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Lechfeld Squadron of the Luftwaffe has long held the right to attend the
annual NATO Tigermeet meetings. Every year it makes a special effort to
paint at least one of its aircraft in a tiger scheme for the event. 2001
and 2002 were no exception, with the rise of the well known 46+44
Tigerjet. When I saw the Revell 1/32 scale model of the aircraft, I had to
get it, in spite of the hefty price tag (£35). The initial look of the
kit is very good – lots of panel lines engraved into every part and lots
of cockpit details to paint. All the parts seemed to fit smoothly and
there were clear instructions to follow. The decal sheet is also very
impressive. All of the build went fine until I had to mask off the
sections that were to be painted yellow where the paint effect was
“peeling off”. Although there were guidelines on the decal sheet for
where the yellow should end, it was very difficult to transfer this onto
the actual model. After several attempts, and a few hours I was satisfied
that I had managed to mask off the required area correctly. As it was, the
fit was very close, with only minor overlaps, which were later corrected
with small amounts of gray or yellow paint. The next problem was the
decals. Around the nose area, they did not fit properly (the decal sheet
was slightly warped!?! in the box) There was scrunched up areas around the
nose, and although I used loosening fluid to try and correctly position
them, I couldn’t do it, and ended up scraping off the black stripes and
painting them on by hand.
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images below to see larger images
After this, I
decided to have a go at weathering the jet, although this was a big risk
as I had never done this before and it was an expensive model. I used
black ink on wet cotton wool, and dragged it in the direction of the
airflow. This produced a heavy black effect, which I wiped down with a wet
cloth. Unfortunately, some areas around the trailing and leading edges of
the wings had excess black that spilled over, and left barker patches.
The
model in the end was much dirtier than I intended it to be, but I like it
and think it is good for a first weathering attempt. I did later find a
picture on the internet that showed the actual jet looking almost as dirty
as mine. Because I had been building my jet for a long time, and doing
smaller projects when I got bored of it, I found that looking at it I
could see things to be done that I did not have the skill or confidence to
do when I started it ( such as the weathering). One quite obvious thing
was the lack of painting on the undercarriage. I went back over it and
painted in hydraulics and wires to make it look better.
In
between modelling sessions, I put the Tornado on the ceiling with the rest of my
models (including a 1/48 B-1B Lancer which hasn’t fallen off yet!!). Unfortunately for me, the worst possible thing that could happen then did. Yup,
you guessed it, it fell off. Bit like a scene out of ER or Casualty or
something. The fuselage snapped in half, the tailerons came off, landing gear
was totally destroyed and airbrakes snapped. After some phone calls, I got some
brass rod and industrial strength super glue (he he he). It took a lot of time
but I managed to reassemble the landing gear, and drill the wheels back on.
The
Tailerons also had the same treatment. In the end, it didn’t look too bad
apart from gaps in the fuselage, which I have yet to sort, but will do when I
can find where I put my model filler! As it is now, the model is almost
finished, and a I hope to have it done in time for the Air Training Corps Wing
Modelling Competition in August (as well as my Su-34 Fullback which is going in
as a diorama). Even though the model could have looked better, I do not mind
because now my model has a bit of history behind it and that makes it more
special to me.
Ben
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images below to see larger images
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