Variable Geometry: the Swing Wing GB

iv got these kits

1/32 tomcat 70%

1/48 tomcat 50%

1/48 tomcat unstarted

1/72 ef111 (dunno if this is elligable its gonna be pink and purple lol) unstarted

1/72 tornado adv unstarted

1/72 tornado ids unstarted

1/48 tornado ids unstarted

i intend to do all of them time allowing

heres where the 1/48 tomcat is atm

some size comparisons with the 1/48 tsr 2

imho theyr both fantastic looking airplanes :)

Whoa!  I'm going to have to pay greater attention to keep up with these builds.  I've already looked at the photos of the 1/48 F-14 and wondered where the anti-glare painting went before I realized that it wasn't your 1/32 plane, but a second F-14 that you had started.  And it seems like you have a good stock of swingwings to keep you busy. 

A pink and purple F-111?  Why wouldn't it be eligible?  It's got variable geometry.  Last color scheme like that I saw was a F4U Corsair I think, that someone in the Aircraft forum did for his daughter.  similar situation here?

Anyway, just let me know as each build finishes so I can keep current transferring completed pics to the front page.

Finally, tell me a littlel about the Tsr.  Not too familiar with that aircraft.

Don

pordoi

Whoa!  I'm going to have to pay greater attention to keep up with these builds.  I've already looked at the photos of the 1/48 F-14 and wondered where the anti-glare painting went before I realized that it wasn't your 1/32 plane, but a second F-14 that you had started.  And it seems like you have a good stock of swingwings to keep you busy. 

A pink and purple F-111?  Why wouldn't it be eligible?  It's got variable geometry.  Last color scheme like that I saw was a F4U Corsair I think, that someone in the Aircraft forum did for his daughter.  similar situation here?

Anyway, just let me know as each build finishes so I can keep current transferring completed pics to the front page.

Finally, tell me a littlel about the Tsr.  Not too familiar with that aircraft.

 

Don

 

the f111 is indeed for my 6 year old daughter shes really lookin forward to it lol

the tsr 2 was the best strike aircraft that never existed it was more capable than the tornado and it was 20 years earlier i wont go into to much detail but suffice to say the government butchered what was all set to be a world beater. the fiasco also buried the british aero industry

Some nice looking build there. I really must get myself an F-14. I have been looking at a few 1/72nd but not sure which one to go for.  That TSR 2 in Jap markings looks nice.

pordoi I am not much into cold war aircraft, but i reckon any Brit who is into military aircrfat knows somthing about the TSR 2 and the sorry story behind it. Here is the link to the wiki page on it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAC_TSR-2

Bish

pordoi I am not much into cold war aircraft, but i reckon any Brit who is into military aircraft knows somthing about the TSR 2 and the sorry story behind it.

Interesting, somewhat similar history to the B1.  Designed for high speed low altitude penetration into enemy airspace to deliver nuclear payloads; cost and politics cancelled the program.  But the B1 was re-instated and modified to new mission objectives.

Don

pordoi

 But the B1 was re-instated and modified to new mission objectives.

 

Don

 

Thank you Ronald Reagan!!!!

macattack80

pordoi:

 But the B1 was reinstated and modified to new mission objectives. 

 

 

Thank you Ronald Reagan!!!!

Careful now Kevin, we don't want to get political and have FSM delete the thread. 

    As a quick update on my Bone with words only, I've been assembling the engine nascelles (pics later).  They have the usual fit and finish issues that Kevin has already documented earlier, but overall things are going smoothly.  Following Kevin's lead, I cut the radar vanes from plastic stock and glued them in the intakes, and then assembled the internal housings for the intakes.  They are setting overnight before final assembly into the external nascelles. 

   What I'm dreading is the next step; the Eduard PE exhausts.  The kit supplied exhausts are not correct for a current Bone (and indeed, there are some that say that currently, there is no accurate renditions of the modern Bone exhausts), so the Eduard is the best that's available.  But frankly, I suck at complex PE and the Bone exhausts are not for beginners.  In other words, this will be a challenge.  Wish me luck when I decide to dive in....

Don

Don, Good luck with those PE burner cans.  I am not good with complex PE either.  I and handle a simple fold or 2.  Those look pretty crazy.

On a note for the engine nacelles, I glued the internal housing to the locating pins on the inside of the nacelles, as per the instructions, and I had a pretty good gap when I attached the forward section of the nacelle.  It seems that the locating pins are set too far aft causing the gap.  Be sure to dry fit to be sure you can get it all to sit right.  If you experience the same problem, I may have a solution.  Glue the forward section to the internal housing first and forget the locating pins.  Then glue the rest of the nacelle together with everything else lined up.  Just an idea.

Eatthis, nice fleet of aircraft you have listed.  Looking forward to all your builds.

I plan on sanding the fuselage smooth tonight and tomorrow.  I hope I can get it smooth in due time.  I can't wait to paint this beast.

macattack80

On a note for the engine nacelles, I glued the internal housing to the locating pins on the inside of the nacelles, as per the instructions, and I had a pretty good gap when I attached the forward section of the nacelle.  It seems that the locating pins are set too far aft causing the gap.  Be sure to dry fit to be sure you can get it all to sit right.  If you experience the same problem, I may have a solution.  Glue the forward section to the internal housing first and forget the locating pins.  Then glue the rest of the nacelle together with everything else lined up.  Just an idea.

Thanks for the heads up.  I haven't glued the inner asssembly yet so I'll do some dry fitting and see if removing the locating pins will help reduce the gap.

Don

OK.  Did a dry fit using the locating pins and it doesn't look too bad.  Not that there won't be a seam that requires filling, but nothing that seems too serious.  Par for the course, Kevin, since it seems that wherever you've encountered the greatest difficulties, I've not had serious issues.  And I've had problems at steps that you didn't.  Go figure.

I did have some significant sinks in the intake cowlings which I filled last night and sanded today.  Not quite right so I added some Mr. Surfacer 500 and will try to smooth out again tomorrow evening.

Don

pordoi

OK.  Did a dry fit using the locating pins and it doesn't look too bad.  Not that there won't be a seam that requires filling, but nothing that seems too serious.  Par for the course, Kevin, since it seems that wherever you've encountered the greatest difficulties, I've not had serious issues.  And I've had problems at steps that you didn't.  Go figure.

I did have some significant sinks in the intake cowlings which I filled last night and sanded today.  Not quite right so I added some Mr. Surfacer 500 and will try to smooth out again tomorrow evening.

 

Don

 

Huh.....That does seem to be the case doesn't it?  Well....lets just say that I have the "mid-production' kit and you have the "late-production" kit.  That seems like a logical explaination doesn't it?

I spent a little over an hour sanding and reshaping the fuselage joins last night.  I used 100 grit sandpaper for most of the shaping then used 150, 220, 320, 400 and 600 to smooth it out.  I got most of it done.  I should be able to finish it up tonight.  

Keep up the great work everyone!!!

paint is nearly done

Alrighty, hope you don't mind lots o' pics. Here she is...

And just a few more...

Ok, here's a couple mistakes made. I reversed the stabilators from side to side. Panel lines and rivet detail are the same top and bottom but the detail around the pivot point is different top and bottom. Didn't realize what I'd done till after they were painted so, they stayed. The outer wing pylons are switched side to side also. Not much difference, but there is more detail around the mounting points on the side that should be out. Of course I messed up the wing and fuselage walk outline decals so they aren't present. There's other mistakes too but those are the biggest.

Also, I've read that these birds can't be parked with the wings swept back and tanks on the pylons without a prop/support. I don't know, I have some pics of a couple planes just like this one with wings swept and I don't see a support/prop.

And, from the right angle, you can see the intake fans.

Hope you like it, I enjoyed building it. I'll get to work on the next one shortly.

Tony

what a great looking tonka :)

Awesome Tornado Tony.  Personally i wouldn't have noticed the errors if you hadn't mentioned them. Nice work, look forward to the next one.

Wow!  I missed a flurry of activity in the last 2 days. 

Eatthis:  coming along nicely on thde dual Tomcat builds.  Remind me again; one of these birds is 1/32 and the other 1/48?  Will be great to see decals put on.  I've only done a dual build once; ended up just putting one aside, finishing the second, then returning to the other.  Kudos to you for carrying through 2 kits simultaneously.

Wingman:  very nice.  Worth the wait for the pics.  I'll choose one for the front page.  The finish is great and the camo is blended and weathered excellently.  A question for you.  Both you and Macattack (I think) painted the camo pattern on your aircraft with the wings retracted, which leaves an area at the wing root uncamoed (is that a word?  ) when the wings are extended.  Is this how camo patterns are applied to the 1:1 aircraft?  Wouldn't be surprised since I've seen pics on F-14s where the swing area looks to be a smear of grease or lubricant and I expect the same would be true of all swing wings, so camo might be unnecessary.  Just curious.

Edit:  Tough choice to select a photo since I want to show the entire aircraft but the closeups show the detail and weathering so nicely.  So I merged two of the photos for the front page.

Don

Eatthis, the Tomcats are looking great.  I especially like the gull gray over white camo scheme on the F-14's.  Keep up the good work. 

Wingman, Excellent work on the Tornado!    You did not dissappoint.  The paint job looks fantastic.  Looking forward to the rest of your Tornado builds.  It really is a good looking aircraft.  That huge vertical tail fin is a real focal point.

Don, I painted the entire wing on my B-1.  I found this photo and used it as my camo inspiration.  The whole wing, even the area which is in the fuselage when retrated appears to be painted on this one.  The paint looks more faded as if the wings were repainted while retracted and they didn't repaint those particular areas.  As for the word "uncamoed".......sounds good to me!!

http://www.cybermodeler.net/aircraft/b-1/images/080214-f-9876j-901.jpg

I wanted to copy and paste the photo but I didn't know if there would be any copyright infringement.  So I just posted the link. 

im working on these 3 together atm

1/72 scale

1/48 scale

1/32 scale

iv also just won 2 1/72 bones lol

Wow Wingman. Awsome Tornado!! Looks great. It's always been one of my favorites. It always looks fast even sitting still. Can't wait to see more.

Eatthis, nice looking Cat. You're setting the bar high for me when I start mine.

As far as mine goes. Unfortunatly gonna be a while yet. I'm moving in 5 days now. It's driving me crazy not to be working on something. All the model stuff has been packed up. That'll be the first thing that gets unpacked.

imho they shoulda named the tornado the thresher due to the enormous tail

eatthis

im working on these 3 together atm...

 iv also just won 2 1/72 bones lol

 

OK, forgive me if I'm showing my aircraft ignorance this morning with questions, but was the tsr really capable of mounting hard points on the upper surface of the wing?  Seems like that would seriously impact wing performance.  Or is this a "what if"?

Three at once, eh?     And two Bones waiting in the wings (no pun intended.... )

Don

macattack80

Don, I painted the entire wing on my B-1.  I found this photo and used it as my camo inspiration.  The whole wing, even the area which is in the fuselage when retracted appears to be painted on this one.  The paint looks more faded as if the wings were repainted while retracted and they didn't repaint those particular areas.  As for the word "uncamoed".......sounds good to me!!

http://www.cybermodeler.net/aircraft/b-1/images/080214-f-9876j-901.jpg

Sorry I remembered incorrectly.  Interesting photo and it does look like there may have been a re-paint with the wings retracted; if fading was from the elements, you would think that the wing root would look more pristine, not the other way around.

Don

pordoi

 

eatthis:

 

im working on these 3 together atm...

 iv also just won 2 1/72 bones lol

 

 

 

 

OK, forgive me if I'm showing my aircraft ignorance this morning with questions, but was the tsr really capable of mounting hard points on the upper surface of the wing?  Seems like that would seriously impact wing performance.  Or is this a "what if"?

 

Three at once, eh?     And two Bones waiting in the wings (no pun intended.... )

 

Don

any in service tsr 2 is a what if :)

im gonna make a start on the 1/48 tonka and 1/72 ef111 tonight just basic stuff

eatthis

any in service tsr 2 is a what if :)

Well yes, after Bish posted the Wiki link, I realize that any tsr 2 is a what if.  But I guess that I got off to a really slow mental start today, so everyone can stop snickering now...   (message to self:  drink coffee before to posting on FSM...)   My next question was why weren't they mounted to fire to the rear;  easy way to get someone off your six. 

Don

Thanks for the kind words folks. I do appreciate it.

Don, that gray is normal on a Tornado. I don't know why, but it is. This kit, and I think the other two, even have decals for that area.  Mine isn't 100% correct because the grey should be visible all the way to the leading edge of the wing. I just left the wings swept to the rear when I painted the camo. I tried to apply one of the decals but couldn't get it to slip under the wing glove so, just let it go as is. Thanks for combining pics on the front page and while I was here last nite I went ahead and grabbed the badge. It's been fun and can't wait to get the next one started.

Off topic, got a little work done on that F-15 today. Wouldn't mention it but the engine area was Alclad'd and masked with Tamiya tape sometime in March or early April this year and I've been sweatin' it. Never left Alclad under tape anywhere near that long before. But I can relax now, it came off without a hitch. Finally got to shoot it with Dullcote today so pulled the tape while hopefully the edges were a little soft. Nothing lifted but the tape and even after all the coats of paint, Future, Glosscote and finally Dullcote there was hardly an edge. Yippeeeee!

Tony

 Superb Tornado from Wingman!!! 

update no more pics yet but iv thrown the ef111 together in 45 mins (15 of which were trying to line the front and rear fuse together!!!!!!) iv made a start on the 1/48 tornado im decalling the 1/48 tomcat and oh yeh iv got hold of 2 1/72 b1bs a 1/32 tornado and MAYBE a 1/48 b1b lol