Enzo the Magnificent Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 My second entry in this GB. The original intention was to simply build the Italeri 1/72 Sea Harrier in the markings of 801NAS in the late 80s. The decals sheet is taken from the Airfix kit. I had heard that there were major problems with the Airfix kit and the only usable part is the decal sheet. So I was quite willing to buy the Airfix kit, rob the decals sheet for this build and use the kit itself as a paint dummy. So... here are the bits for the Italeri build. The kit parts: And the aftermarket stuff. A PE instrument panel from Modell Hobby, resin seat from Pavla and resin tanks and intakes from Freightdog. As for the Airfix kit. Well, the rumours of its rubbishness turned out to be totally unfounded. It's a rather nice kit. Deep panel lines and some minor shape issues around the ventral fin area. But certainly not unbuildable. So this one will be finished as XZ451/VL-100 of 700A NAS in the original grey and white colour scheme. Rather than demonstrate my pathetic photography skills yet again, have a look at the superb sprue shots in the Paul AH's BM review of this kit. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234919725-bae-sea-harrier-frs1-douglas-a-4p-skyhawk-dogfight-double Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted July 14, 2013 Author Share Posted July 14, 2013 First thing to do... deal with those deep panel lines on the Airfix kit. I painted them over with Mr Surfacer 1000. That didn't do much - I think I need a coarser grade of Mr Surfacer. So I sprayed Alclad II black primer with microfiller. This was sprayed on quite thickly which seemed to do the trick. By the way, the model is just held together by the wing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arniec Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 Nice start Enzo. Cheers, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintsPhil Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 (edited) Excellent we have some SHARs! The Airfix kit is far from unbuildable, I've built a couple! I think most of the bad reviews come from the fact Airfix had the chance to make a great kit, like their GR9, but only managed an OK one. The ESCI kit (reboxed by Italeri) is still very good despite its age. Be careful trying to squeeze the resin seat into the kit pit it's very tight. That's the only bad area of the kit really. Oh and the lumps on the undersides of the wings where the out board pylons go. They're fairings fitted when the pylons aren't fitted and need sanding flush when the pylons are fitted. Good luck Phil Edited July 14, 2013 by SaintsPhil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted July 16, 2013 Author Share Posted July 16, 2013 I have sprayed the cockpit areas of each model so I can get clean lines within the intakes. Have a look at the EDSG/White one. What do you think about the demarcation line? Too high or just about right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintsPhil Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 I'm not sure if its not maybe a touch high. Take a look here http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/howard_mason4/sea_harrier_frs1/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted July 16, 2013 Author Share Posted July 16, 2013 I'm not sure if its not maybe a touch high. I'm sure now. It is a touch high. Thanks, Phil. It will get resprayed tomorrow. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintsPhil Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 Better to spot it now, normally I don't notice until the decals are going on!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Watching with interest - I have four SHARs in the stash myself: two Airfix, one Hasegawa, and one Fujimi. All unbuildable (as determined by expert vote) due to catastrophic errors which rip at the fabric of space time itself. I suspect you'll fare much better than those experts! Cheers, Bill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted July 17, 2013 Author Share Posted July 17, 2013 Better to spot it now, normally I don't notice until the decals are going on!! Indeed! Constructive criticism is one of the joys of BM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted July 17, 2013 Author Share Posted July 17, 2013 Watching with interest - I have four SHARs in the stash myself: two Airfix, one Hasegawa, and one Fujimi. All unbuildable (as determined by expert vote) due to catastrophic errors which rip at the fabric of space time itself. I built the Hasegawa one about thirty years ago. Nice kit. I'm pleased that the Airfix kit is nowhere near as bad as the naysayers say. In fact, it's a rather nice kit with some easily fixable deep panel lines. That means that the Shar FA2 is likely to be as good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintsPhil Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 I built the Hasegawa one about thirty years ago. Nice kit. I'm pleased that the Airfix kit is nowhere near as bad as the naysayers say. In fact, it's a rather nice kit with some easily fixable deep panel lines. That means that the Shar FA2 is likely to be as good. Never built the Hasegawa kit so can't comment there, but I've built the Fujimi GR1 kit, which is basically the same except the front end. It's not a bad kit and on a par with the ESCI, it's just not quite as we'll engineered. The Airfix FA2 is a nice kit, simple to build. There are plenty of AM bits you can add to over come the issues if you feel the need! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted July 21, 2013 Author Share Posted July 21, 2013 It all looks like a bit of a mess at the moment... But I'm quite pleased with the way it's all going. The PE instrument panels just didn't fit, so I reverted to the kit decals for both models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 I built the Hasegawa one about thirty years ago. Nice kit. I'm pleased that the Airfix kit is nowhere near as bad as the naysayers say. In fact, it's a rather nice kit with some easily fixable deep panel lines. That means that the Shar FA2 is likely to be as good. Sorry about my silly comment. It's based on numerous reviews that point out the following problems: The Hasegawa kit is too short, especially in the nose, by a considerable amount. Two scale feet is the number tossed around. (True) The Airfix kit has panel line trenches, the forward fuselage is too wide, the canopy is the wrong shape (too wide and squashed), and the fuselage across the intakes is too wide. (All true) The Fujimi kit is over-engineered to allow many different versions of Harrier to be built, resulting in fit problems. (Don't know, haven't built one yet but it looks rather good in the box). That said, in my opinion they're all fixable, or they don't detract from the model's "Sea Harrier-ness." The only exception, again in my opinion, is the canopy on the Airfix kits. You really need an aftermarket vacuform one...but nobody makes one to my knowledge. I plan on using the Fujimi canopy (which is one piece) as a master for some vacuform copies. It looks like it should work. If you pose the Airfix canopy open, the shape problem is less noticeable. The ESCI (Italeri) kit is still the champion. I wish Airfix had made some Sea Harriers to the same standard as their new GR.7/GR.9. Cheers, Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 If you pose the Airfix canopy open, the shape problem is less noticeable. Always do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted July 28, 2013 Author Share Posted July 28, 2013 Both airframes are pretty much complete. I've been painting the Airfix one as I went along. The joints where the wings join the fuselage have been tretaed with Mr Surfacer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 15, 2013 Author Share Posted September 15, 2013 Slow and steady. Here they are with decal application started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Nice work, they look great, I wish both of my builds were this far along. Keep up the good work All the best Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich2010 Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 They look great Enzo. The FRS1 just looks right in the DSG scheme. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 29, 2013 Author Share Posted September 29, 2013 No photos this weekend. The two models are just going through the paint shop to have a coat of matt varnish sprayed - Winsor and Newton Galleria matt to be exact. My modelling bench looks like the deck on the Invincible. This is fun! And it means I'll be building a couple of Airfix Harrier GRs sooner rather than later. I can't wait for the Harrier STGB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 4, 2013 Author Share Posted October 4, 2013 These are now pretty much complete. All that is needed is for the bang seats to be installed and the canopies to be fitted. If that happens this weekend, there will be photos. If not, next Saturday, just before the GB End! One thing I've learned from these builds... I really, reeely need to build more Harriers! Can't wait for the Harrier STGB. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintsPhil Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 You can never have too many harriers! Good to have a few in this GB, look forward to seeing the finished articles. Bring on that harrier GB! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 4, 2013 Author Share Posted October 4, 2013 You can never have too many harriers! True! My problem is that I worked on them for five years and so I really want to do them justice. But how do I choose? I have plans for a small collection illustrating the history of one particular jet, XV738. I will be building it as a GR1 with a primer fuselage and camouflaged mainplane; GR1A in HCF markings; GR3 in 3 Sqn markings; GR3 Phase 6 in grey colour scheme; GR3 Phase 6 in IV(AC) Sqn anniversary markings. I will build at least two more Harriers before the Harrier STGB. I'm considering converting the new airfix GR1 to an AV-8C. I have a Fujimi kit and an Italeri GR3 in The Stash, so I might build those as well to clear the decks for the Airfix kits. I also have an old Hasegawa AV-8A in The Stash. It doesn't bear comparison to modern Harrier kits and I only bought it for the decals. If I can find another forward fuselage, I might use it to build the weird Harrier two-seater concept in the What If III GB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintsPhil Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 It's a real tough choice, I was thinking of a 1/48 Airfix FA2, but after failing with the Bucc for this GB I can't fail again as host, so the new Airfix 1/72 kits would seem the ideal choice. Mind you the Kenetic FA2 might be out by then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 12, 2013 Author Share Posted October 12, 2013 Complete! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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