Lord Riot Posted April 26, 2019 Author Share Posted April 26, 2019 1 hour ago, Alan P said: Glad you're cracking on with this, I didn't make it this far with mine 😄 It sure has a funny nav cockpit for an F3! 🤔 Alan Hopefully it won't be too noticeable with the canopy on - this was the only one in the kit - I'm assuming it's the GR1 cockpit? I don't suppose there's much I can do now? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted April 26, 2019 Author Share Posted April 26, 2019 Sanding, filling, rescribing, trying to stuff clearfix down gaps ... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted April 27, 2019 Author Share Posted April 27, 2019 (edited) Not far off being ready for light aircraft grey spray. I'll fill those holes in the missile bays first though! Need to look at the underside of a real one and see what the attachment points really looked like. For a pre-Gulf War era version, would I be right to leave off those chaff/flare dispensers from under the rear fuselage? Edited April 27, 2019 by Lord Riot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 Best I can do is show you the underside of my Revell one. Not sure of the exact dates of this fit out, but the kit decals are for about 2002? think I also got the back end of my LAG a bit wrong, but looked ok to me 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted April 27, 2019 Author Share Posted April 27, 2019 I melted then cut the small slits for the Skyflash fins, and sealed up the round holes. Begs the question why didn't Airfix just mould it like that!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted April 27, 2019 Author Share Posted April 27, 2019 Light aircraft grey sprayed. All seems ok so far. I'll add a bit of dirt wash after the decals are on. It needs a lot of filling and some serious sanding this, especially the forward fuselage join, and the intakes. There still seems to be a join line with the latter too, despite looking ok before spraying. Always disappointing that. Is there a better filler than the Revell stuff in the blue tube? Too late now, I've sprayed her! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(ex)Sgtrafman Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 Lookin' good buddy - you're becoming a bit of a power house when it comes to Airfix kits! Cheers Iain 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted April 28, 2019 Author Share Posted April 28, 2019 Underside sealed up. It took longer than I was expecting, though not as bad as blu-tack snakes and cutting up shopping bags! And BS626 'camouflage grey' sprayed on the upper and side surfaces. I still think it looks a shade too dark like on my Phantom, but it is the correct colour. I assume a lot of photos of these jets in bright sunlight mean I often see them looking pale. Do the real ones fade? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted April 28, 2019 Author Share Posted April 28, 2019 Does anyone know a cure for this? Same mistake as I made with the Hawk; some spray crept up under the canopy rail and thinners made it worse. Are there any household cleaning products that will clear this? Or anyone have a Tornado canopy they'd be willing to sell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted April 28, 2019 Author Share Posted April 28, 2019 (edited) All the spraying done, I'm actually quite pleased with how it's looking, just needs a bit of tidying up underneath. I usually build my kits with as much open and hanging as possible, but I'm tempted to leave the airbrakes shut on this to emphasise the sleeker F3 compared to the GR1. Plus it saves me having to scratch build the detail inside to match my GR1! One issue though, despite a day of sanding that join line is incredibly ugly and unrealistic, so I'm considering a change of markings to 111 Sqn with the long lightning flash from intake to nose to cover it up! Or maybe that big arrow of 23 Sqn? Still can't decide, she's a blank canvas as I have no decals I like yet. I always like 56 Sqn colours too, so a little spoilt for choice. Edited April 28, 2019 by Lord Riot 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 Sadly this is one of the major weaknesses with this kit, the top and bottom fuselage halves are like strangers who happened to meet in a model box one night. If you haven't already heard of it, Mr White Putty is brilliant stuff for that kind of step. It goes on a bit goopy but if you smooth it on in one application using the back of a hobby knife blade it will cover pretty much any kit malfunction 😉👍 Alan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted April 29, 2019 Author Share Posted April 29, 2019 Here's where I'm up to. All the spraying done, plus handpainting of the various black and silver extras. I had to handpaint the radome too as none of my grey sprays were suitable. MSG looked too similar to the main body, and most photos show a lot of F3s had a radome of quite noticeably different shade. Mine ended up being a mix of Tamiya 'medium grey' and black. Main colour is satin BS626, with satin light a/c lower and DSG wing root swing areas. It looks ok at a distance but the radome needed so much sanding it looks a bit rough, plus there's that fuselage join line. But it'll pass for a Tornado F3 on the shelf. Almost every part needs either sanding, cutting or filling with this kit. I'm still enjoying trying to get it looking reasonable though! Not sure what to do about decals or that canopy disaster yet! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted April 30, 2019 Author Share Posted April 30, 2019 (edited) Before I carry on, is there any reason why I couldn't finish this as an old 229 OCU Tornado F2? Apart from different engines (which you can't see) and only two AIM-9 rails (easy enough), are there any visible differences? Are the F2 and F3 externally the same or would I need to saw the thing in half and remove length behind the nose, reshape the wing roots, etc etc which is all far beyond my skill or inclination! Edited April 30, 2019 by Lord Riot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted April 30, 2019 Author Share Posted April 30, 2019 I made my own little aerial things on the side as the kit ones were too bulky and seemed in slightly the wrong place. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted April 30, 2019 Author Share Posted April 30, 2019 (edited) Decision made on the markings! Thank you @At Sea for the superb 11 sqn decals for exactly the right era I'm looking for, brilliant! Edited May 1, 2019 by Lord Riot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted May 1, 2019 Author Share Posted May 1, 2019 I used a small piece of wire to represent the gun muzzle, there's no detail in the kit for it. I also used a tiny bit of plastic for the forward anti-collision light. Some light dirt wash added underneath and on the fin from the thrust reversers. All feedback and ideas welcome! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted May 1, 2019 Author Share Posted May 1, 2019 (edited) Almost ready for decals. After the initial fit problems it's a fairly straightforward build. Edited May 1, 2019 by Lord Riot 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Coombs Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 On 4/28/2019 at 6:43 PM, Lord Riot said: One issue though, despite a day of sanding that join line is incredibly ugly and unrealistic, so I'm considering a change of markings to 111 Sqn with the long lightning flash from intake to nose to cover it up! Or maybe that big arrow of 23 Sqn? Still can't decide, she's a blank canvas as I have no decals I like yet. I always like 56 Sqn colours too, so a little spoilt for choice. Late to the party here, but I'd have done this: Ditch all subtlety and sand the side area between the rear of the canopy and the rear of the windshield flat and smooth. Overdo it a little. Reskin the area with a tongue-shaped piece of suitably thin plasticard (curved edge forward) and fair it in with a smidgeon of filler. Restore panel detail either with stretched sprue or by engraving to taste. Add the angle-of-attack probe and whatever that bevelled casing is that you see in pictures (does anyone on this forum know what that is?) This would mean no seam line running through your decal of choice and annoying you because you know it's there. I used to do this with the smaller Airfix GR1 brethren until Revell came up with something far superior about 20 years ago. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted May 1, 2019 Author Share Posted May 1, 2019 Good ideas Steve, though I think sadly that may be beyond my skill set! I do think I could have sanded it a bit more though, that's for certain. It didn't look as bad until spraying, then because the spray actually came out really well on most of the kit I didn't want to ruin it sanding again. I'm still half tempted to sand again even now! But, even with a metal file I didn't seem to be making any progress after a while and just leaving more and more rough lines on the surface. I think what I really need are clamps! Squeeze that top fuselage in at gluing stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Coombs Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 1 minute ago, Lord Riot said: But, even with a metal file I didn't seem to be making any progress after a while and just leaving more and more rough lines on the surface. Ouch! I am a firm believer in using manicure sticks. There are some with four grades of grit, and others that provide four levels of polish. I get some odd looks when I buy them by the half-dozen or so from the local equivalent of Boots, but am probably past caring. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted May 1, 2019 Author Share Posted May 1, 2019 2 hours ago, Steve Coombs said: Ouch! I am a firm believer in using manicure sticks. There are some with four grades of grit, and others that provide four levels of polish. I get some odd looks when I buy them by the half-dozen or so from the local equivalent of Boots, but am probably past caring. That sounds a good idea, thanks! Next time my gf is shopping in Boots I'll ask her to get some! 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony C Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 The canopy should polish up with mico mesh pads and followed up Klear/AK Gauzy or your preferred substitute however, if none of these are available, I have used toothpaste as an alternative to sanding (standard white Colgate if I remember correctly). Hope this helps! Tony C 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted May 1, 2019 Author Share Posted May 1, 2019 Thanks Tony, I'll give the toothpaste a go! I think ours is Colgate in one of those pump pots, let's see how it works. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Coombs Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 On 4/28/2019 at 5:22 PM, Lord Riot said: Does anyone know a cure for this? Same mistake as I made with the Hawk; some spray crept up under the canopy rail and thinners made it worse. Are there any household cleaning products that will clear this? Or anyone have a Tornado canopy they'd be willing to sell? If you used acrylics for the job, pinch some of your girlfriend's nail varnish remover (preferably without acetone) and swab the overspray off with cotton buds dipped in the stuff. Then tidy up as suggested above by Tony C. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted May 1, 2019 Author Share Posted May 1, 2019 Thing is guys, with the canopy I think what made it worse was I stupidly thought the paint thinner I clean my brushes with would clean off the oversprayed paint. The thinners made it cloud up. Will toothpaste or nail varnish remover clear that up or have I destroyed the chemical composition of the clear plastic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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