Tornado GR.1 ZA452 'Gulf Killer' 20 Sqn, Tabuk Airbase, 1991

[Retired Bob]

At the start of the 1991 Gulf War, following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the RAF sent 60 Tornado GR.1s to Saudi Arabia carry out frontline service.  The RAF called it Operation Granby.

I plan to build the Eduard re-boxing of Revell's 1/72nd scale Tornado GR.1 in the configuration of the first nights raid against Iraq's airfields armed with JP233 airfield denial weapons.

Here is a photo of the kit and the resin accessories that I have obtained to build ZA452 that was named 'Gulf Killer'.

 Perhaps some of the resin AM is over-kill but it's bought now so I will use it.

Here are the kit parts still on their runners:

There is also the S.B.S. resin nose to correct the kits known problem with the radome shape, the nose correction set also includes a Master brass pitot probe.

Paint will be Xtracolour Gulf war desert pink with Tamiya acrylics for the detail painting.

Any help or suggestions will be most welcome, especially from anyone that was 'there' on 20 Sqn or has experience in building this kit.

Let the fun commence. 

Bob. 

[desert falcon]

Sorry I can’t help you on the kit Bob but I’m very much looking forward to see this one coming together!

[Col.]

Have fun with this one Bob. I've a feeling you'll get plenty of attention for it from us 

[Jasper dog]

Good luck with the Tornado Bob!

Just not sure you've enough AM....

 

Atb

Darryl 

[Retired Bob]

7 hours ago, Jasper dog said:

Just not sure you've enough AM....

Good to hear from you Darryl, you are correct, I haven't shown the kit AM, resin ejection seats and wheels. 

When the sun comes up I'll get a photo along with the decal options.

[Retired Bob]

Todays update, the decal options provided in the Desert Babes boxing.

There are 8 options, 2 with a shark mouth.  As I want to make my model when it made the first sortie using JP233, I have tried to find a photo of ZA452 without the mission tally but all the photos I've seen are post war and taken back in the UK.  Hopefully it had the nose art and shark mouth painted before this first mission and the score tally was painted in order with the JP233 on the first war sortie.

I have removed all the pour stubs from the resin accessories apart from the smaller bits that could get easily swallowed by the carpet monster, here they are after being washed along with the kit p/e.

And finally the larger kit parts have been removed from their runners and given a good soapy scrub with an old toothbrush.

Thanks for looking, all comments and advice are always welcome.

[Col.]

That is a tasty decal sheet

[Planebuilder62]

Dear Bob

The SBS radome makes a big difference to this kit. All Revell Tornado’s have the nose undercarriage oleo moulded too long that results in the nose pointing upwards. About 1 to 1.5 mm needs to be removed from the oleo length.

 

If the plane is built with the wings swept forward, the wing seals at the trailing edge need scratch building to fill in the gap. One more thing with the forward swpt wings, there is a gap between the wing top surface and the wing seals arond the pivot points. A combination of thinning out from the underside and a bit of careful cutting removes the gap.

 

Before

 

Plastic removed by scaping and the cut into the fuselage side:

 

 

 

And the result:

 

 

 

Regards Toby

[Retired Bob]

3 hours ago, Planebuilder62 said:

The SBS radome makes a big difference to this kit. All Revell Tornado’s have the nose undercarriage oleo moulded too long that results in the nose pointing upwards. About 1 to 1.5 mm needs to be removed from the oleo length.

Thanks for the advice Toby, I have the SBS radome and I will shorten the nose leg oleo, Tornado's usually had a slight nose down attitude when at rest.

 

Eduard supply a pair of p/e wing seals if the wings are at forward sweep, hopefully they will look correct but I shall thin the wing gloves down to make sure that there is no gap between the top of the wings and the fuselage.  

[Retired Bob]

3 hours ago, Col. said:

That is a tasty decal sheet

Indeed Col, It's so tempting to build a couple more. 

[Col.]

8 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

Indeed Col, It's so tempting to build a couple more. 

That would be great way to reap even greater value from the kit

[Retired Bob]

3 hours ago, Col. said:

That would be great way to reap even greater value from the kit

That's one of the reasons my stash is way too big, buying decal sheets with lots of nice options and deciding to 'build em all'  Sound like someone?

But, I'm tempted to make one from later in the war carrying some LGB's.  

[socjo1]

Good luck with this kit, Bob.

If you want, you can visit my Tornado (link in my signature) which I try to struggle build. Maybe you will find some informations worth for you. You generally have two options: build this kit good OR build this kit quick. If you want choose option nr 1 (I see lot of extra stuff and it suggests something) it will be harsh way. Lot of dry-fitting, sanding, checking and so on. Of course, if you choose option 2, everebody will by happy too, wish you luck and all the best and so on 😉

 

I have added resin wheel bays by Aires and I think it was "good step".

Take a notice for dissapearing panel lines in fuselage's sides and air intakes. Definitly I am happy that my adventure with Tonka is "one shot" as I really would't build ths kit again. Beautifull plane, interesting contrustion, fantastic art-noses but this model take me too much time and efforts.

 

I think best two Tornado models I saw recently and they helped me or inspired are:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=159&t=1362582&i=0

I think you know this perfect webpage:

https://www.dstorm.eu/pages/en/gb/tornado.html

 

I know Kits World doing interesting 3D cockpit decals for Tornado. I did'nt see it and am interested if are they really good (how to compare with Quinta???)  but I see you have elready bought full resin cockpit. Seems interesting too.

 

PS. If you want, I can send you many photos real airplanes  I found during internet research for my build.

Best regards,

Michał

Edited January 27, 2022 by socjo1

[Retired Bob]

Thanks for for your post Michal, some interesting information on your build, have you finished it yet?

Air Graphics make a resin wing with flaps and slats lowered, also a resin radome but they are both out of stock at the moment so I will have to work with what is in the kit and luckily I have the SBS radome.

At the moment I am still cleaning up the parts and removing 'age' blemishes from the surface ready for some paint, undercarriage legs are next, not forgetting the advice from Toby to shorten the nose leg.  Like you I will improve the instrument panels with decals and paint.  

[socjo1]

7 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

Thanks for for your post Michal, some interesting information on your build, have you finished it yet?

 

 

Now, I have long struggled air intakes and broken air stabilisers. I hope I'll begin painting next week. Hope finish mine till February's end.

7 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

At the moment I am still cleaning up the parts and removing 'age' blemishes from the surface ready for some paint, undercarriage legs are next, not forgetting the advice from Toby to shorten the nose leg.  Like you I will improve the instrument panels with decals and paint.  

 

Toby's advices are great, many thanks once more! Method with panels and paint will give far better results than flat PE parts. I'am waiting for your photos impatiently!

Regards,

Michał.

[Hewy]

Hi bob , a lovley boxing of a pretty decent kit, I'm  looking forward to seeing it built up  👍.I've  been collecting extras for ages for  the standard revell one ,still got to get hold of the resin  slatted and dropped wings,  but they've been re re released for the hasegawa 72nd  boxing  and with minor fettling are rumoured to fit ,an adjustment to the pivot point apparently 

[Retired Bob]

Hi Glynn, I was hoping for a simple, quick build with this kit but thanks to the advice given by Toby @Planebuilder62 and Michal @socjo1 I am avoiding the pitfalls with this kit, namely the nose high attitude by shortening the nose leg and the gap at the top of the wing pivot where it goes into the wing glove.  There are a few other things that can be done to improve it so I'm still sanding and working on parts for now.

[Hewy]

16 minutes ago, Retired Bob said:

Hi Glynn, I was hoping for a simple, quick build with this kit but thanks to the advice given by Toby @Planebuilder62 and Michal @socjo1 I am avoiding the pitfalls with this kit, namely the nose high attitude by shortening the nose leg and the gap at the top of the wing pivot where it goes into the wing glove.  There are a few other things that can be done to improve it so I'm still sanding and working on parts for now.

 

Flippin hell, looks like a decent well detailed kit to me,seen some gorgeous built up examples of the revell 72nd tonka, i thought the eduard boxing with a bit of etch and the masks would get you there, forward wings look good to me with it all hanging out , thats all I'd  add plus bangy bits , hope it goes well bob

[socjo1]

1 hour ago, Retired Bob said:

Hi Glynn, I was hoping for a simple, quick build with this kit but

 

Me the same, me the same...

Michał

[Planebuilder62]

Dear Bob

When the time come s to fit the fin to the fuselage, check the need for a wedge between the front edge of then, before the 2 halves are glued together. The spine is wider than the fin if the fin parts are glued together out of the box.

 

regards Toby

[Retired Bob]

2 hours ago, Planebuilder62 said:

When the time come s to fit the fin to the fuselage, check the need for a wedge between the front edge of then, before the 2 halves are glued together. The spine is wider than the fin if the fin parts are glued together out of the box.

Thanks again Toby, I haven't glued the tail halves together yet, I will look at wedging the parts to align them with the spine.  

[socjo1]

 

I found another interesting topic. It is Czech but photos clearly show what the delights wait impatiently you

https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=143116

Enjoy! 😉

Edited January 30, 2022 by socjo1

[Retired Bob]

16 minutes ago, socjo1 said:

I found another interesting topic. It is Czech but photos clearly show what the delights wait impatiently you

A photo says 1,000 words in any language. 

This is certainly not a quick build. 

[Planebuilder62]

Dear Bob

 

Something else about the rear fuselage top and bottom parts. On my build I needed a spacer at the front to build up the height so it matched the height of the front left/right section though I see on the Czech link the rear fuselage is actually taller than the front.

 

At the back end, it seemed to me that the insert for the jet exhauts was under sized compared to the vertically split fuselage. In stead of lots of filler, I made a long saw cut along the bottom fuselage centreline from the back to the front. I then squeezed the plastic on each side of the join together and glued in a tab to hold them together.

 

By the way, do the canopy parts line up with each other on the front fuselage? There have been several cases here on BM where these parts mismatch by up to 2 mm, or more.

 

regards Toby

[Retired Bob]

I have spent hours and hours looking at photos of Gulf war Tornados on the internet checking details, it would appear that the nose art wasn't applied until after the air war started on the night of 16/17th January 1991.

There were 53 missions made carrying JP233, so 106 JP233 weapons were dropped in the first week before operations moved to medium altitude raids using other weapon systems.

My options are then to make my kit without any nose art or to make it from later in the air war with nose art and different weapons. 

Taking the advice that has been generously passed to me on how to improve this kit I have thinned the wing gloves to get rid of the gap that they produce, it still does not get rid of the problem totally because the kit was designed to have moveable wings.

My plan therefore is to remove the 'swing wing' mechanism from each wing and cut a slot so that they can be inserted onto the wing pivots after the fuselage has been assembled and everything has been painted.

Here are the wings now they have been adapted.

I can now assemble the fuselage, fabricate some new parts from plastic card to make the wing sweep seals.

Thanks for looking, any advice or comments are always welcome.