Tornado Tigermeet “Eye of the Tiger”

[Paul A H]

Tornado Tigermeet “Eye of the Tiger”

1:72 Revell

Since its introduction into operational service in 1979, nearly 1000 Tornados have been produced for the air forces of Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. Tornados have seen active service with all of these air forces at various times, having served in the first and second Gulf Wars, over the former Yugoslavia and Kosovo, and over Yemen with the Royal Saudi Air Force. RAF Tornados are currently engaged in combat operations as part of Operation Herrick in Afghanistan and Operation Ellamy over Libya.

Revell’s Tornado has been with us since the late 1990s and has earned itself a reputation as an excellent kit. Numerous versions have been released including several boxings of the aircraft in special paint schemes, of which this is the latest. The kit arrives in the usual Revell boxvelope, in this case packaged up with a container of Contacta adhesive, a double-ended paintbrush and four tubs of acrylic paint labelled Grey, Black, White and Light Grey.

The 133 parts that make up the kit are divided across four sprues of light grey plastic. The first three sprues contain all of the parts for the aircraft itself, whilst the fourth sprue contains all of the ordnance. In this case only the fuselage weapon racks, fuel tanks and sidewinders are used, so there will be some spare parts left over. A small clear sprue, decals and instructions complete the package. Although this kit has been around a while, the sprues are holding up well. There is a little flash in places, but most of this is on the sprue frames themselves rather than the kit parts.

When I first built this kit I remember being astounded at the amount of detail packed in and the quality of the mouldings. I’m pleased to say that my views haven’t changed. The cockpit alone is a work of art and features some incredibly fine detail that makes a resin replacement pretty difficult to justify. The rest of the airframe is equally well rendered. The recessed panel lines are beautifully restrained, as is the delicate recessed rivet detail. The undercarriage legs feature hydraulic lines and the landing gear bays are just as nice.

Construction begins with the four-part ejector seats. As is the case with the rest of the cockpit, these are excellent and make resin replacements a bit of a luxury. Revell provide decals for the instrument panels, but to be honest the raised detail on these parts is so nice that I would imagine many modellers might choose not to use them. The cockpit is then sealed inside the forward fuselage, onto which the nose cone is added. The nose cone is one of the two (very) minor issues with this kit, as it doesn’t quite capture the shape of the real thing. It is slightly too pointed, although it looks convincing enough from most angles. As is the case with most kits of variable geometry aircraft, Revell have engineered the kit in such a way as to make the wings (and horizontal stabilisers) moveable once the kit is complete. Having built my Revell Tornado in this way, I can vouch that the system works well, although the moveable pylons are quite fiddly. Painting the model will certainly be easier with the wings fixed in place.

Once the wings and tail planes are in place, the rear fuselage sub-assembly is complete and can be added to the forward fuselage. The rest of the build is fairly straightforward. The multi-part intakes are very nice, but will benefit from some blanking off otherwise it will be possible to see through to the back of the fuselage. Airbrakes can also be posed open or closed and, in keeping with the rest of the kit, are beautifully detailed. The undercarriage is also very nice, although the nose gear leg is a little too long (the second of the two minor issues with the kit) giving the aircraft a slight nose-up attitude. This can be fixed fairly easily though.

Just one colour option is provided, for a Tornado IDS painted in a commemorative scheme designed by Jörg Wingens for the 50th anniversary of AG51 and Tigermeet 2009. The large decal sheet is designed by Syhart Decal and is very nicely printed.

Conclusion

As you can probably tell, I’m a big fan of Revell’s Tornado and would recommend this kit in a heartbeat. The commemorative scheme represented in this edition is very eye-catching, but if you don’t fancy it, there are plenty of aftermarket options available. Those wishing to build an RAF aircraft should note that this kit represents the IDS version of the Tornado and does not therefore include the additional sprue holding the LRMTS and Hindenburg tanks, although a little scratch building will take care of the former. Definitely recommended.

Review sample courtesy of