Scale Aviation Modeller International — November 2017

pylons leaned inwards when

they should hang vertically.

I solved this issue by filling

the original spigot holes with

plastic rod, then re-drilling

holes in the correct orientation

to suit corresponding rods fitted

to each pylon. I also removed the

stabilising tabs from the lower

edges of the pylons, as these are

not present on RAF aircraft. At

the time of the Derwent flypast,

ZA492 was fitted with a single

missile rail on the inside of the

port inner pylon. I used the kit

part for this, albeit detailed with

longitudinal strips and pockets.

I opted to bypass the option

of having the wings movable,

and fixed them in the un-swept

position, as per an aircraft on the

ground. I noticed after completion

that there is a significant gap

between the wing roots and

their fuselage pockets, which

could have been addressed

during assembly, but at the end

of the day it’s not too noticeable.

Finally, the wingtip lights are

not a particularly good fit, and

required sanding and polishing

after temporarily attaching

them with canopy adhesive.

TAILERONS

I opted to dispense with the kit’s

moulded tail pivots and replace

them with Albion Alloys aluminium

tubing. This gave a much more

robust attachment method when

they were slotted into a central

tube within the fuselage. Albion

Alloys small diameter brass rods

were also inserted into the front

ends of the taileron roots, forming

incidence pins when they were

inserted into corresponding holes

along the horizontal fuselage joint.

THE MIGHTY FIN

Late in the build, I discovered

that the heat exchanger exhaust

ducts on either side of the fin

root were too short. This only

became apparent when I tried to

place the “wave” decal, which

forms part of the Dambusters tail

graphic. The decal overhung the

end of the duct by a significant

amount. I ended up extending

the ducts with plastic card and

filler after painting. Obviously,

it would have been far easier if

I had done this beforehand!

Other modifications included

shortening the aft passive ECM

housing at the top of the fin,

and adding a brass tube de-icing

probe on top of the front intake.

UNDERCARRIAGE

The resin undercarriage bays

feature fine structural detail and

pipework, which, once painted and

weathered, significantly enhance

the look of the model in these

areas. All the existing wheel bay

apertures in the fuselage were

slightly too large for the resin

replacements, which required

plasticard strips to be added to

eliminate any unsightly steps or

gaps. Once an acceptable fit was

achieved, the bays were painted

with Tamiya White Primer and

Vallejo White, followed by a Mig

dark wash. I added some scrap

photo-etch to represent the

electronics box in the roof of the

front bay, before fitting everything

into place using Araldite.

The kit’s main undercarriage

legs were not a particularly precise

fit in their new resin sockets,

so I opted to cross-drill and pin

their ends with brass rod, forming

pivots. This gave a much more

robust joint, and allowed some

adjustment of the legs without

dislodging them during assembly.

This approach was useful due

to the compound angle that the

pivots form, which makes vertical

alignment of the wheels tricky. I

cross-braced the main legs with an

appropriately shortened cocktail

stick to ensure the correct stance

while the Araldite adhesive set.

The original front leg was

shortend, since it appeared to

have been moulded in its unloaded

position. This is important to

give the distinctive nose-down

attitude of a Tornado at rest.

The kit wheels are nicely

detailed, with the tyres slightly

weighted, which is a nice touch.

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