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Harrier II in Hokkaido!


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Prepped the fuselage.

1) sprayed on some Tamiya Primer on 24th (Japanese don't generally celebrate Christmas :lol:);

2) leave to dry over night;

3) sprayed sand colour on one side on 25th;

4) leave to dry over night;

5) sprayed blue tinted light grey colour on the other side last night;

6) leave to dry over night;

paintshoppendisaster_zpsd6911ff0.jpg

some weird chemical reaction - disasterous GREY STICKY GUNK (and, I also need to check the exposure setting for the camera!)

7) really looking forward to scrapping off the gunk and rescribing later tonight...

We'll see...

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This one really is putting up a fight :(

Yeah. The little hummingbird bites back :lol:

I have slowly and patiently wet sanded the gunk off. Did not feel particularly inclined to strip the whole lot of primer and sand coloured paint (on the other side).

We'll have to see whether the Kami are satisfied to let me complete this on the second attempt.

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Colonel-San, work is finally progressing smoothly with the special camouflage scheme for the commemorative fairwell flight on 31st December 2002.LandAttackCamouWIP_zps87aa85f9.jpgThis was where we were last night. We expect to be just on time and ready for your inspection at 1200 on 30th December.

Edited by tropical thistle
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... be good to see this one done.

Hai Parabat-San.

It will be good indeed to complete the scheduled farewell flight smoothly.

The mooted retirement of the Harrier in 2000 was not realised because the special retirement scheme could not be done on time. As a result, the Harrier soldiered on for another two years.

We will not embarass Colonel-San this time. This job was planned under the just in time management model. We have just completed the land bound CAS scheme as well. Tomorrow the sun will shine- we will do the commemorative scheme and touch up. We will be ready for Colonel-san's inspection.

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Colonel-San, we are working ourselves to the ground (we are Japanese, Hai?!)

The decals printed by our esteemed Hasegawa is sticking to its principle. Quality strong, the print is excellent but the whole thing is unweilding and non-conforming. In other words, it just like a good old samurai, a royal pain in the butt.

We request permission to allow them to break in and conform to the airframe. So, the handover will likely be postponed to 31st December.

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Honourable Colonel-San (snaps a smart salue).I am Corporal Autumn Moon.I regret to inform you that Tropical-san is no longer with us. the honourable senior engineer did not trun up for work this morning, We have just received the sad news from his wife that Tropical-san worked late into the night and apparently committed seppuku in the early hours this morning.

It appears that the decals printed by the esteemed Hasegawa-san may have played a contributing factor in the late honourable senior engineer's demise. Try as he might have every trick in the books, Tropical-san could not get the decals to yield. In desperation, he tried a variation of the highly dangerous hot steam iron manoeuvre. Using the steam from a hot cuppa tea, he managed to beat the inflexible decals into submission. Thus emboldened, Tropical-san tried an even more extreme manoeuvre. He directed the path of the steam from an electric kettle directly to the decals!PC310249_zps8c978395.jpg

He was able to get even better results...So, Tropical-san, a humble but dedicated "salaryman" honoured with such an important task, pushed the limit further and further… until this!

PC310256_zps7c2b6ee4.jpg

Tropical-san could not live with the shame of letting his superior, you Colonel-san, and the entire JASDF down. So in the end, like any good old fashioned samurai, Tropical-san could only follow the bushido honor code.Corporal Autumn Moon bows deeply and departs.I shall leave you to mourn the demise of the Hokkaido Harrier (what a feisty little bird! - she fought me at every unexpected corner and all the way to the end).

I had to admit defeat.This was what Tropical-san intended...PC310254_zps337a17a2.jpg

303th TFS “The Kamikaze Woodpecker”

PC310253_zps4942a620.jpg in the CAS camou scheme flying kamikaze bomb truck mission.

PC310250_zps26f163f3.jpg301th TFS The Big-mouthed Fish Eating Frog”

PC310252_zps6fae29f7.jpg

in the maritime strike camou scheme flying anti-landing craft mission.

Perhaps we may yet see another JASDF special commemorative scheme attempted in due course in What-if III!

Edited by tropical thistle
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