Wall

Chris T. An Author
I was eager to finish the Tornado, but I realized that after the summer break, the rear left landing gear that I had already assembled had disappeared from the workbench (parts 66, 71, 72, 73). It could only have been one of our cats. They drag everything away if you're not careful. It was nowhere to be found. What a bummer, I thought. The in-flight version is no longer possible, as the canopy and air brakes are already open.

I wrote to Revell customer service, which is supposed to be very accommodating, and asked them to send me the four small plastic parts, for a fee, of course. The reply came quickly, with a quote for these four tiny parts: EUR 26.33. What a joke! I thought they were kidding me, but it was actually true. That's how much the whole kit costs!

Well, I then found a Revell Tornado Twin Pack (Revell 03801) for EUR 12 at an online drugstore retailer (Müller). So I can even build two more Tornados.

I'm not sure now whether I should write to Revell again to point out that they really should be able to do better than that.

Ekki
Missed this one.

Skyhiker
Your painting technique is very good. It really looks real. Nice photos on the final reveal.

Finn
Awesome!

Torsten
Schöne Arbeit, beim letzten Bild dachte ich, wie ich schauen würde, wenn der an der Bergstation vorbei schweben würde 😄

JD
Terrific work Chris! I really like it 👍

Agrippa
great Job!

Chris T. An Author
Just made a short video of the finished diorama, please see here:

Youtube Video

DuperScale
Sehr sehr cool, mit dem Trabant usw sehr stimmig. Gute Inspiration, ich hab die noch in 1/48 liegen.

Chris T. An Author
Thank you guys. @Łukasz: Unfortunately, the building no longer exists as it was destroyed in an air raid when the Americans actually wanted to hit the Arado aircraft factory. There are only 2-3 photos left, one of them see picture 1 in the album.

Neuling
Schön geworden!

Dieter Bihlmaier
Great scene Chris! In the early 90s, together with a colleague, I had the opportunity to visit almost all former NVA locations and take photos (see my MiG-23 pictures). With your diorama, these extremely positive memories will be reawakened!

gorby
WOW! At first I thought the 'retro' pic was a period photo.

Chris T. An Author
Thank you Raul. To answer your questions:
Yes, the Revell pirate ship is identical in construction and differs only in the figurehead (it's a swan).
I didn't use any primer and painted directly onto the cleaned plastic. I was afraid that the primer would make too much of the wood grain disappear.
I have briefly described how I painted the pearl in pictures no. 10 and 11, please have another look.

Nick Dragone
I think this looks fantastic. Hopefully you finished it

Chris T. An Author
Thank you very much. And it's true, the cell phone photo somehow brings out the colors of the surface better than the lightbox photos from the SLR camera. The shades are a bit blurred there. But I'm not a professional when it comes to settings.
The dust: yes, that's probably the biggest enemy. You'll have to use make-up brushes regularly.

Chris T. An Author
Thanks to all of you, really appreciate it. Danke!

Chris T. An Author
Made a short video of the finished diorama, please see here:

Youtube Video

Nicolas
Joining in.

Michael Kohl
Hell of a Phantom. Great paint job, top photography.

Chris T. An Author
You're absolutely right, the masking on the triangles is actually still there, even though the model has been in the display case for almost 4 years. Oh boy, that happened to me with an F-4 Phantom too. Of course I corrected it immediately and removed it. Many thanks for your tip. Now I'll probably have to take new photos... 😄

Rui S
I Like it 👍

Neil
I agree with Mark! 👍

J35J
Great work!👍🏻

Chris T. An Author
Thanks to all of you. I am now really in WWII mode, so let's see what kit will be the next.

Jennifer Franklin
Gorgeous!