Tornado Warning! 1/32 Tornado EF3 Conversion *FINISHED!*

[Alan P]

13 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Oh mate, sorry to hear that, could you place some very thin CA between the seat and floor.  I have some flexible very thin tube applicators for this and would happily send you one so you can  carry on with your original plan as it looked fantastic with the primer on .

Chris

That's very kind Chris but I have something very similar (bulb pipette with a long 1mm applicator) so it was reasonably easy to fix. I've shaken it around this am and it seems pretty stable so on with the original plan! Thanks again 👍

13 hours ago, mark.au said:

Great attention to detail in this one, Alan, it’s looking really good.  Too bad about the unplanned flight but it seems you caught it before anything catastrophic happened.  Looking forward to to seeing it get its paint job.

Thanks Mark, it seems to have survived pretty well considering...

2 hours ago, tomprobert said:

I’ve recently finished the interior of my 1/32 Sunderland build and was in the process of adding final tabs etc. to help joining the fuselage halves when I caught the tail end on my jumper and the whole thing went clattering to the hard kitchen floor. Everything came out and in multiple pieces too.

Oh god Tom 😱 the mental picture that paints is heart stopping. I really got off lightly by comparison. Hope when the time is right you can repair and continue what must be a fantastic project 🤞

[bigbadbadge]

No worries fella,  glad you were able to sort and theat the original plan is going ahead.

Chris

[Alan P]

On 4/24/2021 at 11:23 AM, bigbadbadge said:

No worries fella,  glad you were able to sort and theat the original plan is going ahead.

Chris

Cheers Chris, here's a sneak peek at the pose using the 5mm carbon fibre rod:

It fits the hole snugly and secures at the other end with a point into a partial-depth hole. So far seems pretty solid.

 

The first painting has been completed!

Paint is all lacquers - a mix of Mr Color, MRP and Hataka Orange Line. I used Mr metal Color for some of the metallic bits.

I don't use pre-shades or other fashionable techniques  - I try as far as possible to replicate the natural process of wear and tear by building up the effects using paint, washes and pastels. I don't want to overdo the effects on this one so will be trying as far as possible to stick to the appearance in the photos - ZE763 was used but not filthy!

 

Engine nozzles are painted with Mr Metal Color Dark Iron - this used to come up really well but I think they've changed the formula

Here's how it used to come up after buffing:

Anyway, plenty of time to bring it all up to standard!

 

Thanks by the way to everyone who's been commenting and liking on the build so far, it's really helping me keep this clipping along!

 

All the best

Alan

[bigbadbadge]

My word Alan that is going to look spectacular  when in flight pose.  Awesome.   The cans look good. Although in the used to look like shot they look fantastic.  A bit od tender dry brushing perhaps instead ???

Great work 

Chris

[Anthony in NZ]

I agree with Chris and that Grey looks spot on!

[Alan P]

On 4/25/2021 at 8:54 PM, bigbadbadge said:

My word Alan that is going to look spectacular  when in flight pose.  Awesome.   The cans look good. Although in the used to look like shot they look fantastic.  A bit of tender dry brushing perhaps instead ???

Great work 

Chris

Thanks again - I discovered I needed to stir the paint pot a bit more  basic error  I just painted the pistons on my Beaufighter 'alongside' build and they came up like I remembered.

 

Speaking of the Beau - it's a very simple kit which I'm not going to detail any further than what's in the kit - hopefully the finish will speak for itself when it's done.

This is two days' work (about 6 hours worth) and it goes together okay as long as you ignore the instructions (which are truly dire anyway ) The only big seam is the left wingroot which you can make out in the pic.

 

What I wasn't expecting was the size of the thing, it's an absolute monster!

Next to the Tornado it looks huge!

 

14 hours ago, Anthony in NZ said:

I agree with Chris and that Grey looks spot on!

Thanks Anthony 👍 Once the decals are on the fun starts! Anyway my wife's singing tonight (don't ask) so I've got the indoors to myself and it's going to be a decal fest on the EF3. Hope to share some in-prog pics tomorrow.

 

Cheers, Alan

[bigbadbadge]

3 minutes ago, Alan P said:

Thanks again - I discovered I needed to stir the paint pot a bit more  basic error  I just painted the pistons on my Beaufighter alongside build and they came up like I remembered

We've all been there mate.  Glad it turned out to be the case  and mot a change of recipe.  

The F3 looks lovely  and the Beaufighter has come on quickly,  are you converting to another marque and are you rescribing it ?  

I have a couple in the stash, one from a mate for my 50th  and want to do both , one will stay as a Mk1 poss a Malta Beau and not sure about the other yet.

Good to see a large scale Beau.

Great work 

Chris

[Alan P]

4 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

The Beaufighter has come on quickly,  are you converting to another marque and are you rescribing it ? 

Thanks Chris once again! 👍 I'm playing safe with the Beau and going for the standard cliché build of the 1C T4800 flown by Ken Gatward on the Paris raid in June 1942. There's a lot of iffy features with its actual appearance on the day (cut back cupola, painted out Sqn codes and other possible differences) so I'll just do it as it probably looked before the actual mission in the Temperate Sea Scheme with ND-C codes. It's not meant to be a replica or anything, but it'll hog a lot of shelf space!

 

As for panel lines, you can get away with raised on such a big model, but I'll see how it looks after the seams treatment.

 

Thanks again,

Alan

[bigbadbadge]

11 minutes ago, Alan P said:

Thanks Chris once again! 👍 I'm playing safe with the Beau and going for the standard cliché build of the 1C T4800 flown by Ken Gatward on the Paris raid in June 1942. There's a lot of iffy features with its actual appearance on the day (cut back cupola, painted out Sqn codes and other possible differences) so I'll just do it as it probably looked before the actual mission in the Temperate Sea Scheme with ND-C codes. It's not meant to be a replica or anything, but it'll hog a lot of shelf space!

 

As for panel lines, you can get away with raised on such a big model, but I'll see how it looks after the seams treatment.

 

Thanks again,

Alan

Interesting scheme Alan,  looking forward to seeing this progress too.  Will be interested in seeing what the panel lines look like when done too.  

Thanks Alan 

Chris

[Deano353]

Fantastic looking F3 the extent of the cutting for the conversion looks like a big job and this is a solid quality looking build. I look forward to the finished model!

[Alan P]

On 4/26/2021 at 11:54 PM, Deano353 said:

Fantastic looking F3 the extent of the cutting for the conversion looks like a big job and this is a solid quality looking build. I look forward to the finished model!

Thanks Deano. The cutting was most of the battle, now it's all together it's a weighty lump so solid was the right word 😉  

 

The decals went pretty well, considering I had zero decals to work with from the kit:

These are the Heritage walkway stripes, printed by Fantasy Printshop and good quality despite the many winters spent in the loft! They all went on fine with MicroSet/Sol, although a lot of measuring was required!

The walkways and NO STEP markings are all included in the Heritage conversion set, which was one major headache solved. The stripes are a bit heavy, but I have a plan! I think I may have got the roundel in the wrong place - I don't have any upper views of ZE763 but I think the roundel should go behind the aftmost walkway. But this looks better and I'm not complaining!

Here are some better pics after the job was finished - took two evenings but was successful!

Okay here's the mishmash explained:

• white stencils and walkways: Heritage, from the conversion set.
• pink stencils: Revell, from the Eurofighter Typhoon kit
• roundels and 11 Sqn cheek flashes: TwoBobs, from the Perfect Storm Typhoon set
• 11 Sqn eagles volant: Xtradecal, from the old Tornado GR and F3 set
• Aircraft code letters: Xtradecal Lightning codes (thanks @WV908 for the tip!)
• Aircraft serial number: Xtradecal RAF/RN serial code sheet
• Stripes, weapons and drop tanks: random contributors from the spares drawer!

The black-on-yellow was done using two sets of serials - unfortunately they were the same size so I did my best...

 

Happy with the results so far! But still a long way to go...

 

Cheers,

Alan

[Alan P]

Here's the weapons:

The ASRAAMs are from Eduard Brassin - excellent cast models with complete decal set for both live and inert versions. Great value. Everything else was stock/spares.

The ALARMs came out well, which was a relief as they're kind of the centrepiece of this build/display.

Pylons/racks and the Phimat pod all decalled using spares and leftover Typhoon decals.

 

Finally a group shot:

All the underwing stores and canopy decalled and ready for finishing.

 

Alan

[WV908]

@Alan P Those tail code letters look brilliant

 

Incidentally, do you happen to have the rest of the decal sheet from the Heritage set spare? I'm thinking squadron markings etc. My kit came with none

Cheers,

 WV908

[Alan P]

1 hour ago, WV908 said:

@Alan P Those tail code letters look brilliant

 

Incidentally, do you happen to have the rest of the decal sheet from the Heritage set spare? I'm thinking squadron markings etc. My kit came with none

 

Cheers,

 WV908

Thanks Joe and yes, I've got those plus the remnants of @meindert's ALPS printed set with some other options. The Heritage just had a 111 and 25 Sqn options. There's quite a lot of walkway decals left, but if you have the Italeri kit and aren't using the walkway strips, they're much better.

[Biggles87]

A testimony to the durability of Fantasy Printshop Decals, I hope my white (roundel) backing discs have lasted as well, I might need to use some of them soon.

For such a major conversion it’s worked out really well, it looks like an ‘ out of the box ‘ kit.

 

John

[Alan P]

13 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

A testimony to the durability of Fantasy Printshop Decals, I hope my white (roundel) backing discs have lasted as well, I might need to use some of them soon.

For such a major conversion it’s worked out really well, it looks like an ‘ out of the box ‘ kit.

 

John

Thanks John 👍 the Heritage/Fantasy Printshop decals were by far the best, the Revell ones had to be carefully peeled from the sheet, while the old Xtradecal Tornado sheet needed very hot water to even think of detaching. FPS gets a big thumbs up from me 👍

[tomprobert]

That looks absolutely stunning!

[Alan P]

1 hour ago, tomprobert said:

That looks absolutely stunning!

Thank you very much Tom! A way to go yet but it's turned out as well as I'd hoped.

 

One thing I noticed looking at photos of the aircraft:

The fin leading edge looks like it had been replaced. I looked back at the photos linked in the first posts, and sure enough, it still hadn't been repainted at the time of the EF3 trials. I carefully masked the tail and painted it in Alclad Stainless Steel and Dark Camo Grey.

 

The other thing that had been bugging me was the fasteners along the spine section:

 I really didn't want to scribe these small and complex shapes so I made a mask out of scrap PE bomb racks and sprayed the shapes with Basalt Grey. Much neater and less hassle.

 

Next was some further assembly:

Tailerons attached and appropriately posed for the display manoeuvre - pitched up in a hard right turn.

Note the different incidence of each side  I still need to add the white index marks on the inner leading edge of the tailerons.

 

Last thing added for today was the belly racks for the ALARMs:

These were filched from the mud-moving community in real life, and so were coloured Dark Camo Grey. These were part of the Revell kit but needed shortening at the rear end by 4mm to be the correct length.

 

I had to leave it at this point to work on the display stand - I've opted for a narrow heavy hardwood plank about 1" thick. I've worked out the finished display can fit on a windowsill, which is a major spacesaver.

 

More tomorrow, I hope.

 

Alan

[Alan P]

Just to make sure you get your money's worth, here's the fourth featured build in this thread!

The Beaufighter doesn't exactly fall together, but with a bit of care and test-fitting, it's possible to eliminate most of the seams without losing those raised panel lines.

The nose and nacelles need a fair bit of sanding to get smooth, but this is just about ready for primer and hand on heart, I haven't used a single bit of putty.

Spine seams eliminated and you can just about se the raised lines still visible across the top. The wing roots will need addressing, but I'll use my standard shortcut of thin strips of Tamiya tape to hide them.

This is the worst joint by far - the two sides don't even touch! This will be another Tamiya tape repair, and should be mostly invisible anyway.

 

It's by no means difficult to build, pretty good for a mould that's still stamped (c) 1974! The details are very sparse though. The landing gear struts and engines look pretty good though. I had to do something in the cockpit, so I've added Tamiya tape seatbelts and have made a gunsight which was quite prominent. More on that tomorrow!

 

Alan

[bigbadbadge]

Oh man the F3 looks absolutely fanbloomintastic Alan  really great work.  The Beau look fab too and no filler is great for a kit of that vintage, wow.  Great job in keeping the panel lines too.

Chris

[Phone Phixer]

5 hours ago, Alan P said:

I think I may have got the roundel in the wrong place - I don't have any upper views of ZE763 but I think the roundel should go behind the aftmost walkway. But this looks better and I'm not complaining!

Looking at my 1/48 Revell F3, yes it is placed towards the trailing edge. But I totally agree with you, it looks waaaay better in the location you have the roundel.

Everything is looking fantastic, with paint and decals on. Lovely work.

[meindert]

Hi Alan

 

that is a smart looking Tornado F3 !  And thank you for your compliments of my F3 made in 2008    😉

 

Looking forward to your next F3 steps to finish it. 

[Alan P]

6 hours ago, meindert said:

Hi Alan

 

that is a smart looking Tornado F3 !  And thank you for your compliments of my F3 made in 2008    😉

 

Looking forward to your next F3 steps to finish it. 

It's safe to say that without your innovation, this build wouldn't exist. Your work is the inspiration and reference for many models I've made over the past ten years 👍 thank you!

[Anthony in NZ]

Absolutely loving this Alan, you are really knocking this out of the park my friend!

[Alan P]

On 4/30/2021 at 8:52 AM, Anthony in NZ said:

Absolutely loving this Alan, you are really knocking this out of the park my friend!

Thanks Anthony, high praise indeed!

 

I guess this is the bit where it starts getting boring - lots of stages of oil washes, varnish coats and subtle changes of tone to try to make it look realistic:

This is the first go with a neutral brownish wash, and the next photo is with a darker umber wash...

Spot the difference? Yeah, probably not! I'm not even going to post the dark wash pic, but you get the idea. This is going to be it for the next week or so

 

The Beaufighter is also plodding along:

This is the fabricated gunsight using plastic tube and card. The lens is from little-cars (2.5mm, painted with Tamiya yellow/orange clear mix) and the glass is polarised acetate from Hasegawa.

It doesn't fit properly but the cockpit is nothing to write home about in any case. It'll hopefully look interesting along with the seatbelts so it's pretending to be a 1/32 kit after all

 

I have now applied some filler to deal with some sink marks and the odd bits of seams I couldn't hide under Tamiya tape 😉

 

Will be taking a little break from this week long modelling marathon now as I'm back to work again, but it's been therapeutic. Thanks for all the comments and enthusiasm so far, really have appreciated your input 👍

 

Alan