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Airfix 1/72 Sea Harrier FA.2 ZD613 SATAN1 - FINISHED


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Well this has crept up on me. I have no sooner finished the MiG-21 builds and I find that it is time to start this one. I will be sharing my build time with the Tomcat STGB, so I hope that I will be able to complete it on time. Anyway this is my entry for this group build, a move up in scale for this one and I may add some after market bits too, we'll see how it goes.

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Great stuff John. I have this on the stash I built the FRS1 its a nice build but watch the tail wings they are ridiculously fragile as the panel lines are so deep both sides they are only held by a membrane of plastic, (Guess how I found that out..) It might have just been mine but it was well molded so I doubt it.

I laminated mine on the bottom and then you could re-scribe if it bothers you and you want to add some strength.

Likely just me though.. :banghead:

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Not a bad little kit, a shame it's not quite as nice as the newer harriers from Airfix but it still builds nicely, enjoy it.

OOB or have you got some extras stashed too?

That's good to know Phil. I'll have a proper look at the box contents later and if the pit looks OK then I might just add a bang seat and build the rest OOB.

Great stuff John. I have this on the stash I built the FRS1 its a nice build but watch the tail wings they are ridiculously fragile as the panel lines are so deep both sides they are only held by a membrane of plastic, (Guess how I found that out..) It might have just been mine but it was well molded so I doubt it.

I laminated mine on the bottom and then you could re-scribe if it bothers you and you want to add some strength.

Likely just me though.. :banghead:

Thanks for the heads up Rob, I'll keep an eye on that.

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I ordered a couple of the sets by Pavla for this last night so things are on hold airframe wise until they arrive, should be here later in the week. But I can crack on with some of the others bits needed for later in the build.

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  • 1 month later...

I finally completed my build for the Tomcat II STGB yesterday, so now it's back on with the build over here. I didn't manage to do a lot in between my last update and this one. The Pavla sets arrived and I was able to get some primer on and start to paint the black on some of the bits for the cockpit. I put the sidewall detail in the two fuselage halves this afternoon and couldn't resist a test fit of all the components. I need to do a bit of tweaking around the coaming to get that to fit a little better and I had to remove a fair amount of the kit plastic to get the rear part of the tub to fit, but overall I don't think the fit is too bad.

Anyway here are some photos of progress.

First up the sidewall detail

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Next the main office bits

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and finally one of the test fit

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Nice work. I really hope I find the time to join in with this and the tomcat GB , its not looking hopeful at the mo.

Looking forward to seeing this done ;)

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Seems to be coming along fine.

Nice work. I really hope I find the time to join in with this and the tomcat GB , its not looking hopeful at the mo.

Looking forward to seeing this done ;)

Cheers guys, I managed to get some primer on the cockpit sidewalls last night so will try and get some paint on after I have completed the domestic chores for today. :D

Rob, I'm afraid you've missed the boat on the Tomcat GB, it ended last night mate. I'm sure there will be another at some point though, well at least I hope so cos I have a set of Fightertown decals to use. :winkgrin:

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I have managed a bit more on this over the last couple of days. I have finished the cockpit , I painted the main bits in Dark Sea Grey, then gave it a wash over with Citadel Nuln Oil and finally a light dry brush with some Medium Sea Grey to highlight the detail.

The seat is almost complete I just need to add the yellow to the release handles then give this a wash over with the Nuln Oil, then a quick dry brush. I will need to check the spares box to see if I have got anything I can use to represent the stencil detail on the headbox, if not it will be out with the red paint.

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The engine intake has been fitted to one side of the fuselage and I have had another test fit of the cockpit tub. I have got the coaming to fit better than it did and I will need to do some filling to this and the rear of the cockpit to get it to blend in. The only other issue I can forsee will be when I fit the canopy, there seems to be a liitle bump on one side of the coaming which will prevent it sitting properly so I will have to do a bit more trimming and reshaping later in the build.

I just need to fit the nosewheel and airbrake bays before joining the fuselage halves, the main bay I plan to fit after this and hopefully this will enable me to keep everything nice and square.

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Thanks bud, the Nuln Oil tip was passed on to me by another member (cheers Rob) so I can't take any credit for that, but it does have the benefit of adding some shadow and still allowing the colour to show through you can build this up until you are satisfied with the result.

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Looking good. Nice to see nuln oil getting used, citadel paints are awsome :)

They certainly are mate and thanks for putting me on to them. I use them quite a bit now for some detail painting.

OK here is a bit of an update. First thing I had to try and sort out before closing the fuselage was the ejector pin mark in the nosewheel bay, so I used some correction fluid (Pentel) and then added bits of micro-strip to replace the missing detail. The aibrake bay wasn't too bad just two raised areas but they are in an awkward spot to get to so I have decided to live with that. The main wheel bay has a similar sink mark to that in the nosewheel area but again because these doors are closed on static Harriers I have left that.

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Once that had been sorted it was on with some paint and once dry the fuselage was joined together. After a quick clean up of the join, the nose and tailcones were then added.

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A test fit of the wing shows that there are a couple of areas that will need some attention.

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and in this shot you can see the area on the right hand side around the forward canopy that I will have to adjust to get a decent fit.

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Now it's the laborious job of fill and sand but the fit was that good that I am hoping there won't be a lot of this.

Onwards and Upwards chums, thanks for looking in.

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Lovely neat work - though I will point out that this Airfix bay plays fast and loose with comparison to the real thing, which has enough space to fit the landing gear, as well as various accumulators, bottles and ducts. Worth correcting at scales above 1:25... :)

Kirk

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Lovely neat work - though I will point out that this Airfix bay plays fast and loose with comparison to the real thing, which has enough space to fit the landing gear, as well as various accumulators, bottles and ducts. Worth correcting at scales above 1:25... :)

Kirk

Yes Kirk, this can be a problem in a small scale, that said Airfix have improved the depth of this area on their newer kits and even if it is still not that representative the model maker does have the room to add this area if they wish to.

Update time.

The more observant among you will have noticed that the fin is missing from the back end of this model, that is because I purchased the Pavla control surfaces set for this kit.

Other than some finer detail and thinner trailing edges I'm not sure how much of an improvement this is and having read through the info on the Harrier SIG site I have learnt that the Flaps are usually up on static aircraft so I probably will not use these for this build. I removed the fin earlier in the build and decided that with the fuselage join complete this would be the ideal time to add the Pavla Fin and Rudder.

The first job, after removing the parts from their casting blocks, was to drill two holes in the base of the Fin to allow for the fit of a couple of pins to help with locating and fixing.

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Once the correct position had been established I drilled a couple of corresponding holes in the rear of fuselage ...........

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............ and then glued the Fin and Rudder on with some superglue. I also deflected the Rudder slightly, I'm not sure if this is correct but I thought it would add a bit of interest.

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Not much of an update other than to say that I have finally decided on a scheme for this model and plan to complete it as 800 NAS's decommissioning scheme aircraft. I am going to use the decals that came free with Modellers Datafile for the Sea Harrier and this will mean that I have to spray the red areas on the top and bottom of the wing. I have already sprayed the red on the tailplanes, then it will be some serious masking before spraying the MSG.

Fingers crossed that the white crossed swords and trident don't allow the red to show through.

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Just a quick update on progress so far. I was able to get some primer and then the greys on over the weekend. Today, I masked up and added the red areas to the top and bottom of the wings. I still have to mask and spray the MSG to the tailplanes, fortunately there are decals for the fin so I don't have to worry about that.

There are some areas that I will have to touch up and I can then start painting all the details on the fuselage, radomes etc.

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I think I should be able to get this finished on time - ooooppps that's just jinxed it. :lol: There are no instructions for the decals so it will be fun trying to find the correct positions for those from a combination of kit instructions and photos.

Thanks for looking in.

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That scheme will look stunning once it's finished! :)

Very well executed as always John.

Looks great. Looks like its got a red cape of glory on it ;)

Cheers guys, I've been working on some of the ancillaries - wheels, pylons, tanks etc - and I plan to get more done over the weekend. Hopefully that should see it almost complete.

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