WolvoWill

They carry the Litening II targetting pod sometimes - in a different place to the RAF Tornados targetting pods though. Luftwaffe jets carry it on the right (rather than the british's left) side fuselage pylon, and on the centre mounting point rather than the front one one. I believe they also have GBU-16s (1000lb Mk83 bombs with a Paveway II guidance kit) as well.

4x 1500 litre tanks is a valid load The 2x 2250 and 2x 1250 litre configuration is valid as well but is VERY very rarely flown as the jet handles like a real pig with that much extra weight and drag. With 2x 2250s filled up its already severely g and performance limited until some of the fuel is burned off, so add more and you have one seriously slow Tornado that can't turn to save its life! I recall this full fuel tank configuration being referred to on PPrune as 'Hippo' fit! If you're using the 1/48 Italeri IDS kit its worth noting that the supplied fuel tanks are undersized, quite noticeabley so in my view (another Tonka resin upgrade thats been missed, lets hope Hobbyboss get it right!). The ones supplied in the 1/48 Italeri ADV kit are larger and more accurate, but getting 4 of them will be a job!

I was wondering if anyone had any 1/48 pilot figures from the Airfix Tornados they wouldn't mind trading/selling? As I build all of my models wheels up yet sadly these days very few kits come with pilot figures....

Nice start - have to say I do like the Hobbyboss Hornets, not accurate but close enough for my liking, and they together very well indeed. I think they get a bit of a bad press based on the US pricing - for folks in America it seems to cost even more than the more accurate Hasegawa kit, but over this side of the pond it can be had for a good £10-15 less than the Hasegawa offering!

Looks nice Mike! If airfix had a go at making a gnat in 1/48 i'd be made up, not sure i'm ready to face the aeroclub kit, gd as it is, and finding one is another thing entirely! What size are the roundels in mm? Can check the spares bin for you if you want, see if i have anything better...

Looks great Mike, are you glad you persevered with it rather than binning it yet?

About a week! :-)

Mine turned up today, having ordered from Academys ebay outlet. Been busy with a job application so not even opened the bags yet, but its a truly awesome looking kit in the box. The decal sheet is comprehensive and comes with options for every Raptor unit going at the moment - none colourful, but nice to have the variety all the same! Cant wait to build it!

Gotta love the menacing sounding acronyms dreamed up by Eurofighter PIRATE = Passive Infra Red Airborne Tracking Equipment CAPTOR = Not sure what it stands for but its the RADAR CAESAR = The proposed AESA version of CAPTOR... Think there was a couple more silly sounding ones for very sensible bits of kit, am sure Bobski knows more!

Check out the US Army's RC-12 Guardrail ELINT aircraft for a King Air with even more antennae!

Heard a similar tale from a bloke I randomly met at work a few months back - sold the guy a car battery! He was a techie at Odiham on Chinooks but was shortly to train at Waddington on these things. Will perform a similar if more advanced role than the Defender, which whilst fine for operations in Iraq, is a poor hot and high performer and thus unsuited for operations in Afghanistan. He said there was something of a tug of war between AAC and RAF over who'd get to operate the Shadow - the RAF have experience of maintaining pressurised aircraft, whilst the AAC don't, so the Shadow ended up going to the light blue, though in terms of the way its used operationally expect a mix of personnel from the services to be involved in crewing it. Looking at the aerials on this new machine I'd say its clearly a much more advanced platform than the Defender, extensive datalink and comms fit methinks!

They're block 52s not 42s, and yes, they will have the heavyweight undercarriage

Since it won the poll thus far....it'll be the 111 squadron jet!

Possibly 3! May change my choices to do something different though, there's so many nice F3 schemes a bit of variety for the group build would be good. You all doing it in 1/48 and using the MA decals?

I'm building one of my F3s with a typical combat escort/CAP loadout which means in addition to fuel tanks it carries a Phimat chaff and flare pod under the right wing and a towed radar decoy pod under the other. I have read that the TRD pod is a modified BOZ-107 chaff/flare pod, but I haven't seen any photos of it yet. Any photos of the rear of the pod or guidelines on its colour would be most useful! Obvious rules about OPSEC apply, I don't expect detailed drawings or anything...just something to go on so I can modify a BOZ pod to match

Alright folks, in my possesion I have two 1/48 Italeri F3 kits, but lots of decals, so the decision of which aircraft to model is a tough one. Firstly I have decided to do a line jet of either 111sqn or 43 squadron, in the current medium grey scheme, to represent the surviving F3 squadrons in their operational roles. Both will feature nice looking markings but overall will still look a bit grey, so for my other F3 a bit more colour would be appreciated. The other aircraft I am yet to decide - I have lots of nice Tornado markings but only one 'spare' kit, so the choice is yours.... Option 1 - ZG772 of 56 squadron, RAF Leuchars, 2005 airshow display scheme - http://www.airliners.net/photo/UK---Air/Pa...o-F3/1416802/L/ Option 2 - ZE734 of 111 squadron, RAF Leuchars, 2007 Anniversary Scheme - http://www.airliners.net/photo/UK---Air/Pa...o-F3/1394194/M/ Option 3 - ZE339 of 56 squadron, RAF Leuchars, 2000 airshow display scheme. I could also use these decals to do ZE735 (which unlike the first aircraft underwent the CSP and is still flying) with a little bit of modification - http://www.airliners.net/photo/UK---Air/Pa...o-F3/0548941/M/ Option 4 - ZH553 of 56 squadron, RAF Leauchers, line jet prior to retirement. This jet was withdrawn from use last year as it has a stress fracture somewhere in the wing box and was ferried to RAF Shawbury to go into storage as it was beyond economical repair - http://www.airliners.net/photo/UK---Air/Pa...o-F3/1056525/M/ Option 5 - ZG757 of 43 squadron, RAF Leuchars, the black tailed anniversary jet. Scrapped in summer 08 as it had reached the end of its fatigue life! Tail now on display outside the 43 squadron ops room - http://www.airliners.net/photo/UK---Air/Pa...o-F3/1342846/M/

Got myself 2 copies at Telford...would be rude not too

Having spoken to Jonathan Mock and Trevor Snowdon at the show today, i can say that the Sea Vixen is definitely coming, but the Vulcan is far from certain - the 1/48 example on display at Telford is an Aeroclub example they are using merely to guage interest! :-)

First up, Revells superb F-15E Strike Eagle in 1/48. Decals from Twobobs 'da heath' sheet, other add ons include the 500lb JDAMs and Sniper pod from Shawn Hull, LGBs, 2000lb JDAM and the Lantirn nav pod from the Hasegawa weapons set, and the Wolfpack designs F-15E update set. Slightly disappointed with the paintwork on this, turned out a bit dark . Brush painted with Revell enamel 'Gunship grey' which turned out horribly light and matt, until I put the first coat of future on it upon which point it went really dark! Doubt I'll use this paint again... Next, the Revells 1/48 F/A-18F Super Hornet. Not as good a kit as the Strike Eagle, with the engine intakes and nose section proving particularly bad in terms of fit. Surface detail is a bit shallow for brush painters like me too . Decals are from Afterburner, with this jet done up as the CAG jet from VFA-154 'Black Knights'. The black/red tails were masked and painted with Halfords car paints - I did the black first with the red fin tip, but upon applying the red decals to the fins they looked a bit pink as the colour density wasn't good enough, so off they came and I painted the red over the black and added the 'N' and 'G' letters from a Superscale decal sheet. Fuel tanks from Royale resin (excellent if rather heavy castings), pilot figures from the spares box... Last up, Airfix's 1/48 Jaguar GR1, as 'Johnny Fartpants' from the Gulf War. Built straight from the box with the addition of Shawn Hulls CBU-87 cluster bombs and Model Alliance decals. Quite happy with how this turned out, with the weathering and paint chipping effects. All constructive criticism welcome...one day I'll get a better camera!

Just got the Fitter myself, albeit the M4 version! Not a bad looking kit, much bigger an aircraft than I expected too. The fuselage halfs on my kit are horribly warped though the rest of the kit is fine - any such problems with yours?

I like the look of the Sentinel, would like to build one myself. Mattie, I've actually seen the ops room collection at Waddington (I visited the int cell and ops sometime last May) and I noticed the gap with regards to more modern types so the addition of the Sentinel would surely help. The 1/48ish one appeals though, how much are they available for or are they a 'corporate clients only' affair?

I see the TSR2 probably ending up like the F-111 is now with the RAAF. ... Namely, old, expensive to operate, but with excellent range and payload capabilities that, for the deep strike role at least, would probably make it exceedingly difficult to replace as in that role it would still be hard to beat. TSR2 would have been a good long range deep strike aircraft for sure, but I can't see it being much cop as a fighter or CAS aircraft due to poor visibility from the cockpit and maneuverability. I reckon it'd have soldiered on until the mid-1990s or so, maybe a couple of squadrons going on a bit longer, to be replaced by something less capable as a long range strike/bomber aircraft, but far more versatile. F-16 or Typhoon style. The last TSR2 in service I reckon would've been a dedicated reconnaisance variant ala the French Mirage IVR, with lasted until 2000 I think.

If its the VF-102 boxing its decals are definitely for an F model jet! Think VFA-22 was the only unit to have flown both single seat and twin seat jets during the same time period, and that more by chance than intention! Not sure on the MFD decals - though from a distance (and certainly when you consider scale) some screens will look very black and dark even when switched on, it just depends what menu has been selected by the crew for the displays, so you can mix and match the MFD decals to your hearts content between front and rear cockpits as the menus are fully selectable and can be configured completely independently front to rear, and from each other. I'm building one of these as well, going to do it as the VFA-154 'Black Knights' CAG jet loaded with JSOWs, AMRAAM, AIM-9X and a couple of fuel tanks from Royale Resin! This is my Hornet of choice... http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Navy/...uper/1335318/M/

One note - if you're concerned about an accurate loadout then the GBU-24s can't be loaded side by side, and must be 'staggered' with one on the front pallet and another on the opposite side rear station 'in the tunnel'. Whilst the weapons do physically fit side by side, in either front or rear positions, the airflow pattern when loaded in such a way means they won't separate cleanly with resulting consequences for the aircraft and safe delivery of the weapon!

In 1/48 the old Revell/Monogram kit is supposed to be quite good, in terms of shape and detail, so if you can get it cheaply it may be a nice alternative to the Hasegawa. Its unlikely to go together as nicely though!