jacksdad Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 (edited) As I mentioned at the start I am doing a WHIF. Early in the Tornado's career there was a proposal to build an Electronic Warfare Tornado for the U.S. market to compete/replace the EF-111. The profile of this aircraft is the bottom of the three in this picture. The GR.1E was to carry three AN/ALQ-99 ECM pods and two medium fuel tanks. The fuel tanks come in the kit and the only way to get 1/32 pods was to buy Trumpeter's Growler. (Bummer ) Here is a picture of an EF-111 showing the tail I will have to scratch build and I will be using similar markings and colour scheme. So, here is the kit I will be using. And the other stuff I will be using. The pods, as mentioned are from Trumpeter's Growler, there are Aires beautiful seats, and the markings are from my decal folder, with a close up of them at the bottom, including the Air Combat Command shield which was seen on some EF-111's Any comments and/or suggestions will be more than welcome. Steve p.s. Can anyone tell me if the two long bumps, either side of the EF-111 were part of the ECM package or just a standard fit on F-111's as I am no expert on them. p.p.s. I have changed the first two numbers of the aircraft serial to 91. Edited July 26, 2011 by jacksdad64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kunac-Tabinor Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 Hi Steve- looking forward to this. As for the EF-111 the 2 long cylindrical flat ended shapes that the tailpanes attach to , are part of the standard F-111 EW fit. The canoe fairing under the fuselage is part of the EF-111s dedicated fit, as are the blisters on either side of the fin too. HTH Jonners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksdad Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 Hi Steve- looking forward to this. As for the EF-111 the 2 long cylindrical flat ended shapes that the tailpanes attach to , are part of the standard F-111 EW fit. The canoe fairing under the fuselage is part of the EF-111s dedicated fit, as are the blisters on either side of the fin too.HTH Jonners Cheers, That's helpful. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksdad Posted June 4, 2011 Author Share Posted June 4, 2011 And we're off!! Today I'll just be removing parts from the sprues and glueing main assemblies together (cockpit bulkheads, wings, stabs e.t.c.) The tail will be done to let it set before I remove the top portion in line with the top of the rudder. I will also be using thin card to do a representation of the intake trunks (similar to the Armoured Charmer I started (and will finish)) Pictures will be posted tomorrow of my progress. I will be using most of the three months of the GB for this one as I want to do a good job of it. I will also be trying some more weathering, which is something I am not very good at and want to get better at. I will also be doing a 1/32 Canberra at the same time. I may even re-start my build of Armoured Charmer, which has stalled a bit due to me getting enviegled with the Sooper Hornet. Anyhoo, til tomorrow, T.T.F.N. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksdad Posted June 10, 2011 Author Share Posted June 10, 2011 Got some work done and here is where I am up to at the moment. General view of wings, fuel tanks and ECM pods Close up of the pods Cockpit tub and the fin Couple of shots of the Aires seats and the fret that you get. Once these parts are cleaned up I will move on to the next jobs. That will include putting in some form of intake trunking and cutting the top off the fin. T.T.F.N. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike7451 Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Looking good Steve,them seats are the dogs danglies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T0M4ever Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Nice, are you going to stick HARMs on it like the Growlers do now? You could stick them on the pylons usually used for AIM-9s or ASRAAMs, something like in this pic (only with HARMs!) http://www.ausairpower.net/tornado-alarm-1.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksdad Posted June 10, 2011 Author Share Posted June 10, 2011 Nice, are you going to stick HARMs on it like the Growlers do now? You could stick them on the pylons usually used for AIM-9s or ASRAAMs, something like in this pic (only with HARMs!) Not sure. To be honest I haven't given it much thought yet. If I do though it might not be a HARM. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintsPhil Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Looking good so far, I'm interested to see this one come together! We need a catergory foe finished bang seats, they're a kit by themselves! Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigReg Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Really coming on Steve - like the idea behind it too. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksdad Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 Not done any work since the last post. To be honest I,ve been a bit scunnered with modelling for the last week or so, but I think I have it back now, so hopefully there will be some progress over the week-end as I'd quite like to get this finished and crack on with Armoured Charmer in time for the end of the build. T.T.F.N. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksdad Posted June 18, 2011 Author Share Posted June 18, 2011 As promised, I've done a bit more work today. First of, to save a bit of time I have used the lower fuselage from another kit (Armoured Charmer) to make use of the start I had made on doing the intake trunking. To start with I finished of the trunking and added pieces to the fuselage side of the intakes. This will all be smoothed out before final assembly of the rear fuselage. FUSELAGE INTAKE PIECES DRY FIT I also put a lick of paint on the cockpit tub. I am just going to use the ECR panels that come with the kit. I have also tidied up the hangy down stuff and attached them to their pylons. Lastly, today, I cut the top of the fin and attached it to the upper rear fuselage. I will do a bit more work over the next couple of days. I will be going to get some plasticard on Tuesday to begin building up the top of the fin. Kind of got my mojo back so work should crack on over the next few weeks, so I'll keep you posted. Any comments/suggestions more than welcome. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike7451 Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Nice work so far Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worm Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 (edited) Hi Steve The intakes look great and you seem to be getting on faster than me. Steve Edited June 18, 2011 by worm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksdad Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 Did a bit more work on the cockpit today. Here is the front and rear. Instrument dial faces are Aeroscale decals. Anti-slip flooring is cut up pieces of sandpaper. Did some painting of the seats also. Having used the Paragon ones before, I can honestly say that these Aires seats are much better detailed. The moulding is sharper and with the belts being etch they will look more the part. (I hope) Next job will be to finish off the cokpit and get it fitted to the forward fuselage so I can get that closed up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 Coming along nicely Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksdad Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 Thanks, Dave. I just hope I can do the seats justice. They really are wonderful pieces of casting. I will certainly be using these in any future Tornado's. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksdad Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 Did some more work today. Some more work was done on the cockpit, mainly around the rear boxes. I added the small cover on the centre box as well as some plumbing at the back to replace the kit effort. Once this was done it allowed me to get the forward fuselage together. Here is a slightly better picture of one of the seats. Just the belts to go on now and a few touch up's and they'll be ready. Rear top and lower fuselage sections were glued together and the wings had the slots cut in for easy installation/removal. I've not shown it here, but the APU hole was cut out and a wee angled box glued on the inside. (Thanks for the pic Merv ) If I remember I'll take a picture next time. Here is a 3/4 view of the bits together for a dry run. Next jobs are to finish of the intakes so that I can get the inner pieces on, which will then allow me to attach the two fuselage halves together. The kit wing seals will have foil glued onto them to better simulate the real ones. The foil will be from a wine bottle, cut to size, lines scored onto it vertically and 1 horizontally. These will then be attached to the kit and a cut made for the trailing edge of the wing to go into. You'll know what I mean on the next lot of pictures. T.T.F.N. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike7451 Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Steve,If you need some HARM's or even a SLAM Missile,I have some left from my Academy Hornet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksdad Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 Right, guys. That's me back on the rails again. Today I decided to make a start on the fin. First thing to do was to draw a rough outline of the fin top, which was then cut out with a large tab to fit inside the kit fin. Here is a couple of shots of the piece in place. Lastly, I cut out another four pieces to the same profile. This will then form a sandwich which will be sanded, fillered, sanded, fillered......to shape. Next bit I'm going to finish is the intakes. I just need to sand the insides a bit more, get a coat of paint on them, then I can get them sealed up and get the fuselage joined up. I hope to get that done over the next couple of days. I'll post more pictures once this has been done. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Hi Steve Love the concept of the GR.1E. That's a fine job you are doing there - those seats make me think I should have gone for AM ones too. I looked at doing the APU fit too but I decided that the decals would distract from the fact that I hadn't done it! It's gonna be great when your done. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksdad Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 Thanks Andy. As for the seats, I can honestly say that I will not be using anything else in the rest of my Tornado stash (only got seven!) Just finished sanding the intake interiors and the rear fuselage. The intakes will get painted tomorrow and some re-scribing at the rear fuselage. I have sandwiched the fin parts together, so I'll start sanding to shape tomorrow. It should be an impressive mound of dust! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin77 Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Cant wait to see the fin top when its done Steve. Tub and seats are looking very nice as well. I'll be watching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksdad Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 Thanks Martin. I must admit I am quite looking forward to it myself. Here are another couple of pictures from last night. Here is a close up of the APU. It's a bit rough, but it's my first attempt. Basically, it's just a rectangular hole cut out with a couple of pieces of L shaped rod glued together and blanked off at The end. I will try and add more detail on my next Tornado. Lastly, here is every thing test fitted to see how it's going to look. The fin top is going to be tackled topday along with the intakes. Hopefully I'll have more pictures later today. Thanks for looking. Steve p.s. Can anyone suggest the correct paints for it. It will be finished in the two grey scheme seen here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintsPhil Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Looking good steve! I've got an F111 raven in the stash if you want me to look out the colour call out on that I'll do it later, assuming someone else doesn't beat me to it! Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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