Airfix 1/72 TSR2 upgrade.

[amos brierley]

Hello Gents.      It’s been a while since I’ve posted here.........

For the last 8-9 years I’ve been off line for various reasons, for those who remember me from 2009 the reason s will make sense and for people new to me it’s a starting point. Around 2007 I left Airbus and started at BAE Systems, and as a TSR2 nut where better to get more info? I can’t remember when the Airfix 1/72 kit came out but whilst I was paying visits to the sites heritage center I started this dog of a kit. One day the guys at the heritage centre slid a box my way and it was no less than a Heritage Models kit at this point it was the first time I’d ever seen one. Now, I don’t like customer builds, but, seeing as info was flowing my way it would have been rude not to help them out.  I put my model on hold and posted the Heritage Model build. At the end of the build I’d fallen in love with the kit and after it had been in the comp at Scale Modelworld (and no awards) it went on display in the Warton Heritage center also along with a Silvercloud EAP. 

At this point the people that were supposed to be my work mates turned out to be real low life’s. They were jealous of my friendliness to the heritage guys and my modelling. Then out of the blue one of them infiltrated Britmodeller and posted less than stellar stuff about me, I went through the process of bullying charges. Not a nice time......... At this time my Photobucket account was full and I was out space for photos, this and the dog of a Airfix kit and losing my mojo, then forgotten password s all spelt the end.

Now then, in a fate stranger than fiction I’m building a 1/72 Airfix TSR2 and it’s at the same point at which I gave away my last one, since Xmas it’s been coming along nicely. But, the more I look at other kit builds the more I read of unhappy times with people really not happy, so, I’m going to throw my hat into the ring. My kit is going to be the best I can possibly make, and to showcase what can be done with this truly awful kit.

 

 

[GrahamS]

Ooooo, can’t have too many TSRs!

 

Graham

[billn53]

I just bought this kit (even knowing its bad reputation), so I'll be taking careful notes on how your handle yours.

 

-Bill

[StephenCJ]

I have one of these in the ever increasing stash.  Going to watch too

[Gondor44]

It will be interesting to see what you do with this kit as I have several in the stash.

 

Gondor

[Martian]

Go for it Amos! You will not be surprised that I am following this!

 

Martian 👽

[amos brierley]

Hello gents, today will be a step closer to fully represent the build so far, another bit of history info then onto the build.

 

Firstly, to know where I’ve been with previous TSR2 builds will inform you where this build is going. To date I’ve built two for customers and two have been binned, the two customer builds came with lots of stuff a TSR 2 enthusiasts would love, and also broadened my modelling skills. The Dynavector vac-form kit is a throwback to the early nineties, externally pleasing but not much internal detail. Then from the eighties is the yellow kit in the photos, a solid resin mixed media affair. It’s pretty much the best 1/72 out there, but like all things modelling TSR 2 are now becoming harder to find. After building one of these rascals for customer No2 I really wanted one for myself, it took me just five years to get one on EBay. As you can see it comes packed with lots of exterior details, shame this pre-owned kit was battered by its previous owner. I’ve tried to save it but it’s too far gone and I called it a day Nov 2019.

 

Now, my modelling year runs Nov - Nov in sink with Scale Modelworld. Post SMW 2019 I’ve been lucky enough to have my ‘mojo’ on unlike other Warrington club members. .......An American-ism is having a bucket list, and for some time I’ve been working through my 10 most wanted models, this has come at a cost of time, just one or so models a year, it seems my top ten models are difficult so-and-so’s. I was happily building a Hong Kong Models 1/32 Do335 but couldn’t get the TSR 2 thought out of my head. So Xmas 2019 saw me getting stuck into this project, now five months down the line and I’m still getting there. 

 

The Airfix TSR 2 should be well documented, the only and I really mean only good part of this disaster is the box art. The mould maker should have paid more attention to the box art, the rest of the kit is from Satan himself. With now another ten more years modelling under my belt this model has moved off in a different and pleasing way. It’s been a fraught five months of highs and lows, thankfully I’ve managed to pick myself up each time. At this moment in time I’ve realised how little time I’ve got till November.

 

I’ve got a confession to make: up until 7 weeks ago all things TSR 2 revolved around and only around XR219 and it’s white paint job ( that’s the first coded sorry.)

 

Now for the build, I think that at the end of my spending spree all that was left of the Airfix kit were 22 parts, everything replaced by resin. And some. If I’ve got the hang of posting photos you’ll be able to see where the last five months have gone. So, from now on I’ll be updating an every single aspect of both the real XR219 and this kit.  For now stay safe.

 

 

[Mike]

19 hours ago, GrahamS said:

Ooooo, can’t have too many TSRs!

Sadly, others disagreed 😭

 

Good luck with the build Amos - gotta love a TSR.2. 💓 I'm lucky enough to have the Dynavector kit in my stash, which I think is about the most accurate.  Not perhaps the most detailed, but I can work on that

[GrahamS]

28 minutes ago, Mike said:

Sadly, others disagreed 😭

 

Good luck with the build Amos - gotta love a TSR.2. 💓 I'm lucky enough to have the Dynavector kit in my stash, which I think is about the most accurate.  Not perhaps the most detailed, but I can work on that

Well, they are simply wrong....😁

 

I too have the Dynavector (about three in fact) and I will, at some point, mate it with the Airfix. the Dynavector is a lovely kit, even for a vacform.

 

Graham

[Timmas]

Great, I'm on board for this too. I've built the same one and it's hanging from the ceiling of my workroom as I type. I'm looking at it now, it's one of the most beautifully shaped aircraft in aviation history in my view. It was a struggle to complete, but I'm rather proud of it.

[TallBlondJohn]

Oddly enough I got my TSR2 together OK (with some bullying), it was at the paint stage that I lost the mojo. The various whites I tried and failed with mean it needs re-scribing and I couldn't face it. The fit of those airbrakes still gives me nightmares though.

Maybe I could finish it as a range target?

[junglierating]

You still with British waste of space or have you moved on ? 

Keep going btw👍

[amos brierley]

Hello gents, some reply’s today,

Mike , as I’ve said the Dynavector kit is all about its shape. My take on this kit will be sometime in the future, but, I’ve bought all of the resin upgrades for the Airfix kit and fingers crossed they all can be made to fit inside that svelte Dynavector shell. As if that is not a tall order I have sufficient photos to start pulling access panels off  and showing off inner details ie: all the spine.

 

Timmas , I with you on that idea of hanging your models from the ceiling. Though Mrs B thinks otherwise.

 

TallBlondJohn , firstly panel lines, this kit is driving me batty with panel lines, what your saying is that they are too shallow once a coat of paint has been applied and I suspect suffer from washout. The act of the line getting shallower probably due to shape changes , this is very prevalent on the leading edge of the wings. In future updates this will be a subject I’ll discuss, for now the past four months or so have been spent re-working them, it’s not a task I like. I’m a competition man, and that’s how I judge how good my model is, so, some years ago I was told that all black and all white models won’t win anything. My first outing with a black night fighter Hurricane got me a gold award at SMW. With this in mind, secondly I’ve got to come up with a similar strategy for white. My black paint started at a very dark grey and various shades later ended up at black for the panel lines. To date I have just three shades of white, and a very light grey oil wash. Braking up a single monotone colour is difficult and will require some dexterous airbrushing, I think the art form is called ‘modulation’. My first customer TSR 2 build was only finished with a rattle can of Halfords paint. For me that tool is far too blunt.

 

junglierating, firstly some good news, BAE Systems is recruiting people, in these sad Corona 19 times. I’m now working at Samelsbury the place where the TSR 2 was being made. I’m working on F35 Lighting production line, we produce the back end of the aircraft. When the Typhoon work was winding down I jumped ship. Sadly now those days of team 3 deliveries to the various customers have gone (for now) , the in house joke was ‘I’m just putting fuel in the van’ this was code for the trip to the heritage centre. You can’t beat the Warton Heritage Centre for TSR 2 information . 

That’s all for now, stay safe.

[Mikey-1980]

I have a 1/72 TSR2 watched on eBay at the moment......Despite the issues....is it worth it?

[Timmas]

43 minutes ago, Mikey-1980 said:

I have a 1/72 TSR2 watched on eBay at the moment......Despite the issues....is it worth it?

I suppose it depends on how much you want to pay for it. There are some lovely builds of it on here, so it can be made into a cracking kit.

[amos brierley]

Hello Mike,       In this case , further to what Timmas has said. Then as as second opinion, there ore two issues here, firstly cost. Online bidding is fine as long as the final bid doesn’t get out of control and cost wise say £45 max should suffice. If it’s then a commitment to buy the kit and then to build the kit that is a different issue. Each modeller will build a kit for different reasons, mine is the pictures of XR219 in flight, and, the need to achieve a model for myself. On this forum site there are many very different and great builds and finishes. Hope this helps.

[Gondor44]

Airfix also did two slightly different boxings for a Japanese cartoon series called Stratos4. These kits contain extra parts in adition to the kit to produce the version in cartoon so these can also be used to depict the TSR.2

 

Gondor

[amos brierley]

Hello Gents,      Update No 1.

 

I was going to post an update yesterday on the cockpit build so far but changed my mind, this was due to various comments about panel lines, so, with that in mind that where l’ll start. All A/C to some degree are festooned with some form of details such as access panels, join line, raised screws, countersink rivets and so on. For my form of modelling the more detail the better, a Trumpeter 1/48 F-100F was a feast for my eyes. Meanwhile the Airfix TSR 2 IS driving me batty with what they have produced. Firstly this is one of the reasons why I gave away this kit last time, I kept getting wrong my re-working of the task at hand, in my last attempt every time I did an update the model got a coat of white paint. White primer on white plastic did not bode well. This is why the model is a patchwork of grey primer, firstly it shows me that the work done is good and secondly the more grey paint means  one or more less jobs to do. 

       I really don’t have anything good to say about Airfix’s attempt to recreate an authentic rendition of the details. Firstly scale drawings, I have four sets of them and only one comes close to half decent, the rest drawn by someone who doesn’t have a understanding of the TSR 2 . Whilst 55% of what Airfix have produced is correct, correcting the bad 45% is a nightmare. Some of the panel lines are fictional, and what is with panel lines dissecting through access panels? Then there’s the break down of the model parts, how Airfix have done this in no way helps the modeller. As I’ve said before I’ve been at this subject for the last four months. The replacement of all of the international details took a month, the easy bit done, correcting the rest will take at least another 2 months if not more. I recently spoke to a friend and when he heard that I was applying a skin full of screws to a 1/72 kit informed of my madness.

        From the new photos you can see a plethora of re-work areas, and this is what I’ve done,  re-done and done a third time. The roll is ‘speed tape’ or silver tape, this is what I’m generally using to re-scribe with, and just a simple sharp point (dividers). The difference between this and the last build is this thin strip of metal, it has divided segregation and is what is creating the pitch of the fasteners, to some degree it’s a god send. Some basic details of additional work:

 

Nose Radome: panel lines deepened and faired into with lots of filler.

In flight re-fuelling point: panel fasteners added and bolt-on points too.

Structure: the covering over the nav’s instruments now has a missing panel line added.

Avionics bay: screw details added.

Canopy ejection handle (ground use) a small hole drilled into the plastic and a circle scribed around it (both sides of the model), Airfix provide this a just a decal.

Access bay (reconnaissance) and the panel for the roll sensor, screw details added. ( The roll sensors will not be added a the model is to be show with A/C blanks fitted.)

 

 

[amos brierley]

Evening gents,    Update No 2.

 

As I’ve previously mentioned about highs and lows with this kit, the lows were an expected given, the highs therefore are taken when they come. And over the weekend the fwd fuselage is now looking much more pleasing, the re-scribing and fastener application is tedious. With that in mind I’ll reveal that has made me a little happier.

 

The orange arrow is a panel line that I am no happy with, it makes the area look very cluttered, it’s not on most drawings, so it had to go. The right hand side as always is fighting it’s removal, the left hand side was no easier to remove. 

 

The upper fuselage avionics bay to intake - the green arrow now shows a nice sharp straight line, the kit line was bowed, sadly like many other things it took me two attempts. I think the speed tape gave up, the second time I used a rule.

 

Side scan radar bay - the panel lines were difficult to re-scribe as a lot of filler was use to fair in part #70. I had feared the adding of fastener details between the parallel lines would have been difficult, but have turned out well.

 

Side scan radar bay - from here to the nose cone the green arrow shows a new panel line added. It’s on some drawings and is very clear on my own Cosford photos. 

 

The bottom of the fuselage - lots of filler here firstly (this whole kit is full of it) lots of fastener details, lots of time and effort. Hopefully a coat of primer will prove I’ve done a good job 👍🏻.        Still lots more to do , another day.

 

The plan - get the main fuselage access panels under the wing re-worked and underside of the wings done as well, then the wings can go on, that would be real progress.

 

Small progress but all happy 😆.    Stay safe.

 

[DaveWilko]

One remembers many,many moons ago that there was a rather good resin kit out there for the TSR?

 

Was it "Resinteck" or something similar?

[SafetyDad]

37 minutes ago, DaveWilko said:

One remembers many,many moons ago that there was a rather good resin kit out there for the TSR?

 

Was it "Resinteck" or something similar?

Resitech which became Heritage I believe. I think the Heritage version omitted the PE but I must check. I think thats the yellow kit in the first pic.

 

I'm rather lucky to have a copy of both, as well as the Airfix kit (about which this thread is rapidly scaring the living daylights out of me!)

 

Watching with trepidation

 

SD

Edited May 26, 2020 by SafetyDad

[DaveWilko]

4 minutes ago, SafetyDad said:

Resitech which became Heritage I believe. I think the Heritage version omitted the PE but I must check. I think thats the yellow kit in the first pic.

 

I'm rather lucky to have a copy of both, as well as the Airfix kit (about which this thread is rapidly scaring the living daylights out of me!)

 

Watching with trepidation

 

SD

Thank you for that Sir,one isn't as senile as one feared,there was(equally many moons ago)if one recalls correctly,a review for the

kit in one of the modelling magazines of the time(the 80's?).

A modeller work colleague built one,it was very heavy,but the cockpits and undercarriage details done in etched brass were

absolutely exquisite.

 

Quite a rare kit nowadays one would imagine.

[Martian]

Good to see you have got the picture thing sorted out. This is progressing very nicely. The only trouble is you have got me wanting to build yet another TSR2. Somebody stop me!

 

Martian 👽

[woody37]

Good to see you back round here Amos, looking forwards to seeing it come along

 

[amos brierley]

Hello Gents, 

The yellow kit was sold to me as a Heritage kit, this copy came with a very lovely brass etch set. 

DaveWilko - please don’t fear making the Heritage kit, as it’s the best TSR 2 that you have. I built one of these kits from an unbuilt offering, it builds reasonably lovely, you will have to test fit a lot. The wing to fuselage is tricky, some plastic shimming is required. The reason I gave up on this kit was because it was started, to be polite about the past owner, it was mostly built but the builder (appears) to not have test fitted the parts and then sanded lots of those very fine details away and added lots of filler and at some point in time her realised he was in too deep. I knew it was never fixable but gave it a go.  As for that brass etched set, now going begging, it will be used on this Airfix build as it is very good. 

 

Thats all fow now,     Stay safe.