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Tornado greys


Tim

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I suspect replacement parts are coming either from 'hanger queens' or stores already in MSG

I'm sure this is the case. What I was alluding to was that it shows the inherent variation in aircraft colours and how you shouldn't get too hung up on paint specs. It's like walking along a real flight line, weathering, servicing etc all take a toll on the paintwork of a machine and no two aircraft histories are identical this neturally leads to variation in finish.

Cheers

MarkC

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This has always been something of a pet subject with me. It's all very well to faithfully reproduce a paint reference spec on your model but it's a subjective business. As most of us know, using full scale colour matches can sometimes make a model look a little bit odd when scaled down. There's that whole Ian Huntley-esque argument of whether adding quantities of white paint effectively "scales down" a colour, but even that apporoach doesn't always look convincing. Same applies with weathering and panel lines, which can sometimes look really impressive if done properly, but it's often far from realistic. A great deal comes down to personal taste I think. I've seen plenty of models that have had excessive use of paint washes over panel lines, dark weathering and white highlighting to such an extent that they look very unrealistic, but they still look fantastic, so why worry - as long as it looks good...

Of course lighting conditions make a big difference too, but when you see what a mix-up of colours the RAF's Tornado fleet currently has, you certainly have the opportunity to be fairly flexible with your colour choices! Who is to say that a model "looks right" unless they have a photograph of the real aircraft, taken on the day that you claim to be representing on your model? But the alternative to the liberal approach is to be even more fastidious and refuse to model any specific aircraft unless you have a four-view set of photographs! I don't think there is any definitive approach to follow, it's just a case of making the model satisfactory for your own tastes.

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Who is to say that a model "looks right" unless they have a photograph of the real aircraft, taken on the day that you claim to be representing on your model?

In the old Verlinden Lock-On for the F-15, the are some photos of a CR Eagle - a single airframe, all photos on the same page, taken on the same day at the same time by the same photographer using (presumably) the same camera using the same lighting conditions - and the shade of grey is different in every pic.

So which one is correct? :evil_laugh:

That's why I don't get too hung up on exact colours.

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Actually its interesting to see how many Tornado's share body panels with each other - I've seen many shots of GR4's with light coloured panels in various places on the top fuselage, and ailerons stolen from earlier GR1s with the green/grey camo still on them, definately a visual effect I'm going to use on my next build :)

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The other mystery with the current Tornado fleet is what is gonna happen with the unit markings. They are gradually disappearing, but nobody seems to have heard of any plan to replace the markings with a Composite Wing emblem. I know it was unlikely until the CW's had their own unit badges but they must have them by now, in which case you'd imagine that somebody would have applied something to a tail or two by now.

Oh well, the whole saga is just history repeating itself again, so I guess we should just wait a few years until some bright spark suggests giving each unit their own markings - again! Actually, judging by the way history is reinvented so many times, it's surprising that the passion for grey has lasted so long. You'd think somebody would have come-up with yet another camouflage fashion by now.

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The other mystery with the current Tornado fleet is what is gonna happen with the unit markings. They are gradually disappearing, but nobody seems to have heard of any plan to replace the markings with a Composite Wing emblem. I know it was unlikely until the CW's had their own unit badges but they must have them by now, in which case you'd imagine that somebody would have applied something to a tail or two by now.

As I understand it, the point of not applying squadron/unit markings was raised by HMG to save money. That being said it would seem unlikely that you will ever see CW markings unless the guys on the units fund it themselves.

Edited by tompot
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Nice opening shot there Tim, by the way, very nice indeed!

I've studied the photo a few times and I'm seeing two main schemes...Dark Sea Grey/Dark Camo Grey and Medium Sea Grey overall - with minor variations!

Personally I think that its wrong to assume that any old grey will do. Standards have been developed and applied accordingly. The variations noted in the photo, and of course in real life are due to varying factors. Paints will fade and appear lighter. Panels will be interchanged and sections re-painted.

Personally I tend to use one manufacturers paint and stick to them. Variations can be introduced (for scale effect) by lightening paint, and by over painting panels. That said, when I built a Harrier GR7 some years ago, I used Xtracolor NATO green and applied Humbrol 163 to certain panels to give this effect.....

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It's hard to establish the real reasons behind the removal of GR4 markings. The story was that it was because there's so much exchanging going-on between units, and that's certainly true. On the other hand, it seems that special "one off" schemes are still to be allowed, so it doesn't seem to be any financial objection as such, but as you say, I guess it's questionable as to who pays for the paint! For example, the Jaguar's retirement markings were quite a saga, with emails and phone calls going around, trying to find companies who might pay for the paint.

I suspect it's like every other phase the RAF's gone through, and it's just another notional fashion that will fade when another "big wig" comes along who happens to be in favour of markings and unit esprit de corps, etc. Seems to be just history repeating itself again!

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