1:32 Panavia Tornado GR.1/F.3

One aircraft, two entirely different jobs

The Tornado came about as a joint undertaking of Britain, the then West Germany and Italy, and its swing wing was to resolve the contradiction between a short takeoff run and high speed down low. The Royal Air Force built two different machines out of it. The GR.1 flew low and fast, with a terrain following radar, and made its name with attacks on airfields during the Gulf War of 1991. The F.3, by contrast, was a fighter version with a lengthened fuselage and different avionics, built for long patrols over the North Sea, where range and endurance were what counted, not agility.

What the sheet offers

The data for the sheet lists five specific machines: four in the GR.1 form, among them the machine of the famous squadron that carries a reference to the night raid on the German dams, and one in the fighter shape. From one sheet a customer therefore builds either an attack aircraft in a low level camouflage finish or a gray interceptor, without buying two different sets of decals.

Before you lay a decal down

• The surface must be glossy; on matte varnish air holds under a decal.
• Cut close to the artwork; the film tends to be noticeable at the edges.
• Apply the softener once the decal is settled and then do not move the part any more.
• Go over it with matte varnish at the end, so that the decal merges with the surface.

The package is intended to go with a model, not to replace it, and it suits kits in the same scale from any maker. The large scale of 1:32 moreover enlarges the artwork markedly, so it pays to work with a sharp scalpel and good light.