Revell 1/48 Tornado IDS

I picked up the kit while on vacation last month at Eugen Toy and Hobby in Eugen OR. You can find a review of the kit here Revell 1/48 IDS 03987 and I like the kit from the view of the moldings and complexity level.

Fist off, If your not used to dealing with Revell colors, I had to do some searching to find a compatible color chart. Also the kit color call outs are suspect at times, (which kit is not). Not having anything to do with European aircraft save for one Vulcan that came into Andersen AFB, Guam for an airshow, I'm at a loss on much of the technicals of the aircraft. The kit has been released in several iterations over the years and this one was released in 2016 is the IDS in the 50th Jahre (anniversary) JaBoG 33. I have a Gr.4 and a F.3 on order.

I started with the seats as prescribed by the instructions. I was (am) concerned with the seats. They seem to not be quite correctly designed. From the pictures I can find of the MB Mk.10 the head rest is set upon a "stilt" that either should be covered by other padding or should not be there. Aires does have an aftermarket set but I haven't decided on the buy in yet or not. The Instrument side panels are molded in but the they supply decals for the side panels as well. These decals do not in anyway match the molded side Instrument panels at all. I'll have to remove them and rework with panel liner.

Good work so far!

Ok so update to this build.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

So don't get me wrong, I do think the kit has promise BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't understand who, how, or why they went through the design phase and no one said HEY THIS IS JUST PLANE F*&$ING DUMB!

the forward fuselage (cockpit area) is a three part fuselage, (RT and LFT and bottom) the aft section is a four part fuselage???????????????????? (Bottom, RT Lft and top) What could EVER go wrong with this, like its simple as pie, RIGHT!

As you shall see, either I've screwed the pouch, or there is something wrong with the whole set up. I made very sure I test fit and re test fit but as things wend on the night mare won't stop it just keeps getting darker at every step. Lucky for me I have the F.3 (x2) and the Gr.4 versions on had to re try and see where I must have screwed up. I was hoping for such a nice build.

OK so the kit provides decals for the side console!

But they don't even match the side console!

But I did try them anyway!

And then got rid of them and used Tamiya dark grey wash to highlight the panels.

And did the same to the front and aft IP's.

AND then!!!!!

I painted the engine intake fans a steel and the went over the top with dialuminium.

After attaching the bottom the next was to build up the intake tunnels. the outside of each side was not bad, but the inside section left some to be desired. I used some goop I have in an old extra thin bottle and wne dried I sanded it down. This is before!


Next the two aft sides were attached to the lower fuselage. the internal structure has alignment slots for the side and bottom. I believe this is where everything started going south. And I don't mean Dixie!!!!!! Oh I wish I was in the land of cotton.....

You can see the fuss in the test fits,

I did use the supplied decals for the IP's, that was nice.

Same had to be done in the aft intake tunnels.

And the beat goes on, and the beat goes on, ladedade, ladedadedi!

So things are a bit out of order but.... Here you can see the gap left at the front to back fuselage mate.

I love asparagus. I steal the rubber bands. When I mated the fore and aft fuselage for real I had to hold it in place with one!

One of the problems with the kit design is the lack of support of the lower section until the front the aft sides sections are glued. You can see the stress line.

I used goop and then Tamiya white putty to fill the gap.

Oh lookie here is the top of the aft fuselage. This is where the getting got really UGLY!!!!!!

Actually the top section wasn't all that bad. but it has two attachments that fit in the rails. the front is the top of the intakes and the hood for the aft cockpit , this part does NOT fit. gotta be a way, just gotta be a way!!!! Probably me!!!!!!


After some cussing and filing and fussing!

Nicely done so far!