Profile Photo
Sebastien Privat
2 articles

Revell Tornado IDS / GR1

December 15, 2016 · in Aviation · · 16 · 3.6K

I've always liked the .
It's a brute of an aircraft, it flies low (very low) and fast (very fast), it steers a bit like a cruise ship and it carries enough ordnance to ruin anyone's day (and it has done so quite a lot of times).
So when you're into , you can choose between Airfix (eeek!), Italeri (eeek!), Hobby Boss (eeek!) and (oook!).

But Revell's Tornado needs to be tamed, and there are a couple of idiosyncrasies that have to be adressed when you build it. Thanks to Shaun on BritModeller forums, I learned what to do to avoid ruining my karma while assembling this kit (and as I intend to build a Tornado in each and every camouflage it ever wore, this is more important than you might think, especially as I don't want to come back as a dung beetle. At best).

First thing first : be very wary of the instructions. They lie.
What you have to do first is assemble the rear fuselage and wings.

BTW, it's a good idea to widen the holes in the bits that make the wing pylons pivot. Not because you'll be able to have the wings go all the way back while you're running across your room making jet noises, but it'll help aligning the pylons for the build.

One thing I didn't take pics of: the flaps. Revell's instructions guys did it wrong, and if you follow the instructions, your flaps will go upside down. Swap the parts that go in front of the flaps and are supposed to go under the wings and you'll be fine.

So, once you got your rear fuselage assembled, you can go with the nose and the cockpit.
The decals are interesting, specially on the GR4 release. They are indeed for a Tornado GR4, but the plastic parts are for an IDS/GR1. Fun...

Front goes without fuss:

And needs just a lil' bit of persuasion and brute force to go where it's intended.

Adjusting the intakes will still need some putty and sanding, but won't be difficult.
For the Italian Tornado, I used a 5 Mk83 configuration (and a couple of Sidewinders from an Hasegawa armament set).

For the GR1, I chose a 3 tank configuration, two of them being Desert Pink.

Next one is on the way, it's an Operation Grandby Tornado, with tanks, Sidewinders and 8 1000lbs bombs.

Now, I'm back to my Privateer.

Cheers,

S.

Reader reactions:
3  Awesome

16 additional images. Click to enlarge.


16 responses

  1. Very helpful building tips and info, sir...a good thing to know (thanks for passing along the knowledge). Your end result(s) look outstanding. Nice work! 🙂

  2. Great work, and nice photos as well. How about some photos and info on your Privateer?

  3. Very nice work on the Tornados - great weathering and shading.

  4. Like your Tornados very much, good to get some knowledge as Well!

  5. Always thought the Tornado was great looking aircraft. Its nice seeing them built well. Good work Sebastien !

  6. Nice build and a good article as well.

  7. Great job! Is this the best Tornadp in 1/48th?

  8. Sebastian, Bravo! Eeek, huh? Instructions lie! I'm shocked! Thanks for the build and post, I've still got the Italeri sitting someplace in the mound of plastic despair. Beautiful job on her.

  9. As stated above this is a very nice build. I like to build the same type of planes with different color schemes as you have done with the Tornados. Thanks for sharing this with us. I would like to see a few photos of the Privateer too ...

  10. Thanks to all!
    The Privateer:

    I seriously hope it's possible to post pictures in replies...

    Cheers,

    S.

  11. Nice little review as well at the build. I have this kit, so I appreciate the advice and will make note of it. Thanks for sharing.

  12. Really cool builds! Great skills.

  13. Great article and builds, Sebastien. I was given this kit last Christmas as my main gift... and I haven't even opened the box. Now that you've posted these, I can see it hitting the bench sometime early next year.

    Ian.

  14. Great posting, Sebastien, love the models and the write-up.

Leave a Reply