WolvoWill

Guess what my favourite aircraft is... I could do with a better camera and intended to borrow my Dads, but then he dropped it whilst on holiday and is yet to buy another....so these pics will have to suffice for now! They're thankfully good enough All built from their respective Italeri kits, with suitable bits robbed from Airfix's Tornado (ALARMS for the GR4 and bombs for the Granby jet, and I also borrowed fuel tanks, outer wing and fuselage pylons and the like). Paint is humbrol and xtracolour applied with a brush, decals a hotch potch of Model Alliance, airfix and Xtradecal. Weathering a mix of pastels and Phil Flory's weathering wash - still getting to grips with using these and I'm not altogether happy, indeed all three jets could do with looking a bit cleaner in my opinion, but knowing when to stop comes with experience and practice I guess First up, ZA548 based at RAF Lossiemouth in early 2007, but still retaining full 9sqn markings.... Next is ZE791, an F3 of 111sqn at RAF Leuchars, early 2007. I really like their squadron markings, amongst the best in the RAF if you ask me, but the medium grey camoflage on an F3 will take some getting used too. Somehow it still just looks wrong to me Last up, ZD892 based at Muharraq for Operation Granby, 1991. Snoopy Airways/Helen noseart . Think I made her a bit dirtier than I should have done though, and lightening the paint (H250) would have helped here too. Weathering is somewhat overdone, but it looked a lot lighter until I matt coated it. All constructive criticism welcome - I feel my modelling hasn't improved much over the past few months and I'm just churning out models all to much the same standard, though of these 3 I think the GR4 is nicer as I made an effort to slow down and take my time over the painting compared to previous efforts. I think brush painting is holding me back, as the paint often ends up going on relatively thickly in order to have good coverage, and also the resultant finish is occasionally slightly uneven - thus using a panel line wash highlights this with some lines taking the wash better than others, which makes the finish less uniform than I would like. I still enjoy modelling a lot but find myself gettinf frustrated with some parts of the build, weathering in particular

Model Alliance do decals for the Goldstars jet in 1/48, but I've yet to see it in 1/32. Its a lovely scheme though, am pondering it myself for a future build (though the poor fit of the last set of Tornado markings I used from Model Alliance makes me nervous, and 'touching up' the edges of the decals would be hardest for the Goldstars jet when compared to any of the other anniversary aircraft). There was a guy on here (alas I forget his username ) who was having some decals custom made for a pair of anniversary Tornados though, and i think his chosen two were the 13 and 31 squadron jets...might be worth asking him? Might be able to reach some agreement on sharing the work/cost or whatever so as to obtain a sheet for yourself

I spray them with halfords grey plastic primer and stipple it with the end of a paint brush just after its been sprayed. Seems to look okay and the colour is acceptable too for the body of USN bombs.

Do an Israeli or Greek one I say gotta be the best schemes ever worn by the old Phantom and bound to brighten up any shelf. Lets you go a bit eccentric with the ordnance options too, if you do a Kurnass 2000 or Peace Icarus II jet for the respective countries. Popeye missiles anyone? Or maybe a Litening II and AMRAAM for the late spec Greek jets.....

MiG-21 seems an odd choice for a new tooling to me, given the Academy kit is actually pretty good IMHO, and a MiG-21 series is definitely not a sure-fire money spinner in the same way that say, an F-4 series would be. Their 'MF' boxing is actually closer to a Bis anyway, which makes me wonder - is it gonna be a new tooling, or the Academy kit reboxed with lots of resin and photo etched goodies?

Crikey, I thought I was bad... 1/48 Italeri Tornado GR4 - awaiting a canopy, final decalling and formation lights. Almost there! Expect photos soon(ish). 1/48 Hasegawa F-15C (got everything I need now that I managed to find the Afterburner decals Lakenheath sheet that I'd somehow managed to lose somewhere in the loft) 1/48 Eduard Mirage 2000D (stalled slightly, and everytime I pick it up to do more I dread doing something bad that can't be fixed, like ruining a canopy or something, as I know getting another one of these kits is bloody unlikely!) 1/48 Airfix Hawk 100 (to be built as ZA101, BAE Demonstrator, BL755s, a gun pod and winders - should brighten up the shelf nicely) 1/48 Hasegawa F-14D Super Tomcat - Awaiting a VF-Decals sheet and paint. Starting to wonder if it'll ever turn up though Brian seems a good guy and incredibly passionate about the subject matter VF covered, but somewhat over his head with trying to run his decal business alongside a full time job. I did have a 1/48 Italeri Gripen but dropped it and ended up binning it. Was severely lacking inspiration for it too really...can't help but feel the Gripen is a weedy looking thing! Next up will be a choice between another Tornado GR4 (medium sea grey this time), Monogram A-10, Typhoon F2 or the current favourite - Hobbyboss F/A-18D of the Green Knight squadron. Really looking forward to that

Looks a lovely build of a kit I always manage to completely ruin - always seem to have fit issues with the outer wing segments Always think the Beagle needs some weaponry to liven it up a bit, all over gunship grey has gotta be the blandest colour scheme ever invented....in the case of your bird though the subtle weathering helps break up the boredom though

Just wondering whether any of you folks have used either the Flightpath or Amraam Line aftermarket sets to make up the 1000lb RAF Paveway II laser guided bombs? The flightpath sets cost more and has lots of photo etched parts, which doesn't appeal much (I find a lot of PE difficult to assemble, and easy to break off/bend ). On the other hand Amraam Line is twinned as a company with Eagle Designs, and I wasn't very impressed with the GBU-16 bombs that came as part of their 'Bombcat' set which doesn't bode well either I need to get hold of 6 bombs (4 for a Typhoon and 2 for a Tornado) so am obviously keen to buy the better of the two sets! Am leaning towards flightpath at the moment, but all thoughts welcomed...

Ultra Electronics have been contracted to integrate the Rafael Litening III RD targetting pod, so that solves that one... No idea on the pylons though I hope they're included, and a different but equally comprehensive set of weapons would be nice (targetting pod and lots of enhanced Paveway II would be perfect, but I feel its unlikely). Decals wise I hope for markings for ZJ699, 17, 29 and 3 squadron amongst the British options. Oh, and I want it soon, if you're listening Mr Revell!

A Lightning is a worthy addition to any modellers stash IMHO - need to get one myself!

I have quite a few US Navy/USAF aircraft in the stash that I'd like to build fully loaded with GBU's, and have accumulated a fair number (probably excessive, truth be told) of weapons to hang off 'em when the time comes! One element of painting the weapons that fills me with dread is always the yellow stripes that ring them - especially on USN weaponry, where the bombs have an ablative coating which is fairly easy to simulate (halfords primer roughed up with the end of a small stiff brush), but this prevents putting decals onto the bomb as they won't conform to the rough surface very well, and masking/painting on the curved surfaces typical of GBU-12s and 16s doesn't sound like much fun either! Then some bombs have two, rather than one yellow bands, and its all getting rather tiresome What methods do you use? Any suggestions?

This Hasegawa boxing is from Telic, where as the Page 3 girl jets were Herrick (Afghanistan) so you guys will have to wait. Model Alliance are apparently doing them in decal form, but no announcement as to when yet In the meantime though, feel free to post some more pics of Lucy and Michelle

Don't think Rafale has AESA yet, rather it has a sort of halfway house, a 'PESA' configuration - this was a more ambitious and advanced design than the Typhoons radar, but technical problems with cooling and power requirements meant its probably less capable than the Typhoons more conservative design. The French are trying to sort out funding for an AESA variant (RBE2), but with the lack of export success for the Rafale so far they have struggled slightly thus far - some have suggested the French government may cut the number of Rafales they plan to buy in order to spend the money on development of the radar instead, so as to boost export prospects, and then upgrade their own Rafales later. AESA for Typhoon is already in the pipeline (CAESAR is the name they've got for it, standing for Captor AESA Radar), and is currently fitted to a BAC 1-11 airframe for trials. It is expected that Tranche 3 Typhoons will benefit from it, though theres nothing to stop them fitting it to earlier aircraft as an (expensive) incremental upgrade package should the member states choose not to take up their Tranche 3 options. Personally I hope JSF is the chosen aircraft - as much as I like the Typhoon, I can just imagine it turning into a real fiasco should attempts be made to navalise it, and ending up being overweight, late, and immensely expensive....

Like it....hope it comes with a big LERX too, though won't hold my breath!

Really nice build, that colour scheme suits the Typhoons lines down the the ground. Give it a few years and hopefully it won't be a what if!

I'm more intrigued as to what will happen if don't order the third tranche of Typhoons, as is expected given the strains on the defence budget at present. Most of the F3 squadrons will have gone onto Typhoon then, or been disbanded, but if we don't get tranche 3 then theres no way on earth I can see us replacing the GR4 with 'something else/FOAS/UCAVs' on a 1-1 basis, thus something will have to give amongst 2, IX, 12, 13, 14, XV, 31 and 617 squadrons, which are amongst the most famous and longest established in the RAF. The recent shift towards the Air Expeditionary Wings for the GR4 squadrons, with combined flightline ops between squadrons (e.g. 31 and 2 squadon at Marham have the same ops desk and aircraft are pooled) seems like it may ease the issue as far as the MoD are concerned, as well as providing some operational benefits - the beancounters probably think that if we can get everyone to think of the wing instead of squadron, then when the time comes to replaced/withdraw the GR4 then having a wing re-equip with fewer but more advanced aircraft will be less politically sensitive than chopping historic squadrons outright.

Always nice to hear the facts from someone in the know do you have any photos of the TRD?

Many thanks Jonathan thats a great help - wasn't sure from photos if the camo was wraparound or if it had a light aircraft grey underside (the best photo I have of this scheme is in a book, and it shows the Hawk with 4 Sidewinders and 2 fuel tanks, and the pylons/tanks/missile rails in all cases is a very pale grey, which got me wondering slightly...)

Me likey Having seen the Italeri kit in the plastic, have to say I don't think its as bad as is made out either - the nose shape is correctable, and the only other thing I personally would bother doing anything about would be replacing the fan blades with some of Erik Marks resin ones as they're better detailed and have the right number of blades (the Italeri ones don't have nearly enough). The monogram kit (of which I have 1 in the stash soon to be started) benefits from the resin too, since its own fan area is poor, it also needs modifications to current (LASTE) specification, which means more aftermarket bits, and the fit is worse than the Italeri too. Hobbyboss probably make the best Hog, but it costs a fair bit more than the Italeri offering. Tamiya's kit has nice boxart but represents a prototype, so has wrong weapons, ejector seat, and no underwing chaff points, plus its the least detailed of the kits available. As for ESCIs offering in 1/48, don't even ask.... A question I must ask - where did you get the 7 shot rocket pod from? Been after them for ages!

I suspect the RAF will eventually end up gaining some form of armament for their Reapers - the problem may be that all the weapons cleared on the MQ-9 (these being hellfire, GBU-38 500lb JDAM, and GBU-12 500lb Paveway II LGB) for the moment are not present in the RAF inventory. The army air corps does have hellfire for its Apache, but since the Reapers will be RAF operated and not AAC, some arguing over stocks may take place!

Superb Many thanks!

Managed to pick up a copy of Revells superb 1/48 Rafale at the weekend (sneakily hidden away under a vast pile of other less rare kits in one of Aberystwyth's model shops!). I'm about to paint an order for some paints with a certain Bill Clark, but as usual Revells painting instructions are as much use as a chocolate teapot. Does anyone know the correct shades for the single colour used on operational French Rafale Bs? Such as this one... http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1125799/L/ Secondly, colours for this BAE Hawk demonstrator? I've always found this scheme appealing, and the loadout makes the Hawk more aggressive too. Online photos are few and far between for this scheme but this aircraft has been around a long time so I'm hoping someone will be familiar with it, and be able to guide me in the right direction Cheers

Thats a new one to me notice I said the EF3 fit was the only time I've *personally* seen anything carried on the outboard pylons! Always someone waiting to prove me wrong though Am guessing since its a SAOEU jet that it was involved in missile trials (not sure which, ASRAAM or AMRAAM, probably the former though since the Hindenburgers would surely obscure the view of the fuselage stations?), and its a Skyshadow pod converted to hold high speed cameras to video the separation of the missile on launch?

When they were pondering putting the ALARM on the F3 for use in Iraq (2003) the F3 did fly for some time with a phimat on the right hand outer wing pylon, and a TRD pod (originally modified from the the BOZ-107, and externally identical) on the outermost left wing - if you look at the box art and weapons provision for Airfixs latest boxing of their 1/48 Tornado 'F3/EF3' you'll see the proposed loadout - 2 ALARM, 4 ASRAAM, 2 fuel tanks, TRD and Phimat. The 'EF3' was for reasons unknown never fielded, though it would have been a bloody good SEAD aircraft by all accounts - the way 56 squadron and industry had worked to integrate the ALARM onto the airframe made it more capable in that role than the GR4 was/is, if you believe those apparently 'in the know' over at PPrune! Thats the only time that I've personally seen RAF F3s carrying anything on the outboard stations, and it was a rarely flown trials fit that never made it into operational use

ASRAAM did come in slightly before AMRAAM was integrated onto the F3 as part of the CSP (Capability Sustainment Program) upgrade, so that load out would be quite possible. ASRAAM came into service around 2002, but the AMRAAM integration was problematic (particularly provision for mid course guidance of the AMRAAM) and didn't come in until around 2004. Images from Operation Telic show F3s with Skyflash and ASRAAM. As an aside during Telic the F3s debuted their Towed Radar Decoy (TRD) which I believe is dragged from a modified BOZ-107 pod, and on the opposite outboard station a Phimat chaff/flare dispenser pod was carried. For modelling purposes as far as I'm aware the L and M model 'winders are identical. Hope this helps!