Under Construction: Revell Tornado GR1

[Guest]

Thanks for the support guys. Last nights work can be summarised by "glued stuff back together". Needed to get the big boy glue out as it wasn't purchasing now the primer is down, but got there in the end. All ready for spraying, by far and away the best part of modelling! I can't find a Vallejo paint that matches the number required by Airfix (off the top of my head, Humbrol 163 off the top of my head), but this is supposed to be a practice run for the awesome looking Revell one so found a grey that's light enough to look about right, that'll be job number 1 when I get home this evening.

Is it ok to admit, I'm actually a little excited. Which is odd as I've done nothing to make this Airfix Flash Fest look any good!!

[Ian M]

Rather than practising on either model just find a plastic bottle and practice in that.

Try adjusting the air down a bit at a time until you get to a controllable pressure.

Ian M

[Guest]

Rather than practising on either model just find a plastic bottle and practice in that.

This be a fair point Ian, but I'm learning a lot on the Airfix kit on what to do with the Revell version. For instance, I will not be attaching the ordnance until after everything is painted and decaled as getting the airbrush into the gaps between the fuselage, wing and external fuel tanks was a proper PIA. Next thing I learnt was that whilst I thought you could leave paint in the airbrush and the paint cup and leave your plane to dry for only 20 minutes, when you can safely turn the plane over to paint the other side, your airbrush will not be a happy bunny and this will happen:

I tried cleaning a few times, but the paint would not come out without being patchy and spluttery. In the end I had to take the airbrush completely apart, the paint had gone all the way up the wrong way of the needle and one of the parts has signs of rust on the inside. I've only had the brush a couple of weeks, but I guess that's what you get with a cheap Chinese knock off. Anywho, a quick visit to YouTube to learn how on earth to clean an airbrush, and voila:

I'm starting to wish I'd spent a bit of time filling and sanding those unsightly joins on the fuselage and the external fuel tanks now as this hasn't turned out that badly considering how little time I've actually spend on it. The masking of the canopy went better than I was expecting, wishing I'd spend a bit of time on the cockpit now too as you can see much more in there than I was expecting.

However, everything I've read about this kit is true, it's god awful. This seems to be a theme with Airfix Starter Kits... Anyway, just needs the decals applying, the undercarriage and a final coat of Matt then the purpose of this kit is done, I now know how I'm going to approach the Revell kit and how I'm going to use the airbrush and hope to do it justice.

All in all, worth the tenner for the learning experience alone!

[Guest]

Still looks ok to me, I built this Airfix one years ago and remember it being a pig.

[Guest]

OK, so I didn't realise that the undercarriage was so flash happy that one square unrecognisable lump was in fact a wheel... So as not to attract too much attention to this, I cleaned as much as I could, stuck with the black undercoat and dry brushed a metallic colour, I think it does a much better job at highlighting that there's metal there, if it was too shiny, it'd be obvious

And that's the last bit. I've learnt enough from this kit, so calling it done even though I haven't actually painted the exhausts or the nose, but these are separate bits on the Revell one, so will be able to tackle these better on that kit. I also made a wash with a slightly darker grey and a LLOOTT of water and went to town, I think the effect is good, however more practice required. Not bad for a first attempt at weathering methinks. Here's the finished Airfix:

So, what have I learnt with this kit?

1. Because this is a 1 body construction, it's not very good as the fit is poor. The Revell one has separate body, nose and exhaust construction so I shouldn't have the fit issues with that I had here.

2. New Putty is pretty good.

3. Making a wash really isn't that difficult and I wish I hadn't spent £5 on a pre-made one!

4. I *really* wish I had spent a bit more time on making the fit good and filling/sanding as actually the result isn't so bad

5. I should have washed the tail fin as well because the yellow decal is now far too bright in comparison

6. Vallejo Model Air smells amazing! I am concerned there is a drug in there that makes you want to airbrush

Back to the Revell kit. (Possibly via a new tool Hawker Hurricane I picket up for a couple of quid!)

One last question before I get back to the actual title of the thread, I have an Airfix GR4 617 squadron limited edition kit, which sadly also has an all-in one construction. I am supposed to paint the nose and the body in different colours, how does one do that with a perfect circular line? The Tamiya tape I have is good, but I'm only human and can't get a circle out of it. I was tempted to draw a circle on a piece of extra thick masking tape and put that over the nose to allow me to paint the end, but not sure that would work.

So, if you had the kit in the picture above, and had to paint a perfect lighter grey with a perfect line, how would you do it?

Alternatively, is there a Revell 1:72 Tornado GR4 that has the same ordnance as the two 617 sq. GR4's painted in the 70th anniversary paint job that I could then just use the Airfix Decals on, that might just do the job instead!!

[Guest]

Are pics broken?

[Guest]

They're on my public onedrive, if you're at a place with a proxy that blocks onedrive access, no pictures I'm afraid. Not that there's much to look at, it's just a crappy Airfix Tornado at the moment!