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Revell Tiffie - 1/32nd Scale - FINISHED!


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Looking good Bobski!! My airbrake on the Trump gave me the same issues, it just didnt sit flush. I actually filled in with silly putty and glued it down and rescribed the lines. I know that I have to sand one of the pivot areas, but that is probably about it for that. Do you have a pic of the Laser Warner Detectors?

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Looking good Bobski!! My airbrake on the Trump gave me the same issues, it just didnt sit flush. I actually filled in with silly putty and glued it down and rescribed the lines. I know that I have to sand one of the pivot areas, but that is probably about it for that. Do you have a pic of the Laser Warner Detectors?

Not in close up, no, however any shot of the nose will show them - they're basically small glass domes.

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That air brake looks to be a real pain Bobski, neat job in filling it in.

I'm taking copious notes so appreciate you showing your progress in detail. :)

After seeing their offerings for the Trumpeter boxing, I seriously hope Aires release a set of burner cans for the Revell kit. :pray:

A resin cockpit would be a very welcome addition too Mr. Aires, if you're listening :whistle:

:cheers:

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Some more progress, albeit with smaller details.

I've made an attempt at scratchbuilding the Maintenance Data Panel (MDP) using thin plastic card and this is the result:

31287_10150189131255051_626415050_12953701_765789_n.jpg

This is how it looks in the jet:

31287_10150189131275051_626415050_12953702_3545988_n.jpg

It doesn't look like much now, but I'm hoping some paint will help bring it to life. Other small details added today were the Laser Warner receivers either side of the nose These are absolutely essential for an RAF, Saudi or Spanish Typhoon and although they can be left off on a smaller kit without too much bother, to do so in 1/32nd scale would have been criminal:

31287_10150189132100051_626415050_12953706_3455818_n.jpg

I used the tips of the seeker-heads of some 1/48th scale AIM-9L Sidewinders and will be tidying them up in due course.

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I was hoping to have some progress to report on the construction of the engine nozzles. Unfortunately both my airbrushes have decided to go U/S (GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR) so production has stalled yet again. Hopefully I'll be able to get them fixed soon so I can carry on with the build...

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Good news - the airbrush is fixed and working again. Better news - I have another update!

I've made a start on the engine exhausts. I'm not going to fit them until much later in the build and they may yet get scrapped and replaced with the Aires set, as it appears that the Aires nozzles for the Trumpeter kit may fit the Revell kit after all (see this thread here). I primed the insides of the exhausts and the turbine / afterburner assembly and then sprayed them matt black before a coat of Alclad Jet Exhaust before picking out the afterburner fuel injectors themselves with white paint as on the real jet:

35488_10150191062290051_626415050_13017307_4961440_n.jpg

Incidentally, the insides of the engines do not weather as much as some other jets. I was fortunate to get a look at an EJ200 at Rolls-Royce that had been stripped down into its component modules for a 1000hr check, and the white afterburner injectors were still white! There's a bit of dirt on the inside of the nozzles, but other than that they are fairly clean.

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You did a good job on the exhaust, Alclad II delivers very good results. According to the fotos of the aires resin parts, they seem to be even more detailed.

If it's worth for the typhoon in your opinion you should buy them. But only if it is proven that they fit into the

Revell kit too.

Just my two cents.

Keep it up and bring some more progress

Regards

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You did a good job on the exhaust, Alclad II delivers very good results. According to the fotos of the aires resin parts, they seem to be even more detailed.

If it's worth for the typhoon in your opinion you should buy them. But only if it is proven that they fit into the

Revell kit too.

Just my two cents.

Keep it up and bring some more progress

Regards

Thanks. I've been informed that the Aires nozzles do indeed fit the Revell kit so I may well invest in a set, but I'd like to see some photographic evidence before I shell out the £22 for the set, as there is no way in hell I'm buying a Trumpeter kit if they don't!

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Some more progress, albeit with smaller details.

I've made an attempt at scratchbuilding the Maintenance Data Panel (MDP) using thin plastic card and this is the result:

31287_10150189131255051_626415050_12953701_765789_n.jpg

Bobski,

I assume from your details (the place where I was born BTW) - that you have adequate access to all things Typhoon ????

If not, I have a couple of good close-up photos of that MDP - taken at Waddington when they were doing ground checks.

Yell if you need it.

Great progress BTW.....

Ken

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Bobski,

I assume from your details (the place where I was born BTW) - that you have adequate access to all things Typhoon ????

If not, I have a couple of good close-up photos of that MDP - taken at Waddington when they were doing ground checks.

Yell if you need it.

Great progress BTW.....

Ken

Hi Ken - PM inbound...

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Hey,

I'll try to get some pics up of the fit of the Aires burners. I just don't have access to the camera right know. I just checked them again, and looks as close to a pefedt fit as you can get. The cans themselves fit tight, maybe a little sanding is needed, but the petals fit very flush with the opening. They aren't cheap, but they sure are nice! By the way, really enjoying your build! Great work. And many thanks again for all the Typhoon references.

Chuck

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Hi Ken

Those photos are brilliant - they'll really help me paint my MDP!

I have another quick update. Sorry for the slight delay, but I've been busy at work and I've also been waiting for some PE to arrive from Hannants (Remove Before Flight tags and Seatbelts). They've now arrived and I've pretty much finished the seat:

34234_10150194560550051_626415050_13122580_6846658_n.jpg

The Eduard belts are very fiddly and there was a serious amount of very coarse language involved in getting them all fitted, but the results speak for themselves. I just need to touch up a couple of areas, give it a quick spray of satin varnish and some light weathering and it will be finished.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Apologies for the lack of updates recently. I've been away quite a bit with work recently and I'm off again for another week next week! I'll add another update as soon as I can.

Incidentally, courtesy of Marcel I have just learned that Aires have just released a set of resin nozzles for the Revell kit and I will be picking a set of these up to go with my build.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A quick update. Sorry there's not been much going on recently, but I've been out and about with work and haven't had much modelling time lately.

Revell's moulding of the exhausts either side of the base of the fin are, well, rubbish. What should be a well detailed exhaust has been moulded as a blank panel and this really isn't good in 1/32nd. TwoMikes are apparently doing a resin fin to address this and a few other detail issues, however in the meantime I came up with an idea that allowed me to use the Revell moulding with minimal modification, as I realised that the exhaust as moulded just happens to be the size and shape of the cover that goes over the exhaust when the jet is parked:

35387_10150208958080051_626415050_13530187_3259424_n.jpg

All that had to be done was to add a wire handle either side, which when painted will have a Remove Before Flight tag added. Quick and simple.

Edited by Bobski
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The Aires nozzles for the Revell kit have landed at Hannants and a pair are winging their way to me now, along with some Eduard seatbelts for a JASDF RF-4EJ that I'm building as well. Will post pics when they arrive.

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Right, the Aires nozzles. They arrived this morning in an unprecedented display of next-day delivery from Hannants and I made a start on painting and assembling them. This is the result:

37593_10150211428535051_626415050_13593975_2690056_n.jpg

As the photos of the parts from Aires show, these nozzles are superbly detailed. Unfortunately, like most of the engines in Trumpeter and Hobbyboss kits, pretty much all of this detail is invisible once the nozzles are assembled. Certainly all of the differences between the "early" and "late" nozzles from Aires are covered up once you put them together. Assembly itself is fairly simple, although the petals are extremely delicate and care must be taken not to snap them off and fitting the two-piece nozzle section together can be a bit of a pain in the backside.

I suppose the question is, are these worth the £21.50 asking price? In my opinion, unfortunately, the answer is no. While they are an improvement over what is in the kit, once they are assembled you see nothing of the fine detailing. I'd have preferred for Aires to do some one-piece nozzles that are more detailed than what you get in the kit, but not as fiddly as these. I've got plans for at least two more 1/32nd scale Typhoons and at the moment I honestly don't know whether I'd use these again.

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Another quick update.

I've finished both nozzles and test fitted them into the kit. They really look the part, although I stand by my comment about all the internal the detail being a bit of a waste.

35166_10150211539185051_626415050_13597252_5548296_n.jpg

Sorry for the dark photo. The batteries fell out of my camera and I'm still trying to get the settings back to the way I had them before!

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nice work!

did you get some fitting issues?

bye

The nozzles are a very tight fit in the rear fuselage, but once they are in they fit quite well. I think I will do a bit of filing though, to make it a little less tight when I come to put them in at the end of the build.

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Bobski, nice work on the exhausts--I really think they are a huge improvements on the kit items. Apart from the kit turkey feathers being way too thick, it also looks like the kit turkey feathers tend to look a little divergent. Your Aires exhausts, on the other hand, look spot-on.

Cheers,

Marcel

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Bobski, nice work on the exhausts--I really think they are a huge improvements on the kit items. Apart from the kit turkey feathers being way too thick, it also looks like the kit turkey feathers tend to look a little divergent. Your Aires exhausts, on the other hand, look spot-on.

Cheers,

Marcel

Thanks. They are a big improvement over the kit exhausts, I don't doubt that, but my big issue is that Aires have added a ton of detail to the nozzles that is completely invisible unless you model a petal-less engine - something that is certainly never flown and very rarely seen outside of maintenance. I have the same problem with Trumpeter and Hobbyboss spending ages (and a fortune) tooling and moulding complete engines for their kits, then closing them up inside the fuselage never to be seen again.

The main problems with the kit nozzles are that the petals lack the taper down one side and they sit flush with the nozzle, rather than on top of the actuators as on the Aires nozzles. They aren't actually any thicker than the Aires petals, they just don't sit properly...

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We have wings! Well, the lower surface of them anyway. After some judicious use of clamps, Plastic Weld and extremely strong language I have attached the lower fuselage and lower surface of the wings. Not the easiest of fits, but I'm slowly progressing.

38088_10150212079990051_626415050_13614959_4762894_n.jpg

I've also added the nose radome, packed with Blu-Tac and fishing weights to make sure she isn't a tail sitter. I've also ordered some metal undercarriage legs from A2Zee models, partly because of the weight of resin that will be in this thing and partly because the flimsy Revell plastic one snapped on the sprue (something for everyone who is building one of these to watch out for!)

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Updates thick and fast - I've had a very productive day today.

Upper surfaces of the wings are now on, as is the fin.

37691_10150212217350051_626415050_13619159_1508685_n.jpg

37691_10150212217345051_626415050_13619158_7163605_n.jpg

The join between the fin and the fuselage is a bit of a pain and will need some careful filling and sanding, but otherwise it's OK. The fit of the wings is much better than on the 1/48th scale kit and you don't end up with enormous canyons to fill!

One small snagaroo is the size of the kit. It's almost to the point where it is too big for my very cluttered modelling desk!

Edited by Bobski
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