MT1

There are plenty of pictures of Mig Eater on dstorm.eu as Jabba has said photos of Tornado carrying JP233 almost all have the small tanks. Tornado GR1 by M Napier has a couple of pictures of Tornado's being prepared for missions with the small 1500l tanks. Markings seem to be limited to ejector seat triangles, small white Rescue and the fragile warning on the spine behind the canopy.

Flightpath seem to have everything you mentioned, and more, for Italeri in one pack. However, it may cost more than the original Tornado kit.

The RAF Yearbook 1982 has a great piece on pilot training from 1917 to 1982. Hunters were still being used with 1 TWU along with Hawks during the period you are planning on. I was able to download a free copy from droid doc.net (I think that's the correct site, it was a year or two ago) plenty of other 'years' available too.

Hi, the missing links are: Chipmunk, Jet Provost and possibly single seat Hunter at TWU (not sure when they were replaced by Hawks, I think early 80's)

Nope, I think the strips are lightning conductors. Don't know why they are not on the F3

You are correct the F3 remained grey. The initial jets were, however, replaced by gulf mod airframes with squadron markings removed.

Hi, Italeri have several 1:48 Tornados on the market although they are boxed as IDS (which is the generic name for the ground attack Tornado) The better kit, however, is the current Revell. This is boxed as the 'GR4 farewell'. It's easy to back date to GR1 as the parts you need are still in the box. Basically add the cannon so there is one each side, use the spine that doesn't have the small GPS circular antenna, don't add the FLIR housing that is under that left hand side of the nose (opposite the LRMTS which looks similar in size and shape) lastly the Pilot cockpit should have a circular radar repeater and not the square LCD that replaced it on upgrade. All Tornado GR4s were GR1 airframes modified in the late 1990s early 2000s. Hobby boss also make a GR1 (boxed as IDS)

dstorm.eu has plenty of Tornado pics to help with your chosen subject. There's also a you tube video on how to build the Revell 1/48 in a different order to the instructions and thus avoid some of the fit issues with the fuselage and air intakes.

For Desert Storm, RAF jets carried JP233, 1000lb dumb and Paveway 2 laser guided bombs, Alarm and sidewinder missiles.TIALD pod. A small number were also loaded with US CBU 87 (think that's the correct number) but were not used. I think RSAF carried similar but pretty certain not Alarm or CBU87. Not sure about ItAF, just dumb bombs I think.

Are you talking about the 1/48? In general.... Don't add the left hand chin pod as this was a GR4 add on. 2x cannon, 1 each side unless making a GR1A then it's none. Remove the GPS 'circle' on the spine just behind the cockpit ( the Revell GR4 comes with the original GR1 spine as well as the GR4 one). Check the cockpit as changes were made to the GR4, the pilots radar/moving map repeater was replaced by a screen. Later GR4 navigatior station had the large Tardis screen installed replacing the radar/map. Camouflage scheme and weapons, if I think of anything else I'll let you know. Happy building, look forward to seeing it completed as I'm a complete Tornado fanboy.

The EAP was a technology demonstrator not a prototype for Typhoon. The two jets were similar in appearance but different in size and shape.

Hi, you should be able to download 'On Target Special no1 Operation Telic RAF jets in operation Iraqi Freedom' it has a large section on the GR4 with plenty of pictures. Sadly you can't download the decals as well 😢 As mentioned above Op Telic lasted for 6 years and weapons and paint schemes changed throughout. During the invasion most Tornados were given a temporary 'camouflage grey' (aka Barley Grey) scheme. But as the conflict dragged on aircraft were as they came from the UK squadrons. Brimstone and Lightning were only integrated during the final months of the operation, PW4 wasn't carried at all, this was integrated as a UOR for Afghanistan later in 2009.Aim 9 was carried during the early part of the war but as the Iraqi Air Force remained grounded they may have been removed, pretty certain they weren't carried during the insurgency. Not sure if Asraam had been added to the arsenal by 2009, if it was again it's highly unlikely to have been carried as there was no air threat. Looking forward to seeing the finished jet (I'm a huge Tornado fan) If you are still building early next year Osprey (I think) are releasing a book on RAF Tornado operations from the early 90's up to disbandment in 2019. The author is Michael Napier a former Tornado pilot who has written several very good books, including one covering the operational history of the Tornado GR1. Happy building Mark

Hannants, kingkit and g force models all have F-18 kits in stock. I've ordered from them all and had good service from each. I have a1/48 kinetic F18 in my stash, looks like a very detailed quality kit but as I've not started it yet cannot comment on build quality. G force models have a Hobby Boss F18 but it's US Navy, hannants have a couple of different Canadian Kinetic kits whilst Kingkit have some Kinetic and Hasegawa Canadian jets all in 1/48. Happy building.

Sorry Mike, but i'm going to disagree. I was disappointed with this product, for the cover price there are better Tornado books and magazines out there. To me it seemed as if Kagero put in some effort to cover the development of the aircraft and then ran out of space as everything past the early years seemed to be quite brief. Indeed there was next to nothing about Tornado operations during the Cold War and hardly a mention of the Saudi's what so ever. Even the single picture of a RSAF jet is in fact a crashed RAF Tornado from Desert Shield. The GR4 plate on the rear cover also is from Op Telic 2003 and not Unified Protector 2011 as stated and the center spread picture is of an early 80's 27 Sqn machine not a GR4 from 'Allied Force' in 1999 (In fact i think the RAF only used GR1's during that conflict) There are some nice photographs and the A4 size poster (Landscape of the cover picture ) is something different. The author also sheds a little more light on Italian operations with hours/sorties flown data for a number of conflicts.

Eduard 'Big Sin' range does a Gulf War Tornado package with JP233, Alarm, CBU's and more, however, it may cost more than the kit itself. ResKit make Paveway 2 LGB's and AIM produce the heavy 8x1000lb dumb bomb load. I agree with RMP2, go with the Revell kit although it doesn't come with weapons other than AIM-9 and under wing tanks and ECM/Chaff pods. If you are on a budget you can pick up an Italeri for less, but then the detail isn't as good. As for reading: you cant get better than Michael Napier's 'Tornado GR1 an operational history' it has the whole RAF GR1 story from Cold War to the late 90's. There is a large Desert Storm section with plenty of photo's showing different weapon loads. Napier was a Tornado pilot during this time so speaks with authority. He has also just released an offering from Osprey; Combat Aircraft 138 RAF Tornado units of Gulf War 1. This covers both the F3 and GR1 during the conflict. I've yet to read it but some of the text is a direct lift from his other book mentioned above. It does contain 18 pages of colour drawings showing a wealth of different nose art. SAM Publications MDF 29 The Panavia Tornado is also a good read and has some 13 pages covering the Gulf War. It also follows the Tornado up until a few years ago and covers the F3 and aircraft flown by Germany, Italy and Saudi. SAM also has walk-around close up pictures and several 1:48 kit reviews. As a Tornado fan boy i look forward to seeing what you choose, happy building!

Hi DeepSea, Are the main subjects in this book German Air Force as per the cover? At some point in the distant future i'll be building a Typhoon in RAF colours so would be looking for detailed pictures of RAF machines. I have the Tornado edition of this series and am quite impressed with the detail close up pictures. Thanks for any help.

I have the Tornado copy and wished i had spent my money elsewhere. Massively over priced for what they are, poor translation, very little new information or photo's, huge areas of the aircraft's history missing, almost nothing of RSAF jets, a publication that doesn't know if it is telling the whole Tornado story or just that of the IDS ( and it doesn't do that very well)........ i could go on but i think you get the idea. I'll not be buying anymore copies, there are much better and cheaper products out there.

Hello, a bit late to the party but i’ve just received Concord’s ‘Tornado’ and there are a few Deny Flight pics within. 23 Squadron EX, EW and ED. 11 Squadron DJ and DH, One of the DH pics has it with Gulf pink 1500l tanks. Also possible 25 Squadron FE and FD, the captions don’t mention Deny Flight (the only 25 Sqn pic that is from that operation doesn’t show the tail code). However the aircraft are in the Deny Flight weapon fit.

Oops, just seen their home page, seems they have issues with sending to EU, so have stopped taking orders.

Hannants.co.uk have Aim - Transport 8x1000lb on dual carriers in 1:48. They are quite expensive though, plenty of other weapon options available via the search engine on their site.

Take a look at the dstorm.eu post above from Jabba. It will take to directly to the page with Tornado weapon loads, in the dumb bomb section CBU87 is mentioned. There is also a link to a pic which seems to show 4 weapons on ZA456. Michael Napiers excellent book, Tornado GR1, has several pics and pilot interviews that mention aircraft carrying 8x1000lb bombs during the opening days of Desert Storm. These were used in loft attacks from low level. As the aircraft moved to medium altitude attacks the bomb load was reduced to 5 weapons, or 2-3 a little later when Paveway LGBs were used.

Hi Giorgio, i made one or two Matchbox kits in the late 80's so i'll give the Premiere Hawk a miss even if it is a bargain. I've found out that the Hawk wing fences had to do with wing stall. During flight testing there would be little buffet warning and then wing dip when the aircraft stalled. Although recovery was standard it wasn't acceptable, however, the manufacturer was under time pressure to get the Hawk in service with the RAF. A fix was found involving something around the flaps but this left the aircraft with a slightly higher stalling speed, this was within safety limits for the RAF and so was accepted. The fences were a longer term fix and i think lowered the stalling speed so it was more acceptable for the T45 and export customers. ( Looking at pics of the T45 it seems there was quite change in wing design). Happy modelling Mark

Thanks Giorgio, i didn't know that some of the export Hawks had different wings, any idea why? I guess i owe HB half an apology. Have you come across Premiere Kits? there are a couple of Hawk T1a in Kingkits sale section at the moment and the Red Arrow Hawk is very reasonably priced. I've not come across Premiere so if anyone has past experience would love to hear. all the best Mark

Hi Pappy, you will need to drill the holes for the pylons which is why mine is flying clean because i forgot (too impatient for my own good).

Same here, i had a reply within a few hours after asking about 1/48 Tornado decals. Sadly the answer was no due to the need to produce a large run of sets to make it profitable. Good luck