iainpeden

It's started but back in the box until dry January has gone - reckon I might need a medicinal dram or 2 while I'm working on this.

That bad ? Still I'm not a major Tornado fan (is that sacrilegious?) and it came from my late dad's stash and he won it in a raffle and I'm too much of a cheapskate to buy t eRevell one so this will keep me entertained over the next few months.

I have had the dual 1/48 Jaguar/Tornado F3 boxing in the loft for some years and have finally decided to give the Tornado a go. I seem to remember a few adverse remarks about the kit and on offering up the upper and lower halves can see why - it fits where it touches and I'm not convinced the 2 halves are the same width. However what intrigues me is why the 2 halves are moulded in different plastics - 1 the softish grey, the other an almost brown/grey more brittle plastic - and why the lower half has raised panel lines and the upper has inscribed ones. Also, why does it include 2 fins? I suspect this is going to be a battle to the finish.

I'm hazarding a guess to your question. I have a friend who used to be in the RAF He told me that they regularly flew to California, often sight seeing via the Grand Canyon, to collect specialist kit for the nuclear industry on this side of the pond.

The Corby store at Oakley Hay has a good stock of Hurricanes, Mustangs, FW-190s, Jeeps and at least one Cutty Sark. The Mustang I bought also has the A1004A markings and the FW190 has a few mildly warped parts - makes you wonder how they have been stored.

Why? It is a perfectly good kit which goes together well and looks good. Make the Emhar one, save yourself a few quid and reduce the stash by 1 thereby earning a Brownie point.

Dennis That's an interesting shot; what's the badge on the tail and the significance of the "FX65"? I'm assuming she was with an experimental unit and therefore that the undernose fairing (the B/N nose) held specialist instrumentation. It also looks like the inner wing slat actuators are in place - whether active or not. Thanks Iain

I think (access to long gone red wine affected brain cells) that the wing slats were not deployable/retractable but welded on as a test for the S. Did it have B or J engines?

The 2 Hurricanes in Hanger 4 at Duxford show distinct variation in the Dark Earth and Dark green applied - so it isn't just models but 1:1 scale as well.

Phantoms for me too. Over 200 in 1/72 and 30 in 1/48 (and about 60 still unmade in the stash AND enough decals to do the lot) allied to far,far too many books for research. Just a shame I'll never get to Japan to see them before they go.

Enzo -that is fighting talk; how can you use the words “ugly” and Phantom in the same breath!

Very nice; wonder what it would look like in the Mirage F1 blue/silver scheme, or the 2000D or as Coutrea Delta etc etc (no hints there at all!)

Gene, my point is that those options could have been included without doubling up on some parts. For example, why have separate folded and unfolded outer wing panels when it could have been planned just to use one. Anyway we live in free countries and can agree to disagree.

They didn't - just used aftermarket stuff on the display model - see the related thread in "ready for inspection". The General did a good job on this for the Airfix Mag.

Two sets of underwings (with/without straps), deployed and undeployed slats on the front of the wing, folded and unfolded outer wing panels, strips on the right hand side of the fuel tanks and the inner pylons are not worth the plastic used they are so inaccurate. Smarter design would have reduced the plastic used and probably made a better kit. (Oh - and an extra fin and unneceessary ILS aerials) Admittedly the Esci and Hasegawa kits tend to leave a good few bits unused but they were designed well before single use plastic became the number one enemy.