QRA North. Update - Tornado finished 07/01.

[Pete in Lincs]

Dave, Some kits are meant to be built wheels down. If you want to do wheels up then it's a devil to get a good fit on the geardoors.

I think your Flaps/Slats and Spoilers have fallen foul of a similar problem. Revell probably designed them to be fitted out/down.

Slats and spoilers should close flush. The flaps tuck under the trailing edge, which in this case is possibly too thick for them to sit correctly.

I built a few Tornado models in my time but not this one, so I can't speak from experience of it. But I also did five years on GR 1's.

 

On the intakes, the black bits are heating elements called spraymat, if I remember correctly. There should be some on the angled sides too.

Inside the intakes is a pale grey.

[DaveJL]

34 minutes ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Dave, Some kits are meant to be built wheels down. If you want to do wheels up then it's a devil to get a good fit on the geardoors.

I think your Flaps/Slats and Spoilers have fallen foul of a similar problem. Revell probably designed them to be fitted out/down.

Slats and spoilers should close flush. The flaps tuck under the trailing edge, which in this case is possibly too thick for them to sit correctly.

I built a few Tornado models in my time but not this one, so I can't speak from experience of it. But I also did five years on GR 1's.

 

On the intakes, the black bits are heating elements called spraymat, if I remember correctly. There should be some on the angled sides too.

Inside the intakes is a pale grey.

I know what you mean mate, definitely not meant to be built closed up! Going to be a lot of work needed on the flaps and trailing edges to get them to sit flush.

 

Thanks for the info on the intakes. I have masked off the black on the sides of the intakes, it's just the upper and lower parts that will need re-sprayed once the clean up is done. I've sprayed them grey too but again will need redone once the clean up is complete.

[DaveJL]

A few more hours done today. Added the windscreen to the Tornado and masked up. Surprisingly, this and the canopy were a perfect fit. Shame I'll be propping the latter open. Still, this allowed me to enjoy my mid-morning coffee a bit more.

 

 

Could anyone tell me what colour the cockpit sills are? Are they the fuselage colour, the cockpit colour or black?

 

 

Windscreen on the Typhoon and masked up too. Once set, I added the wings which required some fettling to get to sit right. I still ended up with a step underneath that needed filler:

 

 

Bottom and insides of the Tornado intakes were cleaned up:

 

 

Rear fuselage:

 

 

Size wise, both jets are roughly the same, though the huge wings on the Typhoon make it seem that bit bigger:

 

 

Now, onto those dreaded wings. I was working away at these throughout the day. I had to add plenty of Tamiya extra thin to the joins firstly. Then after concluding that sanding itself wasn't going to work, I ended up blending in filler over most of the surface of the flaps (on the upper side anyway) after two sessions I was close to waving the white flag. An idea popped in my head to pick up an Italeri F.3 with their modeller friendly two piece wing (gasp!). But having looked closely online, I decided that the panel lines were too thick to match the finer detail on the Revell plastic. So back to the two heathens it was. More sanding, filling and swearing at Revell ensued but eventually I think (loosely) that they may be just about acceptable with some finer tinkering. Here they are under a coat of primer:

 

 

They look just about passable. Of course will need to finely scribe the filled in panels around the joints and under a coat of primer, pre-shading, paint and weathering, their horridness might just be disguised. 

 

Have a fairly busy number of days at work ahead so will be next week before I'm back at the bench. Never thought I'd be looking forward to work to get away from filling and sanding some plastic scale models but there you go! Thanks Revell

 

Stay safe

 

Dave

[Col.]

Well done getting these two so far on with the fight they're putting up.

The sills on the Tornado are fuselage colour from what I can recall but let me check my references...

[MADMUSKY]

Following along

I have both kits in the stash only my Typhoon is the 2 seater version, both to be Leuchars machines 111 Sqn and 6 Sqn.

 

 

Darren

[DaveJL]

1 hour ago, Col. said:

Well done getting these two so far on with the fight they're putting up.

The sills on the Tornado are fuselage colour from what I can recall but let me check my references...

Thanks Col. They are brutes to build. For the Typhoon being one of the most advanced modern fighters, it seems fairly under represented in kit form. A new tooled 1/48 kit would be most welcome. 

 

Thanks for checking the colour. I can't seem to find a definitive picture online.

46 minutes ago, MADMUSKY said:

Following along

I have both kits in the stash only my Typhoon is the 2 seater version, both to be Leuchars machines 111 Sqn and 6 Sqn.

 

 

Darren

 

Cheers Darren. Prepare to have your sanity challenged!!

[exdraken]

Great job on others here!

Regading theTornado's wing, those slats flaps, spoilers etc can really spoil yourday!

I sanded the insides and sides down untill the fit was passable....but needed a second kit to learn that!

[DaveJL]

4 minutes ago, exdraken said:

Great job on others here!

Regading theTornado's wing, those slats flaps, spoilers etc can really spoil yourday!

I sanded the insides and sides down untill the fit was passable....but needed a second kit to learn that!

Thanks Werner!

 

Glad to hear it’s not just me that’s had the issues with the wings. Seems to be a case of actually having previous build experience of the kits to understand how to go about reducing the pain! Not to mention building it any other way than what Revell suggest

[DaveJL]

Ok so told a bit of a lie and today wasn't as busy with work as I'd thought. So, was able to get an hour at the bench. Firstly, the roughly fitting areas on the Typhoon were cleaned up. Fairly simple and cleaned up well. Wingtip pods then added along with a few odds and sods across the airframe. Intake lips were also popped on and the FOD inserts dry fitted to get the right angle on the former.

 

 

A few bits of etch to add along with some other small parts. Does anyone have a close up picture of the 'slime' lights on either side of the fuselage just below the cockpit? Eduard provide etch parts for the decals to sit into but I'm not sure how raised they are on the real thing.

 

Now, to those blasted Tornado wings. I had added some Mr Surface along some of the finer gaps so that was cleaned up and the flaps were given a few passes of various grades of sanding stick too. They're not a complete disaster so will have to suffice. A few small panel lines will need re-scribed too. They look like a bit of a mess with the Humrol primer but they're nice and smooth and ready to be fitted.

 

 

Like I say, a few more bits to add to the Typhoon then that will be ready for priming etc. I feel there is plenty more work on the Tornado to come

 

Dave

[Lex77]

You are flying through your builds, well done.

Looking forward to the rest of the builds.

 

[DaveJL]

Cheers Lex!

[Col.]

The Typhoon is taking shape nicely and I've every faith that your Tornado will be rising to the same point soon enough as well

[Hewy]

Good work dave, i guess you'd be on the painting if it wasnt for those dastardly tornado wings, ,loving that 48th typhoon

[DaveJL]

10 hours ago, Col. said:

The Typhoon is taking shape nicely and I've every faith that your Tornado will be rising to the same point soon enough as well

Cheers Col!

9 hours ago, Hewy said:

Good work dave, i guess you'd be on the painting if it wasnt for those dastardly tornado wings, ,loving that 48th typhoon

Thanks mate. Not sure I'd be onto painting but certainly a bit further and a tad less resentful! 

 

Managed to slip another hour in today. I may have overestimated how busy my week at work would be . Anyway, etch parts for the 'slime' lights (or the RAF equivalent) added to the fuselage, of which there is a good photo here...also, notice the tape!!?? Etch antenna added underneath the nose, outermost pylons on (necessary as they required blending in) and a few other bits done. I'll give it the once over before starting the painting phases.

 

 

Now to the Tornado (playing the sound of drum roll in head).... the wings are on.

 

 

Resin seals added. A touch of filler will be needed to blend these in.

 

 

The next battle awaits...assembling the fuselage palaver.

 

Stay safe

 

Dave

[modelling minion]

1 hour ago, DaveJL said:

The next battle awaits...assembling the fuselage palaver.

Good luck Dave, I actually gave up on mine! For a modern tooling I found the Revell Tonka a real disappointment which is a shame as there are a few schemes I would like to do. I have no doubt that you will get it sorted, just take your time and test fit as often as you can.

[Hewy]

4 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

1 hour ago, DaveJL said:

fuselage palaver.

Good luck Dave, I actually gave up on mine!

🤫 and I bought your other one off you !

[modelling minion]

1 minute ago, Hewy said:

🤫 and I bought your other one off you !

Sucker!!😄

[Hewy]

2 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

Sucker!!😄

 

"No problem pal"  @#$#@  🤬

[modelling minion]

1 minute ago, Hewy said:

 

"No problem pal"  @#$#@  🤬

Glynn I have absolute confidence in both yours and Dave's ability to make a silk purse from this sow's ear of a kit, I just hadn't got the patience.

[DaveJL]

31 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

Good luck Dave, I actually gave up on mine! For a modern tooling I found the Revell Tonka a real disappointment which is a shame as there are a few schemes I would like to do. I have no doubt that you will get it sorted, just take your time and test fit as often as you can.

Thanks mate. I can't help but think that it's a poor effort also. I've 3 GR.4s in the stash that I've been wanting to build for a while but they'll be well down the list by the time I finish this one. I shall defeat it!

 

Ps Tamiya (or Airfix) if you're listening... 😆

[modelling minion]

2 minutes ago, DaveJL said:

I shall defeat it!

Thats the spirit!

3 minutes ago, DaveJL said:

Ps Tamiya (or Airfix) if you're listening... 😆

Oh yes please! Either would make one which is so much much easier to actually build, and yes I would be willing to pay the cost of Tamiya's F-14 if they did a Tonka, just don't tell the Mr's!!

[DaveJL]

21 hours ago, modelling minion said:

Thats the spirit!

Oh yes please! Either would make one which is so much much easier to actually build, and yes I would be willing to pay the cost of Tamiya's F-14 if they did a Tonka, just don't tell the Mr's!!

Airfix would be more likely than Tamiya no doubt, but would be an easier build than this! As I mentioned earlier, with the Typhoon being one of the most advanced 4th Gen jets flying today, it seems fairly underrepresented in 1/48 when we get reams of other kits. But anyway, the Revell kit will have to suffice for now. I'd even like to see some more aftermarket for it, the likes of the ejection seat, exhausts, intakes etc.

 

I just did a dry fit of the top fuselage on the Tornado. The fit on the exterior isn't too bad but on the inside it's a bit of a mess. I'm thinking of making it easy for myself and lobbing on some home made FOD covers, which I know really isn't accurate for a Q-jet but it would hide the mess within.

[modelling minion]

8 minutes ago, DaveJL said:

Airfix would be more likely than Tamiya no doubt, but would be an easier build than this! As I mentioned earlier, with the Typhoon being one of the most advanced 4th Gen jets flying today, it seems fairly underrepresented in 1/48 when we get reams of other kits. But anyway, the Revell kit will have to suffice for now. I'd even like to see some more aftermarket for it, the likes of the ejection seat, exhausts, intakes etc.

 

I just did a dry fit of the top fuselage on the Tornado. The fit on the exterior isn't too bad but on the inside it's a bit of a mess. I'm thinking of making it easy for myself and lobbing on some home made FOD covers, which I know really isn't accurate for a Q-jet but it would hide the mess within.

Agreed that Airfix would be the more  likely.

 

The Typhoon falls into the category of important aircraft that aren't either Spitfires, Mustangs, Bf-109's or FW-190's and I can't see anyone else bringing out a tooling or tripping over themselves to produce aftermarket, though there have been some nice decal sheets.

 

Go with the FOD covers, will save you a lot of trouble and time.

[DaveJL]

On 11/26/2020 at 7:59 PM, modelling minion said:

Agreed that Airfix would be the more  likely.

 

The Typhoon falls into the category of important aircraft that aren't either Spitfires, Mustangs, Bf-109's or FW-190's and I can't see anyone else bringing out a tooling or tripping over themselves to produce aftermarket, though there have been some nice decal sheets.

 

Go with the FOD covers, will save you a lot of trouble and time.

It's a shame that more manufacturers don't do AM for it as with some patience and a few extras it turns into a nice model.

 

I'll have a look at the intakes properly when I'm back at the bench for more than 5 minutes as I was tonight, but they really aren't a pretty sight. A set of FOD covers from either tin foil or masking tape shouldn't be too tricky to rustle up.

[DaveJL]

Managed an hour at the bench this afternoon, solely on the Tornado. Was able to close the fuselage up. Filler all round, no surprise there. I then added the rearmost sections to give me some stability. Again, the fit is not great. I wasn't feeling it for the stabiliser connections that Revell provide (part E63) so I modified them a bit

 

 

Fitted to the stabiliser:

 

 

I also left off parts A37 & A38 (underside of airbrakes) as these caused more of a fit issue.  Can anyone tell me what the bit circled below is? Does it need filled over? I haven't been able to find a picture online of it on the real thing.

 

 

I then thought I'd add the top and bottom parts of the wing glove fairings, parts S218-221. The fit is horrendous. A fairly strong clamp needed to avoid any step on the upper side.

 

 

I really don't like this kit. About 90% of the parts I've assembled thus far have had some sort of fit issue. A lot of clean up still required and that isn't even taking into account those horrid intakes! I then remembered that the front fuselage is still to go on so that cheered me up as you can imagine 

 

But it is a Tornado F3 and I shall finish it. I've seen some great finished builds of this kit and if mine looks half as good it will be a victory.

 

More tales of woe soon.

 

Dave