Search the Community

Tornado Twin Pack 50th Anniversary Panavia Tornado (03801) 1:72 Carrera Revell Following the political debacle that resulted in the cancellation of the TSR.2, the European nations aligned (for once) in the common need for a new Multi-Role fighter, and partnerships began forming and dissolving in rapid succession, resulting in the joining of British Aerospace (now BAe), Aeritalia and MBB of Italy and Germany, who formed the Panavia company with a view to creating a Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA). The basic design was a swing-wing airframe to provide good handling at high and low speeds, but with the usual problem of goal-posts being moved, layering additional requirements upon the project that resulted in a larger, less agile airframe. The MRCA first flew in the early 70s, powered by two Rolls Royce RB199 engines, and looking very much like a Tornado, replete with the two seats that were a bone of contention at one point. By the late 70s there were initial airframes with the British and German air forces, and training was undertaken at a joint base at Cottesmore, which stayed open until the beginning of the end of the Tornado in British service. During service in the RAF it fought in almost all conflicts, except for the Falklands, where the tried and trusted Vulcans were dragged from the brink of retirement, rather than use an as-yet untested airframe so far away from home. The Gulf War, the Kosovo war and subsequent peace-keeping duties, and Kuwait were amongst the most well-known operations the GR.1 was present for. In the 1990s the original GR.1s and 1As were upgraded to GR.4/4A standard, which involved many changes to the avionics and a broadening of the weapons complement it could carry. The GR.4 saw the RAF to the end of service, with the EF2000 Typhoon, another collaboration with European companies taking its place after several years running in parallel while the Typhoons worked up to combat readiness. The Kit(s) Based upon a 1998 tooling of the Tornado, this new boxing from Carrera Revell puts two different variants in one box, allowing the modeller to build both a British RAF GR.1 and a German Luftwaffe IDS variant, which use predominantly identical sprues, the RAF option having an additional sprue of parts and extra clear parts to individualise it. The kit arrives in a deep end-opening box with a painting of the two Tornados flying in formation over the sea, with a background of cloud. Inside the box are nine sprues in grey styrene, three small clear sprues, a large decal sheet, and a portrait A4 instruction booklet that is printed in colour that is relatively thick as it incorporates steps for both models, with colour profiles at the back of each section. Detail is good for the era of the kit, although a little flash has crept in over the years, meaning that clean-up of the parts will be required, but that’s always preferable to short shot parts. Four sprues are identical between the two variants, adding an extra sprue for the RAF kit to depict the British weapons not carried by the Luftwaffe IDS. The RAF kit also has a small clear sprue for the teardrop-shaped ID lights on the spine and under the belly, with two more small parts that aren’t used in this boxing, while the main clear part sprues are shared between kits. Common Sprues (two of each) RAF Sprue Common Clear Parts (two of each) RAF Clear Parts Construction of both models is broadly the same throughout, with just a few different parts used, which we shall call out in the following paragraphs. Work begins with the two ejection seats that are identical, built from an L-shaped seat cushion with moulded-in belts, applied to the seat rail and headbox, with side frames added to the cushion’s edges, painting the details with the help of call-outs that refer to Revell paints at the front of the booklet and carry on throughout the instructions. The cockpit tub has the two instrument panels and control column, plus a smaller stick in the rear cockpit added, mounting bulkheads behind each pilot before installing the ejection seats on twin tabs, then fitting the nose gear bay under the floor of the cockpit, painting the details as you go. The cockpit is then locked between the two halves of the nose, adding a palette of equipment to the space between the two crew members, and a clear HUD lens on the forward coaming. The Tornado’s swing-wings are made from upper and lower halves, with a pivot and geared roots that will permit them to be swung in unison once the model is complete. The two pylons per wing also swivel, held in position within the wing by styrene C-clips, although you’ll have to align them manually yourself, as there isn’t sufficient room for a mechanism to align them with the angle of the wings at this scale. The elevators are single parts that are linked by a flat rod, preparing the upper fuselage with two holes for the RAF variant, and a common “lozenge” that guides the link between the wings once complete. The lower fuselage is prepared with the main gear bay inserts and the inflatable wing seals, although on a model these are fixed, so with the wings swept forward there will be a little gap that won’t be entirely accurate. The two wings are lowered into place and fitted on pegs in the wing gloves, which has a flat rod underneath with pegs on the ends to locate the wings securely, allowing them to pivot in unison thanks to the gear teeth at the root. The upper fuselage is brought in to close the assembly after mounting the elevators in the groove moulded into the rear of the fuselage, again without glue so they can be deflected later, unless you have a particular pose in mind for your builds. The nose assembly is brought in and attached to the front, adding the radome to the front after installing 10g of nose weight, using your preferred ballast material. The exhausts are assembled within their fairing, which has a splitter plate added first, then receives the trunk parts that are detail-painted to pick out the thrust-reverser buckets that supplement the Tornado’s brakes on landing. An exhaust ring completes the rear, setting them aside while other sub-assemblies are made. The tail fin that gave the Tornado one of its nicknames “The Fin” is a two-part assembly, making a pair of intakes from four parts each that include the intake ramps and a strake in the lower interior. These are fixed to the sides of the nose on two pins, and it’s worth noting that the intakes should be slightly higher than the aircraft’s skin behind them, so don’t be tempted to roll your eyes and try to sand them flush. The fin is mounted at the rear of the spine in a recess, adding a pair of blade antenna to the RAF airframe, then inserting the exhausts into the rear of the model. If you have chosen not to add FOD covers to your models, you could fit some styrene sheet in the space behind the intakes to prevent viewers from seeing too far inside your model, and if you were feeling particularly skilful you could paint a fading circular shape to represent the dwindling light at the end of the trunk. A pair of air-brakes sit on either side of the fin, and are fitted flush with the surface unless in use, when they are held at an angle by their actuator jacks. Two more blade antennae are added to the spine on the RAF model, using a different formation light behind them that is teardrop shaped, fitting a domed light to the Luftwaffe model. To build your model in-flight, there are doors that can be fixed over the bays, using two parts for the nose bay, and one each for the main bays. To deploy the gear, the nose bay door is split and fitted either side of the front of the bay, with a single part at the rear, adding the strut, clear landing light and twin wheels to the axles before installing it in the bay. The main gear legs have separate two-part retraction jacks with single wheels, and all the legs have brake hoses moulded in that you should paint dark grey or black. When installing the man gear legs, an additional strut is fitted, mounting the bay doors with clear lenses in the leading edges, plus an actuator that is rare at this scale. Various probes, lights and antennae are fitted around and under the nose, with a moulded-in AoA probe on each side, and cannon barrel tips inserted into troughs under the nose, adding an intake under the port side next to the formation light that is teardrop shaped for the RAF model. The canopy is moulded in two parts with a separate windscreen, which allows them to be modelled open or closed, using a candy-striped strut between the windscreen and opened canopy if you wish. Another antenna is glued to the nose along with the probe on the very tip of the radome to complete construction of the airframe. There are weapons to come however, which is where the main differences appear if we ignore the colour schemes. Both models have two shallow pylons fixed under the belly, adding two trapezoid parts to each side for the RAF option, and fitting another pylon to the centreline for the RAF aircraft. Both models carry a pair of AIM-9L Sidewinders, which have separate fins that slot into a groove in the rear, and a pair of large 1500L “Hindenburger” tanks for under the wings, with two fins in a shallow V added to the rear, plus a different variant of the BOZ countermeasures pod that is externally identical at this scale. The British model also carries a Sky Shadow ECM pod made from two halves plus auxiliary intake and two fins, plus the potential to carry four 1,000lb iron bombs under the belly that are made from halves with perpendicular fins added from separate parts. A pair of additional mounting rails are fitted to the inner faces of the large inner pylons to carry the Sidewinders, mounting the fuel tanks on the inner pylons. Both models have a BOZ pod on the outer pylons, while the GR.1 carries the Sky Shadow pod, which is swapped for a Cerberus II ECM pod that is a single part for the Luftwaffe IDS. Markings There is one decal option per model included on the sheet, each one covered by two pages of large profiles in full colour at the back of their respective sections of the booklet. A further page is devoted to painting and stencilling of the pylons and weapons for each kit, and from the box you can build both of the following: Tornado GR.1, No.IX Sqn., RAF Honington, England, 1983 Tornado IDS, JaboG 31, West German Air Force, Noervenich, Germany, 1983 Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion A compact and efficient way to obtain a pair of Tornados to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Plenty of detail on the sprues, with just a brief fight with the flash to get at the parts. Highly recommended. Carrera Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or