1/32 Tornado Cockpit, Stumped.

[ModellerUK]

I have a set of resin seats for my 1/32 GR1, however I don’t want to spend a fortune but is the Kit cockpit good enough with resin seats? With just a few subtle scratch built parts? If so what sort of parts would be ideal to scratch build and add to the kit put? 

Or is it worth spending £30+ on a resin cockpit set? 

Regards 

[stever219]

How closely does the kit cockpit resemble pictures of the real thing?  Are you going to model it with canopy open or closed?  Is the aftermarket cockpit going to require lots of work simply to get it to fit?  These are  the sort of questions you might want to ask yourself as part of a decision-making process.  The Tornado cockpit isn't as "busy as that of a Phantom, for example, but equipment fits did vary, so does any given after-market cockpit fit in with your chosen subject and its time frame?

[ModellerUK]

6 minutes ago, stever219 said:

How closely does the kit cockpit resemble pictures of the real thing?  Are you going to model it with canopy open or closed?  Is the aftermarket cockpit going to require lots of work simply to get it to fit?  These are  the sort of questions you might want to ask yourself as part of a decision-making process.  The Tornado cockpit isn't as "busy as that of a Phantom, for example, but equipment fits did vary, so does any given after-market cockpit fit in with your chosen subject and its time frame?

The cockpit from the kit does look decent, I originally planned on modelling it in flight so canopy closed but the seats have seatbelts attached so would be hard to attach pilots. 

Looks like canopy will be open. 

I have read that the resin parts can be temperamental to fit in the kit. 

[stever219]

The Tornado cockpit is a bit of a Plain Jane: very little colour or clutter unlike older jets.  

 

Some resin parts can be a lot of work to install; for example the Aires set for the 1/48th Hasegawa Phantoms needs the cockpit floor, nosewheel bay roof and fuselage sidewalls to be reduced to paper thickness to get them all in.  It seems that Aires either worked from airframe drawings and/or measurements or simply forgot the the thickness of the plastic and resin in the kits is greater in actuality than the sheet metal used to build the real aeroplanes.

[ModellerUK]

14 minutes ago, stever219 said:

The Tornado cockpit is a bit of a Plain Jane: very little colour or clutter unlike older jets.  

 

Some resin parts can be a lot of work to install; for example the Aires set for the 1/48th Hasegawa Phantoms needs the cockpit floor, nosewheel bay roof and fuselage sidewalls to be reduced to paper thickness to get them all in.  It seems that Aires either worked from airframe drawings and/or measurements or simply forgot the the thickness of the plastic and resin in the kits is greater in actuality than the sheet metal used to build the real aeroplanes.

That is what I have heard too, the problem is I have seen some fantastic work on resin cockpits but sometimes they are a pain to install. 

I haven’t seen much mention of kit tubs painted up though.

[stever219]

There’s no denying that some modellers get impressive results from resin sets, but it is equally possible to get similar results from a well-moulded plastic part using a fine brush, a magnifier and a good light source.  The Tornado cockpit, especially in 1/32th, doesn’t lend itself to dry-brushing for instance, but a fine brush and well-thinned (but not over-thinned) paint will work wonders.

 

Most of the exposed “plumbing” can be replicated using various thicknesses of wire (plastic coated or bare) or stretched sprue (or anything else that fits the bill).  The de-mister ducts that run along the canopy rails could be replicated with something like the thinnest wire used for hanging net curtains (try modelling-tools.com, formerly little-cars.com, for example: they stock a wide range of less-common modelling materials)

[Whitewolf]

The only thing worth using out of the Black Box resin set is the cockpit tubs, everything else except throttles and small pieces is hopelessly out of scale. I used Black Box tubs with paragon seats and Flight path Detail set.

[ModellerUK]

7 hours ago, Stealthman said:

The only thing worth using out of the Black Box resin set is the cockpit tubs, everything else except throttles and small pieces is hopelessly out of scale. I used Black Box tubs with paragon seats and Flight path Detail set.

That’s the issue, I don’t want to spend about 30 quid on it just to use a few bits and bobs from it, I might have to venture into scrap building and do a lot of research. 

[stever219]

If you are going the scratch-built route you’re in luck; the Tornado cockpit is well documented, with plenty of pictures on t’interweb and a number of examples in museums.  If you live near Newark in Nottinghamshire, or can get there easily, there is a two-day Cockpit-fest in mid-June every year.  In recent years I’ve seen at least two Tornados there; an F. Mk. 3 and the very truncated remains of ZD717 IIRC.  Check Newark Air Museum’s website for precise dates and admission prices.

[nigelshipp]

Add wiring looms to the back of the navs console and the buff coloured bumps to the top of the navs displays, add the replacement seats and a bit of detail painting will give a nice result. If you are concerned it looks a bit bare closing the lid hides many a gap

 

Regards

Nigel

Edited May 3, 2018 by nigelshipp
spelling

[ModellerUK]

Thanks all and @nigelshipp I have seen some of your work on the Tornado SIG Forum, fantastic stuff! What I’d give to get one of those F3 conversion kits!! 

I have decided to have it displayed in flight so lid closed and aircrew in place so too much won’t be on show, but I shall scratchbuild a few bits and pieces. 

[Whitewolf]

On 5/2/2018 at 6:15 AM, ModellerUK said:

That’s the issue, I don’t want to spend about 30 quid on it just to use a few bits and bobs from it, I might have to venture into scrap building and do a lot of research. 

The key thing is that you actually have very good cockpit base with these tubs

[Julien]

 

 

We have cockpit photos on the site in the walkaround section;

 

 

 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/71270-panavia-tornado-gr1-gr4/

 

 

 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234971011-panavia-tornado-gr4-zd793-raf-lossiemouth-engineering-logistics-wing/

 

 

 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234971017-panavia-tornado-gr4-zd843-operational-kandahar-afghanistan/

 

 

Julien

[Tomjw]

Hi,

 

I've built the 1/32 Tornado GR1 and used the Aires resin cockpit amd flightpath seats. The cockpit is superb, and the Flightpath seats are far better than the Aires resin seats that come with the resin cockpit. I built it with the canopy up, so used a mix and match of Flightpath and Aires.

 

I'm now partway through building a 1/32 Tornado F3. It's going to be built with the kit tub and spare consoles and TV Tabs from the Flightpath set, plus spare bits for canopy mirrors, resin seats, etc from the bits I didn't use on the GR1. I'm building the F3 with the canopy down, so I'm confident it'll look fine.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Tom