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McDonnell Douglas Harrier II


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It's always an exciting time, having finished a build and choosing from the stash which kit to attempt next. I've decided to go for a (slightly) more modern aircraft, and am beginning the Tamiya 1:72 McDonnell Douglas Harrier II. This is my first Tamiya build, so I didn't know what to expect when unboxing the kit.

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i was surprised to discover the instructions only in Japanese,  but as there is mostly only the numbers of parts and detailed pictures, I should be fine🙏.

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there are a minimal amount of decals, and not much detailing to the inside of the fuselage, but that means it's open to my own interpretation. So here goes!

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So today I have been busy painting the cockpit, as I said before details are minimal, but with the help of Google I began to freehand the instrument panel detail, weathered tue cockpit floor and began work on the ejector seat. I will be adding ejector seat pulls using painted fusewire later, and have begun painting other wire to scratch build some kind of harness. So far so good, sorry the photos are not too good.

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I built one of these many years ago, the kit it actually a reboxed Italeri AV-8B, so not really a true Tamiya kit which you will find are a lot more nicely engineered (they also have recessed detail). Looking forward to seeing how you go with the build. I am sure you will do a better job than mine :D

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So for the first time I have attempted a little scratch building (only minor, but I'm a bit pleased with myself), creating a harness for the ejector seat. For this I used Tamiya masking tape wrapped around fuse wire, all very fiddly but once superglued into place I think it gives the cockpit a little extra.

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i plan to add ejector handles once the cockpit is ready to be secured into the fuselage. I then built the cockpit, securing the seat, control panel and stick, this was a little tricky as there are very few locating pins. 

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i have also built the fan, I used some thinned down black to weather it slightly, then dry brushed Humbrol 11 over the topic add highlights, not too visible in the photos but a nice effect. I have also weathered the inside panels of the fuselage using a mix of brown/black to look dirty, and a light dry brush of 11. So far so good.

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I have been busy joining both sides of the Harrier fuselage together, all nice and simple although I have found it hard to get everything lined up perfectly. 

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i have begun to sand the seam (there's lots of excess plastic) where the halves join and added the tailplane. I am now trying to research exactly where the piece pictured below.....

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should be located on the fuselage (answers on a postcard please). I'm finding Tamiya build instructions extremely minimal! I have fixed both halves of the wing together and begun toattachthe pylons to the underside. This is proving extremely fiddly as they do not fit flush tother wing, and the locating pins are rather small.

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Edited by Shelliecool
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Your odd part looks like it's someone's idea of what a chaff or flare dispenser looks like. If it's going on at all I think it lives behind the air brake or on the upper rear fuselage (check your references).  Different operators have/had different installations and it may not be required at all for your model.  What do the instructions say on the matter?

 

Your seat looks a little too upright: its guide rails are secured (very firmly!) to the rear cockpit bulkhead and as such are angled slightly aft of vertical.  Hopefully it'll be an easy fix and you can crack on.  Don't envy you getting those wings properly lined up; the perils of an older kit.

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18 hours ago, stever219 said:

Your odd part looks like it's someone's idea of what a chaff or flare dispenser looks like. If it's going on at all I think it lives behind the air brake or on the upper rear fuselage (check your references).  Different operators have/had different installations and it may not be required at all for your model.  What do the instructions say on the matter?

 

Your seat looks a little too upright: its guide rails are secured (very firmly!) to the rear cockpit bulkhead and as such are angled slightly aft of vertical.  Hopefully it'll be an easy fix and you can crack on.  Don't envy you getting those wings properly lined up; the perils of an older kit.

Thank you for the advice, I have reset the seat so it is slightly more reclined. I will do some research as to whether the part is needed for my particular aircraft. I've attached a photo of the instructions, which shows roughly where it should be but is a little vague. 

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will let you know what I discover.

Thanks again

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57 minutes ago, stever219 said:

Phew!  My pleasure.  Whatever else it is it wasn't standard fit on RAF Harriers.  Is your subject one of the options in the kit or one for which you have aftermarket decals?

It's one of the options with the kit, and I've just realised I've been as blind as a bat as there is a small picture at the right of my photo showing where it fits. Now do I fit it or not? You seem to know your stuff about Harriers.

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Those little "extra" drawings are easy to miss; I've recently done just that with Airfix's 1/48th Meteor.

 

Thank you for your kind comment: I know more about RAF Harriers than those of other air arms; your best bet for really pukka Harrier gen is the Harrier SIG, some of whose members hang out around here.  However you could try Googling "Harrier" and its BuAer number (the six-digit number applied to the fin and/or rear fuselage of your subject).  I'm sure you know that equipment fits change over time and your subject could have had the dispenser at one point in its life but not another.  See what you can find in terms of images and go with that.  If you get conflicting images it's decision time!

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18 minutes ago, stever219 said:

Those little "extra" drawings are easy to miss; I've recently done just that with Airfix's 1/48th Meteor.

 

Thank you for your kind comment: I know more about RAF Harriers than those of other air arms; your best bet for really pukka Harrier gen is the Harrier SIG, some of whose members hang out around here.  However you could try Googling "Harrier" and its BuAer number (the six-digit number applied to the fin and/or rear fuselage of your subject).  I'm sure you know that equipment fits change over time and your subject could have had the dispenser at one point in its life but not another.  See what you can find in terms of images and go with that.  If you get conflicting images it's decision time!

I've done a spot of googling and discovered most photos on there of McDonnell Douglas Harrier II's have the random part on them......so I've hedged my bets and glued it into place. May live to regret it as I'm about to Google the BuAer number🤔,thanks again for your advice,

Michelle. 

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Quick recap on today's progress, I have sanded down the joins and buffed them smooth and attached the wings. Not the best fit as I expected, but with the help of Google I think I have the signature Harrier droop.

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Decided to test out the quality of last night's sanding and buffing by spraying the aircraft with a coat of Humbrol primer. Have to say I was pleasantly surprised and happy with my work. Once the primer was dry I decided to do a spot of preshading using oil pastels and begin masking the camouflage pattern with blu-tak. Then I realised I needed to add several pieces to the fuselage before I could begin painting, notably the nose pitch control air valve, retractable refuelling probe and LERX. 

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I then began to tackle the pieces on the underside of the fuselage, again the instructions are minimal, and locating the exact position of these pieces will take research. I opted for sticking the 4 pieces together before fixing them to the aircraft. 

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I decided to do a little Google research to locate the exact position of the pieces on the underside of the fuselage, and fixed them into place. I then continued the camo masking battle, admittedly not one of my favourite things to do. 

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Once all the blu-tak was in place I thinned down my Humbrol 27 (equivalent to Tamiya XF-54) and painted a thin layer, the difference isn't too noticeable on the next photo, but I am hoping one more thin coat will look the business. 

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I painted 2 more thin coats of Humbrol 27, and crossed my fingers when I removed the blu-tak! The results were better than I expected, so again I rolled my blu-tak into thin lines and masked up the grey. This is such a fiddly job on such a contoured aircraft, and was very time consuming. Once I felt moderately happy with my masking I applied a thinned coat of Humbrol 30. Tonight I have added another coat, seems OK so far, but all will be revealed when I remove the masking tomorrow.... Fingers crossed! 

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So disaster struck! Having removed the blu-tak masking I discovered that where the paint had collected at the edges of the blu-tak, I had thick lines. This meant the edges of the Humbrol 30 sections were quite raised.😡 I decided to try sanding these patches smooth with wet and dry sandpaper, this worked fairly well but also removed some of the surrounding paintwork. Once the aircraft had dried off, I gave it another brush coat of 27 and 30, freehanding the joins. I am now happier with the overall paintwork, and will seal it in once dry.

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I have added some minor details to the fuselage, painting the tip of the refueling probe with Mr.Metal Color 213, adding black grills to the unknown part on the back, and gun metal to the fan air nozzles. I then gave the aircraft a coat of Quick Shine to seal in the paint work. 

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 i then got started on the wheels, undercarriage and missiles, giving them a Base coat of white, and adding some gun metal sections, and olive drab to the bombs.

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Been busy adding decals to the kit today, nothing major to report really, other than they all went on easily and the whole exercise was rather stress free (bit of a change for me there!). 

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Adding the decals has really lifted the project for me, and brought the model to life. I will seal them into place tomorrow, ready for weathering. 

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I have also done a spot of preshading on the bombs, missiles and undercarriage, before giving them a light top coat. Not clearly visible in the picture, but it's given them a dirty/realistic look.

 

 

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Turned my attention to the undercarriage today, I secured the wheels into place, these had a lose fit and were hard to get straight. The wheels on the wings fitted perfectly and look pretty good. https://www.flickr.com/gp/149247612@N04/49Q97n

Attaching the doors/covers to these however was a nightmare!  They are tiny and leave little room for glue to hold them in place. Taking shape now though. https://www.flickr.com/gp/149247612@N04/cw875X

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Hi Shellie,

 

welcome to the universe of re-boxing! You never know what you are going to find in the box. Revell are the kings as far as confusing modelers, as so many of their kits were not manufactured by them in the first place...

Re the instructions only in Japanese, I am surprised you cannot read them. Every true modeler speaks in tongues, mostly Japanese and Czech...

Were you always using an airbrush, or is this a new thing?

 

Your Harrier does look real good.

Keep it up!

JR

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22 minutes ago, jean said:

Hi Shellie,

 

welcome to the universe of re-boxing! You never know what you are going to find in the box. Revell are the kings as far as confusing modelers, as so many of their kits were not manufactured by them in the first place...

Re the instructions only in Japanese, I am surprised you cannot read them. Every true modeler speaks in tongues, mostly Japanese and Czech...

Were you always using an airbrush, or is this a new thing?

 

Your Harrier does look real good.

Keep it up!

JR

Hi Jean, 

This is my first Tamiya kit so their instruments were quite a shock....I find Airfix and Revell quite informative in their direction. I brush paint everything, normally I'm quite happy doing so but I find with camo it doesn't look blended....if that makes sense?

Thank you for your kind comments, 

Michelle. 

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