discussion Italari 1/32 Panavia Tornado GR1

[BarryW]

Well, one Italari down and another on the bench. A very different animal this though, a modern tooling and my first Italari 1/32 scale kit. Incidentally, I also have the IDS version of this kit to do as well.

This is another kit that's been gifted to me, just after I got out of hospital. A business networking group, BNI Canterbury, of which I was a founder member, leaving only 24 years later when I retired, presented this to me. One aside, if anyone here is in business, look for a local BNI breakfast group and join, it could be the best business decision you could make.

One further point, I have given up posting using my phone, this new software is just not phone-friendly enough. I am hoping that I will be better able to post and position photos in a sensible way with associated text, something that was a real struggle on the phone. Anyway, on with the post.

My modelling room has been cleaned up ready:


The boxtop


The sprues are removed and labelled with post-its held in place with cellotape. They sit in alphabetical order on the rack for quick identification.

A lot of reviews refer to the panel lines as being too big. I have to say that I have seen a lot worse as well as better. They are not really that bad and under a coat or two of paint and varnish will look fine. They should take a wash well.



I have these aftermarket decals and plan to use the Desert Pink scheme though I could change my mind.

I am looking forward to this. Its not my first 1/32 Tornado, I did a Revell GR1 some years back which was a old 1990's tooling. This modern Italari kits looks so much better with very crisp details.

 

[Steven000]

Interesting project Barry, and always nice to see a clean workbench, have fun

 

[Jim R]

Back to your favourite scale Barry. Great choice of subject. Looks like your modelling room is all set alhough I reckon you'll have to empty that waste bin

 

[BarryW]

Back to your favourite scale Barry. Great choice of subject. Looks like your modelling room is all set alhough I reckon you'll have to empty that waste bin

It’s emptied!!!!
one of very few things I cannot do is take the rubbish out as the bin is in the side of the building where there is no ramp. As a result my lady, Alice, does that when she arrives for the weekend and again Sunday night so I have empty bins at the start of the week ….

I do like a tidy space.

 

[HAWKERHUNTER]

I will be following along Barry. Love these bigger kits.

 

[boatman]

HI Barry
great to see you back buildin 1/32 kits just like i like as when i can get to hannants at the end of the month im goin to pick up one an a ship kit if poss an jen an i hope you are feelin better now sir
chrisb an jen ps how many parts are there in this kit ? as there dont look many spruses

 

[BarryW]

Just done the seats, they have a lot of parts and the instructions are vague. Thar said they fit well with just one part needing some adjustment to get it into place.

There is a fair bit of p.e. with this kit including seatbelts. I don't like etch seatbelts so i have ordered some 3D Decals instead, More about those later.


Above, one of the nicely detailed seats.


You can see above the etch seatbelts, they don't look at all good and wont sit naturally.

 

[Ian M]

Great to see you get into things again Barry. And a most welcome topic. Tonka toys, at their best.

 

[Richard48]

Chair pulled up Barry.Be keeping an eyes on this

 

[scottie3158]

Barry, I will follow along.

 

[BarryW]

i am still awaiting the seat belts but also a 3D printed detailing set. I have therefore been building up sub assemblies. This is how far I have got,
cockpit parts. I want to see the 3D parts before sanding off detail from some of these.

Here are the nose wheel well parts awaiting paint.

Fuselage nose halves, I have added a couple of panels and a transparency which is masked

This model needs 60 grams of nose weight for which I have used liquid gravity. I will not be fitting the nicely detailed radar and will have the nose cemented into place. Most of the weight is in the nose with a little in a hollow in the bulkhead.

The panel that fits under the nose. I have added a couple of parts and drilled some holes. A transparency has been masked with liquid mask.

 

[BarryW]

I have a few more pictures for you.

A close up of the nose wheel well, some very nice detail here.


I have cemented into place the trunking.

A close up of a main wheel well,

The side panels fit beautifully, and along panel lines so no filling and sanding.


This is an excellent kit. It is certainly not a Tamiya kit but Italari I certainly rate way higher than Revell, for instance. The engineering is complex but it works. Instructions could be better but by taking your time you can feel your way through it.

 

[Jim R]

As always, Barry, your work is very neat and well organised. The detail certainly looks nice and sharp. I hope the aftermarket stuff comes soon.

 

[HAWKERHUNTER]

Excellent progress Barry, its coming along nicely.

 

[Richard48]

Looking great Barry.I saw a guy on youtube building this with lots of impressive 3D printed undercarriage gizmology.I used to have the old Revell one in the past but seem to recall selling it on to Jason who ran LSA models.A friend of mine used to be air traffic control at Lossiemouth and i had a visit to base once.
Watching with interest.
Richard

 

[BarryW]

This morning I built up the engines but as they will be hidden I didn't build up all the detail. It was a little fiddly to install them but it all worked out well no fit issues at all. You can see how it looks now, below, and given how complex the engineering and a lot of parts being involved everything came together really well. No filler at all needed. There are still a lot of parts to add in due course to this area. Its worth noting that there are options for how the exhausts are displayed.


Then, just after finishing that something dropped through the letter box - Kits World 3 decals.
instrument panels

Seat belts

Nice to see that they provide some spares. That said there are no instructions at all, you have to somehow work out how they go. I will work it out but its very unlikely it will be as they envisaged as a lot of guess work will be involved, The seatbelts will be the most difficult to install. Below I have worked out where I think the various cockpit panels will fit.

I think the above is right but the details on the kit don't look much like the 'patterns' on the 3D decals.

These below I have no idea at all where they go. I might spot something later but right no, no idea,.


I have to say that my previous experience with the KW 3D decals has been negative and I found them rather inferior to the other brands like Quinta, Red Fox and Eduard, not just for the lack of instructions, but also the poor registry. At least they seem to have sorted out the registry.

 

[Jim R]

The decals look nice but without instructions they are going to be a bit hit and miss. Definitely a black mark for Kits World decals.

 

[scottie3158]

Coming together nicely the Quinta ones are the best I have always been happy with the few I have used.

 

[BarryW]

Today I got on with the wings which provide the full range of flaps and slat positions. As I want to take advantage of the swing wings given that it has a very good mechanism I am having the slats and flaps closed.

Below the parts for one wing, a lot more parts would be needed if the slats and flaps were to be open.

The swing mechanism is quite well designed. You need to be very careful to use the right parts the right way around, the instructions are of limited help so great care is needed.



A hot screwdriver tip is needed to fix the mechanism, Below you can see the stores connection points which will 'swing' as the wing position changes.

All the slats and flaps slot into position perfectly. No filler whatsoever needed. Tamiya quality fit and engineering with these wings.


I will be lightly going over both wings with a 2500 grit sanding sponge.

Below I have prepared the cockpit parts ready for painting. I will black prime first. The prep included sanding off detail where the 3D decals will eventually be added.

 

[Jim R]

That wing mechanism is a clever piece of kit.