Best 1/48 Tornado and British F-4

[DrumBum]

hi all,

 

I have recently re started building 1/48 aircraft after several years break and have really enjoyed being back in the hobby.

 

I have completed several American jet aircraft as per usual but I have started building an Airfix Lightning and really want to keep proceeding down a British path.

 

Tornado and F-4 next.

 

I would like to build an F3 however a GR is fine also but not sure which kit is considered quality.

 

I hear terrible things about the Revell products?

 

And any British F-4 will do, but not a J in RAF paint.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Cheers for now

 

 

[CT7567]

1/48 isn't my scale of choice, but to the best of my knowledge the only Spey-engined Phantoms in this scale are Hasegawa's tooling, though the FGR.2 has been released more recently in a Revell Germany rebox.

 

Scalemates page: Revell (Hasegawa) FGR.2 Phantom

[Seawinder]

Your only choice for FG.1 or FGR.2 is Hasegawa, although you can get basically the same FGR.2 kit boxed by Revell. Another thread here mentions that the Hasegawa boxing is slightly preferable because it has the correct wheels. You might want to track that down.

 

I have built the Revell Tornado GR.4. It was tricky in spots and required a fair amount of dry fitting and figuring out to avoid major fit issues. However, it's definitely buildable and IMHO not deserving of some of the nasty comments it has received. Revell has issued GR.1, GR.4 and ADV. I'll leave it to others with more knowledge of the Tornado to weigh in on the relative merits of Revell, Hobby Boss, Italeri and Airfix kits.

[Lord Riot]

I've built two Revell RAF Phantoms, it's a reboxed Hasgawa kit I believe and a lot cheaper than the original too. I think it's a nice kit and builds into a good looking Toom without too much filling or frustration.

 

I liked the overall shape and fit of the Airfix Tornado more than the Italeri one, but most people seem to feel the Airfix kit is too old. I'm after a Hobby Boss one to see how that goes. I had fit issues with the Italeri one, it was frustrating to build. 

 

You made a good choice with the Airfix Lightning, it's a superb kit in my opinion.

 

If you fancy a Jaguar then I recommend the Revell one in 1/48, it seems better than the Kittyhawk Jag, though I haven't built the Airfix one yet so that could be good.

 

 

 

 

[FortyEighter]

3 hours ago, Seawinder said:

Your only choice for FG.1 or FGR.2 is Hasegawa, although you can get basically the same FGR.2 kit boxed by Revell. Another thread here mentions that the Hasegawa boxing is slightly preferable because it has the correct wheels. You might want to track that down.

The Revegawa Phantoms have a good fit but you need to take care at the upper wing roots and also where the rear of the intakes meet the main body.

 

As for the wheels, I've one Hasegawa boxing and two Revell and they all have wheels with some sort of embossed spokes.   Not a problem as a set of Eduard F-4J/S resin wheels are about £5.

 

Mike

[Troffa]

As Seawinder states above, Antii_K posted this last year that demonstrates that Hasegawa are now putting a sprue with the correct UK Style wheels in it, no need for after market or white metal in the kit.  so check your kits before you buy!

 

Phantom Wheels (Among other things Toom)

[71chally]

Far cheaper to get the Revell reissue (which can be had for cheaper than Airfix's 1:72 version!) which has superior decals, and get the Reskit correct wheels wheels, 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/res-kit-rs48-0067-british-phantom-wheels-set--1127281

 

The Hasegawa / Revell FG.1/FGR.2 kit is superb, must be coming up for 35 years old now, but as good as most modern tool kits.   

I think the only negative is that it doesn't have full depth intakes, but unless you have a gynaecologist visit, then you won't really notice when its complete.

 

As for Revel in general, I like them and they have produced some blinding kits in more recent years.

[Seawinder]

7 hours ago, Troffa said:

As Seawinder states above, Antii_K posted this last year that demonstrates that Hasegawa are now putting a sprue with the correct UK Style wheels in it, no need for after market or white metal in the kit.  so check your kits before you buy!

 

Phantom Wheels (Among other things Toom)

Indeed, according to the kit list at Modeling Madness, all the listed Hasegawa Toom kits contain sprue E+, which includes the proper main wheels. Almost all of the kits also contain metal/vinyl main wheels, stated to be identical to US F-4s. Link:

http://modelingmadness.com/splfeat/kr/has48d.htm

Edited August 2, 2020 by Seawinder

[Jabba]

8 hours ago, Lord Riot said:

 

If you fancy a Jaguar then I recommend the Revell one in 1/48, it seems better than the Kittyhawk Jag, though I haven't built the Airfix one yet so that could be good.

 

 

 

 

 

If I remember rightly the Revell one is the Airfix kit re-boxed.

[alt-92]

Re: Tornado's, I've heard Tornado SIG members prefer the Revell ones by far, despite the occasional fit issue.

[FortyEighter]

13 hours ago, Troffa said:

As Seawinder states above, Antii_K posted this last year that demonstrates that Hasegawa are now putting a sprue with the correct UK Style wheels in it, no need for after market or white metal in the kit.  so check your kits before you buy!

 

Phantom Wheels (Among other things Toom)

An interesting post Troffa, the sprue link has wheels that look much like they should and not at all like the parts E1 in my boxings.

[DrumBum]

Thanks all for the feedback.

 

Ironically I just purchased an Airfix Tornado on ebay for 99 cents!!!!!

 

But it looks like I will track down a Revell GR4 and a Revell F-4 also.

 

Not proving easy to find thus far. 

 

As for the F-4 intake shortcomings I have a set of resin intake covers that I can use.

 

And yes the Airfix Lightning is a delight to build and makes a pleasant change from the US Navy F-4's and F-14's I built as a kid. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CT7567]

Keep in mind that any aftermarket intake plugs for Hasegawa's J-79 engined Phantoms won't fit the FG.1/FGR.2. The intakes were enlarged to provide additional airflow to the RR Spey engines on the UK versions.

[alt-92]

21 hours ago, DrumBum said:

But it looks like I will track down a Revell GR4 and a Revell F-4 also.

 

Not proving easy to find thus far. 

F-4: https://www.aviationmegastore.com/phantom-fgr2-restock-04962-revell-4009803049625-aircraft-scale-modelling/product/?action=prodinfo&art=160301

[DrumBum]

9 hours ago, CT7567 said:

Keep in mind that any aftermarket intake plugs for Hasegawa's J-79 engined Phantoms won't fit the FG.1/FGR.2. The intakes were enlarged to provide additional airflow to the RR Spey engines on the UK versions.

Good point, I may use the smaller covers as guidance to scratch build some larger versions. 

 

7 hours ago, alt-92 said:

F-4: https://www.aviationmegastore.com/phantom-fgr2-restock-04962-revell-4009803049625-aircraft-scale-modelling/product/?action=prodinfo&art=160301

Holy cow, I have never seen this website before, thanks for the heads up, although my wife......not so happy$$$

 

 

[exdraken]

As stated abive  hardly a choice!

Revell rebixed the Hasegawa F-4 only last year, so some should still be around!

All Tornado kits have some issues, but Revell by far the best sll in all!

Eduard had a special boxing of the F3 as well as the GR1.

Revell is to re-release a GR4 later this year.

 

Dtay away from Hobbyboss Tornados, the have serious issues with the canopy and look rather off... 

Italeri was ok, but is crude by today's standards. Airfix really hard to build abd a bit bare in details!

 

Hope to see your kits soon here in built form

 

Jaguar:

Aurfix and Revell and Heller are basically the same kits.

KittyHawk also has a two-seater.

Main problem with KH is only french stores... 

 

[Bell209]

On 8/4/2020 at 5:06 AM, DrumBum said:

Ironically I just purchased an Airfix Tornado on ebay for 99 cents!!!!!

About what it's worth. I bought one years ago for a lot more but ended up using only a few weapons parts (tanks and BOL launcher) for my Revell GR.4. There have been a quite a few builds of the Revell kit in the WIP section over the last couple of years - have a look so youdon't have to relearn our mistakes!

[DrumBum]

On 8/9/2020 at 9:24 PM, Bell209 said:

About what it's worth. I bought one years ago for a lot more but ended up using only a few weapons parts (tanks and BOL launcher) for my Revell GR.4. There have been a quite a few builds of the Revell kit in the WIP section over the last couple of years - have a look so youdon't have to relearn our mistakes!

turns out was cheap because......it was half built.

 

No problem, plenty of spare parts now........

[Lord Riot]

3 hours ago, DrumBum said:

turns out was cheap because......it was half built.

 

No problem, plenty of spare parts now........

 

I hate that, always check the text on these too good to be true ebay prices. I've come close to bidding for models a couple of times before seeing it's been 'started'. Unless you're only after spares I guess.

 

I've ordered a Hobbyboss Tornado GR1/IDS, but after reading reviews and a WIP on here I think I'll probably end up selling it again. I had no idea how bad the shape was. 

 

I just don't think the Italeri Tornado is a good shape or fit either, so I guess we're all stuck with the 25 year old Airfix kit for now. Maybe they'll do a retool, or Hasegawa will do one. 

 

Revell one any good?

[Seawinder]

8 hours ago, Lord Riot said:

 

I hate that, always check the text on these too good to be true ebay prices. I've come close to bidding for models a couple of times before seeing it's been 'started'. Unless you're only after spares I guess.

 

I've ordered a Hobbyboss Tornado GR1/IDS, but after reading reviews and a WIP on here I think I'll probably end up selling it again. I had no idea how bad the shape was. 

 

I just don't think the Italeri Tornado is a good shape or fit either, so I guess we're all stuck with the 25 year old Airfix kit for now. Maybe they'll do a retool, or Hasegawa will do one. 

 

Revell one any good?

Revell is tricky (but definitely not impossible) to build (I did one a year or so ago); any number of people whose opinions I've read consider it the best available option.