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Tornado F.3 ADV Upgrades (for Revell)


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Tornado F.3 ADV Upgrades (for Revell)

1:48 Eduard

 

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Revell gave us a new Tornado IDS in 1:48 to knock the ageing Italeri and the dubious Hobby Boss kits off the top, and have now tooled an ADV that British aviation enthusiasts know as the F.3, which was our interceptor for quite some time until the Typhoon took over in recent years.  Eduard's new range of sets are here to improve on the kit detail in the usual modular manner.  Get what you want for the areas you want to be more of a focal point.  As usual with Eduard's Photo-Etch (PE) and Mask sets, they arrive in a flat resealable package, with a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between.

 

 

Interior (49880)

Two frets are included, one nickel plated and pre-painted, the other in bare brass.  A complete set of new layered instrument panels and side consoles are the primary parts on the painted set, with new rudder pedals; ejection seat details; coaming instrumentation; sills; rear-view mirrors, and canopy internal structure also supplied.

 

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Zoom! Set (FE880)

This set contains a reduced subset of the interior, namely the pre-painted parts that are used to improve on the main aspects of the cockpit, as seen above.  Whatever your motivations for wanting this set, it provides a welcome boost to detail, without being concerned with the structural elements.

 

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Seatbelts STEEL (FE881)

In case you don't already know, these belts are Photo-Etch (PE) steel, and because of their strength they can be etched from thinner material, which improves realism and flexibility in one sitting.  Coupled with the new painting method that adds perceived extra depth to the buckles and other furniture by shading, they are more realistic looking and will drape better than regular brass PE.  As well as the two sets of crew belts, you also get a set of leg-restraints and the pull-handles between the pilot's knees that gets him out of there in case of an emergency.

 

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Exterior (48943)

This larger bare brass set contains some important upgrades, such as delicate new afterburner rings; wing-seal details; reversing bucket ribs and mechanism details; spoiler and spoiler bay parts; aileron bay details; air-brake interior skins for bay and brakes; fuel tank fillers; a new set of vortex generators for the tail with an attachment template and a number of grilles for vents etc.

 

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Undercarriage (49881)

Consisting of two frets, one of which is nickel-plated and painted, the other in bare brass, this set comprehensively details the gear bays, which are quite cavernous and boxy.  The painted fret contains equipment boxes, while the bare fret is structural in nature.  The main bay is skinned with details for the most part, with strips for in between each rib; boxes that fold up to add missing detail; gear leg parts including data placards and brake hoses.  The nose gear bay is similarly bedecked, and the gear leg gets the same treatment, improving realism immensely.

 

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Masks (EX574)

Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with a full set of masks for the canopy, with compound curved handled by using frame hugging masks, while the highly curved gaps are in-filled with either liquid mask or offcuts from the background tape.  In addition you get a set of hub masks for all the wheels, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort.

 

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Masks Tface (EX575)

Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with everything above, but also give you another set of canopy masks tailored to fit the interior of the glazing so that you can paint the interior and give your model that extra bit of realism.  I'm quite excited to try these out, as canopy interior detail makes a big difference to a model IMHO. I guess Tface stands for Two Face or something similar?

 

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Review sample courtesy of

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