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Revell 1:144 Tornado ECR +++ FINISHED +++


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Hi all,

I don't think I ever 'met' Merv online here, but this is an excellent idea for a GB and I'm happy to join!

I got this kit in Scotland last year after seeing some Tornados flying in the Highlands. Clearly it's the German ECR version, not the one I saw, but what the hell! :) Here's the box:

01Box_zps714d350c.jpg

I had a look at Nimrod54's thread, as he's building one of these (though not in the box scheme as I am) and from reading the thread I can see I have to get rid of the gun ports. Are there any other changes that have to be made to this kit to make it into an ECR, does anyone know? Is the ordinance with the kit correct?

Finally, having never made a Tornado before (I know!), what's the general rule with the swing wings? With Tomcats I leave them moveable as all the ordinance is on the fuselage. But with the Tornado there is ordinance on the wings, so it'll look weird with the ordinance pointing the wrong way if the wings are moved. So do builders of Tornados tends to just fix the wings in one position?

Hope to start on this soon, thanks...

J.

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That's a good point Sir T! I was also thinking that there's a chance that the pylons won't follow the curve of the wing properly if you glue them in the swept position instead of the 'open' position. I'll probably just do them in the open position, it's easier that way!

J.

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Jason, I just wanted to wish you good luck with the build I look forward to watching your progress. All of my builds will have the wings in the forward position and I remove the mechanism that allows them to move together then cut a slot from the curved edge back to the hole. This allows you to fit the wing after the fuselage join and clean up has been completed, you just have make sure that the sweep on each wing is the same.

The photo below shows the wings from my F.3 build using the Dragon kit and you can see the method that I have used, the wings on the Revell kit do not have the extension pieces and this leaves a gap where the wing sweeps into the fuselage. In reality this area is covered over with a seal, you could represent this with a thin strip of masking tape painted the correct colour.

CIMG3273_zps5cwjfmzy.jpg

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Excellent advice and tips Nimrod54, thanks a lot! I got the canopy dipped in Klear today, and the internal parts primed, so hopefully I'll get building in a couple of days. It won't be fancy, all out of the box. Hopefully I can understand Revell's painting/decals instructions, at first glance they look needlessly complicated!

J.

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Thanks Hockeyboy76!

Just a quick update. I've been working on the cockpit, and there's very little detail, especially on the IPs. So I did a little painting. It's pretty poor up close, but at this scale, and once the cockpit is all closed up, it will at least look like there's something there!

J.

02%20IPs_zpswbukhhhv.jpg

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Another quick update...

I haven't actually done a lot with this, but you very quickly get to a completed fuselage as there aren't that many steps really. It'll be the paint job that will make or break this build.

Anyhow, I got the cockpit put together and cut out the guns and I currently have some liquid green stuff drying in the slots where the guns were.

I also followed nimrod54's excellent tips and build thread and cut slots into the wings so I can add them later, and also cut the retaining 'knob' off the stabilators so they can be added later too. And I added the intakes to the front fuselage before gluing it to the rear fuselage, which worked out really easily.

So here's how it's looking now:

03%20Fuselage%201_zpsvpqhgj65.jpg

04%20Fuselage%202_zpshtmxt3fr.jpg

It looks two-tone as I primed the inside of the cockpit halves and then accidentally primed the outside too!

I'm going to leave it to dry over night, and then I'll fill in some of the small gaps and sand it down, before adding the canopy and priming it all (probably with white primer to aid with the yellow paint going on later). I'll also prime the wings and stabilators. It'll probably be a few days before I get to that stage though. At the moment I'm thinking I'll probably completely do the wings/stabilators separately and just glue them on after all the painting, as it's a complex enough scheme, so not having wings in the way might help.

Thanks...

J.

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Thanks Nimrod54...

I got the canopy masked and glued on and got the whole thing primed, and then I was away for a couple of days.

Now I'm back, I finally got around to trying to make sense of the painting instructions. They're not easy to follow, especially as they're in grey-scale with various different 'striped' patterns representing different colours. In the end though, I've figured out that there are 5 or 6 main colours on the aircraft! So that should be interesting in 1:144 scale and for a brush painter. One of those times when you look at the boxart, think "that's a great looking scheme", but forget that you actually have to paint it yourself!

Anyhow, hopefully have some more pictures once I've got brave enough to start the painting...

J.

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Thanks Nimrod54...

I got the canopy masked and glued on and got the whole thing primed, and then I was away for a couple of days.

Now I'm back, I finally got around to trying to make sense of the painting instructions. They're not easy to follow, especially as they're in grey-scale with various different 'striped' patterns representing different colours. In the end though, I've figured out that there are 5 or 6 main colours on the aircraft! So that should be interesting in 1:144 scale and for a brush painter. One of those times when you look at the boxart, think "that's a great looking scheme", but forget that you actually have to paint it yourself!

Anyhow, hopefully have some more pictures once I've got brave enough to start the painting...

J.

Jason

Just take your time and you will end up with a good result. Here are a couple of shots of my attempt with the same kit.

CIMG3366_zpsjaegn6fj.jpg

CIMG3367_zps6joo7zrb.jpg

and here are a couple of the Revell 1/144 IDS boxing of the kit.

CIMG3369_zpswau7q8la.jpg

CIMG3370_zpsjbmjavux.jpg

Apologies for thread hi-jack but I wanted you to see that no matter how confusing the instructions seem, you can get a good result if you take your time. Both of these were out of box builds.

I hope that it is not too late, but I would suggest you prime the nose with white primer before applying the yellow.

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Thanks for the pic Nimrod54, they definitely help! And yep, I've primed with white paint to help with the yellow! :)

Just a quick question. I've noticed on my kit (and on yours as well) that there's a 'slope' from the wing root down to the tip; the wings look like they're angled downwards a little. Are they meant to be that way?

Thanks...

J.

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Whilst the wings do droop to the tip I don't think it is as much as I have it. I have them in a forward position, which is probably a little to far, and this accentuates the droop. If you sweep them back a bit more you should improve the look and it may fit better in the wing glove. This is photo from Airliners.net will give you some idea of how they should look Tornado ECR HTH.

Edit

Jason,

I've had a tinker around with the fit of the wings on one of my current builds and have posted a few photos to try and help with your decision. You can see the positions of the wings from the top and the resulting fit of sweeping them back a little.

CIMG3372_zpsjvhw2sgt.jpg

CIMG3373_zpswxkftkbs.jpg

CIMG3374_zpsm5fbmxdq.jpg

CIMG3375_zpsurpbvnhe.jpg

I think that if they are swept back a little more you get an improved fit around the glove and a more acceptable look, but this may not be correct. However, I don't get too hung up about accuracy and feel that modelling usually results in having to make compromises at some point. For me personally, if it looks about right then that is good enough. Remember in the end it is your model and if you are happy with the result then that is all that matters.

Apologies again for hi-jacking your thread with my photos but for me pictures illustrate a point better than words. Happy modelling and keep up the good work.

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A small update...

I was struggling a little with the inside of the wings, as they're painted grey for any section that could be inside the fuselage, but could still be exposed when the wing sweep angle changes (as this is a Tornado GB, I'm sure you all know what I mean!)

Eventually I just used my head and inserted the wings, did a fully forward sweep, and marked the edge of the wing that touched the fuselage with a pencil, and then did the same with a fully backward sweep. That left me a guide to follow, and it showed that my 'guesswork' with a brush was a little off. But now I can paint up to the edge of the pencil and then mask it off for the rest of the camo.

Hopefully more soon, maybe on Friday, life's just keeping me away from the bench at the moment...

J.

05%20Wings%201_zpswgkr0fuv.jpg

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Hi all...

Slow progress continues on this. I must admit, I'm really appreciating the shape and build of the Tornado itself, but regretting the scheme I picked, especially in 1:144 scale!

Anyhow, after a few different attempts I'm finally happy enough with the wings (just about) to put a gloss coat on them. And I've got the yellow painted on the fuselage, and have started masking for the very thin white lines that go under the front fuselage and around the intakes. After that's done I'll look at painting the rest of the camo on the fuselage.

Thanks...

J.

06%20Fuselage%203_zpsw8rsesco.jpg

07%20Fuselage%204_zpsk5alhoep.jpg

08%20Wings%202_zpsqyvssi9n.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

I know I keep on saying it, but work, and progress, slowly continues!

It needs a lot of touch-ups in various places, but I finally have the fuselage painted:

09%20Fuselage%205_zpsmgcyfanc.jpg

10%20Fuselage%206_zpsfijehkfw.jpg

Such an intricate paint scheme, especially with the white strips along the intakes and under the front half of the fuselage.

I'm looking for some advice about the intakes. Revell suggest that the inside of the top of them (i.e. what you can see if you look directly up at them from below) should be the same colour as the lower camo colour (so Anthracite for one side and Dark Green for the other) so that the camo 'continues' into the intakes and isn't broken up when viewed from below. However, I don't know what colour to paint the other three sides of the inside of the intakes, though I've read both white and light grey as answers. Any suggestions?

With the main paint scheme now done (though the decals are waiting for me), I'm hopeful I can get this finished by the deadline.

Thanks for looking...

J.

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Thanks Dermot!

I actually have all the decals done now (apart from some blue 'dummy' lines on the missiles) and have the undercarriage done too, but it's been a choice between building or taking pictures, so I've focused on building! I'll try to get a couple of pictures up this evening...

J.

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Well, as promised, here are some pics with all the decals done. As usual, close up photos show issues, but I'm pretty happy with it. I'm working on the pylons and ordinance now, and starting the panel wash too. All going well I should get it finished, I *think* I'll be able to get to the workbench every evening between now and Sunday, so that should be enough time!

Thanks...

J.

12%20Decals%202_zpstxkuyhwl.jpg

13%20Decals%203_zps9i8vtlw6.jpg

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