Isar 30/07

Very interesting project, Rick. I came along with a similiar "what-if" when reading that a lot of Spitfire and Hurricane pilots reported of fighting the He 100´s and even claimed several victories over them. So, what would have a He 100 looked like when fighting during the Battle of Britain? Finished my He 100 some months ago and wanted to post some pics for weeks now, but now I´m not sure, if I would "catch" your thread? Reimund

oh YEAH! Can´t wait to see some progress - and maybe you would think about doing this as a conversion set? Keep my fingers crossed! Reimund

As mentioned in my first post here some weeks ago, let me clarify what I was Eduard asking for: I requested the stencils/maintenance markings based on their #D32009 sheet (Tornado GR.4 stencils), this time in the correct colouring for using them on the F.3. There are NO other markings provided like squadron badges, codes and so on. As far as I know, there are 3 sheets for the F.3 around: - FLIGHTPATH #? covering F.3´s of 23, 25 and 111 sqn - XTRADECAL #X001-32 covering one F.3 of 11 sqn beside of three GR.1´s - SUPERSCALE #32-99 covering a Saudi F.3 While the FLIGHTPATH and XTRADECAL sheets seem to be still available, the SUPERSCALE sheet is OOP and hardly to get these days. Sorry if cutting down some expectations here... Reimund

Hi all, just a little update on the requested decals: Due to summer holidays there is a delay in printing the decals by Eduard. Seeing all you interested in these decals, Eduard told me that they are prepared to print more of them. As soon as I get any news (decals ), I`ll let you all know (price, how to get them and so on). Reimund

Hi Neil, last year I visited the Dornier Museum at Friedrichshafen/Germany, where beside other aircrafts a Do 27 was on display. As I have 2 of the RoG-Do 27´s in stash, I made a few photos of the ex-Spanish AF Do 27 there to update my kits once the will be started... I have no idea if there are differences comparing the German AF and Spanish AF ones, but I guess there sure will be in instrument layout. Beside the link to the museum site Das Luft- und Raumfahrtmuseum am Bodensee | Dornier Museum Friedrichshafen, I can send all the photos I made then. Shoot me a pm and hopefully I can help. Reimund

Just a short break in building my own 1:1 scale diorama. Thanks for you comments - much appreciated! Tim, from the beginning of Iain´s test build on this conversion, I was aware this conversion would need some attention. This was pointed out by you (Tim) and Iain and so I did not knew exactly what the conversion set would fit or work. But, I was infected and needed to get these parts. When getting this set, the only thing I said to me: Let´s start! Having written earlier, I learned a lot of Iain´s build and had to dig even deeper into the books I have on the F.3. Yes, I wouldn´t recommend this conversion to a beginner but this build is pure fun to me! Thinking over and over when facing an "obstacle" during building this kit and then trying to fix it - isn´t it that all we are modelers for? When pointing out, that there are some challenges I faced so far, this is written not as a critic on this conversion set - just the things I had to do. Hopefully people may see what is needed to do this conversion and so they can decide whether they would do this journey or not. Just another week or two and then I hopefully can go on with the F.3. Just a thing I wanted to point out at last: The decals I asked EDUARD for are the stencils only. The decal sets from FLIGHTPATH and/or XTRADECAL are needed for all the other markings like squadron signs and so on. I have no idea if these are still available. If of interest, I will post both sets next time and if there is someone interested in on or the other markings option, then let me know. Reimund

I had this option in mind as well as maybe using Italeri parts for the wheel wells. As I used lead foil to do an seamless intake in the GR.1 built, I know it´s working. I checked the Italeri wheel wells but this would be an major task to bring them to the Revell Tornado.

That´s for now so far. As written, I´m building a house which means hardly any time for modeling at the moment and this will last some more weeks/months. I can´t promise to react to posts at all or soon. This doesn´t mean, I do not read them, but my time is running. Please have that in mind when waiting for an answer. When Eduard is sending me the requested stencilling, I will post a few photos. Cheers Reimund

The smaller tanks were made look like the british. As far as I have seen they had rivets on it. These were made using resin rivets from ARCHER in different sizes. Some more details were made using again sheet and bolts made by a puch&die set. After painting I used the kit decals which were horrible to put on. Even softener hardly didn´t work. I think, the base kit was one of the first release from the 90ies. The tanks still need some weathering, The Phimat chaff dispenser pods had to be made by scratch. Different rods, tubes and the front ends from 1/35 grenades needed only some sanding. The fins are made of thin sheet, cut to size using a NWSL `The Chopper II`. To put them later very easy to their stations, I put in two copper wires. A BIG thank you to my friend Alex who let me his 1/48 Eduard Phimats to use them as a master. As with the tanks: some homemade decals and weathering need to be done. The wings had to be cut to add the PARAGON set for separate slats and flaps. Not a big match, cleaning takes most of the time. As with the MLG earlier - no photos from a later stage yet. The outer openings for the pylons needed to be closed. Again, a 1/35 grenade was helpful.

As written before, the front landing gear needs to be wired to get the taxi lighted. Beside that, I improved the FLG omitting one scissor and refining the front scissor to look more like the real thing. Adding some copper wire and repositioning the wheels let the FLG look not that bad. it works Bringing the electricity into the model is carried out by wires going to one wheels of the main landing gear and from there nearly invisible in one leg into the fuselage. Sorry, no photos yet. when putting the model to the base - connectors are used later

The cockpit was done using Revell´s parts and convert them - mainly these things that are visible later when the canopy is closed. As mentioned, Airscale photoetch parts and decals were very helpful. The front cockpit needs some attention, too, as the front cover needs to be lenghtend so it is overlapping the instrument dashboard by 1mm) This was done using sheet and after that some more scratch built instruments were placed on the edges. At a later stage, the front of the cover gets some more attention as well as the HUD. The consoles of the WSO needs the most attention: All these changes were made scratch using only the screens from the kit. The rest was made using sheet, lead foil, copper wires - and a lot of research. When closing the front fuselage the cockpit tub needs to be glued in at this stage. The remaining parts will be glued before closing the canopy. the dashboards at an early stage. some more rearragements had to be done Men at work: The crew from JP Productions, only slightly modified to fit in the cockpit as well as to `communicate` later to the mechanic Ejection seats are leftovers from AIRES, I think

To complete the fuselage, there is the same problem I faced when putting the engine insert to the kit part: the conversion part is slightly to small in diameter. Again, the insert after the cockpit is too small. After puttying/sanding (to get a smoother surface) I used leadfoil to enlarge the upper part of the insert. Doing this using leadfoil was easier for me than trying sheet On the fuselage sides I used very thin sheet that was `melted` using MEK (I have no idea what this really is, but I bought mine from a hobby shop in Germany as a plastic glue. A friend of mine works as a aircraft mechanic and he uses this when cleaning parts when repairing aircraft). When dry, you have plastic that needs some sanding - and that´s all. You can engrave it as the kit parts with no difference. Let´s see how big this kit will be! On the right hand side you can see two wires for lighting the model up later Next stop: the wing gloves. During taxiing the wings are swept forward. The kit parts are built to have the wings swept back, so there is a big gap to be filled. In my view, the kit parts are not that bad at all when removing the lips leaving just the frame. I engraved a piece of lead foil representing these lips, bend it and made four parts in the end. Then two parts were glued to the frame of the kit part. When closing the fuselage at a later stage, these lips are glued and then one can carefully bend the lead foil into shape looking much better then. One note: I tried wing gloves from Two Mikes and Paragon. Sorry to say, both can´t match with these lead foil lips.

Checking the front fuselage parts. Beside some sink holes, there are a lot of panel lines to be filled and some panels to be moved forward/downward, i. e. the AoA sensors The gun opening on the port side had been filled filling the holes using heated/streched sprue one of the first critical moments: to cut behind the cockpit section. There are some more things to do: engrave the panel lines, i. e. the panel for the refuelling boom or to reposition the emergency canopy release handle the forward missile bay in a rarely seen colour. Reminds me on all the Smileys Beside the friendly looking yellow, I had to putty and sand at least 6-7 times to make the surface smooth. During the putty-sessions, I diluted the putty using a brush and acetone - it did a smooth surface and hardened faster than the putty normally does without acetone as you can see the parts can´t deny their origin - a 3-D-printer. Nothing that can´t be dealt with! nearly every part needs this treatment, here the nose cone. Having enough putty at hand, all you need just a little time... the engine insert needed more treatment, since it´s slightly smaller in diameter than the kit part. Beside that I cut off the rectangular openings of the unused kit parts and inserted them to the new part. The round openings are made of rod. Don´t forget to do the opening for the last tip of the arrestor hook. My first challenge was then the engraving/rivetting of this insert. Since the material acts different to the usual plastic, I recommend to paint the part white or light grey and do carefully engrave or rivet. To hard and the lines of the printed plastic break all to fast. the intakes look good but show rough surface in- and outside caused during the printing process. At first, I tried to sand them down inside which is nearly impossible. Next I took a brush and took some white wall paint inside. After sanding I repeated this some 3-4 times and finished it by spraying white from Gunze. It is much smoother now inside, but not perfect at all. But - who will ever recognize.... As Tornados had their auxiliary air intakes (sorry it this the wrong term) open, I had to open them as well. But, when the auxiliary air intakes are opened, the part of the conversion set stands in the way. Ok, let´s cut/shorten the part. There was some sanding to bring these parts together. I will blend the conversion part to the kit parts later using lead foil and even more puttying and sanding - it´s a little time consuming but it works, so no one will see the edge later when looking into the intakes

and again...

One of the A/C´s that inspired me: https://i.postimg.cc/DfM1q2Xf/20220505-180325.jpg

Hi all, as I didn´t had the intention to do a WIP, the selected pictures during the building so far are not as good as you expect them here - sorry. I started this model in October 2021 after I completed a Tornado GR.1 (OP Granby) that I did for a German model magazine. The built of this Tornado took half a year where I learned a lot of the pro´s and con´s of the Tornado from Revell. Having this in mind I thought the F.3 conversion might be a little bit easier since I knew all the challenges... I quickly realised, it won´t be a quick or an easy built! Three reasons for that: I had to dig very deep into the F.3 and bought a lot of books on this a/c, but still there are some questions left. More on that later. Next: As we know, Tim Perry never had the intention to do a conversion set as we know it from other producers. As far as I know, it´s just some kind of test if this conversion was doable. This means you have to do a lot on your own, i. e. the cockpit. And last but not least: I´m building a house at the moment which means that modelling had to step back - way back often. So, this WIP here won´t be a quick one, but after all those challenges done so far, I want (and hopefully will/can) to complete this model before removal. Doing research I saw pictures of Tornado F.3´s during "OP Deny Flight" (the air war over Bosnia) in 1993 - 1996. Located at Gioia del Colle (Italy) there were F.3´s from N° 11 Squadron on duty. As they carried the smaller, lighter weight tanks (borrowed from GR.1/GR.1a units - during OP Granby it were the GR.1 units that borrowed the `Hindenburger` from the fighter units) this added some colour spots to the light grey F.3´s as the tanks wore dark grey/dark green, allowing higher `g`turns. These A/C´s had armament of 2 Sidewinder and 2-4 Sky Flash missiles. Sidewinder came from Eduard and the Sky Flash hopefully will come with my second Jaktviggen from JetMads (I asked for 2 additional missiles and they promised to pack them into the box). Photos show 2 Phimat chaff dispenser pods on the outboard wing pylons. As these pods are not available in 1/32, I made them scratch using the Eduard ones in 1/48 as a guide. I´m planning to display my F.3 at the `last chance position´ with an mechanic nearby (coming from Videoaviation). Pilots are from JP Productions, Res-Im spending the wheels, AIRES the exhaust nozzles, Master the pitot tube and Quickboost the mirrors, later placed into the canopy. Airscale helped a lot when doing the cockpit. Beside that I did a lot scratch and there will be some more to do. OK, when planning to do my F.3 leaving the `last chance`, it is logical that it MUST be lit. I had to choose between the set from Magic Scale Modelling and the one from Tirydium Models - the latter won, simply because it offered no afterburner flickering. The only thing I had to add was a micro LED to do the taxi light on the nose landing gear. Beside all the challenges so far, the only thing I can say: This conversion is not an easy one but pure fun to me. Photos next....

Hi all, when contacting Eduard for the first time, I told them that doing this sheet (for me) won't get commercial success (yet) for them. I wanted them to know that - if they would do this - it could be a single request and all the work they had to do. As far as I know, there are only a handful of these conversion sets sold and those people owing one might be interested in these decals as well. But maybe, Italeri might release the F.3 sooner or later (NO, I don't have any informations - it's just my thought having their Starfighter releases in mind) and then my requested sheet might getting some commercial success. I had a discussion with Martin of Eduard (he is the man that was so kind fulfilling my request) if I can tell the people that Eduard printed these decals on request. So, as I'm telling you the story behind, I would say, Eduard would sell this sheet to anyone who will ask for. Would they officially release this sheet (yet)? Personally, I don't think so. Reg the price: I have ordered another sheet on request covering those very small warning signs you can see on the sides of the consoles of the WSO (those yellow triangles with a black bolt in it). A small detail I needed to have. I don't have an invoice yet but I'm sure that I will get one the next week. What I know by now, the price is definitely higher than the regular D32009. When waiting a few days I can tell you more. Personally I think, every sheet asked for (now) might be cheaper since it's just the printing process. HTH Reimund

Gentleman, currently, I'm building this Tornado F.3 and beside the challenges (converting the cockpit, bringing the conversion set to the kit, engraving new panel lines and some more things to be done), I faced the same problems everyone has that wants to do the fighter variant: Find the (correct) decals/stencils. I have both the Flightpath and Xtradecal sets, but needed stencils. Searching up and down, I always came in the end to the Eduard stencil set for the GR.4 (D32009). The set looked fine to me but the stencils are not suitable to the fighter variant as they are dark grey/black where they should be white or very light grey. I contacted Eduard and asked if they would convert their D32009 to the desired colours - and they did! The sheets are in the printing process and I'm hoping to get these sheets (one with all the stencilling and two covering the walkways - two because of the enlarged fuselage) within the next two weeks. I'll let you know then as well as with the final costs for printing. If interested I can post a few pictures on my way to the F.3 the next days. Reimund

One thing we all face from time to time: Searching up and down on a certain project but no information available what we are looking for. Ok, let´s do this without the questions answered (if I didn´t get an answer on my questions, then no one can say that I´m "wrong") - and after completing the project someone comes around and has the answers I was searching for.... Modeler´s fate. One last note of Bodo Diemers memories: When based in Norway, his Ju 88 A-17 coded 1H + NH (strange enough he describes his A/C as the one without the BoLa BUT the crew still 4!) was equipped with FuG 200 in late 1944. Happy to be enabled to detect allied convoys (and no more flights for hours and hours without any contact to an allied convoy) from now on, they soon realised the other side of the coin: Their so equipped could be detected by the allies as well. As soon as they realised this, the FuG 200 was no longer used (but still mounted). Let me see, if I can help Thierry. It might take some days. Reimund

Inspired to build a Ju 88 A-17 (and maybe a Ju 188 t as well) was the book "Überlebenschance gleich Null" (hardly no chance to survive) from Bodo Diemer, published in Germany by Helios Verlag (ISBN 978-3-86933-042-6). This autobiography started when Bodo Diemer became a Bomber pilot and then a Torpedoflieger. He describes a lot of the training, the first missions in the Med, the Channel during Op. Overlord and finally the last missions from Norway in a very personal and impressive way. Unfortunately there are only a handful of photographs provided that don´t show any Ju 88 he flew. A few years ago, I contacted Helios as I hoped for a chat to Bodo Diemer, but he has passed away. Helios told me that there are no other photos available. I don´t know if this book has been published in english or french, but I would highly recommend this if interested in the missions flown by Torpedoflieger.

Thierry, thank you very much - much appreciated!

Thierry, very interesting discussion on here as one of my favourite projects will be an Ju 88 A-17 (having all the stuff to start with - except time). Had a talk to John/AIMS a few years ago and he told me the same - some modification on the wings had to be done. Could you post the picture of the KG 26 plane with the cutout here, please? Thanks! Reimund

Alan, have a look here (Kagero Topdrawings #16). As Kagero´s drawings in the past sometimes were not correct in every detail, please make your own decision. To me the door makes sense as this was used in the later Ju 88 C and G series as well. Unfortunately, I don´t have any photos of this door but a research on Ju 88 C/G might be helpful. Reimund

...so sad to read this, John. Had the hope, you´re on your way to a (hopefully) full recovery when seeing your work on the Mistel over the last weeks! Thank you for providing me excellent conversion/detailing sets and decals! I still hope, your hands getting better some day! All the best - Reimund

John, good to see you back in business! Hope your recovery goes ahead! If there will be a Vol. 2 on the JG 54, is there a chance to see decals for the FW 190 A-4/Jabo from 10/JG 54 "three white bars"? Cheers Reimund