Tornado IDS; Italeri, 1/48. Black panther.

[Ian M]

Right you asked for it so no-one to blame other than yourselves!

First off the box, prues and decals. And when they say large decal sheet they were not mucking about. Theres a pack of ciggies in the frame for size, for those that remember what a pack of smokes look like!!!

The sprues are large, well moulded with only the smallest of flash on a few bits.

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And this is what I have done thus far [ATTACH]15938.vB[/ATTACH]

Although the canopy on this bird is like Ally Pally (so even I should be able to mask this one), I'm not going to town in the cock-pit.

This is going to be strictly OOB.

Ian M

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[yak face]

hi ian , this is in a totally different league to the airfix offering! it looks great and its going to look wicked with those panther decals on! cheers tony

[Guest]

Can you airbrush Microsol!!! That is a huge decal set for the Panther, going to be a stunner.

[Ian M]

Graham. if its liquid it can spray!

Those panther markings are quite a selling point arn't they!!!

Right, First question. The paint calls for model masters 1401 Aluminiun metalizer!!! All the aircraft I have done up to now have been green/grey. Bare metal? Would this be shiny or flat? Should I just go for a painted colour or should it indeed look like bare metal.

What with the Panther markings I could be lead into beliving that the alu would be bright. Not knowing and never having used Model Masters I have no idea what the finnish is like.

I do have Humbrol Alu metal coat in both flat and polished finnish. So Should I spray it and leave it or spray it and buff it???

Ian M

[Centurion3RTR]

And i thought my Me 109 had big decals, this takes the biscuit. Very nice looking kit Ian, can't wait to see how you get on with the build matey.

Have fun, John

[Guest]

Tricky one with the silver BMF colouring. Doing the Bike, I have learned so much about getting metallic finishes. The main thing I have learned is that you cannot easily get it to look like metal. I am not sure what the aircraft in question really should look like but there is a good tip posted here All I can advise you is to try it out on something else to get the effect that you want before committing it to the kit. Get the cheapest model you can get and us it as a test bed.

[Guest]

Graham. if its liquid it can spray!Those panther markings are quite a selling point arn't they!!!

Right, First question. The paint calls for model masters 1401 Aluminiun metalizer!!! All the aircraft I have done up to now have been green/grey. Bare metal? Would this be shiny or flat? Should I just go for a painted colour or should it indeed look like bare metal.

What with the Panther markings I could be lead into beliving that the alu would be bright. Not knowing and never having used Model Masters I have no idea what the finnish is like.

I do have Humbrol Alu metal coat in both flat and polished finnish. So Should I spray it and leave it or spray it and buff it???

Ian M

Ian, Have a look at the link below. Looking forward to watching this one. Cheers Derek

Eastern Suburbs Scale Modelling Club

Tamiya AS12 Rattle Can looks good a well, see below.

P-51D Mustang "Sebastian Jr." by Brett Green (Tamiya 1/48)

[Ian M]

thanks Derek I'll have a look at that one. However, I think the problem has solved it's self...

According to the web-site MILAVIA Military Aviation Specials - 50° Stormo Anniversary Black Panther Tornado the aircraft was painted silver. The photos on the site would seem to confirm this. Nice bright shinny silver (and every thing else for that matter!!! So my task has just gotten a lot easier :-)

Now I have not posted many pictures have I!

Well the thing is the kit is going together rather well, and quickly too. I would like to point out, for others contemplating doing this kit, a few watch out for's...

The symetry for the wings and the mounting of the pylons under the wings calls for a warm screwdriver to melt the ends of the stubs flat. Also the the tail planes are attached this way. Be wary wery carefuwl with this.

The lugs on the weapon pylons is silly short. I cut mine off drilled a hole and fitted thicker longer pins. I cant understand why the tail plains are fixed this way, and the joining beam can simply be glued in place.

The intake at the top front of the tail fin. be vary sparing with the glue. it's soooo thin that when you take the clamp off after having drank a cup of tea, the rear end of the intake melts into a guey mess. :-/ yep I did. Thank goodness for squadron putty.

Generally the fit of things is very good, just the main intakes for the jets where a bit of a pig to get to behave. One of the edges is very thin and there is not a lot of room for shaveing fileing or sanding so it needs to be as good a join as you can get!

The in flight refueling probe: There are no locators, lugs hole or any other form of helper fot the two parts that make this up. The profile and top veiw dont help either due to its absence in the painting diagrams!!!(the probe not the diagram).

Fortunatly a few good photos on the net helped get it in the right place.

Some of the more observant amoung you will no doubt notice that one of the contractors for this aircraft was indeed VW: they did the undercarridge.

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So just a few twiddly bits then its prime time!!

Ian M

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[Guest]

Hi Ian, coming along nicely. The Intakes are always a problem with Jets - always one of the hardest areas. When I did my F-15C the underside of the fuselage in front of the engines was very thin also, and these areas is where 'Plastic Weld' or equiv. comes in very handy. Look forward to seeing more. Cheers Derek

[Ian M]

Well I'm up to my teeth in white squadron. There are some filets that go on the front ot the wings sheath at the fusalage. They just but together and were rather fiddly to get in the right place. So now its a case of waiting for the filler to cure so it can be rubbed down.

I'm off for a while to play with silver paint to see which I like the best.

Ian M

[Ian M]

Can you say paint your self into a corner?

My first venture into the world of jet fighters, is proving to be rather a challenge!

After several tests with various silver paints, the one I like the best was in fact Vallejo!

A word of warning. Very good as a silver paint not to great at looking like metal, so no good for that!!! BUT as a paint finnish its rather nice. A bit metal flake like. However it does have to be pretty thin to spay well. This has resulted in almost every thing in the study, having a pretty glimmer effect. Including my lap top, Mobil phone, my Carina's pc screen, and worst of all my Corvette Bluebell. Fortunatly its dried before its landed on evey thing, so a soft brush takes care of that!

Over spray is a whole new kettle of fish! Add to that that it looks best when put on as a wet coat over several dust coats. You can imagin the over spray I have had on the 'plane!

Being Black and silver does not help one bit! I thing I have now sprayed the silver five times and the black three!!! :-(

Now I have the pylons painted silver, the underside of the 'plane is black....Bum!

Talking of pylons, If any one does this kit. choose if you want the wings open or back then attach the pylons to the weapons and glue them in place after they and the wings are painted! It will save a lot of hassle. I think I have knocked the outer most pylons off three or four times now.

Hey ho! live and learn!

Ian M

[Guest]

Oh the fun of modelling eh Ian?

[Ian M]

looking better now.

Right, I just painted the under sides. Only knocked one pylon off this time. Oh and the Tail planes sort of fell of when I was removing the masking tape! ( this explains the tape holding them in place while the glue dries!!

Would just like to add that clear plastic is a pain in the perverbial to paint with silver)!

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So not to far from a few coats of clear gloss then the fun of putting those rather large decals on! Then a few bits and bobs to go on after that!

Ian M

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[Ian M]

Pussycat pussycat...

Well we have six channels showing the world cup in football. (what the hell happend yesterday). Another five or six showing the Royal wedding in Stockholm.

Here the weather is totally stay indoors weather.

So only one thing left to do. OK two things but I'll stick to models at the moment.

Those rather large decals. Must say they went on like a dream and not the nighmare I was expecting. The face was a bit of a worry as the shape of the fuselage sort of has a taper along the spine, and that has given a few wrinckles but hopefully a good splattering of Micro sol should sort them out.

Here are a few piccies. Please note that they are not dry yet and will need a bit more sol to get them to sit right in to the pannels.

Time for a cup of tea I think.

Ian M

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[Guest]

Ian, should look spectacular on your shelf when finished, looks a really neat job you are doing. Looking forward to seeing the finished aircraft. Have just treated myself to the newly released Hobby Boss Tornado ADV today. Cheers Derek