And here they are.
The matt clear is done, the jet nozzles fitted, a HUD fabricated and fitted, wiring added from the rear seat MFDs, the details painting done, and the airframe dirtied up a bit.
PICS 1 and 2. Wiring made from lead wire and copper wire, which will be hidden behind the pilot's ejection seat.
PIC 3. There were no parts for the HUD included in the kit, other than the switch panel, which was part of the main panel. So the optics were cobbled together from bits of scrap and items from the spares box, with the 'G' meter and angle of attack indicator added from scraps of plastic card.
PIC 4. The jet nozzles have been fitted and painted, and the reverse thrust buckets painted and dirtied.
PICS 5 to 7. Matt clear oat on, and all detail painting complete, and the fin and tail area dirtied, a characteristic of the Tornado, where exhaust gases from the reverse thrust buckets left sooty deposits over the fin and rear fuselage, more noticeable on the F3 compared to the GR4, due to the colour scheme. Although normally clean and neat, in the months before being retired, the F3 fleet was starting to look a bit scruffy.
PICS 8 and 9. The kit parts for the nose wheel leg and main gear legs (one shown here) are somewhat fragile looking and basic, but are reasonable representations of the real thing. With a little bit of work, the addition of brake lines, and some careful painting, I'm hoping they'll do the job. The 'solid' moulded lamp on the nose leg will be hollowed out and glazed, as will the 'blobs' on the main gear doors which are supposed to be landing lamps. I might also add a bit of wiring and detail in the main gear bays, although not much of these areas can be seen, and the nose and main gear doors will also be detailed internally, which is the next job.
Thanks again for your kind comments and continuing interest, and I'll post more progress pics soon.