Revell 1/48th Eurofighter * COMPLETED*

[ShaunW]

In the chat section, Stuart alluded to the fact that we seem to have a dearth of the latest RAF aircraft in the GB and this beastie has been lurking under my workbench for the last 10 or 11 years. So here we go with an up to date pointy grey jet!

The quite sizeable end opening box from the Blue Team (I wish they'd give us boxes with a proper lids, pleeease Herr Revell!!):



Said box is full of parts and due to the size of the kit I struggled to get all of the bits in the photo but hopefully you get the idea:



Detail looks to be quite good but I've already spotted that the opening portion of the canopy has a seam line down the middle - the seam is relatively faint and I'll decide later whether to try and polish it out with Micromesh or leave it be.

The decal sheet is comprehensive and includes, in addition to a myriad of stencils, markings for German, Austrian, Italian, Spanish and UK aircraft:



As far as this GB is concerned, however, this is the bit that we are interested in:



She's quite a big girl, here's a size comparison with my (stalled) 1/48th Airfix Sea Harrier FRS-1:





Revell describe the kit as being a #5 on their scale of difficulty, meaning it's at the top level. I've read somwhere or another that the kit can provide a challenge IIRC around the air intakes but, hey ho, I'm a bit of a glutton for punishment and used to building classic kits, using a ton and a half of filler to knock some of those into shape, so any difficulties presented by this modern offering should be right up my street - or it might well be the case that it's a good job I've got until the end of the year to build it

I'll try and make a start in the next couple of days or so.

Thanks for looking.

[iggie]

Nice choice! I agree with your sentiments about Revell boxes too!

[coptermech]

I believe Revell determines "difficulty level" depending on parts count and not how hard it is to build up. If I'm putting out incorrect info, I apologise in advance.

[spitfire1677]

Its a cracking kit, goes together very well. Hope you enjoy it

[The Great Auk]

That looks like a fine kit and I commend you on an excellent subject which helps round out this GB!

May the carpet monster be far, far away.

The Great Auk

[Stuart]

That looks to be a great kit - looking forward to seeing it come together.

Thanks for plugging the gap Shaun!

[ShaunW]

No probs, Stuart. I'm currently building up and painting the cockpit tub including using some Eduard etch for the kit that I almost forgot that I had bought! I have a bad habit of not putting etch sets into the relevant model box with the result that if I've had a kit in stock for a while, as is the case with this one, I run the risk of building the thing and then later finding the etch/resin set. Some reorganisation of my stashes of kits and accessories is required methinks! Pics will follow when I've got something worth showing.

[Stuart]

Looking forward to it Shaun.

I know what you mean by loosing things and then finding them AFTER you've finished the build - I'm often doing the same.

[Clashcityrocker]

Lots of parts, and lots of decals. What could go wrong?

Nigel

[ShaunW]

Lots of parts, and lots of decals. What could go wrong?

Nigel

The ejection seat so far. The bally thing looks good on the sprues and is in about 5 or 6 nicely detailed parts, but would it fit together easily and play ball? No, it bloody well wouldn't I wonder, then, what the fuselage wing joint is going to be like?

[Stuart]

It's going to be FUN!

[chrism]

Tuning in now for this one as it looks to be a good entertainment thread. You like a challenge Shaun.

[ShaunW]

Jeez, this has got off to a slower start than I would have preferred. Typically, coinciding with the start of this build, a decision was made above my pay grade to "redevelop" a small part of the garden by way of cutting down an unholy mess of holly and hawthorne that had amalgamated into a sort of bush/tree/hedge. Should be a relatively quick job then. Yeeeaaaahhhh riiiiiiiiiiight. It's a pain. A proper pain - in the back quite literally. I still haven't managed to fully dig out the tree stumps despite being at it most of the week

Anyhow, I have managed a bit of work on this big Eurofighter and have decked out the cockpit with the Eduard coloured etch fret that I bought for the kit that I mentioned earlier and that I almost forgot that I had in stock. The etch panels fitted quite well once the moulded on detail had been removed. IMHO etch can give a bit of a one dimensional look to stuff like side panel switches but I don't think this looks too bad, is better than the decals provided in the kit and is certainly better than I could paint it!







The seat is still a work in progress and as I have already alluded to, I found the assembly of this item to be a PITA but that could be down to my clumsiness of course! I have fitted seat cushions from the Eduard set and there are several other items from the set to go on such as seat belts, firing handles, etc. I'm not happy with the pipework either side of the head box, which goes to nowhere and I will remove that and re-plumb the seat after consulting photos.




I'm really hoping to get down to more work on this over the weekend as I've had enough of back breaking spadework for this week!

Thanks for looking.

[iggie]

Lovely work on the IP and bang-seat; looking forward to seeing both enclosed in a fuselage

For digging out stumps, get yourself a cast blade drain spade; sharpen the bottom edge to a good edge and let the weight of the spade chop through the roots. Well worth the cost of about £25, and it'll save your back! Little tip: let go of the handle just before the edge of the blade hits the root/ground to save jarring your wrist/elbow/shoulder/alll three!

[Stuart]

That's a great looking pit Shaun - That's not a bad bit of PE at all.

Sorry to hear of your gardening woes - I hope you have an easier weekend!