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Help! Airfix 1/24 Harrier GR3


Nwanda

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Not sure where to post this, but I need advice from the leaned and experienced members of this forum .... I am in assembly stage of the Airfix 1/24 Harrier GR3 but for the life of me I cant get the spawn of Satan engine to fit - if the compressor fan meets the intake trunking the jet pipes don't fit through the holes in the side and vice versa. I know it can be done as others have built this POS, but I thought it best to ask before applying a sledgehammer to months of work. any ideas or suggestions??

Harrier hating Mike

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Hi there, hope I'm not wrong on interpreting what you've built so far... Have you already fitted the exhausts to the engine swivel mounts allready? They need to be fitted afterwards. On my build I (posted a few days back) it looked they wouldn't fit, even after the fuselage was zipped up the pivoting mounts looked out of position e.g. too far forwards, but as it happens the exhausts fitted without a problem, slide them into the holes at an angle, with some gentle wiggling they clipped onto the pegs perfectly. I was able to put them away until the final assemby. The other thing is that half moon shaped bracket the engine sits on (part 70) is easy to get in the wrong position.You can't get the intake trunking in the wrong place so the best solution may be to (very strongly) bond the engine to the back of the trunking and then trust they will fit afterwards, they should do. The 1/24 Harrier is one of those kits where some joints are best made with a liberal application of good old fashioned thick tube cement (its a good gap filler anyroad). Good luck and stick to it...

Regards, Dave

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I've built several of these over the years and must admit I've never had a problem with the engine fit. Could you post some pictures so we could have a look at your problem?

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Gents, thanks for your responses! having had a look again yesterday afternoon when in a less frustrated mood I think part 70 is the problem. I will apply patience, lots of glue and sheer brute force this coming weekend and make it fit. Now that the major assemblies are coming together one has to be impressed by the sheer bulk of this thing!

Mike

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Good luck, sometimes walking away and getting the dog out for an hour while you cool down lets you look at it with a new eye. Of course, sometimes, drop kicking the piece of #!$%& across the room is an option to explore!

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The fundamental problem is that the little piece of frame that they include to locate the bottom of the engine on is too tall and pears no resemblance to the contours of the fuselage in which it sits. You can either sand it down and flatter or throw it away and try something more realistic. I thought I had a better picture than this but you may get the idea:

003-1.jpg

This was before I'd removed the original part (and all the bulkhead detail behind - it's a work of fiction where the water tank lives).

Good luck with your build!

Kirk

PS/ I did have a better picture:

IMG_1770.jpg

That hole you see is at the takeoff point for the reaction control system iirc. The real engine sits on trunnions located just ahead of that bit of firewall they give you and is located by some fancy brackets aft and below the hot nozzles. One day I'll get around to doing the mounting points properly...

Edited by Kirk
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Thanks Kirk, I shall smite part 70 mightily .......

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Thanks Kirk, I shall smite part 70 mightily .......

Ha! :winkgrin:

Looking forward to seeing some progress pics. Are you planning on closing up the (unrealistic) cavern ahead of the cold nozzles? In the real thing the nozzles attach to the airframe and there's a frame just ahead of the opening, forward of which are fuel tanks.

Cheers,

Kirk

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Morning kirk

Whilst being fascinated by the Harrier, I have actually never seen one ..... a very rare, in fact AFAIK never seen here, bird. This one is a first, I used the flightpath AM and will see how it turns out before posting LOL.

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The first time I saw a Harrier in the wild was at the East Fortune Airshow some years ago. I had seen it on TV, of course, but seeing it for real brought home what an incredible aircraft it is - on TV you can tell yourself it's special effects but when the real thing goes into hover mode it's :gobsmacked: time. I kept looking for Gerry Anderson leaning over a screen at the back!

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First one I ever saw flying was at one of the "Navy Days" (I think?) in Portsmouth in the 70's. Colossal, body-shaking noise but just an amazing experience that left me hooked for life. I'm reading John Farley's "A View from the Hover" at the moment and it gives even more insight into this unique machine and might tempt me to add a T4 to the stash to make the VAAC one day.

Don't be coy though Nwanda. There's plenty of experience on BM to help make taming the Airfix a less painful experience than it could otherwise be. How are you finding the Flightpath stuff? It certainly provides a wealth of detail.

Cheers,

Kirk

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Don't be coy though Nwanda. There's plenty of experience on BM to help make taming the Airfix a less painful experience than it could otherwise be. How are you finding the Flightpath stuff? It certainly provides a wealth of detail.

Cheers,

Kirk

Apologies for the understrike, lightning took out our network yesterday and now the flipping ridiculous electronic devices are playing up. Working on the worlds slowest 3G..... As regards the flightpath stuff, the etchings, castings and resin are superlative. Some of the stuff is so small that i doubt that I will even try it, but it certainly offers the potential to up the ante on this kit by light years. The instructions that come with it, however, are less superb - to my mind at any rate. Still worth every cent, even in deflated ZAR's.

I am still less than impressed by the kit, bearing in mind it was moulded way back before the great trek and rinderpest ....... I have a feeling that some of the problems I am having may well have been induced by it sitting in some hot warehouse en route to here from the UK. If one looks at the layout most of it should not present too many problems, even to one as Kak handed as I am. Building a great end result? time will show, but as i go on leave in exactly 6 working days, for 5 and a half weeks, I will at last have ample time to devote to the beast.

Mike

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