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Revell 1/48th RAF Tornado GR1A.......


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General, all the GR1's I worked on had black matting fitted (was on 617,XV and 27 Sqns plus visiting jets!). Generally the RAFG jets were not fitted with probes as they didn't need them to get to the targets they would have gone for had it all gone belly up in Europe. However they were fitted for crossing the atlantic to the states and Canada. There was at one point what was known as the North American fleet whereby jets were selected from various squadrons and flown across to Goose Bay for several months to encompass the detachments to Goose and also Nellis and Cold Lake, These jets were fitted with refuelling probes and flown across by UK based crews who were current in AAR as the RAFG crews were not usually current (this all changed obviously in the run up to, during and since the Gulf War). It was always nice when the probe was fitted as you had somewhere to stand when cleaning the righthand side of the canopy!!

Good timing as I haven't started painting mine yet. Black it is.

Tom.

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No kettle but they did have a cassette player in the back! Made a few quid selling some navs their tapes back!!

Jag had a cassette recorder/player; IIRC the purpose was for the 2/41 recce guys to record their observations. It was never maintained on the attack squadrons and used to eat up the tape if there was an ill advised attempt to listen to a bit of stadium rock in the mach loop.......shame really.

Edited by Fritag
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I'm with wasacop on the floor colour...I seem to remember that once the Nav and Jockey had worn through the black it went to the undercoat green then silver...Damn jockeys could never keep their feet still...I think they should have gone to the loo first!!! ;)

Also I can have a look in ZA326 next time I'm at Bruntingthorpe and tell you what colour the floor is in there :) If it would help...It will probably be next weekend :)

Edited by Zone19
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I'm with wasacop on the floor colour...I seem to remember that once the Nav and Jockey had worn through the black it went to the undercoat green then silver...Damn jockeys could never keep their feet still...I think they should have gone to the loo first!!! ;)

Also I can have a look in ZA326 next time I'm at Bruntingthorpe and tell you what colour the floor is in there :) If it would help...It will probably be next weekend :)

It was the spurs fitted to the flying boots that did the damage!! (Think about it!!)

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OK fellas thanks for the replies as ever...nothing like getting a bit of a debate going and bating a few of these ex , 'it came orf in my hand I tell you' aircrew types.... :coolio:

Steve, I know , the days of stick and string long gone !....rumour has it the RAF A400M's will have a swimming pool and jacuzzi fitted and that the 'new' F-35 might even have a software package that actually works !...... but I'm not so sure ! ...Sort of envy those Blackjack johhnies with their microwaves, heated toilet and rest rooms for those quieter 'moments of reflection' before they unleash Armageddon on the unlucky opposition of choice !....wow where will it end ?

Yep black Wilton it'll be wasa and zone, glad it helps Tom too,

Rob...

I wonder if you will finish this before the blackaneer buckadder,

Very probably but then there's a bit more to do on that little fella...have faith, it's still on course, (what for I've no idea but it is !!), lots of boring scribing that's not worth posting about......

Steve,eh.....Jaguar,stadium rock, cassette players, Lycra figure hugging tiger stripe flying suits................don't tell me............def leppard.............no, ooohh suit yerselves, (in best Frankie Howerd style).

Zone, thanks, yep I'll go with black but if you could just have a ferret around in ZA326 I'd be most grateful old fruit...

Andy I'll do my best with the old beast....I've been following your build over on the SIG site and could well be requesting your assistance at some point as you and Shaun seem to have a fair bit of experience with these and other Tonka kits....

As for progress, none today I fear as it's been a day of rest ..........that's a joke as I was carted off to one of the memsahibs friends houses this am and ordered to repaint the bathroom and kitchen coz I was 'good at it'..........what they mean of course, is.....cheap.! I'll now brush all the sanding dust and emulsion out of my barnet and proceed to the departure lounge.....

Back to 'work' tomorrow,

Cheers all,

Melchie...


Thanks Scoots, more first hand confirmation very welcome .....

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Andy I would actually be interested in how you go about scribing resin as I need to scribe some right now and its harder to work with than plastic. Is a Tamyia scriber, dental tool and knife the way to go or is there a magic tool out there I don't know about.

Cheers Rob :)

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Great I will do mate and thanks. I sent you a reply , sorry its been all I have been working hard to get some stuff finished which I need to bring with.

Been busy but soon would be good.

I just need to locate some rigid steel Rod exactly 0.8mm but not been able to source it yet.

Cheers Rob :)

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Cheers Mate , ordered. Just to try and not drift the thread too much. This has made me inspired to get my 1/32 revell tornado off the stash. Tempted by one of the early RAF Tonkas with LAG undersides and early tail design.

Cheers Rob :)

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Cheers Mate , ordered. Just to try and not drift the thread too much. This has made me inspired to get my 1/32 revell tornado off the stash. Tempted by one of the early RAF Tonkas with LAG undersides and early tail design.

Cheers Rob :)

Rob...Try this one!!! ZA549

1188448_zpsc9b141c5.jpg

_57_zps13f8081c.jpg

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Rob...Try this one!!! ZA54

I actually have the decals for that one on the stash but in 1/72 However I plan to do the all black one with the saint on the tail that performed at airshows in the early 90s along with the hase 2 pack black jags. Lovely kits.

This is the scheme I have always loved reminds me of my childhood reading the how its done books which had photos of them in which I used to stare at in fascination whilst making matchbox kits from the newsagents with my dad and watching films on the telly after a sunday dinner. Great days.

p3.htm1.jpg

http://www.tornado-data.com/History/Prototypes/p3.htm

http://www.tornado-data.com/History/Prototypes/p_02_images.htm

P08.jpg

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Ewwwww 16 Sqn!!! Noooooooo!!! LOL

They were across the airfield from us in the late 80's early 90's....But you have to let the juniour and meanial Sqn's have some fun ;) hee hee

I'm the same as you Rob...That reminds me of a kid with the exploded diagrams as well :)

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Cheers Mate , ordered. Just to try and not drift the thread too much. This has made me inspired to get my 1/32 revell tornado off the stash. Tempted by one of the early RAF Tonkas with LAG undersides and early tail design.

Cheers Rob :)

Rob,

If I remember right the scheme you're tempted with would only be applicable to the prototypes/development jets! All the in service RAF jets were delivered in the wrapround scheme!

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Rob,

If I remember right the scheme you're tempted with would only be applicable to the prototypes/development jets! All the in service RAF jets were delivered in the wrapround scheme!

Yea the Prototypes. Seems there was a few of them I am not sure how many in this scheme I think XX948, 949, 950. I would like to know which exactly.

I see they had a larger roundel on the sides too. But the other decals might be tricky to come by.

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Looks green in this GR1 to me.....

tornado_cockpit_zpse0ea8ac5.jpg

Looks more like a repaired German jet (it's got 44+38 painted on the QRB)! Also got the anti-G hose fitted to the PEC as per the Revell seats! Edited by wasacop
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Cheers chaps...Spike not entirely sure but that looks like the green underlining that's been worn away by the drivers big size tens !!, though the rest does look to be a kind of dark green ....I've gone for faded black which will be pretty weathered, sadly not a lot will be seen of the floor once the gubbins is in added to which I might well close the lid in any case !......but thanks for the shot...

Yep, no probe on the RAFG ships, hopefully it'll look something like this, (photos by Hywel Evans over on Fighter Control)

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a530/HYWELEVANS/RAF%20Laarbruch%20Part%208/N1024x676_zpse18edc9a.jpg

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a530/HYWELEVANS/RAF%20Laarbruch%20Part%208/O21024x672_zps2a6d9d79.jpg

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a530/HYWELEVANS/RAF%20Laarbruch%20Part%208/H41024x672_zpsf0a7ced4.jpg

Blimey 3 pages and I haven't shown anything yet !.....rest assured I'm busy on the 'pit at the moment and will post photos when it's done. There are a few bits and pieces missing for a GR1A on the kit understandably, so once the basic cockpit is done I'll post piccies of the scratch built items...

Melchie...

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No kettle but they did have a cassette player in the back! Made a few quid selling some navs their tapes back!!

Funny to think the humble C60 was the hight of technology in the 80's. You could load the nav computer like a Spectrum or comodore 64, hi tech stuff!

Shaun,

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Well due to having to finish a few commercial projects which have those 'orrible things called 'deadlines' attached I haven't been able to get on with this one as quickly as I would have liked, but such is life...

I have managed to get a few bits and pieces done though,

The nose gun ports have been filled as the GR1A didn't carry these due to the space being needed for the reece equipment,

P1170002_zps6c054a2a.jpg

The flaps, these are interesting as Revell has chosen to mould them in such a way that they can be shown deployed or retracted using the same main lower section but unfortunately this results in an ugly long slot running along the width of the flaps. Easily dealt with using masking tape and Mr surfacer 500..apply, gently wet sand and remove the tape...no biggy.

P1160979_zps2cd4508a.jpg

Make sure you get all the parts the right way around....easy to get confused and don't rely too heavily on Revells instructions.........they aren't Revells finest moment ! more on this later....

P1160935_zps0a68479c.jpg

The wings are now finished and you can see where everything goes....

P1170026_zps8f03d152.jpg

I decided to follow Shauns lead and have a go at fitting the Aires gear bays designed for the Hobby Boss monstrosity. As luck would have it they fit pretty well only requiring some sanding under the bay floor, (had to be careful not to go through the now thin resin !) and the top of the engine pipes.....

Firstly the difference between the kit parts and the resin is amazing..light years apart, so it was an easy decision !

P1170024_zpsadfebe35.jpg

The only real issue is the gap between the sides of the fuselage and the gear bay floor...easily solved with scrap resin, (thanks Rob !) and extra rib detail to fit...

P1160975_zpsb416bf31.jpg

And the said gap, only noticeable underneath but must be sorted....

P1160995_zps6950de80.jpg

They really look the part when dry fitted too....

P1160996_zpsf05bad68.jpg

The kits nose gear bay detail isn't much better but unfortunately the HB piece is way too deep and has an odd squished appearance so I scratchbuilt the details myself adding various boxes and missing rib detail to the kit part...all that's needed now is the plumbing....

P1170003_zpse5d8170d.jpg

And here are all the bits after airbrushing light grey, (a very light grey, After looking at a lot of photos as well as the real thing I went for a mix of 80% Gunze USAF light underside grey and 20% LAG)...

P1170007_zps2bb3150d.jpg

Also managed to get the pit done using the Eduard set. I think these are a huge improvement on the kit parts and as the Tornados cockpit is so visible it really is a 'must have' as far as I'm concerned,

Extra detail including new throttles, flap actuator lever, undercarriage lever, HUD parts and a few prominent knobs and switchesSprayed using Gunze medium sea grey which works well in this scale....and washed with burnt umber oils and white spirit.

P1170017-001_zpsef63a183.jpg

And the dark floor matting material, added using cut pieces of ultra thin Plasticard sprayed with a mix of Tamiya NATO black, dark sea grey and a hint of RAF dark green....

P1170008_zps4d1fd8fc.jpg

The detail really adds to the effect of a busy cockpit...still lots to add...

P1170014_zps137622c5.jpg

The earlier Mk 10A seats have also been painted and a few extra bits and bobs added, air con pipes, placards,etc and just need all those extra straps and buckles added before being given a wash and a bit of post shading...

P1170022_zps260d3fc2.jpg

Cheers all, hopefully a bit more done soon when I get the time,

Melchie GR1A....

Edited by general melchett
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Amazed you actually got to sticking some stuff together with the amount you have on at the moment. Glad the Resin scraps are coming in handy I think you will be shocked how much scrap resin I have for you..

I am surprised that they have engineered the wings like that its not something I would expect from a standard kit, Nice touch

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