NG899

Nils is right about the way the white was applied roughly by brush, so doing the same on your model will be way better than air brushing. From most photos I’ve seen the small stencils were over painted too or painted toughly round in a very few cases, they certainly were not masked off. @A30_737_AEW&C I’m pretty sure I’ve photos of XV762/44 in its white/grey colours so drop me a PM with your email in and I’ll get them over to you in the next day or so. Cheers Nick

Thanks for clarifying Julien. Cheers Nick

Calling all Hawk experts out there. I need to make one of these quickly, in flight as an OOB build, and I would appreciate any thoughts on things to be aware of. If I could find the Airfix kit, I'd go with one of those but I cannot. If anyone has the dimensions for the Sanders SCSG-5A smoke pods, that would be most helpful! As with the Airfix kit it looks like the 1/48 resin smoke pods are sold out or would take too long to reach the UK. Many thanks in advance for any help you can provide me with. Cheers Nick

Thanks for the heads-up on that site Neal, someone’s been busy “stealing” but they’ve made a very poor job of it - the pdfs only display the first page - they didn’t access any of the members only documents, the bulk of the site’s contents. Thus this is <10% of what was on the full site. Much of what is accessible there from 2018 has been updated, so it’s a waste of time looking at it IMHO. Now whether you’d get wider access if you paid the hosting company something…, dunno. Want to try? As I’ve said before, if folks want Harrier modelling or reference help/info, please just drop me a PM here on BM with your email address outlining the help you need. I’ll gladly reply asap, without any other cost to you than the time it takes to drop me the PM. Simples. Cheers Nick

“Harriers are Complex Beasts!” As Selwyn says the repaint in wraparound began c.75/76, about the time the GR3 upgrades began still with the original nose and fin shapes but no vents on the engine covers. As ‘interchangeability’ was a core Harrier design principle, about the time of the change you can see some odd combinations, e.g. matt two-colour flying surfaces fitted to gloss three/colour fuselages. Pick your squadron, find a photo of the scheme you like and work from that is my advice. For RAFG squadrons, after some excellent work by a member of the Harrier Heritage Centre at Wittering, I can match most fin codes with serials if I know the date of the photo. PM me with your email telling me your plans and I’ll send somethings over to help you. Cheers Nick

Very nice, even better if… 1. Fitted with 100-gal combat tanks, the larger 190s were not an Indian Navy fit. An easy fix. 2. It had EDSG intakes all the way back to the compressor blades. Another easy fix. 3. It had the extended twin-stick 1st gen Harriers’ AAR probe, which They stopped the pilot getting neck-lock to the left when prodding 😂 I believe these will be available soon from Black Dog. Otherwise nicely done. “Harriers are complex beasts.” Cheers Nick

MigModeller - Do you now have all the info you need for XZ146? If not drop me a PM with you email address in it stating what you need, happy to help. The Harrier SIG does still exist, as Alfie states and as the observant at SMW last year will perhaps have seen with our large Harriers in the Roaring Forties display. We closed the website as the increasing cost was not worth the benefit AND as no one would pick up the webmaster vacancy which arose, or had the skills or time to manage the website; they don’t update themselves you know! In the past year we’ve helped over a dozen BM members who have contacted us for help via these forums, you just have to ask! But, I do not look at BM everyday so it may take a few days or longer to reply… As for my not doing FB, IMHO there is so much more to life than doing FB, it’s my personal choice and I trust that folks can respect that. You’ll also have to search a lot to find any WIP or RFI threads from me here on BM; again, that’s my choice.

Very nicely done sir! Two small problems, both fixable 1. 451 would have had the smaller 100-gal combat tanks (those are the 190s) and 2. Would not have had a CBU for toss bombing onto Stanley airfield but a 1,000lb freefall bomb with probably an airburst fuse. If you PM me with your email I'll send you some colour photos of her as she was in 1982 for your collection. Cheers Nick (Noticing your strapline, I may be coming back to you with some questions about early FAA Martlets as flown by Winkle Brown, which is the best 1/48 kit to use, etc... 😉 )

Grey Beema, not sure why this passed me by until now but drop me a PM with your email address in it and I’ll send you somethings to answer all your questions. Do you have preferences for an FRS1 from Hermes or Invincible? Cheers Nick

Hi Graham and William, Many, many thanks for your answers which have been most helpful. They've caused me to apply the "Sherlock Holmes' Rule" to the problem - "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." Here are my Holmesian hypotheses for you to ponder... This well known photos of Flt Lt Costello has several clues in it, if one looks closely and if one also thinks about how Op Telic Harrier GR.7's shark mouths were applied and how 1(F) Sqn and 800NAS decorated the tails of their special scheme GR.9As in 2010. Hypothesis 1 - Order of painting the shark mouth and eyes > Zooming in on the shark mouth, the brush marks seem to indicate the white teeth were painted first; maybe the whole area of the mouth was painted white? Then the teeth were masked and the black areas between the teeth painted next. The brush strokes where the red and black meet suggest the red was applied next - there look to be blobs of red over the black - and, after the masking had been removed, finally the black outline was applied freehand with a 2-inch brush. The eyes were probably painted white first, then the red, then those areas masked while the black applied with a 2-inch brush. Hypothesis 2 - The red used was standard MAP (roundel) red > The Kittyhawk I/IAs were delivered from Curtiss with DuPont Sky (Light Gray) 71-021 or Air Corps Bulletin 41 'Light Blue 27' spinners and undersides. IF the standard roundel red - I don't think it was pre-war roundel red, e.g. as Glosters used on some Hurricanes - was applied by the guys at 112 Sqn over the white mouth / eye area or the sky gray / light blue spinner, the lighter colour would make the usual dull (roundel) red look brighter. The spinner looks to have been polished. This brightening effect was seen on the fins of 1(F) and 800NAS Harrier GR.9As in 2010 which were first sprayed white before roundel red was applied. The effect was so apparent that that one well-known die-cast company depicted the red as almost orange! Having painted current roundel red over white on my own 1/48 model of 1(F)'s Harrier, the effect is quite marked. Humbrol 100, as close to WW2 RAF roundel red as makes little difference, is a great match for the red as printed for this photo in WingLeader’s Photo Archive 24 on the Kittyhawk. As shown above it looks more like Humbrol 19. QED?! 🤔 I said your answers had helped me! Checking six Cheers Nick

Hi, I don't know of any other 1/72nd scale MDC decals. Could you scan the kit decal cord, correct the colour in Photoshop or similar and print your own? Good luck Nick

Standard RAF dull roundel red (as in Colourcoats ACRN22) or...? Thanks in advance for your help with this one. Nick

Hi Mike, Only just seen this thread. Drop me a PM with your email in it and I'll send you some things to help you including an old scale models article where hey corrected the Revell intakes. You could be cheeky with the nose and make an early GR3 which retained the GR1's nose shape and lacked the tailgating and fin RWRs, keeping the original fin shape/height. People often think that a GR3 had the LRMTS fitted. Wrong! The GR3 was due to the Pegasus Mk.103 engine being fitted, compared with the Mk.102 in the GR1a and the Mk.101 in the GR1. Yes, post Phase 4 mods for the LRMTS and the RWRs all remaining GR3s ultimately had those fitted. Bye for now Nick

Hi everyone, Paul - Hu131 satin mid green is almost as dark as US cockpit interior green. Pat G and Giorgio - I have to agree with what you say! I was able to look at and photograph K9942 at Cosford in detail a while back (for a stalled detailed build of the old 1/24th scale Airfix Mk.1a) and I have an old Humbrol colour chart from the era they were based in Hull and when the colour blocks were actual painted ones, not printed ones. Looking at the photos I took of 9942's cockpit, in natural daylight, without flash, I have to say that Hu120 matt light green is the closest. Based on my previous comments, it's a good job I've yet to detail and paint the cockpit on my big Spitfire! When I do get around to it, in the light of this discussion and my photos, I'll probably use Hu120, with a touch of white added to it for scale effect. Caveat Emptor! Yes, the K9942 is a restored airframe, though back in the day when it was restored it won awards for its accuracy; iirc. Johnson, I'll email you the photos I took then you can decide. Happy for you to share them here - I don't currently have a photo sharing app that BM likes. Hope that helps to clarify rather than muddy the waters. TTFN Nick

Not sure who the artist is but he/she didn't check their references for the colours carried in 1982! I've just looked on their website and cannot find this image, though I can see FRS1 XZ457/14, which looks correct except that the front nozzles should be EDSG. On your model the roundels are the right proportions for an overall EDSG FRS.1s during the Falklands War, so no worries there! ATB Nick

Keeping this really simple, I always use BS references paint for UK subjects rather than US, FS referenced ones. I've always used Humbrol 78 which equates to BS381C:283 "Aircraft Grey Green" for WW2 RAF cockpits. I usually add a bit of matt white "for scale effect". It works for me. Simples! Hope this helps. Nick

(I missed this back in 2022.) Well done on taking on the big beast of Airfix's old, but dimensionally very accurate (they had HSA/BAe input into the GR1 and FRS1 kits), SHAR; good job! I still have the FRS1 I converted from the GR1 kit back in the mid-80s with the minimal references available - one original FRS1 aero guide in glorious black and white. (Ok, the model has had a couple of refurbs/refreshs since then. Two minor points on the finish: 1. During the Falklands War, 801's side codes, including on XZ415/006 would have been in 16-inch high roundel blue numerals higher on the intake sides, which have never been included as decals in any of the big FRS1's boxings (the original did have white 00I). 2. 100-gal tanks only ever had stencils on their port sides, irrespective of which side of the Harrier/SHAR they were hung; the same applied to the large 190-gal tanks used by the SHAR fleet from July 1982.

Very nice Alex, great work. Drop me a PM if you need any photos or measurements to help you with your FRS.1 project. All the best Nick

I’ll email you over all the Invincible deck info you need. Then just tell me which area of the deck you need and I’ll send you something g to your advantage. Now then what are you doing for the deck tractor?! 🤔😂 Cheers Nick I’ll include you both in that. 😎

I don’t airbrush! Recommend a good quality 1/4inch flat brush with hardly any Klear on it; that’s what I do anyway. This modelling larky is all down to personal enjoyment, doing what you know works and, occasionally, leaving your comfort zone well behind as it’s the only way to learn new tricks. Have fun! Nick

Centreline pylon - fitted, visible in photos of 801’s FRS1s on training flights on the way south. EDSG was a high gloss finish. By the return of the carriers to the UK , it had matted down a little bit to a gloss/satin. At 1st May it would have been glossy still. No step Xs inside the intakes- as these narrowed Xs were on the original EDSG paint inside the intakes they remained in place after the toning down of the white. Hope that helps get you and the model over the line. Cheers Nick

Looking good . You could make it a bit more glossy, from photos the aircraft kept their glossy finish quite well. A thin coat of Klear perhaps? On the radome fasteners… There’s a shinier black band around the rear inch or so of the radome than the rest of it; see photos. Replicate that with a thin coat of Klear. Then use a 000 brush, steady hand and enamel paint to dot in the fasteners. If you get it wrong simply wipe off with a cotton bud dipped in paint remover and another dry one before reapplying, the Klear will prevent the paint remover damaging the surface. Howzat?

I can save you some time and effort… 801 on 1st May only did CAPs to cover the fleet and the attacking force on Stanley from Hermes. No bombs carried by their FRS1s until a few days later in the war. Hope that helps

As far as I know in 1982 on ship the deck crew would remove the outrigger ground locks, 9L caps and deck lashings, holding them up for the pilot to see them. I hope that answers that question. So the modeller’s decision is how close to launch do you wish to depict the model? If with everything removed you’ll need a bod in the cockpit and canopy closed. Most aftermarket pilots are rather big guys in 48th scale. I’ve modified a pilot from the old Airfix Shar kits to deal with this. For this scenario you’ll need to thin down the ground lock on the outrigger to be a circular cross section. If you want it before bod enters the office, no mods to outriggers needed, caps on 9Ls and cockpit closed is fine. Note, the canopy was normally only opened for access and egress due to the weather conditions and spray down there. QED

Nicely done but with one small problemette… The fuselage roundels are one door too high. They should be aligned on the fuselage side view centre line door. Sorry to spoil your day but this is not the only Harrier I’ve seen with this error. ATB Nick