Revell 03892 Tornado GR.1 RAF "Gulf War" 1:32 Scale Unbuilt/Unpainted Plastic Model Kit

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This is of course a reboxing of the pre-millennial tooling from Revell with new decals for the Gulf War aircraft, which are probably the most popular options for a Tonka with many folks for their own reasons. The original kit is around 20 years old now, and is a very good product of its day, with engraved panel lines, a decent level of detail, and a wide range of aftermarket now available. Where it does suffer is the intakes, which are hollow, but have no internal trunking, leaving interior and the wing-swing mechanism visible if you don't cover them with FOD guards. The kit arrives in one of Revell's preferred top opening boxes with seven large sprues in light blue-grey styrene (one cut in half), two of clear parts, the instruction booklet and a colourful decal sheet. It's been a while since I've perused the sprues of this kit, and I was pleasantly surprised at how modern it looks, with fine engraved panel lines and raised details, a full set of fuel tanks and weaponry, and some good interior detail that will suffice for many, or act as a jumping-off point for detail hounds. This boxing has the additional parts for the GR.1, which also includes the small clear additional sprue, and while not new it does give the modeller a more accurate finished result. The forward fuselage fit neatly along panel lines, and I needed to use just a swipe of filler along the curved join under the nose. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit it was at this time I decided to add a sound chip might as well jump in completely and do the whole electric thing. The fuselage plug also fit pretty well, but I ended up dunking it in some boiling hot water and reshaping it a little to fit both the nose and mid sections better.

I'll let others with more vast knowledge confirm, but I believe the RAPTOR pod wasn't carried until the GR.4 conversion, which has several detail differences from the GR.1, but aftermarket conversions (and likely decals) are available. Planning to display this in flight so pilots are necessary - two PJ Productions RAF aircrew ready to go! But I wasn’t done yet; a bunch of parts came at final assembly, including separate antennas, weapons, landing gear, detailed canopy rails, and more.

Italeri | No. 2513 | 1:32

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My intention was to have this in the traditional grey paint scheme, but there are lots out there so I went for the desert brown, adding contrast with green and grey, the sound kit was from Jennifer smith ( [email protected]) She also programmed the correct light sequence from video I sent her, dam that girl is good. Taking its curtain call with the Royal Air Force in 2019, the Panavia Tornado is an example of a successful multinational program to develop a multirole aircraft to serve with multiple air arms. Introduced as an interdictor/strike jet, the Tornado morphed into other roles including suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD), reconnaissance, and one version was even fielded as an interceptor. Also have these @djparkins Flightpath ALARMs from an earlier Tornado build - they'll need a bit of work as they've been rattling around in a spares box for about ten years. But that gives you a clue what the finished aircraft will be representing...! The 11(F) decals are sourced from an Xtradecal GR.1/F3 sheet from years ago, but I'll have to make the serial number somehow, along with the stencils as the kit has no decals 😩 The aircraft is interesting, being the old two-tone Light Aircraft Grey/Camouflage Grey with one Dk Camo Grey tank and one still in grey/green. I intend to pose it inflight at a steep bank angle so it should be an interesting build!

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I will keep looking for more info on the Tornado, before I decide which markings (Probably kit decals) I will do it in. For me, ECM pods & Sidewinders are a must, I just have to find info on the various sensor windows. This will be a conversion to the F3 using Heritage Aviation's resin conversion set as a basis. Thought I'd better get on and do it before Italeri release an F3! (I hope!!)

This won’t be as interesting a build as the other very excellent detailed one just completed. I tend to not be too bothered about realism and just build oob but maybe another take on the subject might be useful to someone? Progress has been mainly on sub sections and lots of test fitting as I wrap my head around how it fits together. Seems quite neatly designed and looks like it’s going to be ok. Annoyances mainly around the ridiculously fiddly p.e. parts on the fin which on my sons Revell version are pre molded and don’t really look too bad for it either. Again I find myself wishing they’d included a spare exhaust can so I could have an engine on display next to the aircraft. Had hope for an airies one by now but don’t think I’ll wait. Will be done with flats/slats out wings forward & probe out but spoilers closed & speed brakes down. If only there were a decent set of pilot figures available I’d have modelled it on touchdown with everything dangled reversers deployed & spoilers up but the only figures I could find just don’t look good in my opinion. Hopefully engines next then I can commit my test fits with some glue. Finally, since Revell ONLY lists Revell paints (Or mixes of Revell paints), I will have to come up with with either Testors ModelMaster, Tamiya or Gunze Mr Color "versions" of the needed camo colors. Before the GR.4 update, the recce-dedicated Tornados in RAF service were the GR.1A variant. This has both cannon removed with the muzzles faired over, small SLIR windows on either side of the lower forward fuselage, and an Infrared Linescan (IRLS) in a streamlined belly fairing (not to be confused with the Italian/German ECR, which has more of a "canoe" shaped fairing). I believe Flightpath/David J. Parkins offers a 1:32 GR.1A conversion/detail set.The completed assembly is then trapped between the two nose halves, the extra equipment and coaming between the two crew is added, and the HUD on the pilot's coaming is also constructed from two half ramps and a clear part. The nose cone is separate, and a basic representation of the radar is provided, with nose-weight of 55g suggested to prevent having a tail-sitter on your hands. Leaving the nose cone closed gives you a lot more space further toward the front of the airframe, losing out on only a little detail and preserving the lines of the aircraft. The nose cone is moulded as a single part, with an additional ring that attaches to the rear, and either hinges open to reveal the radar, or is fitted shut as already mentioned. The trademark Tornado fin fits like the proverbial glove and even the small vortex generators supplied as tiny PE parts did not annoy me too badly. The cuts went well and this fits quite nicely. Obviously will need some filler but it's about as snug as you could get. First big scare out of the way! Guess I won't be using these, so will save for a future project. At least I don't have to chop off those lovely seatbelts! One thing I'm bothered about - how to do the bendy acrylic rod thing for mounting an inflight build? It looks really cool, but how do you go about bending the acrylic rod without melting it?

Thanks for this Melchie. I've not tried Vallejo yet, but plan to do so mainly for their brushability. I am looking forward to using the Gunze paints as the things I have read suggest they are the best in the business. Hence my interest in Shan's experiences. The Panavia Tornadois a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multirole combat aircraft, which was jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom, and West Germany. There are three primary Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS ( interdictor/ strike) fighter-bomber, the suppression of enemy air defencesTornado ECR ( electronic combat/ reconnaissance) and the Tornado ADV(air defence variant) interceptor aircraft. The instructions indicate building and install the engines before closing the rear fuselage, but they can be inserted along with the aft bulkhead at the end of the build, making cleanup and painting easier. The engines have molded details and include the Tornado’s trademark clamshell thrust reversers, but purists will want to enhance the engines with refined detail. The news is good - had to de-warp a few parts (missile rails and BOL launchers were a bit bendy, as was the fwd lower fuselage plate. The ejection seats go together easily and look great, but I had a hard time following the diagrams to install the photo-etched metal (PE) seat belts.

I decided at the outset to remove myself from the somewhat typical and lengthy description of the Tornado technical development and operational history. The Tornado has certainly served very well during its lifetime, and has undoubtedly been a great asset to those who needed it. There are a couple of different releases of the "new tool" Revell 1:32 Tornado (and a few more with RAF options that just aren't labeled as such on the box), so specifying a kit number would help verify your options strictly OOB. Anyway, that's as far as I got today, had to wash all the dust off the resin again so while I'm waiting I've started a consolation build of the Revell (Italeri) Mirage IIIE with the cool EC3/3 Ardennes 50th anniversary silver paint job. The kit provides a selection of weapons, although some don’t apply to RAF Tornados. Among those that do are laser-targeted GBU-12s, 2,250-liter fuel tanks, AIM-9 missiles, and BOZ-107 countermeasures and Sky Shadow ECM pods. A nice inclusion would have been Brimstone air-to-ground missiles carried by the GR4 on numerous deployments late in its career. One of 11(F)'s finest hours - a SEAD EF3 armed with ALARMs and ASRAAMs. The tanks are the 1500L standard type (from the kit), a BOZ pod on the left wing (also from the kit) and a Phimat on the right (sourced from the Revell/Italeri Mirage IIIE). The ASRAAMs come from Eduard Brassin.