1:72 Tornado GR4, Dambusters70th Anniversary

1:72 Tornado GR4, Dambusters70th Anniversary

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dr_gn

Original Poster:

16,130 posts

183 months

Tuesday 24th December 2013
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After a memorable day back in May at Ladybower reservoir for the 70th anniversary flypasts, I thought I'd make a model of one of the Tornados I saw:



I couldn't figure out why there were no aftermarket decals for these aircraft, since I assumed they'd be quite popular. According to some forums, the MOD has registered the "Dambusters" name, so unless it's licensed, nobody can sell decals (happy to be corrected). I've seen a couple of home-made sets for sale unofficially, but they didn't look great.

Unfortunately that leaves the hopeless Airfix limited edition kit of the 70th anniversary GR4 as the only option. Despite the shiny new box and box art, it looks like it is basically the ancient MRCA kit of the mid '70's (again, happy to be corrected). I'll give it to my 6 year old to build. I got the infinitely better (and cheaper) Revell GR1 and will use that in conjunction with a simple a resin GR4 coversion kit from Freightdog. Luckily the Airfix decals are superb, and contain not only the main markings, but a comprehensive set of stencils:



I ordered the Airfix kits on Sunday, got them today. Excellent service; free postage, in fact everything apart from the models themselves is first class. Ironic huh?

ecsrobin

16,956 posts

164 months

Wednesday 25th December 2013
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Bookmarked. I'll be keeping an eye on this as want to build the 41Sqn GR4 I flew in.

perdu

4,884 posts

198 months

Wednesday 25th December 2013
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I will be long for this one too doc

I do think you are being a bit harsh on the Airfix Tornado though

I made this one back in (about) '84 as part of a branch diorama. Did a little tiyding of the root cuff area over the swingy bits, not much else.




I have been told that the pod 'fit' is wrong but when I made the model they were only recently in service and info was harder to get, blimey we get life easier these days.
thumbup
The kit was basically just a modified MRCA mould as you suggest, but not too far away.

One of my co-members built a monogram Tornado for the dio, it was as porky as a porky thing that o/d'd on swill. Its shape was very different to the photos of the real thing we had.

Anyway as I said, following avidly. I love your build approach.

Crap pictures which I will remove if you like, only photos of two photos. The actual models are landfill near Aldridge I understand.

b

HoHoHo

14,974 posts

249 months

Wednesday 25th December 2013
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Bookmarked.

Looking forward to another masterclass dr_gn wink

Oh, and Happy Christmas to everyone thumbup

Eric Mc

121,684 posts

264 months

Thursday 26th December 2013
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We know the good Dr's opinion of Airfix. Getting a dig in is to be expected.

In this occasion, he is, of course, probably correct as the Airfix Tornado does have a rather venerable vintage and the moulds have been modified over the decades to keep it "current".

It first appeared back in 1974 in prototype colours. It the reappeared as the GR1 in the early 80s and finally as a GR4.

The Revell moulding is a lot more recent and therefore it would be expected that it would be to more modern standards. The older Airfix kit CAN be made into a decent model - but in the modern era the Revell version would be the sensible choice.

dr_gn

Original Poster:

16,130 posts

183 months

Thursday 26th December 2013
quotequote all
perdu said:
I will be long for this one too doc

I do think you are being a bit harsh on the Airfix Tornado though

I made this one back in (about) '84 as part of a branch diorama. Did a little tiyding of the root cuff area over the swingy bits, not much else.




I have been told that the pod 'fit' is wrong but when I made the model they were only recently in service and info was harder to get, blimey we get life easier these days.
thumbup
The kit was basically just a modified MRCA mould as you suggest, but not too far away.

One of my co-members built a monogram Tornado for the dio, it was as porky as a porky thing that o/d'd on swill. Its shape was very different to the photos of the real thing we had.

Anyway as I said, following avidly. I love your build approach.

Crap pictures which I will remove if you like, only photos of two photos. The actual models are landfill near Aldridge I understand.

b
No problem with the pictures - it's a model Tornado thread after all!

It's all relative - with skill any kit will look good (yours does look great, tragic it ended up in landfill), but back in '84 your choices were more limited. My point was that if you comapare it with the cheaper Revell offering, there's no contest in terms of fit of parts, refinement of detail and of course surface detail (this Airfix version still has raised panel lines). If the price reflected the relative quality of the kit, in this case fair enough, but it didn't.

Anyway - I bought two (plus a drinks coaster to bring it above the £30 free postage limit!) and will hopefully be getting the new tool Airfix Tiger Moth, so it can't all be bad!

Here's my ancient Airfix Tornado from a previous modelling life, now hanging in my son's room. Looks fine from a distance, but these days I go a bit further with the details:



Once I've nicked the decals, he can have a go at the kit and paint it with his watercolours. The other kit will remain in the stash as a reminder of a great day out in the Peaks last May. It's a limited edition of 2000, so who knows one day someone might desperately want a Dambusters decal sheet from an Airfix Tornado!

dr_gn

Original Poster:

16,130 posts

183 months

Thursday 26th December 2013
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HoHoHo said:
Bookmarked.

Looking forward to another masterclass dr_gn wink
Ha! I doubt it. I just treated myself to a shiny new airbrush from Little-Cars, so I'll be at the bottom of the learning curve again with a new brush. Having said that, it's in a different league in terms of ergonomics even if the quality of the lines is about the same as my old one:



Despite ever more frequent upgrades and maintenence of my faithful DeVilbiss Super '63, I was literally spending more time repairing it than painting with it.

Happy Christmas and happy modelling one and all!

Eric Mc

121,684 posts

264 months

Thursday 26th December 2013
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Hope you like using the Evolution. I love mine.

perdu

4,884 posts

198 months

Thursday 26th December 2013
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I didn't consider the "cheaper Revell one" option to be honest smile

I do love the 56 squadron Tornado. Looks nice.

As I said, I'm along for the trip. (I like the Dambusters picture, wish I'd been there.)

The new airbrush looks kinda 'elite' too, I might put that on next year's Christmas list if you get on with it as well as Eric does.


dr_gn

Original Poster:

16,130 posts

183 months

Thursday 26th December 2013
quotequote all
perdu said:
I didn't consider the "cheaper Revell one" option to be honest smile

I do love the 56 squadron Tornado. Looks nice.

As I said, I'm along for the trip. (I like the Dambusters picture, wish I'd been there.)

The new airbrush looks kinda 'elite' too, I might put that on next year's Christmas list if you get on with it as well as Eric does.
I bought the old Tornado after a walking trip in the Lake District - really impressive to see them training around there.

I think this particular Revell kit is based on one released as a new tooling in 1998 :

http://www.scalemates.com/products/product.php?id=...

All Airfix's Tornado kits seem to stem from their 1975 Panavia MRCA kit:

http://www.scalemates.com/products/product.php?id=...

Here's a full timeline of all manufacturers showing all the interbreeding of the various manufactureres. It's complicated...

http://www.scalemates.com/products/product.php?id=...

Scalemates is a great website for ascertaining the provenance of a kit - it's a bit tricky to navigate, but interesting once you figure it out.

The airbrush is slightly different from the standard Evolution (it's called the Silverline) in that it has a needle preset barrel at the end of the handle. It replicates the Super '63 in that it allows you to preset the amount the needle is retracted when spraying. I also specified the new 'pincer' type diffusser that allows you to see the needle tip for really fine work, and allows you to remove any paint build-up with your fingers before it causes spattering. I sprayed some of the Airfix Gladiator using my pal's standard Evolution, and it was really nice to use.

perdu

4,884 posts

198 months

Thursday 26th December 2013
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Scalemates needs to up its act with regard to the Airfix iterations, don't they?

They list the F3 as if it was the same moulding as the GR1/GR4s, which even though I wasn't modelling back when the F3 came out I knew had to be a different fuselage.

Still that is a damned complicated timeline and somebody was brave to tackle it, not my meat! wink

If you have some experience already with those airbrushes I think the masterclass is ON again smile

dr_gn

Original Poster:

16,130 posts

183 months

Thursday 26th December 2013
quotequote all
perdu said:
Scalemates needs to up its act with regard to the Airfix iterations, don't they?

They list the F3 as if it was the same moulding as the GR1/GR4s, which even though I wasn't modelling back when the F3 came out I knew had to be a different fuselage.

Still that is a damned complicated timeline and somebody was brave to tackle it, not my meat! wink

If you have some experience already with those airbrushes I think the masterclass is ON again smile
Not sure about the Airfix family tree. The fuselages look slightly different, but most of the other parts look identical. Don't have the GR4 to hand at the moment, but from memory it looked like it had exactly the same cockpit assembly as the first MRCA version.

Mutley

3,178 posts

258 months

Friday 27th December 2013
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Dr, For the very same reasons - was sat at teh Ladybower reservoir in May, and I bought the Airfix Dambusters Tornado when it came out, and on a strange co-incidence have the Revell GR1 to build as well.

Will be watching your build and this thread with interest.

dr_gn

Original Poster:

16,130 posts

183 months

Friday 27th December 2013
quotequote all
Mutley said:
Dr, For the very same reasons - was sat at teh Ladybower reservoir in May, and I bought the Airfix Dambusters Tornado when it came out, and on a strange co-incidence have the Revell GR1 to build as well.

Will be watching your build and this thread with interest.
Cool.

As Perdu proved, the Airfix version can look good, and if it has the aniversary markings, all the better.

I'll probably only ever build one more 1:72 Tornado, so I want the best one out there; that's why I will be using the Revell kit. Another advantage of this version is that you can get quite exquisite resin details sets for it (IDS variants) from Aires. Today the cockpit and wheel bays arrived:



and I also got the Eduard etch set (mainly for the rear view mirrors and afterburner rings) and some "remove before flight" tags:



Just waiting for the FreightDog GR.4 conversion resin bits and MasterModel brass turned pitot tube and AoA probes.

Should be quite strightforward...

ETA, just looked on EBay, and there are a few of the limited edition Airfix versions that have sold for £10+ more than you can buy them direct from Airfix. Strange.



Edited by dr_gn on Friday 27th December 15:10

ecsrobin

16,956 posts

164 months

Monday 30th December 2013
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Hopefully of some assistance to you. I should have a few more of the interior but need to take a look and may need to edit prior to posting so give me some time.

Camera Roll-435 by -robinecs-

Camera Roll-434 by -robinecs-

Camera Roll-431 by -robinecs-

dr_gn

Original Poster:

16,130 posts

183 months

Monday 30th December 2013
quotequote all
ecsrobin said:
Hopefully of some assistance to you. I should have a few more of the interior but need to take a look and may need to edit prior to posting so give me some time.

Camera Roll-435 by -robinecs-

Camera Roll-434 by -robinecs-

Camera Roll-431 by -robinecs-
Fantastic - is that a GR.4? Not noticed the side handles in the rear on the model I've got. Frodomonkey is getting me some pics too on the other forum, so there will be no excuses for screwing this one up.

Thanks very much for posting.

ecsrobin

16,956 posts

164 months

Monday 30th December 2013
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Yes it's a GR4 although a better squadron than 617...... 41Squadron.

Eric Mc

121,684 posts

264 months

Monday 30th December 2013
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Some of that information on the screen might be "Top Secret".

ecsrobin

16,956 posts

164 months

Monday 30th December 2013
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Eric Mc said:
Some of that information on the screen might be "Top Secret".
??

magpie215

4,365 posts

188 months

Monday 30th December 2013
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Eric Mc said:
Some of that information on the screen might be "Top Secret".
Yes in pic 2 it looks like they are scanning the matrix