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1 72 Airfix BAe Harrier GR9A - Completed! (pg.20)


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On 12/1/2017 at 04:26, chrish said:

looks amazing!

Cheers Chrish, thanks :thumbsup:

 

Hi eveybody; no modelling last WE, as I went skiing in beautiful Val Gardena :) 

VAL_GARDENA

 

VAL_GARDENA2

 

The mountain group you see in the middle of the second pic is the Sella group; you can actually ski around the whole group (it is called the "Sella Ronda"), hundreds of km of slopes, four different valleys - and you can do it clockwise or counter clockwise. Happy :D BTW: this last pic was taken from the coldest point of the whole valley, at 2.200 meters - it was -13°C that day, and -15°C the day after ... still, total fun!

 

Back on topic; a bit of progress made before leaving for the mountains:

drop tanks and various bits airbrushed with the relevant color (Tamiya Dark Sea Gray for the two pods, Neutral Grey for the rest)

ordnance8

 

Drop tanks pre-shading showing through:

ordnance9

 

Paveways airbrushed with Lifecolor Light Grey (FS36622), thinned with Future:

ordnance10

 

Masking and spraying the tank and rail tips with Tamiya German Grey (the instructions called for EDSG, this I think is a close match). The rocket pods were airbrushed with Tamiya Olive Drab

ordnance11

 

After unmasking and a Future coat:

ordnance12

 

ordnance13

 

ordnance14

 

Now I only need to paint the rocket pod tips black, and eventually start applying decals. Sorry for the very slow progress, guys :shrug:

 

Comments welcome, as ever

 

Ciao

Edited by giemme
Color ref for PAVEWAYS
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5 hours ago, Spookytooth said:

Nice and steady work there Giemme.

Glad you had a good time skiing mate.

Strapping 2 planks of wood to your feet and sliding down a mountain is not my cup of tea but the views are stunning.

 

Simon.

Thanks Simon! :thumbsup:  You'd be surprised to know how much technology is involved in those two "planks of wood" :coolio:  :D  :D The views are indeed stunning, best place in Italy to go skiing IMO.

 

2 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

Very kind of you to provide your fans with a WE build update even when you've gone skiing, much appreciated! The underwing stuff is looking very good, and the slopes look very good too! But -15C (5 F) is cold!

My pleasure, Cookie :thumbsup: As for the temperature, I could stand the -15 in the mountains much better than the -5 at home - different kind of ... air :winkgrin:  Plus I love skiing, so ...

 

1 hour ago, woody37 said:

'Liked' on both accounts, the skiing and your progress :)

Glad you like them both, Woody :winkgrin::thumbsup: 

 

Ciao

Edited by giemme
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On 19/1/2017 at 00:13, The Spadgent said:

Lovely work. Super detailed, love it. :lol:

 

John

Cheers John, thank you :thumbsup: 

 

Here's a little progress report. First off, I put back in place the intake probe that I snapped off when removing the masking:

probe_repair

 

Then I completed the paint job on the ordnance: the rocket pod tips, brush painted with Italeri Matt Black thinned with Future

ordnance15

 

and the Paveway tips, with a mix of Lifecolor Sand Yellow and Matt White, again by brush. The inner side of the tip ring (is that the name?) was painted with Lifecolor Dark Gull Grey

ordnance16

 

Eventually, time for decals/stickers! :frantic: :banghead: Did I mention that I hate decals?  :shutup:  Anyway, I started from the SNIPER Pod, just to see how they behaved:

decals3

 

decals4

 

decals5

 

There's a bit of silvering, but I think I can sort that out. I used Tamiya Decal Softener for the two main ones (BTW: there ares still another 4 or 5 decals to be placed on this POD alone, can you imagine on all the rest?? :frantic: )

 

While leaving these to dry (don't want to risk removing them while trying to lay down the remaining ones - don' ask!), I started with the main AC:

decals1

 

Here I placed the decals using PVA glue thinned with water; basically, I brushed on a bit of this mix in the spot where the decal had to go, placed it and removed the excess with a cotton swab, and went over with the decal solution to complete the job.

 

There's two separate instruction sheets for decals placement: one for the common stencils, the other for the specific airframe I'm modelling. I decided, for my own sanity, to proceed by view, that is: I'll stick on first all the decals and stencils indicated in the top view of both sheets, then I'll do the bottom, then port side and eventually starboard side. Maybe not exactly in that order, but you get the point. This is going to take a long time ... :chair: 

Comments welcome, as ever

 

Ciao

Edited by giemme
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Love this bit of your builds where they just start to really come together, there just seems to be a tipping point with you where it just joins up?

 

the pictures of the skiing look stunning, I have always wanted to go but never have, need to make that happen! My sister and brother go ever year with out fail but mainly in Austria, however I love Italy and have always wanted to try skiing there. Glad you had a great time.

 

Rob

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3 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

Great stuff. I don't want to tell granny how to suck eggs but have you ever used Micro sol and Micro set for decals? If not I'd invest in some, your stickers will love you for it. :D

 

johnny. 

Thanks Johnny, I've never used Micro sol and set, although I know about them. It's just that I try to use decals as less as possible and rather paint on, when I can; not feasible in this case, obviously. I normally get along fine with the methods I use, but again thanks for the heads up :thumbsup: 

 

1 hour ago, rob85 said:

Love this bit of your builds where they just start to really come together, there just seems to be a tipping point with you where it just joins up?

 

the pictures of the skiing look stunning, I have always wanted to go but never have, need to make that happen! My sister and brother go ever year with out fail but mainly in Austria, however I love Italy and have always wanted to try skiing there. Glad you had a great time.

 

Rob

Cheers Rob, thank you for your appreciation :thumbsup: I'm not sure I'm at that tipping point yet, but probably close anyway ... :) 

 

Skiing is indeed lot of fun, especially after you've gone through the learning phase -it's never too late, you know? :winkgrin:

 

Ciao

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I agree with Rob - everything is starting to come together beautifully. It is looking amazing and your attention to detail is really paying off.

Glad you had a great time skiing - the photos look stunning.

Have a great weekend.

Kind regards,

Stix 

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That's looking fantastic Giemme, it's looking so much like the real thing now.

 

Regarding the ordnance, the kit bombs look more like US GBU-12's rather than RAF Paveway IV's. The British versions need some GPS 'bumps', and a camel hump on the back. Here's my attempt:

IMG_0464_zps2ef9f8e8.jpg

 

Given your gift for tiny scratch work, yours will no doubt turn out much better.

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On 20/1/2017 at 13:55, PlaStix said:

I agree with Rob - everything is starting to come together beautifully. It is looking amazing and your attention to detail is really paying off.

Glad you had a great time skiing - the photos look stunning.

Have a great weekend.

Kind regards,

Stix 

Cheers Stix, thanks! :thumbsup: 

 

 

On 20/1/2017 at 17:52, Cookenbacher said:

That's looking fantastic Giemme, it's looking so much like the real thing now.

 

Regarding the ordnance, the kit bombs look more like US GBU-12's rather than RAF Paveway IV's. The British versions need some GPS 'bumps', and a camel hump on the back. Here's my attempt:

IMG_0464_zps2ef9f8e8.jpg

 

Given your gift for tiny scratch work, yours will no doubt turn out much better.

I see what you mean, Cookie, thank you :thumbsup: Looks like I've been incorrectly lazy with these PAVEWAYS - not unusual :chair: 

Now I'll have to come up with an idea on how to reproduce the hump ... :hmmm: 

 

Ciao

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Really nice work Giemme; arrived late to this thread, sorry.

 

On the stencils, one word of advice... each Harrier had some stencils - like the footprints on the LERX in slightly different places.  So if you want 100% accuracy refer to photos is my advice.

I think, from the scheme colours, you're making ZD433/45A, yes?

If you drop me a PM with your e-mail address in, I'll send you some photos to help including of her out in theatre.

 

This book may help too, if it hasn't already, for future GR9s if not this one...  (No, I' don't get royalties folks!)

 

Good luck with it... It's all downhill (easier!) from here! :)

Looking forward to seeing it finished soon.

 

Ciao,

Nick

 

 

Edited by NG899
extra info
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Nick, thank you very much for popping in and for your advice! :thumbsup:  I am indeed making ZD433/45A, and for stencils decals and many other details I'm mostly relying on pictures found here: http://p1127.co.uk/Harrier/HarrierGR9/index.html

 

Any additional help is more than welcome, though, so I'll drop you a PM.

 

Ciao

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Thanks Leon! :thumbsup: 

2 hours ago, Leonl said:

Can I ask how you deal with silvering? I'd be interested in any ideas as I never know how to deal with it....

 

I might not be the best person for this question, anyway here's what I do: first off, the kind of silvering I mentioned earlier about the SNIPER Pod isn't actually silvering, more the reflex of light on the decal surface. A good Future coat or two are enough for that. Speaking of which, a Future coat is all i do before puttign decals on, and I don't really like a super-glossy model, also to avoid loosing fine surface detail.

 

Whenever I apply large decals (and I tend to avoid that, if I can :coolio: ) I first brush the area where the decals will go with PVA glue thinned with water, removing the excess with a q-tip after having placed the decal; this sort of levels underneath the decal. If it's a small one, I use Tamiya Markfit Strong in a similar way, brushing a small amount in place before applying the decal, then another small amount on top of it, and a q-tip to make it adhere to the model surface.

In both cases, a Future coat to seal everything in; if I did a good job (and the decals are good quality) the final flat coat should definitely hide any traces of light reflection from the decals. Nothing brilliant, as you can see :shrug: HTH

 

Ciao

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Hi everybody; Monday, ready for a WE progress report? :)

 

Slowly proceeding with decals, now the top side has been completed:

decals6

 

Earlier in this thread, @Giorgio N mentioned he had trouble with the wing tip slime light decals, and eventually he had to paint them on; well, no wonder, because they're way oversized! :frantic:  So after a first attempt at laying one down as it is, I decided it would be better to cut it in smaller pieces, and here's the outcome:

 

decals7

 

decals8

 

I've also completed the decal job for the SNIPER Pod, and brushed on a good amount of Future:

decals9

 

decals10

 

decals11

 

I did the same with the DJRP Pod, but forgot to take pics :banghead:

 

Anyway, I needed a break from decals, so I tackled a long procrastinated task: the front wheel leg.

frontleg1

 

First off, I cut away the molded in door, which is oversized in all dimensions:

frontleg2

 

Then I glued the two halves together with Tamiya Green Cap and a good clamping, as the short half had some noticeable warp towards the wheel end; after it had settled, I also treated it with nearly boiling water, and this is how it looks:

frontleg3

 

A quick dry fit in place:

frontleg4

 

frontleg5

 

Looks straight enough to me, what do you think?

I'm not using the molded in pins to mount the wheel, so I drilled a hole in it ti make room for a metal pin:

frontleg6

 

I also had to add a metal pin to the leg itself because I inadvertently cut off the mounting peg when cleaning it:

frontleg7

 

I also cut off the plastic wheel pins, but again forgot to take a pic :banghead: Still more to be done on this, but right after another decal session ...

 

That's it for the day, comments welcome

 

Ciao

Edited by giemme
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1 minute ago, keefr22 said:

No good asking me if the nose leg is straight though, my eyes are far too wonky at this time of day...!! :blink::D

:rofl: 

 

Thanks Keith :thumbsup: 

 

Ciao

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The front wheel leg looks straight enough from my side of the screen Giorgio :thumbsup: Good work so far on the decals - I do not enjoy lots of stencils - one of the benefits of building tanks; very few decals!

Kind regards,

Stix

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Thanks Stix! :thumbsup: 

 

43 minutes ago, PlaStix said:

one of the benefits of building tanks; very few decals!

Definitely a benefit! The top and bottom sides of this Harrier are the ones with fewest decals/stencils; the fun begins with port and starboard ... :frantic:

 

Ciao

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