alxzinbox Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 (edited) Hello everyone! My first post to Britmodeller! This build was supposed to be part of a group build for the Indian Navy Day on December 4th. Unfortunately, with limited time available to devote to modeling, I never made the deadline. The build is now tottering towards completion a touch before three months, nevertheless, I thought I could share some of my milestones here. I decided to go with the italeri kit over the Airfix along with the Eduard PE set. My reasoning being that with a bubble canopy, a lot of detail in the cockpit could stand out. The Italeri Kit has finer detailing in the panel lines as well as the landing gear (especially the outriggers) over the Airfix kit. However, the Airfix kit offers the option to keep the aux air intake flaps half open (powered down) or fully closed, along with marginally detailed wheel wells for the nose and main landing gear. I also picked up the Model Alliance BAE Sea Harrier Pt. 1 Decal set http://www.hyperscale.com/2007/reviews/decals/ma48153decalrevielp_1.htm This will be my scheme of choice. The weathering patterns are expecially exciting to work towards! <Airliners.net picture removed due to copyright infringement. Please only post links to their site> I usually rivet the aircraft I model, but not being able to find diagrams online, along with a deadline to work towards, I decided to skip the step. Reference pictures also didn't throw up any obvious airframe rivets. So, as with most builds, the first stop would be the cockpit shop.... Edited December 18, 2015 by Mike Copyright image removed 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 looking forward to this, best of luck! PS welcome to the site 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alxzinbox Posted December 8, 2015 Author Share Posted December 8, 2015 (edited) Thanks Val! So the bubble canopy justified the extra expense of the Eduard set to spruce up the front office. Yet, this is the kit supplied ejection seat And this is the Martin Baker Mk. 10 I shot at the Naval Aviation Museum in Goa, India. The head rest area is too thin in the kit piece, and the PE seatbelts and decals wouldn't have as much of an impact. So I attempted to scratch build a seat. Wth the references above, the seemingly complex seat could be broken down into simpler shapes. Armed with some chloroform (extra thin cement) 0.5 and 1.0mm styrene sheets, I came up with this... A simple trick I used to fashion out two parts of the same shape (like the sides of the seat): I sanded down the 0.5mm till it was as thin as I wanted it to to be. I then cut out two pieces and stuck them together using water soluble white glue. After drying, I shaped and sanded the part as if it were one, then once satisfied, I let it soak in water and voila! Two thin parts having the same dimensions. Next up was the piston and cylinder detailing. I stretched some sprue to various thicknesses (heat the sprue evenly and then pull the ends slowly apart till you achieve the desired thickness). Using the sprue, I was able to either make circular plates (salami slices) or cylinders that line the side of the seat The result: Finally, painted the seat, a canvas padding using tissue paper, stencils from spares and the PE seatbelts from Eduard. I left the lower sides bare as they would be hidden behind the cockpit walls anyways. All this took a whole two days or planning and execution. Also helps to have a patient spouse who tolerates my obsession. Edited December 8, 2015 by alxzinbox 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darby Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 It's a nice kit and will look good in a weathered Indian scheme. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supertom Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Ooooh following. I do love the Indian Navy scheme. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Cracking work on the seat! If this sets the tone for your continued progress we are in for a treat. Nice choice of scheme as well 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 That's a nice start there with the seat. It will be an interesting build to follow. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antoine Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 (edited) Unusual in Indian markings. And so interesting, at least to me! Edited December 9, 2015 by Antoine 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alxzinbox Posted December 10, 2015 Author Share Posted December 10, 2015 Thanks for your kind words everyone! The next bit of detailing I undertook was the front landing gear. Started off by drilling holes into a 0.5mm styrene sheet to attempt the tie-down rings on the nose gear. Next up I used stretched sprue of varying thickness to add some hydraulic detailing to the landing gear. Original v/s detailied. And after paint. The parts were painted with gloss to help with the oil washes and weathering. A matte coat will seal it all in at the end. The tie-down ring were cut at an angle for better viewing. The head-lamps were taken off for minor additional detailing, and I intend to attach them towards the end of the build. The Main landing gear also received some love with a few hydraulic lines. I decided against using the PE hydraulic lines due to the ease of working with stretched sprue. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 You seem to be making some significant improvements to this kit. Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alxzinbox Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 (edited) Did some detailing in the nose gear bay. The kit came with flat bay walls. Not that anything can be seen in the end. But it's nice to know that there's something there incase anyone cares to peek Edited December 16, 2015 by alxzinbox 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alxzinbox Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 The kit also comes with the aux air intakes moulded into the fuselage. I initially tried cutting the flaps out, but failed miserably with wonky lines everywhere. So decided to cut the entire part out, and insert styrene sheet for the divisions. Added some rivet fastener detail as well. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 Tidy work detailing the gear bay and creating those auxiliary intake doors 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 This is some great detail work, well done ! Looking forward to seeing more of this build 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 I think all of the detail you are putting into the build is going to pay off, especially as you do seem to be able to see it if you look. Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moaning dolphin Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Looking forward to seeing this go on, the Italeri (Esci) kit is I think the best Sea Harrier out there, I'm using one as a base for a T8. It builds into a nice model. The extra details your putting in are looking very nice as well Bob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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