COBI Panavia Tornado GR.1 MiG Eater Set 5854

COBI's Panavia Tornado GR.1 "MiG Eater" is a 1:48 model built from 527 blocks, 36 cm long, in Gulf War markings. The wings sweep, the ailerons and wheels move, and the cockpit opens for two full-size figures of RAF aircrew. The landing gear detaches for the included display stand with its nameplate. All markings are printed; no stickers.

Two very different stories in one box

The name painted on this aircraft commemorates an unusual kill. In the opening days of the 1991 Gulf War a Tornado of this unit was credited with destroying an Iraqi aircraft on the ground during a low-level airfield attack, and the crew had MiG Eater painted on the nose.

The two figures commemorate something else entirely.

On 17 January 1991, the first night of the air campaign, a Tornado crewed by Flight Lieutenants John Peters and John Nichol was shot down while attacking an Iraqi airfield. Both ejected and were captured.

Days later Iraqi television broadcast footage of Peters reading a statement, his face swollen and bruised. The image went around the world and became one of the defining pictures of that war — and it was proof, visible to everyone, of what was happening to prisoners. Both men were held for around seven weeks, interrogated and beaten, and released at the end of the conflict.

After their release they were photographed standing with the MiG Eater aircraft. That photograph is why COBI put the two things in the same set.

The aircraft

RAF Tornado GR.1s flew some of the most dangerous missions of the campaign — low-level attacks on defended airfields using the JP233 runway denial weapon, which required flying straight and level at a few hundred feet directly over the target. Six Tornados were lost. The type served until 2019.

In the COBI range

Set 5852 is the RAF Tornado GR.1 in standard colours, 5853 the German IDS and 5894 the Italian version.

Specifications

Pieces: 527 · Figures: 2 · Scale: 1:48 · Swing wings · Display stand and nameplate · No stickers
Model dimensions: 36 × 28 × 13 cm (14.1 × 11.0 × 5.1 in)