right side and I could only transfer these little discrepancies to the model by using photos rather than vector graphics. At least that was my thought. I could almost downscale shots of the tail and hull taken in a direct head on angle by 1:1 to the 1/48 kit. Even the major panel lines almost fit exactly with the demarcation lines on the original. Especially the tail fin is almost perfect. I also want to do that bird in 1/32 and realized that despite the nice detailing Revell did in 1/32, the 1/32 kit is completely off in its inner dimensions, particularly regarding the tail fin and the forward fuselage. The distance between vortex, plates and operating panels has nothing to do with the original. I am still not too sure how to proceed in 1/32. Split up the design for the decals in separate elements and adjust them to the 1/32 kit or actually more accurately cut up the kit and scratch build it closer to the original. Since it is said that the 1/72 Tornado is just a scaled down 1/32 Tonka I am afraid just scaling the decals down to 1/72 won't be all I need to do. I chose to keep the wings movable. Thus I made the wingseal bags flexible which goes way easier than doing that on a Tomcat. Here in zero sweep: At 45 degrees: And in full sweep: (Maybe here one can see the reshaped wing root and the closed wing gloves) The pylons and tanks were as I have to admit a little more complex, hence here are the biggest differences to the original but I can live with what little derivation from the real deal there is at least in my eyes. i don't know, maybe I will at last rework it alltogether in the end. For now I just leave it at that. You have to take a lot of material away from the kit to make the Aires nozzles fit but it is well worth it. Eduards etch parts just add to the realism and in my eyes are a must. Albeit one needs to be careful with the rake that connects the tailerons in order to keep them moving. I had to carefully sand about half of it away to make the resin engines fit but fortunately that didn't go in much disfavour of stability. The BOZ dispensers received additional winglets of thin metal sheet and the rear end was reworked to match the original a little more. Unfortunately many nice little features like the gag thrown against the "secondary" squadron 32-2 Monsters (Little monster begs: Tiger teach me how to fly) just don't come out as neat in 1/48 as they may in 1/32 but it's there on the original so has to go to the model too. Maybe the scratch built HARM racks can be seen quite o.k. from that persepctive. Italeri just offers two very thin plastic sheets that can't be used. HARM missiles come from the Hase-Weapons set. As stencils for the missiles are missing in the set I had to DIY these too. Well, as close as the Italeri kit may be to the original shapewise as much it just lacks in detail. As the canopy will remain closed most of the time anyways I chose not to buy any potential resin pit but rather do some scratch work here too. Guessing by what i know about the 1/32 resin pit I would have had to rework such a resin pit to up to date German ECR standards anyways so it would have been money flushed down the toilet for this Tonka here. The WSO's place was made up of three separate boxes and appropriately wired and the space behind the seat received some padding. All panels were sanded and rescribed. The Italeri seats were cut into pieces, rescribed and further detailed with some extra scratch pieces As said, the crew are actually old style navy pilots. Their HGU-33 helmets are a nice base for reshaping them intu the current Luftwaffe visors, which also received the obligatory tiger stribes for the occasion. If one looks closely the call signs of the crew can be seen written on the visors. The masks were also reshaped to rather resemble the current MBU-20 model. Both received the current design of the Tiger logo as a patch on the shoulder and both figures were repositioned a little more authentic than what Hasegawa offered, i.e. the pilot does all the work and the WSO gets chauffeured around. :D:D (Maybe one can also see that the antenna between the Tiger logos on the fuselage is not a decal as offered by Italeri but also more threedomansional scratchwork. Instrument panels were brought to the current standard with square LCD's etc. and the moving map of the WSO received some correction of its shape. A new HUD and additional gauges were added according to the original. The cockpit's frame was strengthend especially along the windshield and I tried to add as much detail as possible adding little data plates and maps. everything just fit almost perfect on the Italeri kit. Even the little plates just sat dead on. All I had to do was shorten the tail fin a tiny little bit and of course the fin root had to be sanded a lot sharper omitting Italeri's rather round form. I added further panel lines and rivets but just as said I rather spent some time adding details than wondering how to correct a wrong shape (HB!!!) If you compare the two sides of the fin you can see some little discrepancies regarding the Tiger and the NATO star. That is just an example of the many tiny curiosities, the original features. Makes it all the more interesting. The Base was made of an old pen holder. Aaaaaand eventually some full body pics to round this up: Auf Wiedersehen, enjoy and till the next Tonka! Edited April 30, 2012 by bushande Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintsPhil Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Great model of a great scheme! The Luftwaffe certainly know how to paint an aircraft! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Great work - that's always been my favourite of the many schemes the Luftwaffe has plastered on its Tornados Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POMPEO Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Amazing, the pilots are specially great... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Kelley Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Fantastic, really looks the part. I wouldnt even like to imagine the patience needed to put those decals on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbuna Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 What a stunning example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Wow, that's stunning. So much attention to detail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Saudi Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Outstanding work. You must be so pleased with the end result. Every credit to you and thank you. Jim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 That is cool, love the German Tornado specials Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeg Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Awesome I've got quite a few tornados in the stash including 3 special scheme kits but need to build up my patience before commencing i think. Well done again, a great model to look at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushande Posted April 30, 2012 Author Share Posted April 30, 2012 Many thanks to everyone for the nice credit. Happy you enjoyed that little fella. The DIY-decaling was a pain but as I mentioned, I'm quite emotional about this birdy. The sister squadron, the 32-2 Monsters also painted one of their birds in high-viz Monster colors. Maybe I can do the trick and put the Monster aside the Tiger? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AirfixAndy Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Tonka-tastic !! Hats off to you ..... Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AjD Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Love that scheme! Very nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bri48 Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Gorgeous scheme! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Very very nice indeed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goose Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 (edited) Stunning work, the germans know how to paint a jet, you should be very happy with your work and Edited May 1, 2012 by goose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushande Posted May 1, 2012 Author Share Posted May 1, 2012 Many many thanks again. Well, I'm at least relieved that it didn't go all the way wrong since it's the first time I've used self made decals and then already such a rather complex scheme. It was at least a good training with a high learning curve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plasticbutcher Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 In a word , WOW!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trpsarge Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danuleson Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Gorgeous Tornado! Very nice scheme you chose for the build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike DeTorrice Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Wow ..... an incredible effort on this astounding Tornado replica ! Certainly one to be proud of. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanDid Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 That is a stunning build, well done! Actually remember those powerful take-offs from the SEAD Tornados from an exchange back in 2002 and you have caught that powerful feeling. One of the planes 46+42 back then was painted as a monster, from the sister squadron you mentioned Cheers /Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Excellent job on the graphics! This must be unique! I still think the Italeri kit's nose is too long and slightly droopy, otherwise very good. I don't like the HB one either. Revell's is better but too short around the midsection and the fin is too swept and wide chord as a result. Not that it really matters! Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Wow! Great decals and in flight posture! Can you elaborate a bit about the aires exhausts, which are supposed to be for the hobby boss kit! Looks fantastic! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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