F3 Tornado - Airfix?

[Stressy]

Given the Revell/Italeri F3 in 1/72 is hard to come by has the Airfix kit got any merits and is there milage in taking the fuselage sections you need from it to convert a Revell GR1?

[Des]

Many years since I have had one but recollections of the 1/72 Airfix F.3 kit are that it was sharply and cleanly moulded and shared little if anything with their GR.1 kit of that time which had started off life as their MRCA , unlike the 1/48 Airfix GR.1/F.3/GR.4 which shared a lot of common and quite poor parts.

 

Back before even the Matchbox F.2 a company called C-Scale released a metal and resin conversion to make an ADV/F.2/3 from the then Airfix GR.1 which involved cutting the GR.1 fuselage around about the intakes , inserting a resin fuselage plug , adding new resin forward wing gloves , re-attaching the Airfix cockpit area without the radome and then adding a new resin forward fuselage section and Foxhunter radar nose.    Memory dim about the tail but I think it merely involved removing RWR from the Airfix parts with the optional leading edge fairing carried by some prototype ADV provided in white metal.     Missile carriage was catered for by reduced section white metal Skyflash and underside fairings for the rear pair and even further reduced section items for what would have been the forward recessed  pair , there were also different white metal parts included for jet pipe differences and the fairing between them which was an F.2/3 issue.

 

Combining an F.3 from one manufacturer with the GR.1 from another would involve a little less cutting than that old conversion and working solely in plastic would avoid the need for other glues but would depend very much on the compatibility of the two kits and whether the Airfix nose and wing gloves fitted the Revell kit without any step between them.

 

Unless anyone has actually carried out the conversion easiest way might be to take the plunge , get the kits , see what you think of the Airfix kit as it stands and if necessary  get tore in with the razor saw.

[Robert]

Have you checked out Kingkit, there is a couple of Revell's  F3 on there.

 

Regards

Robert

 

 

[Blacktjet]

The Airfix F.3 is basically the original GR.1/MRCA kit with a new fuselage, fin, cockpit tub and canopy and is a scaled down version of the 1/48 issue. There's an additional stores sprue that does have the only accurate large tanks of any of the F.3 1/72 kits. Everything else is original Airfix MRCA - inaccurate seats, thin wings with deep flap and slat lines and skinny main u/c legs.

 

As far as a curacy is concerned,  the fuselage looks a bit chunky to me, yet is the only kit in this scale that has the correct shape for the rear fuselage extension. The fin shape is also very suspect and the canopy has very thick framework. The rear instrument console and coving is for the F.3T or possibly even more suited the the F.2 prototype.

 

All three kits have their flaws but out of the three available, for me, the Hasegawa just takes it over the Italeri/Revell.

 

 

 

Edited October 25, 2020 by Blacktjet

[Hook]

1 hour ago, Blacktjet said:

There's an additional stores sprue that does have the only accurate large tanks of any of the F.3 1/72 kits.

How about the large tanks in RoG's UK-specific sprue in their Tornado GR.1 boxing? These look more the part to me than the Airfix tanks.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[Blacktjet]

1 minute ago, Hook said:

How about the large tanks in RoG's UK-specific sprue in their Tornado GR.1 boxing? These look more the part to me than the Airfix tanks.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

Yes, they are more accurate - as long as you don't follow the instructions and fit the fins the wrong way round! I was comparing F.3 kits, those in the Hasegawa kit are oversized and the wrong shape.

[tweeky]

What about the Hasagawa F3 kit https://www.scalemates.com/kits/hasegawa-00641-tornado-f-mk3--258471

 

[Anatol Pigwa]

@theplasticsurgeon did recently a concurrent build of an Airfix and Revell F.3 for the Tornado STGB he is probably the best person to ask.

[nickandrews7]

On 10/24/2020 at 7:03 PM, Des said:

Many years since I have had one but recollections of the 1/72 Airfix F.3 kit are that it was sharply and cleanly moulded and shared little if anything with their GR.1 kit of that time which had started off life as their MRCA , unlike the 1/48 Airfix GR.1/F.3/GR.4 which shared a lot of common and quite poor parts.

 

Back before even the Matchbox F.2 a company called C-Scale released a metal and resin conversion to make an ADV/F.2/3 from the then Airfix GR.1 which involved cutting the GR.1 fuselage around about the intakes , inserting a resin fuselage plug , adding new resin forward wing gloves , re-attaching the Airfix cockpit area without the radome and then adding a new resin forward fuselage section and Foxhunter radar nose.    Memory dim about the tail but I think it merely involved removing RWR from the Airfix parts with the optional leading edge fairing carried by some prototype ADV provided in white metal.     Missile carriage was catered for by reduced section white metal Skyflash and underside fairings for the rear pair and even further reduced section items for what would have been the forward recessed  pair , there were also different white metal parts included for jet pipe differences and the fairing between them which was an F.2/3 issue.

 

Combining an F.3 from one manufacturer with the GR.1 from another would involve a little less cutting than that old conversion and working solely in plastic would avoid the need for other glues but would depend very much on the compatibility of the two kits and whether the Airfix nose and wing gloves fitted the Revell kit without any step between them.

 

Unless anyone has actually carried out the conversion easiest way might be to take the plunge , get the kits , see what you think of the Airfix kit as it stands and if necessary  get tore in with the razor saw.

it is possible, but not for the faint hearted

[Hook]

Lovely F3!

[nickandrews7]

On 10/29/2020 at 10:40 AM, Hook said:

Lovely F3!

Thanks Hook! This is an F2, which is the joy of the ancient c scale conversion, in that with a bit of butchery to the Airfix GR1 you can make a reasonably representative version of the old 'blue circle' ADV 😀

Edited October 30, 2020 by nickandrews7

[Hook]

13 hours ago, nickandrews7 said:

Thanks Hook! This is an F2, which is the joy of the ancient aeroclub conversion, in that with a bit of butchery to the Airfix GR1 you can make a reasonably representative version of the old 'blue circle' ADV 😀

I still have the C Scale F.2 conversion of similar vintage somewhere... 😎

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[Anatol Pigwa]

On 25/10/2020 at 23:52, tweeky said:

What about the Hasagawa F3 kit https://www.scalemates.com/kits/hasegawa-00641-tornado-f-mk3--258471

 

I am currently building this very kit and would say that iztt is a mixed bag. On one hand the air intakes and engines are better engineered than in the Italeri/Revell kit and the overall fit is better - not perfect though.  I also like the sepatation of the forward area of the fuselage from the rear part. Also a nice thing about the Hasegawa kit is unique scheme. On the other hand the outer wing pylons for the sidewinders are missing, the Hindenburg tanks are too big, and the pitot tube is part of the forward fuselage mould, which basically means it is guaranteed to break before finishing the build. Also it looks like Hasegawa wanted to do to many things at once with the swing wing . It can be repositioned and has a part which is acting as the wing glove at the smallest sweep. This means however that it is impossible to obtain the maximum sweep unless you cut this part, since it limits the swing of the wing at around 50 degrees (eyeballed). Also the nose does not look as correct as on the Italeri/Revell kit IMHO.

 

Having both kits on the table I prefer the Revell offering, despite its shortcomings. 

 

      

[Navy Bird]

Here is my Hasegawa 1:72 Tornado F.3 - she was built in 1990 right after the kit came out, so she's 30 years old. I think she came out OK, and she still sets in my display case. Strictly an out-of-the-box build.

 

 

Cheers,

Bill