Model Aircraft – September 2019

the nose then has to be attached to the upper
section. This leaves a signiicant ‘dog leg’ join
that requires illing and sanding and means a
lot of the original recessed detailing is lost. Once
I was happy with the join, I rescribed the lost
panel lines and moved on. The kit allows you
display the radome in the open position, but
these parts are over simpliied, so after adding
suicient weight to the front section to avoid
any tail sitting issues, I glued the nose cone in
place. To my eye, the proportions of the nose
don’t look quite right, giving the Tomcat a
slightly stubby appearance. This may be correct,
but I’m still not convinced.

The Academy kit wing parts are moulded

‘solid’, with no option to open the slats or laps,

which makes them perfectly suited for a fully

swept, parked up aircraft. On previous Tomcat

or Tornado builds I’d always found keeping the

wings of the fuselage until inal construction

has allowed for accurate painting and

weathering. So, with a razor saw I removed the

moulded wing sweep mechanism section after

making up the wings. I then test itted them and

found that they slotted into the fuselage and sat

perfectly in the swept back position. All of the

individual elements, such as the fuselage, wings,

stabilisers and the distinctive twin tails were

The cockpit looks

quite presentable

I cut aways the wing

sweep mechanism.... ...and went for a fully

swept ‘parked’ look

MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2019

MISSION MODELS MASTERCLASS

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