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Morning all, This is my take and with some poetic license, a "What if.." for the BAC TSR-2 had it gone into service and potentially with 31 Squadron operating out of RAF Laarbruch circa winter 1980 and on Nordic exercise. The kit is Airfix's 1/72 kit, pretty much straight out of the box with further cockpit detail....not that you can or ever see it due to the teeeny tiny windows. This build was used to try some new techniques such as panel lining that almost messed everything up. the clear coat wasnt thick enough before the MiG black panel wash was applied. wiping it of with solvent started to take the cammo paint with it....which did add to the effect of a hotch-potch pain application. serial number selection was XS669 - one of the 50 allocated serial numbers to the TSR-2. The decals for 31 Squadron were kindly donated by @Richard E and the cammo pattern was a mixture of Jaguar and Harrier markings botched together as a wrap around scheme....as I said....lots of poetic license here so please be forgiving....mainly airbrushed, which is a skill I am still learning. Possibly not my best work, but still learning new things...Enjoy!

I dont usually go in for second hand kits, especially when in a shop but when I saw this Airfix 1:48 TSR2 I had to at least have a look. When I picked up the box it was suspiciously heavy. I had a peek inside and its previous owner had gone a bit nuts with the aftermarket so I had to have it. Obviously, I had to get some other additions (on the right a cockpit, ladders, pitot and resin wheels)… so had a productive Saturday afternoon…. first I removed and replaced the taileron and vertical tail spigots. The plastic/resin ones looked a bit suspect I then replaced the flaperon detail… not sure this was worth the time and effort but the kit came with the resin then expoxied in the massive chunk of resin that is the bomb bay and main undercarriage detail. I chose to glue this now to ensure there was no gap between the resin and plastic parts… may come to regret this later… upper airbrake bays will need lots more work… the intakes had a massive lip in them. A quick check online confirmed this was not evident in a supersonic intake! White putty time the nozzle detail is welcome but the sink marks on the kits part… not so much 🫣 the kit came with white metal gear but even that looked like it was splayed. So I cut the stub axels off of both the main gear and nose leg and replaced with brass at the correct angles. We’ll see if this corrects a known problem with the kit and accepts the weight of all that resin! I’m thinking a view of XR219, the only TSR2 to fly, on the line at Warton with the chase Lightning T4 parked alongside. That should keep me busy for a while. Anyone who has made either this TSR2 kit or the Sword Lightning T4/5 I’d be grateful for experience/insights.

This was done about ten years ago and has suffered over the passage of time, so please view with forgiving eyes. On the 27th September 1964 the TSR.2 took to the skies over England. Designed as a long range, all weather, twin engined supersonic bomber capable of precision bombing at both high and low altitude, the aircraft was fitted with advanced avionics that could deliver a variety of weapons. As it underwent extensive testing it soon became clear that the design exceeded its original expectations; the aircraft was 40 years ahead of its time. The following year, with the full backing of the Labour administration, English Electric went into full production. The American Defense Department, suitably impressed by demonstrations in the Nevada desert, cancel their order for the F-111 and procure 372 TSR.2’s in various combat role configurations. This single order consolidates Britain’s position as leading aircraft designers and combat aircraft manufacturers.

So this build has been going on for 6 years on and off ( mainly off ) is finally coming to the close. In fact I started playing with the plastic and making plans 3 years before that! My intention with this build was to find the gem of a TSR2 kit that we saw in the original (resin?) pattern that appeared in the magazines of the time, that was hidden beneath some rather indifferent tooling. Made in the pre-CAD days the fit of the parts left a lot to be desired and often caused the details that were there to be obliterated by liberal applications of filler. I wanted to try and show that if the parts were properly prepped and fettled then the amount of filler and sanding could be dramatically reduced. In the meantime everyone else got on built the kit or fifteen! I'm not one for building whiff schemes usually as they often stretch reason to breaking point so but I had originally intended to build the Empire Test Pilot scheme in it's famous white, red and blue as I felt this was a plausible outcome where the production was still cancelled but the airframe was used for test and research work. I came across a build of this kit in this scheme ( admitted not well painted ) but the dark blue obscured all the detail in the underside making it look 2 dimensional and put me off it. I do love these scheme but will try it on a model with less time invested in it. So I decided to plump the early service scheme provided by Xtradecal (40 Sqn, RAF Coningsby, early 1968). In my mind though the saga of the TSR2 was just extended by a few years; a few service acceptance machines made were constructed and made it into the hands of the RAF who quickly repainted them from the factory anti-flash white to the camouflaged upper surfaces that was just starting to be applied to other service aircraft, the undersides with their low vis stencils were untouched. This was a vain attempt to make the TSR2 look like a part of the modern RAF arsenal. The airframes didn't even get fitted with the refuelling probe before the political rambling that had being going on for many years finally came to an end and cancelled the order for the production machines. Apart from the improvement to the fix of the main parts here is summary of the additional work done. Details added/replaced: Fin intake added Intake boundary layer guide vanes, replaced (vague moulding) Correct bogie retraction arm location Replaced pitot tube Nose and main leg cabling, nose steering jacks Accessories: The pre-painted Eduard "Zoom" PE had great details but poor colour choices, maybe try painting them MSG and using the kit decals Xtradecals were disappointing in that they broke up as well a the lack of stencils and other small decals for the camo schemes. The Model Alliance whiff sets look better but focus on RAF schemes. The Palva seats were lovely, and could be used to build a museum setting, they of cause need the inevitable trimming to fit. AIM ladders worked well too, though I replaced the poles with brass rod. Hind sight is a wonderful tool, however there things that I could have done better: Fixed the undersized bomb doors, before attaching Replaced and detail the ill fitting cockpit rear bulkheads Sanded the rear fuselage with the exhaust fairing in place so the contours match Better clear coats, I think the slight silvering places is down to the texture of my gloss coats As usual the final assembly threw up a few issues but I'm pleased I fought to get the cockpit canopies, probe, legs and tail all in alignment to be able to take the head on shot. I'm very happy with the camo and weathering and the overall look of the model, but at the moment mainly glad that it is finally finished. tl:dr here are the photos ( under dull, winter light unfortunately ) ... and here it is on the shelf with all my other pointy British jets.

Calling this finished, but waiting for nose probe to arrive, then it's finished! Pitroad kit with Retrokit skybolts and chaff dispensers

Scale: 1/48Manufacturer: AirfixPaint: Tamiya and Vallejo metalExtras: SAC metal undercarriage, coastal kits blurred runway Weathering: Dark dirt washDecals: OOB Shes rather a large model once built. Really struggled to get her on my photo background but did the best i could. No major problems with the build, just took longer than normal due to a house move. Had its first outing at the Milton Keynes show last weekend and had lots of positive comments. May bring it to Telford this year but will have to see nearer the time. Here she is in the photobay taking up lots of room! At the MK show with an admirer

BAC TSR.2 1:144 Great Wall Hobbies I don't need to introduce this do I? I'll just say TSR.2, the peak of technological development, axed just as flight testing on XR219 got underway in 1965. 2 more (XR220 & XR221) were days from taking to the air and joining their sister. t looks like a beautiful and menacing looking bird of prey, and many avaiation enthusiast have a soft spot for it, including me. This is the Great Wall Hobbies 1:144 kit, which fits together beautifully and does full justice to one of my all time favourite aircraft. But it is small! With a Mikro Mir 1:144 Valiant for comparison Size reference - a standard UK Tamiya paint jar Small? certainly is against my 'What If' 1/48 Airfix TSR.2! Thanks for looking, John

You can't have a WHIF without a TSR2. Sorry no kit bashing involved with this, but I will be using lots of spares from the box to build a Wild Weasel variant. The aim is to have a rotary bomb bay, alarms on the wings, ECM & chaff pods on the spine and so on. Also a new cammo wrap, possible to match the current MTP or a desert style with dark earth, mid stone. Oh yes and all in smashing 1/144. Thanks for looking, pictures to follow.

On Sept 27th it will be the 50th anniversary of the first flight of the TSR2. To mark the occaision, Newark Air Museum will be holding a TSR2 day. I will be providing a potted "what-if" history of the service of the TSR2 Eagle and hopefully, some of it's alternatives. To this end, production has been scaled up. The first of the next 2 will be the GR.3 (LR). LR standing for Long Range, as this is one of the aircraft modified to be able to reach the Falkland Islands in 1982. I will be getting a head start with this as a friend donate 2 part built TSRs to my collection. The second is to be the last of the line. The heavily reworked VG, or variable geometry, swing wing.... Using my recently retired RN Tomcat F.1, I am cutting and trimming to get the wing mechanism and ramp intakes to fit.

Hi folks,I dug out the two ships mentioned in chat but just not in a "ship" frame of mind so languishing in it,s box where it has been for two years was Airfix,s TSR2. with the early stages of it,s cockpit complete and all the major components off the sprue,s time to try and get her built,I was fortunate to visit Cosford a few years ago while working in Tamworth and I was in awe of the real thing still looking futuristic forty plus years after it,s last flight.

Designed to penetrate Soviet airspace high and fast. Capable of over Mach 2.5 at altitudes of 80,000ft + Painted blue to blend in with the sky, it was affectionately called "Bluebird" by it's crew, as a nod to both the land speed record car and the American SR-71 Blackbird.

On the cancellation of the TSR2, the government placed an order for 50 F-111K bombers. Had we actually got them, here's what I think they would have looked like by the 80's. 7 Sqn was one of the units earmarked to receive them. XV 912 was within the range of serials set aside for the F-111K. Kit is the Academy one. It did fight me a bit, but went together ok.

I ummed and ahhd as to whether I should put this here or in the real world aircraft RFI, but here it is..... Still needs a couple of bits putting on, but for all intents and purposes, it's finished. For those that don't know, the t.12 was the aircraft that TSR2 crews were to do their conversion training on, then move onto the T.2 TSR2, if it got built. The T.12 was to have the "big bore" engine of the FGR9 and I believe the F6 had it too, but normal Hunter T-birds had the smaller bore. Also, a bulge on the nose houses TSR2 systems. The kit is the 1/48 Revell/Academy kit, with the Heritage Aviation T.7 Conversion. This nicely comes with a corrected exhaust and wheels. It is done in a What-if 237 OCU markings, using an Eagle with a mortar board hat.

Hello fellow modellers. This is my first post in RFI, comments welcomed. All brush painted using Humbrol enamels, decals are a mix of the supplied kit ones & Fundecals 1/144 Vulcans. Enjoy the following pictures of surely what should have been instead of what if!

Well, it's been a while since I last logged in and posted an update on my modelling. To be honest, I lost interest in modelling for the best part of a year and it's only since Christmas that I've been doing anything - slowly getting back into the swing of it. At the moment it's mostly finishing off stuff I couldn't face, back when the modelling urge left me and a number of fairly undemanding OOBs. The first to report is that TSR2 that I was working on (and had a hissy fit over...). Here she is in her glory,. Nothing like as classy as some of the other Britmodeller's TSR2's. I know, I know. I bodged the canopy something rotten, and the undercarriage doors shouldn't be open. I'm just happy to have finished it. The decals are Xtradecal of course...