Airfix  1/48 TSR2  modelling construction notes by Martin Macrae

 

I had not expected the TSR2 to be a subject for a model at any time, Airfix released the 1/72 earlier, but the 1/48the version makes up into a large, impressive model of what should have been the RAFs 70s interdictor. Ignorant  politicians in the Labour party of the time who were not aware of the aircraft performance, cancelled the aircraft on the excuse of cost, ordered a more expensive American replacement, then cancelled that and had to pay cancellation fees. Then Phantoms were eventually ordered (at further cost) that had a performance only  of a  small fraction of the TSR2.The Phantoms were adapted to the RR Spey engine, (adding to another 2/3rds cost and even lower performance. ).  The communist government even dragged the  mock-up out of the factory and ordered it burnt in front of the workers as an insult. Communist hatred of the British industrial capability was endemic at the same

time they were worshiping and dealing with communist dictatorships in the east. As an example of political interference this loss of the TSR2 contract hols up as a shining example of ministerial incompetence unrivalled to this  day. 

 

This 1/48th model is moulded in soft white plastic, etched surface,  with recessed linework. The initial impression is the recessed lines are  a bit  over scale. Otherwise the detailing is good.  Airfix have measured up  the  Duxford/Cosford XR2219/220 prototypes to good effect. This is a large model!        I decided to make it in flying trim, with all doors closed, in fictional squadron colors with the late 1960s,   gloss  polyurethane green/grey scheme then applied to the V-bombers, but patterned on the later Jaguar scheme for demarcation.   The first alteration from the kit was to glue the bomb  doors in retracted position, adding three plastic strips in the inside to strengthen the join during construction.

 
Bomb Bay doors glued shut

 

The fit is good.  So is the fit of the main undercarriage doors, gluing the lower ones in first, allow to set before adding the upper ones. The font u/c doors were more difficult, as I had glued and set the fuselage lower part a little too low, making a step at the rear of the doors, the panel had set too hard to move.

 

Cockpit  could be greatly improved with more detailing, but as little is seen after the canopy is positioned shut, so I did my usual, and painted the interior black, picked out a few instruments in colour and painted the supplied pilots in the colors of the day: white helmets, green flying suites

 

The fit of the fuselage, and for that matter, all other parts, is also good, I put the undercarriage interior structure in place to strengthen the fuselage and keep the shape correct, even though it would be concealed by the closed doors.

 

The intakes are a bit basic, go in about 1.5 inches, and then are blanked off. But thick enough to be re-shaped. The round lip needs thinning to a sharper profile  (see the picture on the rear  dust cover of the book "TSR2 Phoenix ..or folly" ) The edges of the splitter plate joining the  half-circle of the inlet has material that can be cut back to join in  a better shape. I painted the inlet interior with  black(blanked off inlet) and Humbrol matt aluminium sides before assembling them, it would be difficult to paint afterwards. Also  named the parts L,R as both sizes look similar.

Air Intakes before assembly

 

Horizontal stabilisers have minor sinkage on the underside. The fin is in one piece without sinkage.  Wings are two-piece and fit together well, they need a number of elastic bands to hold in place under tension, on the fuselage to avoid gaps underneath. The rear fuselage and under-fuselage is a single piece that fits over/under  the joined fuselage parts, completely hiding the joins, but care needs to be taken that any bands holding them in place do not 'dish' the fuselage in while setting.  A flat panel sits on top of the front wing-fuselage join, and looks very effective in modelling the same configuration seen in photographs, but on my model, this needed  a 0.010 inch strip of card on its rear edge to bring it level with the one-piece  wing.

 

The main undercarriage doors are a good fit, since there  are 3 main ones on each side, I added plastic card strips in the inside where they join to each other, to strengthen and hold in place while they set.  The nose cone is nearly correct ,but appears very slightly oversize where it meets the fuselage. Since it is a simple cone, the join cannot be sanded without  looking wrong . It needs  sanding all along the length as well,  to reduce the end diameter as well as the cone.

 

Little filler is needed  anywhere, if correct fitting is tried dry, and trimming of the inlets and fuselage left/right parts is done after glue is dry.  The large area of the fuselage, that will be concealed under the wing where the wing glues in place, should be trimmed to a slight concave to make the wing fit better at the fuselage /underwing edge. Cockpit canopies are crystal clear and care is needeed, not to scratch the areas while cleaning up the sprue burrs.  There are two slots on the sides of the fuselage, aft of the inlets, for the prototype  cameras, these needs blocking off for production versions,  before fitting the fuselage together.

 

Both canopies fit correctly to the fuselage shape, but the front visor is oversize, and does not fit the front of the fuselage, aft of the nose cone at all, quite a bit of filing and filling needed here  to blend into the fuselage. This is a bit fiddly and I tried sanding the visor inside to fit the fuselage, which did not make any difference. Eventually sanded down the fuselage to fit the visor.

 Nose filled to match curve of visor

 

Model is supplied with semi-gloss full markings of the two prototypes, including many stencils and warnings etc, The Cosford XR220 is finished in matt white, But,  since  I intended to finish as an operational  version that never flew, I thought I could get away with  applying some of stencils, making up a later serial, adding additional ECM aerials and bumps etc to the model as happened to other RAF aeroplanes in service. Diagrams in "Project Cancelled' ,by Derek Wood has some diagrams of missiles and drop-tanks projected to be carried by service versions. These are quite large, and would need to be scratch built, Alternately, camera-ports could be painted on the bomb-bay doors. Two  pylons could be made to fit under each wing as shown in the above books.  A single nuclear bomb is supplied in the kit, but is hidden in the bomb-bay.

---

UPDATED 2012: Model stripped of finish and repainted. New Markings by ModelWorld. Old gloss enamel paint was removed by: removing canopies and placing entire model in a large plastic bag, spraying with Oven CLeaner (!) and sealing bag, leaving overnight to stew.
The model was then washed in water and detergent. Process repeated several times until enough paint had come off to make repainting practical.AIRFIX styrene plastic seems to be un-affected by Oven Cleaner spray: Used stanard oven cleaner spray. This may NOT WORK ON OTHER STYRENE PLASTICE USED BY OTHER MODEL MANUFACTURERS !!! .

Model was sprayed with enamel matt paints using a fine spray to get a slighly blended edge. Speculative transfers were obtained from Model Alliance: http://www.theavationworkshop.co.uk and the set for 12 Sq RAF was used. Transfers are very high quality, and were applied over Klear floor polish to provide a gloss base. the thin yellow walkway strips were difficult to apply and took hours to apply. Model then sprayed with matt enamel.

Martin Macrae. C, 2009