Phartycr0c

Al I, as far as possible, mask all my canopies so they get sprayed with the model. Spraying gives better finish IMHO. I know its a pain but I also use the canopy as a mask for the cockpit if that makes sense.

Fraid my eyesight wouldnt cope with the size of those pilots. Fine job on their detailing m8. Looking forward to these two being finished as Shint Two is one of my fave schemes!.

Guys only a little progress since my last update but I think i may have scored a Hi coo! Noting Als problems with the canopy fogging I promptly started a few experiments Using a scrap 1/32 tornado canopy I had lying around (only joking Al ) it was actually off one of my kids busted models, I started playing with different glues I had available. 1. UHU standard dries clear but takes an age to do so. No ill effects on the canopy. 2 PVA likewise 3. "Standard" superglue Fog City as expected, 4. Humbrol Clearfix, Rubbish for sticking external framework to clear parts but superb for fixing clear parts to the kit itself, Fills gaps and dries clear. Now im sure you guys have probably heared all this before BUT here is my discovery!!! using This stuff does not appear to fog the canopy no matter what or how many times I tried to stick to it! ultimately I ended up with a Tomcat canopy with bits of brass stuck to it both inside and out. Let me clarify method. I first fitted the framework, and painted same inside and bent to shape, Then I dripped some of the glue into a gash lid. left if for a couple of seconds, then using a fine pointet scriber, spread the glue on the top of the frame. Aligned it, let it set then carefully lifting the unstuck parts added tiny amounts of the glue around the remaining frame. Et Voila! stick like s**t to a blanket and no fogging. The only explaination I have is that pouring it into the dish allows the initial fumes to disperse enough for them not to affect the canopy Anyhow results are here! And its stuff like this that seriously delays builds!

Whitening toothpaste. Mildly abrasive and makes the canopy smell nice after! (seriously)

David, I salute the accuracy of your work, it is as I have said outstanding. In my case my issues lie mainly in the equipment side of things and my eyesight which i think is failing me a little. And my soldering iron I think is on its last legs. Having (many years ago) built one of your loco kits i used solder throughout and agree its a superb medium, but i'm finding things here very much smaller and a bit difficult to handle. My tailpipe soldering effort ended in failure maily because I was failing to get the heat into the job resulting in a very messy dry and brittle joint. I will certainly have another go on my F117 kit I have recently bought from you. Perhaps some sort of master class would be in order? Sorry for the hijack Al .

Dark aircraft grey looks about right m8 Go for it. The contrast will be good.

You nailed where I failed! those jet pipes look outstanding! told you they were fiddly though!. BTW did you CA or solder the joints? i just couldnt get mine to stay together with CA! Ps can I have a stalker?

M8 Thats some good work there. Comon lets ee if we kan cross the finish line together! BTW where are you getting the tail markings from?

M8 That is one nice scheme, where are the tail decals coming from? If you say your going to paint em ill give up now! Had a little practice with one of the Hindenburger tanks and what im going to attempt is a type of pre shading. Im going to paint the whole AC dark grey then overpaint in Barley grey, and rub patches away with a little thinner or sommat. Prolly ruin the whole thing but unless one tries one just doesnt know!

Hi folks, time for a very quick update as not much really, has been going on with this build. Not because iv'e sat and left it or anything but purely because there is so much stuff in the Flightpath set, and it is so intricate, that I feel im not making much progress and not likely to finish within the deadline but anyhow its begining to look something like. Since my last update, when I scrapped the Flightpath tailpipes (to fat fingers!) I have built the tanks and pods, Including getting some paint on the Tiald eh Al , stuffed the front onto the back end and finished the auxillary air inlets, detailed the air brake compartments, and finished the kit jetpipes. The jetpipes were sprayed with Humbrol silver 11 and their metallic dark grey 20003 and when dry buffed up to a "shine" . The intricate frets for the burner ring are a work of art in fact the whole Flightpath set is just that but it can be very fiddly... be warned! Onwards and upwards Oh By the way with this build im going to attempt to heavilly weather the colours as all the Telic birds had a light grey (barley) alkaline removeable temp finish (ARTF) and as a result after a bit of action they started to look a bit rough but this is what Im aiming for dirty tornado!Image courtesy of Airliners.net

That is some nice work. The in flight stand is great. I would love to try that with a big 1/32 bird but it would have to be some huge stand! Keep going!

M8 youve nailed that The pre shading has worked a treat, and as for those decals, well they are awsome! Just a shame we cant get them for 1/32, now that would be something! and before anyone says, Im rubbish at creating my own decals! Keep up the good work .

Thats some great work m8 as Al said looks as good as 1/32 in every way. That cockpit looks superb.

And i found this! Tornado Images by number

Having "beaten" the detail on the seats, Im afraid to say that the past two evenings spent forming up the tail pipes, they have well and truly beaten me and iv'e reverted to the kit pipes. Im that p'd off im not even going to bother posting pics. It's not the etchings which are fine, Its just that I cant get the three seperate rings which form the pipes, to sit concentrically. As for my soldering skills, forget it!. I had to attempt soldering as CA glue jut will not hold the circles strongly enough. Fat fingers im afraid! Anyhow, finishing up the front is next!.

Superb result, nice work Mish. well worth the effort!

Ok bud ill have a go. cheers

Right all of those arnt where I thought they were. Ill look into it! Thanks bud

Do you know, I seriously considered doing just that as im lucky enough to have another one of these with the CAM details and another Paragon flap set but I figured that all the detail on one Tornado would probably be too much. I also thought (albeit VERY briefly) about doing both builds at the same time but saw sense. I will be having a Tornado break following this one, but Im still debating wether to do another Telic, a Granby a GR1, 4 or go all out and to an F3 conversion if I can get hold of a kit but thats for another occasion. Al your right you know, Looking at the kit against some walkaround photos, the distance between the back of the wing gloves and the elevators has definately been reduced. Spike, Ive found the two (potential) apu exhausts, wherabouts is the third? Ill get on and open em up!

A possibly useful reference site Tornado gestation

Nice m8 Keep going!

Im afraid to say youv,e really set the standard for the Airfix F3 builds showing how you can turn a pigs ear into a silk purse. Your tenacity is outstanding well done. I would have liked to have a go at a 1/32 conversion but alas its not to be!

That is really nice work m8 very impressive. Canberra next ...you know it makes sense!

Know what you mean about enforce Hiatus's (or is it Hiati? ) anyway, returning with fresh eyes always IMHO makes a difference. Keep it up.

Hi again folks, progress has been VERY slow and complete with added setback. firstly after the flap sessions and finally getting them acceptable, I found myself in an unusual position in that I had three sets of wing boots to choose from, the kits, the paragon and the Flightpathe set. (al you watchin?) I chose the flightpath set and immediatly became bogged down with em. The reason? They are slightly too large for the apetures in the assembled rear section so I had to manipulate them to fit. Can I follow instructions or not? Anyhow, I hope they will look better with a little paint on them. Immediately after completing the exercise I dropped it! slats flaps and rear elevators everywhere! At that point my F117 beckoned then i thought of modelling the very rarely seen GR 5 1/4, but sense prevailed and I continued with the rebuild. Im just lucky none of the resin split! here she is post repair As its a GR4A the slir windows and linescan module went on, and I experimented with the window colouring which I think looks about right and will use on the final paint. To increase the pain i'm modelling my a/c with the auxillary intake doors open. Oh and the uc legs are assembled and ready for washing.