TONKA
Colourful
Revell 1/72 Scale Tornado GR4 “Dambusters
70th Anniversary” by Garth NicholsonBACKGROUND
Familiar to most aviation
enthusiasts, the Panavia
Tornado is a swing-wing,
two-seat, twin-engine,
supersonic combat aircraft
developed jointly by Britain,
Germany and Italy. It was
designed to fulfil a number
of roles, and several variants
were produced, including Air
Defence (ADV), Interdictor/
Strike (IDS), and Electronic
Combat/Reconnaissance
(ECR). First flown in 1974, and
entering service in 1980, the
Tornado has been a key part
of the RAF’s capability for
nearly 40 years. During this
time, the RAF have developed
their fleet to meet changing
requirements, culminating
in the GR4 (Ground
Attack/Reconnaissance)
variant, which is thesubject of this build.
I was inspired to build this
kit back in May 2013, after
hiking over to the Derwent
dam in the Peak District to
watch the flypast by the Battle
of Britain Memorial Flight’s
(BBMF) Lancaster bomber
during the Dambusters 70th
anniversary. Two Tornados
from 617 squadron, then
based at RAF Lossiemouth,
also took part in the flypast.
These aircraft featured
specially commissioned tail
graphics commemorating
the Dambusters raid.
The first aircraft (ZA492,
call sign “Gibson 1”) was
a strike version of the
GR4. I believe the second
aircraft (ZA412 “Gibson 2”)
was a trainer version.THE KIT
Released in 1998, Revell’s
Tornado GR1 is still an excellent
kit, with (for the most part)
finely recessed panel lines
and selected rivet detail. It
does, however, require a few
refinements and modifications
to convert it into a GR4.
The most obvious change is
the addition of a Forward Looking
Infra-Red (FLIR) pod under the
port forward fuselage. Luckily,
Freightdog Models produce one in
resin. I decided to also add an Aires
resin cockpit and wheel bay set.
Other refinements include Master
Model brass pitot tube and angle
of attack (AoA) probes, an Eduard
photo-etch detail set, and an SBS
replacement resin nose to correct
the slight inaccuracy in the complexcurvature of the original. Another
key ingredient of the build was a set
of Cartograf printed Dambusters
70th anniversary decals, which
was included in a 617 Squadron
special edition Airfix kit (A73008).
After collecting all the
necessary aftermarket
components, I started by
removing the relevant parts
from their sprues and checking
the fit of the various resin parts.
Minimal cleaning up of the
plastic was required, although
the parts on the clear sprues
left something to be desired.
The cockpit canopy and Laser
Ranger and Marked Target Seeker
(LRMTS) pod window were
particularly poor, the latter being
little more than a blob of plastic
rather than having the sharp
angled panels of the original.“I THREW MOST OF THE
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE AFTER-
MARKET ITEMS AT THIS KIT”
26 • NOVEMBER 2017 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
TORNADO GR4
026-33-FEAT-Tonka-1117.indd 26 16/10/2017 15:26