Saudi Tornado ECR. Desert Storm (aka Al's Tonka Toy!!!)

I got a bee in my bonnet to build another plane. Specifically a jet fighter. Well, the Tornado is my favourite and so a Tornado it had to be:



The bee was so strong, I didn't do a WIP.   

Not a bad kit (1:72) but it did have some fit issues with the air intakes plus they are way out of shape. Some problems also with the lower and upper fuselage fit on the nose. This entailed filling and sanding, a recipe for obliterating the already fine panel detail!!b Oh well!!.

The build went OK but I had some issues of my own making with the paint. The nearest paint I could find to the correct shade was Humbrol enamel Pale Stone. Now I rarely use enamels and I'd forgotten the rules of application. Results was some crazing!!!    

I didn't attempt any weathering as I'm leaving that until later in the year when I do a 1:48 version.

Anyway, I managed to sand most of it out and while it's not brilliant by any means, it is what it is and I'll live with it.

Looks good to me Al.  You must have done a good job on the crazing.  Don't know about these trips to the dark side though. 

Looks nice and clean to me , Al. After doing a couple in this scale, I have a much better appreciation for them.

Did you coat the canopy - looks very good.

you didnt waste any time doing that one!

quick question cos i cant read it......whats the tail code/seriel number? looks like ZD451

Thanks John and Mike.



Oh Oh!! Now your'e going to look it up and tell me it's all wrong!!!     

Yup!.... ZD451

I did read somewhere that this particular aircraft crashed.

 

Skid wrote:Thanks John and Mike.



Oh Oh!! Now your'e going to look it up and tell me it's all wrong!!!     

Yup!.... ZD451

I did read somewhere that this particular aircraft crashed.

i can already say that before i go and look it up!!

lightning strike in germany as i remember

interesting...........just looked it up........seems to be a bit of confusion....cant find a ZD451 on the 'list' but it does get mentioned here and there...............as does ZA451 with the same story

As paul states there's a little confusion regarding the aircraft, it doesn't have an actual "entry" but on the ejection listings there are additional notes that state

With regard to Tornado ZD451 (lightning strike) I remember reading the official accident report on this particular crash and I believe the crew were severely reprimanded for ejecting from a serviceable aircraft. Apparently they could have saved the aircraft by jettisoning the drop tank
which was all that was on fire.

and...

Crash of ZD451 I was a lightning strike expert at RAE Farnborough in 1984 and was sent to investigate the crash as well as the state of the other 2 aircraft. All three aircraft showed the classic signs of lightning strike - melting at the attachment points. The pitot probe of ZD451 was found by a member of the RAF Regiment, this showed signs of lightning strike despite being bent into the shape of a paperclip! Near the impact site the circuit boards from the pylon decoder units were found and subsequently shown to be still functional.
Dr. John Bishop
in email 23rd May 2014

another question..............what paint did the instructions say to use?

ive got a Tonka from this era to do but cant get hold of the paint it says and cant work out a comparable obe from the likes of revell or vallejo

The instructions say to use Model Master 1706.... Sand enamel. Never have found a UK supplier so I used this website to get the next nearest colour:....

http://scalemodeldb.com/paintcharts/modelmaster

.... which is Humbrol 121 Pale Stone. (8% off the Model master Sand)

Looks fine and I wouldn't have thought it is 1/72 if not studying the box foto. Really bad when fit issues intrude on these smaller kits. Panel lines and surface detail are sacrificed. From here looks good to me and a nice fill for any 1/72 collection shelf! Of course I'm no plane expert. Thanx as always!

Thanks Harron.

Damn and blast!! Just noticed the right side tail 'AJ' decal is out of kilter.

No weathering Bruce. See first post.