Search the Community

Hey all modellers, my name is Troy and this will be my first post on here following through this, imo, jank process of making a one-off 1/24 Hawker Tornado, specifically, P5224 This is being constructed by a 20 year old who is obsessed with kit building but only has the most basic of tools plus a 3d printer. I started this project late last year so this is a catchup of sorts. Props to @Troy Smith for putting the idea up to post it here. Enjoy! It must've started from this and the fact I have a handful of Typhoon kits in the stash ready for action From then I bought two 1/24 Merlin engines and, well, cut them down the crank line and smushed them together, along with other bits of plastic like a Citroen injector sleeve (the reduction gear housing) I did use diagrams and measurements to make sure it actually is scale accurate to a Vulture. A RR Vulture which is two RR Peregrines, being a RR Kestrel that is lengthend to take two sets of conrods. Trying to figure what pipe went where and how things should look isn't too easy when old scans and one drawing is all you have but I think it worked out out okay Now this is where the Tornado really started. I wanted to make the truck and Sabre engine diorama so naturally I did but now I've opened the Typhoon box so naturally I need to finish it now So now it has began, starting off wings spars and cockpit tubing which was already removed for the previous project as well as cutting the wings up where the 3inch (3mm to scale) drop should be The first bit of scratch building was the quite different cockpit up the front. Thank goodness for the Valiant series Typhoon book It wasn't really meant to be a super serious project but seeing as this is probably the only model of a Vulture and only 24 scale Tornado I thought, maybe I should do this good I found that after taking out the Sabre and it's relative supporting structure, that the kit sort of falls apart in that there aren't many places to glue. The instructions were vaguely being followed but the rest was just figuring out how to make it work. Lots of calculator and ruler work More recently, I was finally getting somewhere. The wings are 3mm lower from their mountings but also 5mm back from there mounting as I discovered after something wasn't lining up. Something I don't think is documented The pencil line on the belly shows the change in positions quite well. Visible also is the replacement forward wing spar and the gaps where new sheet will put to make the iconic flattish bottom of the Tornado Following the repeated removal and fitting of the engine to make it "right", I was on to the accessories which obviously needed modifying, this being the coolant trunks on the side of the radiator The exhausts needed cutting down as they protruded too far of the cowlings. The cowlings, canopy hood and propeller unit are all 3d printed. Some technology it is, brilliant piece of hardware if you can use it right which my younger brother Eddy is especially good with. This is where we are now. No photos show the mount bracket for the radiator so it's anyone's guess as to how they mounted it. Just one photo of the cowlings removed is found unless there are more *plezz* The Rotol propeller, which, from what I can see, is 100% spot on with size. This has a 14Ft diameter to the point when scaled up

Considering that there seems to be some interest in this series of aircraft, I thought I'd start a new thread to try to describe a few of the things I've learned while working on a model of the second prototype (P5224). You may also want to look at this thread: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234940153-hawker-tornado-landing-gear-doors/#entry1315704 Main detail discussed in the earlier thread was the difference in wing location (3" lower) compared to the Typhoon. My purposes in starting a new thread were: (1) Describe what I've learned so that others can "peer-review" my conclusions (though I hesitate to suggest that I might be equal in any way to those who offer their comments!); (2) Help others who might want to build a model of the Tornado to avoid the many pitfalls that caught me repeatedly, with consequent need to rework details I thought were already finished! Now read on... Propeller: The second prototype actually appears in photos with two different propellers. The first was (judging by blade shape) a Rotol prop the same as the one used on the first prototype: At a later date, the aircraft was photographed with what looks like the same DeHavilland prop used on the Typhoon prototype, or one very similar - note the difference in blade root shape: Also note that, by this time, the yellow prototype "P" marking was in place, and that the carburetor intake scoop above the nose had been cut back slightly. According to the Coles drawings referred to in the thread linked above, the earlier prop was of smaller diameter than the three-bladed one included in the Academy 1/72 Typhoon kit; this allowed me to convert the Academy prop by reshaping it, starting at the root of the blades - the individual blades will then have to be cut off from their centre and installed one at a time at the correct length relative to the spinner: For a model of the second prototype in its later configuration, the Academy prop could be used as is. Nose shape: This may be difficult to explain! Note the comment above about the lower wing root location relative to the Typhoon. This was apparently done to allow installation of the Tornado's RR Vulture engine, along with extending the nose by 12". Photos show that the forward part of the Tornado's nose had a more sloped appearance relative to the Typhoon, putting the prop (and therefore the thrust line) in a lower position than the Typhoon, At first I wasn't sure what to make of this - why lower the wing root for engine clearance, then lower the thrust line by (I assume) the same dimension? It's possible I'm misunderstanding the reason for the dimensional changes; regardless, the photos are pretty clear that the nose was more sloped on the Tornado, so here's what happened to mine, despite the fact that I thought I was getting close to being finished (ha ha!): The white strips in the exhaust openings are 1mm styrene sheet - the slots which I had already cut in had to be lowered by 1mm (3 scale inches) along with the front end of the nose... Wing centre section: Two images; one shows how I reinforced the already assembled wings with sprue so I could cut them, along with their roots, away from the fuselage: The second shows the centre section cut away and replaced with flat plastic sheet; still trying to decide what to do with what's left of the Typhoon oil cooler duct, which I already shortened; maybe I'll eliminate it altogether: I hope this is of interest! Stay tuned - a finished model might eventually materialize out of many layers of putty and sheet plastic... John Oh - one more thing - I uploaded the Air Classics article and its drawings referred to in the earlier thread to Dropbox. I hope that by offering to share these files for discussion purposes, I'm not causing any copyright anxiety to either Air Classics magazine or to the author of the article, given the age (1977) and apparent unavailabilty of this information! PM me if you want a link...