Good 48th Tornado F.3 ?

[Captain Canada]

Hey !

I'bve really been itching to build a Tornado. Seems all the little ones are crap......does anybody make a 48th scale F.3 ? Which kit is best in that scale ?

TIA

[nev]

I think there's only Airfix and Italeri.

The Airfix one is usually described by Airfix fanboys as "builds into a good kit with a bit of work", but then again they say that about every Airfix kit  

How much constitutes "a bit" is a whole other matter

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

A long time ago, I was asked to review the Airfix Tornado F2 (as it was then) for the IPMS(UK) magazine. So I can say with hand-on-heart that there is no way that the Italeri kit - which I haven't built - can be anything but better than the Airfix one.

Given that the cockpit is so roomy and visible the lack of detail within is a crime. The seats are not much more than mis-shapen generic blobs. The main panel lines (flaps, rudder etc) are engraved but the smaller panels are all raised. From memory there were a lot of qustions surrounding the accuracy of the burner cans and the whole rear end. Those burner cans were extremely shallow too, I seem to recall.

On the plus side, the decals in that original issue were absolutely superb.

I know that the kit was re-released as a full F3, but how much the moulds were re-tooled to represent the differences between the the late and early production machine, I cannot say. The WOOKSTA may have more information on this.

I appreciate that there are folks on this site who may think me harsh in what I've said, but let me re-iterate, I have built this kit, it was a long time back, but some experiences just stay with you.

HTH

Ian

[upnorth]

Actually as 1/72 Tonkas go, the Revell Germany ones are quite decent if you wanted it smaller than 1/48.

I was actually looking at RoG's 1/72 F.3 in my LHS yesterday and it looks like good stuff.

I don't think Italeri ever made an F.3 in 1/48, I certainly don't recall ever seeing or hearing about one under their name. What I do recall about Italeri's 1/48 GR.1 was all the resin corrections that were released for it, or at least it seemed there were a lot of them.

[Craig]

The RoG F.3 in 1/72nd is the Italeri kit. It's better than the Airfix kit and has a more accurate outline than the hasegawa kit but still far from perfect.

It would be lovely if RoG would do an F.3 up to the same standard as their IDS/GR.1 but that's just wishful thinking.

[Aircav]

Isn't the 1/72 RoG F.3 a reboxed Italeri kit ?

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

I don't think Italeri ever made an F.3 in 1/48,

I fairly certain that they did, I can (just about) recall the box-art.... but it may well have been marketed as an F2.

Ian

[Radish]

Italeri made a 1/48th F.3 but it's rarer than Hen's teeth.
It was nice, had Saudi and RAF markings, nice cockpit and recessed panel lines.
I made one years ago as a FSW version.....still up in the loft somewhere.

[AeroplaneDriver]

Italeri did (do?) make a 1/48 F.3, its packaged as 'Tornado ADV Fighter'.  No idea what the kit is like since I've only ever seen it on store shelves.  

The 1/72 Hasegawa F.3 isnt a great kit, but it's not terrible either.  It's not the most detailed thingk out there, and some of the raised panel lines are very faint around the rear fuselage, but fit is decent.

Sure would be nice to see RoG do an F.3 to compare with their GR.1A, but I'd rather see a Lightning first.

[AeroplaneDriver]

There's one Italeri ADV on eBay, with a price reflecting Rad's comment on its rarity.  

[nev]

Italeri or Hasegawa 72nd F.3 is one of the great debates on ARC.....

The definitive F.3 is still awaiting release, in either scale.  From memory I can't remember the layout of teh RoG GR1, so I don't know how easy an F.3 would be from it.

[Geoff]

Italeri or Hasegawa 72nd F.3 is one of the great debates on ARC.....

Dear God!

Just Make One! Either will do. :dum: