Revell 1/32 Tornado GR1 - Desert War

BarryW

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Well after that abortive piece of Kitty Hawk junk it is over to Revell junk - well perhaps this kit is not quite so junk like.

This is a 20 year old tooling with decent recesssed detail and my first impressions are of a kit that is better than many new tools. It is light years ahead of the Kitty Hawk and a lot better than my last Revell kit, a 'new tool' 1/32 FW190.

Revel have upped their game with the presentation and packing of this kit.

It now has a strong(ish) top opening box.
IMG_1061.jpg

The instructions are no longer that mess that we are so used to with Revell, now nicely presented in colour.
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I am using the kit decals, unusual for me but there are two very nice options. her they are with the aftermarket that I have for this:
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They are now also presenting the plastic in seperate bags, well except for sprue A which was not bagged for some reason...
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here is my workbench, cleaned up and set up for this build.

IMG_1067.jpg

I have not ruled out getting seatbelts for this, or even a.m. seats. I will decide on that as I get on with the build.
 

peterairfix

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I am going to watch as I have the very same kit taunting me from the top of the wardrobe but I have been to apprehensive to start it after the nightmares with the last Revell tornado.
 

BarryW

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HI Barry so the tiger is no go then ?
chris
No, the Tiger is a 'go' but after this build. I did not want to go straight into another KW straight after the OV-10 farce,
 

Jim R

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Hi Barry
As I said on the other thread that is no more - onwards and upwards. Glad this kit looks OK.
Jim
 

BarryW

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I cut plastic last night, working on the seats.

Here are the parts for the first stage of the seats. Note the deep sink hole, a bit of filler solves that but this is that soft plastic that we often see from Revell which is more prone to this issue and flash than the better quality plastics that companies like Tamiya use.

That said this is a 20 year old tooling and I have seen worse on new toolings (Kitty Hawk and their dreadful brittle plastic for example).
IMG_1068.jpg

the seats build up well, fit is decent.
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Looking at the seat now I should really get some lead wire out, but I have another plan...
Below we see the rest of the seat parts, after a fair bit of clean up. The more complex shapes do result in a fair bit of flash and burring but it is easily dealt with. The i.p. panels and cockpit floor have also been cleaned up but they only needed me to sand off the sprue attachment points.
IMG_1070.jpg

Looking at these parts I do think this kit will benefit from resin seats so I am going to order them. Not sure about the rest of the 'pit. I will take a look at whats available later before deciding.
 

BarryW

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I now have the Quickboost ejection seats on order for this.
 

BarryW

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Look what arrived today....
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Much nicer than the kit parts.
 

Vaughan

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That was quick Barry! they look very well detailed.
 

BarryW

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They are very nice with just the block to remove and a little clean up.

Here is one side by side with the kit part.
E19A2F2F-15F9-4BCA-A098-B3B6F59D6D01.jpeg
 

Jim R

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Hi Barry
The resin seats are far, far better. Worth the extra expense.
Jim
 

BarryW

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Tonight I prepped the seats and have applied a black primer to the cockpit parts.

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As you can see there are not a lot of components to the pit and is a lot simpler than I am used to. There is some room to add detail but I am not going to do so. I will build with the pit closed and there won’t be a lot seen of the interior so I think what the kit provides is enough. A really enjoyable build so far, fit good overall.
 

BarryW

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This morning I painted the cockpit with dark gull grey.

I painted the seats over three masking stages, graphite for the top, field green for the leather and dark gull grey for the main parts. Because of the complex shapes a fair bit of touching up is now needed where paint bled under the masking. Now MRP are no good for brush painting and when you touch up with a brush it lifts the base colour, though it can be done. So I am experimenting, I have laid down a layer of acrylic matt varnish that wo t be affected by the solvent. In theory, when I dab touch ups of MRP it will not lift paint and will make the touching up easier.

Once the touching up is finished I will get on an paint the seatbelts and other details all with Vallejo Model Colour acrylics.

How the seats look now before touch ups and detail painting


E8CFBC7E-30BD-4BAE-9D26-4FC11426D312.jpeg
 

AlanG

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Lovely start Barry. I love the Tonka and seriously want to do one. Although i would be doing one in the more traditional colours of a GR1. Does this kit come with a TIALD pod?
 

BarryW

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Lovely start Barry. I love the Tonka and seriously want to do one. Although i would be doing one in the more traditional colours of a GR1. Does this kit come with a TIALD pod?
Not looked Alan. I will have a peek when I get a chance.
 

BarryW

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Lovely start Barry. I love the Tonka and seriously want to do one. Although i would be doing one in the more traditional colours of a GR1. Does this kit come with a TIALD pod?

Here is a list of what comes with the kit:
2 x 1,500L tank
1 x BOZ 101 chaff and flare pod
AIM-7L Sidewinder A2A missile
1 x Sky Shadow ECM pod
2 x 2,250L tank
2 x 1,000lb LGB
4 x 1,000lb iron bomb

I think this aircraft looks splendid in the Gulf War Desert Pink scheme, particularly with some careful weathering and all the more so with these two great nose art options. Personally I think I will go for 'Snoopy Airways' as that 'lady in red' looks set to devour you whole!!! The 'traditional' schemes cannot compete with that!!!
 

Mr Bowcat

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I hope the fit is better than the 1/48 version Barry. Looking good so far. :thumb2:
 

BarryW

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progress...

This week I have been detail painting with Vallejo, that was followed by a gloss coat and pin washes. I then applied instrument panel decals over the raised detail This often does not work well but in this case the decals are quite good, thin and strong enough not to splinter. With a generous application of decal solutions they bedded down into the detail well. They do not match up to the raised detail very well, but once I have finished the work and installed them they will look pretty good. I then followed up with a semi-matt coat.

Here is how the cockpit parts look now:

IMG_1076.jpg

I have some pigment work to do, mostly with Uschi metal powders, some gloss varnish to apply to dials and screens before fixing it all into place. I will post more pics when it is done.
 
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