Revell 1/32 RAF Tornado GR.1 ”Mig Eater”, Tabuk, 1991

Started by Spiros Pendedekas · 123 · 3 years ago · 1/32, Desert Storm, Mig Eater, Revell, Tornado
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    Spiros Pendedekas said 4 years, 2 months ago:

    I decided to make a brave step and try to scratchbuilt wings inflattable seals:

    I removed the stock Revell ones and glued on top of them two pieces of thin sheet styrene (...you must have been knowing me by now: they are cut pieces from my sons' bon bon chocolate ice cream mini trays...).

    They are placed in such a way that a wing fillet can be inserted into the device, much like the real thing (a bit simplified, of course)

    After the required trimming, they were glued in place. After curing, the wings are going to be inserted into place, to see how the area will look.

    Cheers to this Great GB and those Great Followers!

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 4 years, 2 months ago:

    Hi everyone!

    I inserted and glued the wings at their respective position.

    (before that, I removed the wing seals, to install them at a later stage, where they will be bent beforehand and then affixed. I think they will look more realistic...)

    Since I had modified their root base, due to the reinforcements, the positioning and alignment were not foolproof; I had to insert shims and styrene bits here and there inside, to obtain the desired position.

    When I was satisfied, I secured everything by gluing styrene bits wherever I could.

    I then glued the front and rear fuselage parts together.

    Fit was so so and I had to use clamps to hold the whole thing together. I also run some liquefied stryene around some bad fitting spots.

    I was tempted to glue the air intakes, but I didn't do it, as to still have a chance of accessing the wing root innards, just in case something goes wrong upon glue curing...-as I told you, I had learned this lesson the hard way...

    Starts to look like a Tornado now!

    What a beautiful shape!

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    George R Blair Jr said 4 years, 2 months ago:

    This is a really big kit, Spiros (@fiveten). Perhaps you can use it for a coffee table when you are done. I have a 1/48 scale Tornado IDS in my stash, and I thought it was big. Something this size will really need all of the internal reinforcement!

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 4 years, 2 months ago:

    You are so right, George @gblair!
    The sanding/filling session will also be interesting!

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 4 years, 2 months ago:

    And a gluing update:

    After a supplementary reinforcement at the wing roots, I attached the air intakes...

    ...and the aft AB cover that contains the thrust reversers.

    As you can see, fit leaves a lot to be desired, but my Excel blade, 220 grit sandpaper, possibly my bastard file, liquefied styrene and finally the magic Squadron Green will do the trick!

    I also started to take care of those wing/fuselage gaps, that have to be minimal at the areas of "swinging".

    Chers frmo a happy moldler! (misspelling due to all that glue sniffing...-LOL)

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    Erik Gjørup said 4 years, 2 months ago:

    Rather "impressive" that the fit is that bad in this scale. But it just gives you the opportunity to sniff more 🙂

    As usual the PFP quality will show up in the final result. Great progress after all the preps.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 4 years, 2 months ago:

    I have definitely contributed to the bad fit, my friend @airbum.

    Also, it is not uncommon to see a "modern jet" kit with fit issues. It is not so easy for the kit manufacturers to design all those complex shape parts and achieve a perfect fit.

    Squared fuselages split in front/back AND left/right, variable wings, to name a few, cannot always be molded to fit perfectly.

    1/32 parts being bigger, can amplify the problem and some builds may be discouraging for some modelers.

    Having said all that, a detailed modern 1/32 Tornado, with THAT A3 size super decal sheet, at a price of 45 Euros, can tempt a few, yours truly included, to tackle the fit issues and (try to) build a very imposing model!

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    Erik Gjørup said 4 years, 2 months ago:

    Ahhh - you deliberately did it to make the challenge greater - that is dedication 🙂
    Anyway, of course you are right my friend. It must be a challenge to make the shapes go together well on a computer and then transfer it to the real world AND make it easy for the builder.
    Anyway, keep the glue flowing!

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    George R Blair Jr said 4 years, 2 months ago:

    Looking good, Spiros (@fiveten). I suspect that portion of the fuselage where the wing would fold into is larger because it would need to be big enough to accept the thicker part of the wing if it were to fold back into the high speed position. I am sure that this is just something made necessary by the molding process, but it will be tough to fix. You are making a lot of headway and it is looking great.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 4 years, 2 months ago:

    Thanks my friends Erik @airbum and George @gblair!

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 4 years, 2 months ago:

    Update!
    Had QC/2 evaluation: found all this sanding work "interesting"...(Luckilly, only one minor test flight took place...)


    Here's how the Tornado looks after a significant coarse sanding:

    The vertical stabilizer is to be glued next.
    Just for comparison, I placed an already started 1/32 Su-27 by the Tornado:...

    The 1/32 Su-27 is awaiting a GB announcement, who knows when, to reveal its glory!

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 4 years, 2 months ago:

    Fin glued:


    There are some significant gaps along the spine and fin base, that have to be addressed (I hear liquefied styrene calling...)

    More and more Tornado looks!
    Cheers, Great GB!

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 4 years, 2 months ago:

    Gluing/filling/sanding oblivion!



    After adding sufficient weight, I glued the nose.
    Also attached the refueling probe.

    Liquefied styrene added to the spine/fin base.
    Of course, filling and sandind is on, hopefully to be finished soon.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 4 years, 2 months ago:

    After a complete coarse sanding, I gave the fin and spine base another coat of liquefied styrene, as those (now) microgaps persisted:


    I also glued the intricately shaped navilights, to be blended to the wing contour:

    They are going to be painted with clear paints. This is how the port one looks in reality:

    Cheers!

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    Greg Kittinger said 4 years, 2 months ago:

    Whew - man - I'm exhausted reading through all the gap filing, sanding, etc! This is wearing me out - can't imagine what you're going through - at 1/32! Coming along though... (and that's what counts!).