ChocksAway Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Thought it was about time to get another Harrier up for inspection (#23 in 1/48th) ... Harrier GR.5 - ZD319, MoD, Summer 1989 during Rough Ground Trials at Wittering - 1/48th scale Hasegawa kit. ZD319 was the second (DB2) of three development build aircraft and is seen here in its original GR5 configuration (she was later upgraded to a GR.7 before being used for spare parts). First flown on 31 July 1985, the aircraft was used for trials of the engine, systems and ordnance. The aircraft carried an interesting scheme during its early development which I have tried to replicate (more on this later) - it should be noted that the white aft-fuselage was so that link strikes showed during the abortive 25mm gun trials, there being quite some concern about the carbon fibre tail. During these various early trials, cameras were fitted to the aircraft. Three Photo Sonics 1-VN 16mm cameras were mounted under a CLBS-200 on each wing, facing inwards. In the Aden gun pods, there were 3 of the same cameras facing outboard to observe the release trajectory of bombs and fuel tanks and also undercarriage behaviour. The gun blast tubes were wooden replicas which could be removed and forward facing cameras fitted to observe rocket & missile firings or for filming the nosewheel. In 1989, ZD319 took part in the "Rough Ground Trials" held at Boscombe Down and Wittering. The objective, not unsurprisingly, was to see how the Harrier handled when taxying, taking off and landing on rough, unpaved ground. First generation Harriers regularly deployed "into the field" so it was likely that the second generation GR.5 would follow suit. Graham Tomlinson was the test pilot for these trials. Thus the scheme and the opportunity to throw some mud at the aircraft was too good to miss - I'm also indebted to Andrew Lawson who provided details and photographs of the aircraft at this time - Andy was taking the photographs during the trials. This model is based on the Hasegawa 1/48th scale Harrier GR Mk.7 “Royal Air Force” kit, albeit with a cast resin GR.5 nose from their GR.5 kit. I also added a resin MB Mk.12 ejection seat and donated CBLS-200 launchers from another kit. For the cameras I used 1/35th scale German gas canisters from Tamiya tanks - thanks Dave (Panzer Vor!). The kit gun pods were modified with some plastic rod for the gun blast tubes. The paint scheme is as follows. A base coating of Halfords white primer and the final white areas and undercarriage were over-painted with Vallejo Model Color White. Humbrol's Dark Sea Grey enamel, with a dash of white, was used for the top grey and Humbrol's Medium Sea Grey enamel used for the lower surface grey. The blue is a mixture acrylics, namely: Lifecolor LC08 Matt Pale Blue + Lifecolor UA098 Azure Blue + Vallejo Model Color White + Lifecolor Dark Gull Grey (FS36231) acrylic. I don't know the proportions, it was mixed by eye against photographs so is quite possibly wrong, but close enough for me. The CBLS-200 are Humbrol Dark Sea Green enamel and Precision Paint's Dark Roundel Blue. Vallejo Gold was used on the canopy. Other paints are as per previous Harriers (e.g. Humbrol acrylic spray aluminium. Decals were a mixture of home-made (e.g. serial no.), kit, spares and a few from Vingtor's "48-122 Harrier Test & Development #4" sheet. Humbrol Clear was used before and after decal application. The "weathering" was a mixture of artist pastels and Tamiya weathering powders, applied direct and mixed with Decalfix. A few things can be improved upon for the next onee (is it not ever the case?) Here she is in all her muddy glory ... Comments welcome as ever. 26 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longhorn Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 That's great, nice to see something different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phildagreek Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Like it. Good effort! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Fleming Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 I like it (But then I would.....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper_city Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Nice one Graham. I look forward to seeing this down the club in a couple of weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shar2 Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 She looks great Graham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Very nice and very different! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Nice to see a trials Harrier being built, interesting colour scheme. Shaun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LT Motta Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 I just love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calum Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Different, but nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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