Tornado Black Panther.

[Ian M]

Right I'm done with this one. (untill someone points out I missed a bit).

A bit about the aircraft.

On September 9th, 2006, the Italian Air Force 50° Stormo "G. Graffer" celebrated 70 years of its constitution and the 65 year anniversary of the 155° Gruppo E.T.S. (Electronic Warfare Tactical Suppression) "Pantere Nere" (Black Panthers).

For this year's occasion the Tornado IDS/HARM MM7027 50-51 was present wearing a special colour scheme. It is painted all metal with the gladio (roman sword) on its tail, the symbol of 50°Stormo, and the black panther claw, the symbol of 155° Gruppo. The Gruppo carries out SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defence) missions with 15 Tornado IT-ECR (Italian Electronic Combat Reconnaissance variant of the Tornado), obtained via the conversion of as many IDS aircraft with the implementation of the AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missile.



This was the third meeting; the first took place in 1967 when the Italian Ministry of Defence reconstituted the 50° Stormo Caccia Bombardieri (Fighter Bomber Wing) at the San Damiano military airport in Piacenza with its dependence the 155°Gruppo. The second meeting took place in 1992. In the 2002 meeting the Black Panthers celebrated its 60 year anniversary with the wing's first specially painted Tornado (IDS/HARM MM7017 50-53), pictured on the left here.

And this is my version of it:

Thanks for looking.

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[yak face]

Great job ian, this italeri tornado looks a nice kit, might have to get one! well done mate , cheers tony

[Guest]

That is one scary looking beast Ian. You have done a top job on it, a masterclass in decaling me thinks lol. I find it hard to get interested in modern jets, probably why my Eurofighter as not moved on much but schemes like this make them more interesting. Nice one.

[Ian M]

As I said this is my first planr with out a pro. So all new to me too! I wont say that I'm a jet convert but there are a few I could find my self doing.

Any one got a 1/48 English Electric Lightning they dont want?

Ian M

[Guest]

Ian, well done excellent model, must be a real eye catcher. Sorry to see your not a jet convert yet, I'll have to work on you harder. Cheers

[Guest]

Black Panther Tornado Gruppo 155

"In the 2002 meeting the Black Panthers celebrated its 60 year anniversary with the wing's first specially painted Tornado." Attached is another shot of that 2002 Tornado. I am building it in 1/48 using Zotz decals. Be warned, except for roundel locations, there is no info on the underside of this aircraft and Eli Raphael sent me a one line reply, "I have no photographs." when I asked for more info via email. DOES ANYONE HAVE AN UNDERSIDE PHOTO OF THIS AIRCRAFT TO SHARE? Thanks

[Ian M]

What is it you need to know? If its regarding decals on the under side, I can make it quite short. Roundel under wing. A white text on the nose wheel door. Thats it.

IAn M

[Guest]

Ian, I know from some pics that the underside of the aircraft is light grey. The limits of the grey are what is in question. The intersection of the two blues and the "pink" with the grey are not shown.

At the base of the Lt. Blue area below the cockpit, note that the blue ends and becomes grey!

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Thanks just the same,

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[Guest]

Ian a beautiful job on the tornado the decals added to the paint scheme make it for me, like you iam not into jet aircraft but this is very well done indeed.

scott

[Guest]

Thats one great build ! the decals are look as if there painted on.