Graham316

Thanks for that matey, I’ve decided not to have the engine out on display as there is no internal detail, so it would leave an empty hole in the rear fuselage, I may try and get a spare engine to have on display.

Welcome aboard matey, you never know you may be tempted from all the extras😉 thankyou mate, I will remember to look for some resin aftermarket which are more suited to RAF use.

So for 2 hours I’ve been cracking on and getting the seats started, it worked out 12 pieces for each seat and 1 photo-etch part. There is still a lot to do on the seats including ejection handle, seat belts and all the added details. They are looking great so far and will look great when completed 👍🏻

Thanks matey, yes the tornado has been a true workhorse, and it certainly looks the part in almost every place, I was very impressed with what was in the box.

So the Christmas of 2020 was a little of a strange one, and the most of the year was no better. Constant home schooling and only essential shops being open. For most of us it was a good time to get plenty of bench time, and make out ways down the pile of kits in the stash. for me? It was a time to start fresh, go back to the basics of modelling, learn new techniques and above all come back to Britmodeller. For Christmas I asked the wife for just one thing, as the title suggests, yes a big tornado. For many years I have wanted to build a large scale tornado, and have all the bells and whistles to go with it. This Italeri offering was released late 2020 (November) and offered a large price tag to go with it (£109.99 - £129.99). Is it worth the price? Well let’s find out. As you can see, it has all the usual tornado parts, movable wings and ordnance, weapons, control surfaces which can be posed open or closed, real rubber tyres and wing gloves (nice touch), and much more. The decals are also impressive, with four options to choose from. These are for various tornados as follows. Tornado GR4, ZA542, danger mouse, operation Tellic 2003. Tornado GR4, ZA367, 617sqdn, Operation Herrick, 2010. Tornado GR4, ZA542, 31st sqdn, Operation Ellamy, 2011. All the decal options are printed in colour in a separate booklet (Nice touch). Those walkway lines sure look fun! The instruction book has clear construction stages from start to finish, showing each step and colour call outs on many parts. There is a number of parts which are not used, could indicate other versions of Tornado in the future? As for the construction it’s detailed but simple, clearly printed and easy to follow. Pilot and co-pilot seats with added photo etch (included). cockpit construction, very nice detail and separate parts for extra detail. Sudden jump to front undercarriage leg and bay assembly. Installed into underside of front fuselage, note drill points for chin pods. Wheels and doors, my advice would be to skip to near end of construction. Join on front fuselage halves and radar, noted weight in front and also detail painting. more cockpit assembly and start of intakes, note more photo-etch for display screens. Then a jump to the main fuselage, undercarriage legs and bays also shown in sub assemblies. Then the intakes are next, note the photo-etch splitter in the starboard intake, then the wing gloves can be installed. more internal construction, note option of open vents on underside of fuselage. Rear wings with locking pins to allow rear wings to operate. Construction of the engines, some nice details but could easily be improved. Same construction, not the optional parts for the thrust covers. Adding engines in are next, note you can opt for one engine out on a Tressel for added detail. With the engines comple it’s onto the wings, note the actuator to keep the pylons and tanks in line. Note also the option control surfaces. Then it’s onto airbrakes, again choice of open or closed. Then the two halves can be joined together. Once completed the front can be joined to the main fuselage. Then it’s the tornados signature tail. More photo-etch for the tail, and finally joined to the main assembly. Followed by the spine and ariels. Intakes are next to be added. Followed by wing covers. Followed by main wheels and legs. Undercarriage doors. Chin pods and alternate antennas. Arrester hook and start of ordnance. Refuelling boom in open or closed option. Antennas and probes. Canopy and nose cone. The finished article. I will show pictures of parts when I open the bags. I will be starting this very soon, hopefully tonight. I plan on doing option 1 for ZA542 with the danger mouse and penfold duo on the nose. thanks for looking, work to begin soon.

Thankyou, bought a tear to his eye, wanted to pay me more than generously, which I declined and told him it was a pleasure to give a model to someone with such sentimental value.

Thanks ant, fortunately he wants them straight out the so it means less work for me. They do look nice though, may look at one in the future and see what I can do with one. May have to ask the wife first though 😂

Ant your absolutely correct, yes it’s because I’m building the old Airfix fearless at the minute, for the same friend too. that was my confusion, my apologies thankyou homer, was a learning curve doing all the lines on the deck jeff, unfortunately not it was the three numbers on my reg plate on my first car, stuck with me ever since lol 😂 thankyou pat, much appreciated. 🙂

Thankyou John the buccaneer was what got my mojo fired up 🙂

Keep going Dave, she’s looking great, will look even better with that green on too 😉😂

This is a model out of my comfort zone, what was originally HMS invincible, this model was renamed and renumbered. it was a build for a friend who served on board lusty (crew name) for a number of years. Safe to say I enjoyed the build, and he was more than pleased, teared up when he received it. few in progress shots... thanks for looking, next one is HMS intrepid ( old HMS fearless kit)

Thankyou, your not wrong there matey,

Hi all, I came here many moons ago with the modelling hobby in full swing, 2017 to be precise. After only a short time on the site, things took a turn in modelling and personal life. I was ready to go in January 2019, the desk cleared, the kit in hand, and a new blade securely fitted into the hobby knife. After a couple of nights I woke up to find my grandad had fallen ill, he passed away a little over 24 hours later. My modelling mojo took a hit, like someone had just destroyed it with a pave way bomb. For more than a year I turned away at the sight of the modelling bench, not only had my grandad left my life but took my mojo too. Early 2020 saw the pandemic that put us all in lockdown, and for me I decided to clear out the loft, seeing my collection of models to build, something caught my eye which relit the mojo and off I went. I sat in silence and got into my first build of the year, the Airfix buccaneer (1/48 scale). After completing it mid June the mojo was back, and I wanted to keep modelling. I was so proud of it I couldn’t help but place it alongside my sea vixen which was the last model I built before 2019. but I’m back and want to open up a fresh bottle of glue and firmly get started on my new Christmas present. mill be making a start here soon but I look forward to getting on with this and hearing from you all. Graham

Update part 2 on the Valiant. Unfortunately i haven't had much time at the bench due so early starts at work and family time, but progress has been made in the cockpit. The first task was to apply the decals to the cockpit and seal them with micro-sol solution. The rear of the cockpit has also been worked on with the decal showing all the electrical equipment for the navigator and radar operative systems. The seats have also been done to a standard at which i am happy with, I did struggle to find anything I could do without making a mess and having to buy aftermarket parts. until I can source some photos of the seats I'll leave them as is. I have also began working on the overhead panels starting with the emergency escape hatch, there are four grab handles which where moulded in but looked terrible so i decided i would work on them and replace them using some 0.5mm wire to make them look more realistic. Finally with all four they look much better and will be ready for a coat of primer and a layer of Vallejo flat black. You will also notice there are yet more pin marks which will need to be removed. I couldn't resist but have a go at replicating an image I found, here is the real photo following along with my representation of the photo using the current build state. Finally I have began working on the engine intakes removing all of the pin marks by filling them in with Vallejo plastic putty. this is the first time I have used this stuff and was pretty impressed. These have been left to dry and cure overnight, they will then be sanded and cleaned up ready for primer and paint. As for the start of the detailing process in the cockpit I used some silver acrylic and applied with a sponge to create a chipped and worn surface on the cockpit floor. Before I called it a night and shut down the man cave for the evening, I had a quick test with the bomb bay, I am going to leave the bay open with just some added detail and some weathering. Again the Valiant wasn't an aircraft which got dirty quickly, so only minor weathering and washes will be applied. Next update I will begin working on adding all the scratch building to the cockpit including all the wiring looms under the rear compartment desk and also along the walls of the aircraft and any extra electrical boxes which have not been included in the kit. Any comments or help would be really appreciated, hope to hear from you all soon.

evening all, right so today i started on the first of the three V-bombers, so without further delay i introduce you to the Vickers Valiant. A large box for a large bomber. a choie of four variants are available in the kit. iinside the kit are many sprues and some large parts.. the two main fuselage sections. however there are some inaccuracies, which will need addressing. but overall some nice detail. next is the main underside wing halves and the large main top section of fuselage and wings. the next sprue was more interesting as it contained the rear tail wings and bomb bay roof and doors.also the undercarriage is visable and also the refueling pipe which runs alongside the cockpit windows. also again the underwing tanks are on this one and look nice as well.the engine exhausts and cockpit, seats and navigators staion are all on this sprue. finally on this one we have the very large nuclear bomb for operation Grapple and several 1000lb bombs. the final sprue is the clear parts still sealed till they are needed, you will notice two cockpit bubbles and 2 bomb aiming windows, this is down to the prototype valiant being able to be made from this kit. also the photo recon windows for the cameras which were fitted in the bomb bay (not included but available separately. so on with the show... to begin with it was a case of building up the cockpit which had the controls and crew access ladder included. after a coat of Vallejo model air flat black it already had character which gave that cold war feel to the cockpit. also note these ridiculous moulding marks on the inside of the cockpit. not sure what is going off but they need to go. a coat of mid green was used for the cockpit internal walls which i confirmed with some references from the thunder and lightnings page. although it looks rough some internal scratch-building and some minor weathering should tone it all down and make it look something like this... so as the night has drawn to close i decided to do a quick test fit of the fuselage and despite a small gap in the rear of the cockpit it looking good. and BIG! as usual i couldn't help myself but just have a little play with the main top section of the wings and fuselage and i must say that already i cant wait to see this progress. so that is all i have managed tonight hopefully i can make a start on filling the cockpit up with the various electrical equipment and wiring looms. not sure how much will be visible but at least we know its there. thanks for looking in guys hope to get some feedback from what i have done already.