Piero

Hello my friends, after a hot & long summer break I'm back to my model desk. It's time to start the painting phase... my favourite phase. First of all, the canopy and cockpit were masked with tape and paper, then a good layer of a solid grey has been airbrushed as primer: although there are a number of specific products around for this job, I still prefer to use a cheap and reliable acrylic plain color mixed with some clear gloss. Nice landing gears eh?... After 12 hours I checked if there was any fault of filler... luckily everything seems ok... so I sprayed an almost black colour along the panel lines. Grigio Mare Scuro (Dark Sea Grey) and Verde Scuro (Dark Green) camouflage paints were airbrushed using blue-tak rolls. Black was sprayed for the tail fin band and circular antenna on the top of fuselage. The anti glare area in front of the windshield was spayed black too but then I discovered that actually on the AMI G.91R it was Dark Green, so I resprayed in this color. Some post-shading is already done too. Alluminio (Flat Aluminum) was airbrushed on the under surfaces. Black antenna panels were sprayed too. At this time I had to respray in Zinch Chormate Green the undercarriage bays too. Now a good clear gloss layer is a must in preparation for the washing and decal phases. A dark wash was applied. CIAO! Piero

Hi Nick, nice to hear you. Thank you, if you find something about it... I'm in the process to build a new GR.5 in 1/32... CIAO! Piero

Hi John, thank you for your effort, but the GR.5 was a completely new jet, with different weapon systems. CIAO! Piero

Hi, I was wondering if the RAF Harrier GR.5 was ever cleared to use the Matra 155 SNEB rocket pod... At that time the SNEB rocket pods, together with the BL775 cluster bombs, were the primary weapons for RAF's CAS planes. I know that the GR.5 was a "troubled & interim" airplane waiting for the GR.7 and for this reason many developments and fitting were deleted. I saw pics of RAF Harrier GR.7 with these pods... but never the GR.5. Any info about it? CIAO! Piero

Hello, the hot summer here is already started... 😰 so modelling is slowing down. But some progress are going on. The IP cover with the collimator is fitted. I added a map's bag on the left side. The front wind shield has been black painted inside the frame and than glued to the fuselage. No problem here, the fit is almost perfect so no filler is required. Despite the kit includes PE vortex generators, these parts has been replaced by me using thin plasticard strips and added to both side of fuselage's rear section. I have also replaced the vertical trim and actuators using plasticard. PE strakes has been added to the mid-chord of the wings. Small details as reinforcement plates, heat discharge, drain pipes and anti-collision bacon has been added around the fuselage. A light dark wash was applied to highlight panel lines and any eventual imperfection of the work. The model almost ready for the next painting phase. CIAO! Piero

Hello my friends, thanks you for your comments on my Gina! A big step forward was made last days with the wings glued to the fuselage. And as you can see there was a needs of a good amount of putty here and there... especially to fill the micro-bubbles-holes... argh! After that also the tail planes were glued to the fuselage. Time to check the filling & scribing job... Taking a break from the filling & sanding task... I spent some time to search a good match for the Dark Green... here a palette to compare the FS34079 of Tamiya and Gunze acrylic paints... mumble mumble... After that mess of colors I need a real break... wagyu steak...slurp!!! CIAO! Piero

Hello guys, here is the fuselage glued with a lot of CA acting also as putty. After a good session of sanding some bubbles came up especially under the rear section of the fuselage. A resin part that really disapponted me was the nose... the part doesn't match with the front section of the fuselage. Again, a good session of sanding and the nose profile is flushed with the fuselage. Now its' time to rescribe all the lost panel lines and add some details all around the fuselage. CIAO! Piero

Hi Alex, thank you very much!!! Yes, I've noted the thickness of the fuselade around the bays... it's a plus for the strenght of the kit but a minus for the level of detail... but I can live with this. I've already closed the fuselage and started with the filling&sanding stage... tomorrow I'll show you the result...argh! CIAO! Piero

Hello my friends, a little update on my Gina. Some details has been added inside the exhaust tube. The turbine has been corrected in shape and details. Now the internal parts are ready to be fitted inside the fuselage. A lot of dry fitting is a must here... especially for the cockpit and jet intake areas. CIAO! Piero

Hi guys, some progress on my Gina. External fuel tanks and wing's pylons are done. I've used Tamiya XF62 and Gunze H330 for the Dark Green and Tamiya XF16 for the Aluminum. The finsh is semi-matt. At this stage I've finished the main undercarriage bays, painted with Tamiya XF58 for the Interior Green. Some tubes and pipes were added too and painted with Vallejo. Cockpit tube and instrument panel are finished. The collimator, as other small details as switchs and throttle, will be added later after the main parts will be fitted inside the fuselage. Some specific parts for the Italian G.91 R/1 are the panels that cover the guns and the one at the back of the camera's nose cone. These resin parts are easy to work with but a little attention needs to be carried on to fit the panels with the fuselage without losing all the the small details around. CIAO! Piero

Hello my friends, thank you very much for your compliments on my Harrier fleet. The Harrier is my favourite jet/aircraft ever and always will be. I should start to work on a GR.1 model in 32nd scale this summer... will see. CIAO! Piero P.S. Sorry for the rug 😎

Hello my friends, thank you very much for your compliments on my Harrier Plus!!! CIAO! Piero

Hello, as request by some of you, here some pics of my Harriers in 1/32nd scale. MMI AV-8B Plus RAF Harrier GR.9A RAF Harrier GR.7 RAF Harrier GR.5 USMC AV-8B CIAO! Piero

Hi Andrew, many thanks! yes, the AV-8B can carry up to 4 external fuel tanks. Depending on the type of war load, the external fuel tanks can be carried on the internal pylons or on the middle pylons. CIAO! Piero

Hello my friends, pictures of the completed model can be found here: CIAO! Piero

Hello, Here is my MDD/Alenia AV-8B Harrier II Plus in use with the Marina Militare Italiana (Italian Navy) as “Lupi di Mare” (Sea Wolf) Squadron based at MARISTAER Grottaglie (Italy) and deployed on board of the Garibaldi and Cavour Italian carriers. KIT The model is based on Trumpeter AV-8B Plus kit in 1/32nd scale. This kit is not so good. Details are generally basic and the specific parts of this version as the radome, FLIR and chaff&flare launchers are really off in terms of shape and size. Wing pylons are wrong and doesn’t fit the wings. Ventral pylon is wrong too. External fuel tanks are wrong in shape. The panel lines are mostly incorrected too. The decals sheet in the box doesn’t offer the choice of the Italian’s Harriers… So, it’s a long way to get a decent Harrier replica… CONSTRUCTION Most of the correction and adds steps can be found on the WIP topic of this model. To recap the detail sets I sued and the parts from scratch I made, here is a list: · Aires resin cockpit set; · Aires resin undercarriage bays set; · Eduard PE sheets for internal and external details; · North Star Models resin AGM-65 Maverick missile and rail; · Cutting Edge resin LAU AIM-9 launch rails; · Isra Decal resin Litening targeting pod; · Hasegawa plastic external fuel tanks from an A-4 kit; · AMS Resin undercarriage wheels; · Radome from scratch; · FLIR from scratch; · Chaff&flare dorsal launchers from scratch; · Air scoops, external sensors and aerial antennas from scratch; · ECM ALQ-164 pod from scratch; · Ventral pylon from scratch. COLORS & MARKINGS The Italian’s Harries has a 2-tone grey camouflage: top and side are in 36231, with underside in 36320. Paint were from the acrylics lines of Gunze and Tamiya. For the decal I went with a mix form Phoenix decal for the stencils, Tauro Models were used for the wolf-steps on the vertical tail, Navy’s anchors and roundels. Zotz decal for the wolf-head, pilot name and the MDC inside the canopy. Some RBF tags were added to finish the model. And now some pictures of the completed model. CIAO! Piero

Hi Alex, many thanks! I know about the different color of the undercarriage bay and speed brake wells. In fact, these part on the early Gina with AMI, as the pre-serie R and R/1 were aluminium, than they were proctected with a layer of zinch chromate Interior Green. And the German G.91 R/3 and T/3 has the Grey applied on the same parts. Also the color of the wing pylons is different as the shape of the external fuel tanks. CIAO! Piero

Hello my friends, a little progress on the Gina. Interior Green has been sprayed on the undercarriage bay and speed brake vanes. Medium Grey has been sprayed on the cockpit tube and instrument panel. Some hydraulic tubes has been added to the vane. Than a cote of clear gloss has been sprayed before a dark wash using Mig's specific products. Next, I worked on the wing pylons and external fuel tanks. Very nice parts... Gunze's RAF Dark Green and Tamiya's Flat Aluminium has been used for this task. CIAO! Piero

Please Massimo, stay on target... don't touch AS ROMA ;-)

Hello Guys, here is my new project for the next few months, a FIAT G.91 R/1 in charge with the A.M.I. (Aeronautica Militare Italiana) from the '60s to the '90s. The model is a limited edition resin kit by DAYGLO MODELS. Main parts are in grey resin, very well casted, bubble-free. Also included in the box are metal undercarriages, pitot tube, a small PE sheet and a decal sheet for the German G.91 R/3 only... Not a kit for absolute beginners... Instruction sheet is big and clear printed but you have to take attention with all the alternative parts you can you based on the version you want: pre-serie, PAN, G.91 R/1, G.91 R/3... So, you need a good references source to look at. The books are my main source for the Gina. Starting with the main iternal parts as cockpit tube and undercarriage bays. I need some tools for remove the parts from the resin blocks and fleshing. The task doesn't required too much effort because the resin is very well casted and easy to work with. The interior parts are primed with flat black... CIAO! Piero

Hello guys, ok, she is finished now! More and better pics of her will be posted soon on RFI section. CIAO! Piero

Hello my friends, I'm getting close to the final stage of this model. Here is the resin Stencel ejection seat painted and finished. And here is the canopy detailed with the MDC. I should complete the model during the weekend... let see. CIAO! Piero

Hi guys, worked on the external load last weekend. I choose a full training load, typical for a deployment at Decimomannu test range or for a TLP session: AGM Maverick drill and rail are resin set from North Star Models Litening targeting pod is a resin part from Isradecal External fuel tanks came from Hasegawa's A-4 kit ACMI e RAID pods are modified AIM-9 missiles ALQ-164 ECM pod is from scratch I heavily modified all the pylons adding details as the sway braces and stencils. This is the result. CIAO! Piero

Hello Shaun, happy to see you back with your big Harrier project!!! CIAO! Piero

Hi Kirk, I need a loooooooong table Anyway, yes I'll take a pic of my Big Harrier Fleet. CIAO! Piero