1/48 Revell Panavia Tornado IDS - Deutsche Tonka

Gallery Article by Michael Phillips on Apr 18 2018

 

      

Here is my 23rd completed model, the 1/48 Revell Panavia Tornado IDS in Luftwaffe JaboG 31 markings from Afghanistan deployment at Mazer-e-Sharif in 2009. Let me just start by saying this is not an easy kit to build, particularly the wings and intakes. This ranks up there with the Hasegawa Tomcat as the most challenging builds I have encountered to far. I would probably go as far to say it is MORE difficult to build than the Hasegawa Tomcat. In addition to the tricky wings and intakes, the instructions are really not good at all. Even worse, however, is the nonsensical parts numbering and part placement among the sprues. The parts are just spread all over, with a sprue containing parts that number in the 20s maybe and others in the 40s 50s 60s 70s up to the 100s. The sprues are all lettered, but the instructions never call out a letter, only the number. So much time is wasted hunting down parts by the number and appearance only. And since the numbers have no organization on the sprues, you literally hunt by appearance then check to see if it is the right number. Maddening!

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But with all of that said, it really does build into a nice model. The detail is really quite good, despite the fact they added an extra panel line at the nose before the nosecone or something. It's just not quite right there. I am very happy with how this turned out despite some flaws and alignment issues that have only become apparent after looking at the pics. I used the Wingman Models Luftwaffe Tornados Part 1 sheet for this, and I must say they are quite awesome. No issues at all and they performed flawless. There was a little bit of an issue with the stencil diagram with incorrect numbering, but nothing that was not able to be figured out with some thought and deduction. I recommend this to anyone looking to do a German Tornado!

I did manage a self inflicted error on this one (as usual). The IDS Tornado never carried HARM missiles as I depicted in my model, only the ECR variant did. But I am ok with this error, and haven't attempted to fix it.

Kit: 1/48 Revell of Germany Tornado IDS
Decals: Wingman Models WMD48006 Luftwaffe Tornados Part 1
Aftermarket: Pavla Ejection Seats, Hasegawa Weapons Sets C (AGM-88s), Master Model Pitot
Paints: Gunze Mr. Surfacer Black 1500 (primer base), Tamiya Liquid White Primer (for marble coat), Gunze Aqueous FS 35237 Grayish Blue, FS 36375 Light Ghost Gray, FS 36320 Dark Ghost Gray, and FS 36173 Neutral Gray, Tamiya XF-24 Dark Gray, Rubber Black, Clear Red, Clear Green, and Smoke, and Alclad II Gloss Black Primer, Airframe Aluminum, Pale Burnt Metal, and Burnt Iron. Future Gloss coat for decals and Future+Tamiya XF-21 Flat Base 6:1 ratio for final matte coat. Mig Ammo Deep Gray panel wash.

Michael Phillips

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Photos and text © by Michael Phillips