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1 72 Airfix BAe Harrier GR9A - Completed! (pg.20)


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33 minutes ago, Spookytooth said:

I echo the sentiments above Giemme, wonderful stuff.

Great detailing and restrained weathering making her stand out.

On the lights, I usually go with a silver first, followed by whichever colour in clear, sometimes it may need two coats of clear colour.

Looking forward to seeing her finished and in RFI.

 

Simon.

Cheers Simon, thanks! :thumbsup: I tried not to overdo the weathering, just like on the real thing while still in service. As for the lights, thanks for the tip :thumbsup2: I would normally do that myself, but looking at reference pics for this aricraft, it seems like the wingtip lights are quite opaque, so mine was an attempt to reproduce that. Happy with the yellow, the green turned out a bit too dark - and I suspect the best thig would have been to cut them out and replace with clear plastic. Too late for that when I found out they were  missing  :banghead: 

 

I forgot to mention that AIRFIX skipped another pretty visible detail on both wing tips, which is a small bump just forward of the green light:

http://p1127.co.uk/Harrier/HarrierGR9/slides/ZD433-W295.JPG

 

I have no idea on how to reproduce that, at this stage ... :hmmm:  :shrug: 

 

Ciao

 

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That is an amazing update Giemme! Looks like you got loads of excellent work done. Your attention to detail is also clearly evident! And your photos show how 'busy' the actual air-frame is. Very well done! :worthy:

Kind regards,

Stix 

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4 hours ago, giemme said:

Cheers Simon, thanks! :thumbsup: I tried not to overdo the weathering, just like on the real thing while still in service. As for the lights, thanks for the tip :thumbsup2: I would normally do that myself, but looking at reference pics for this aricraft, it seems like the wingtip lights are quite opaque, so mine was an attempt to reproduce that. Happy with the yellow, the green turned out a bit too dark - and I suspect the best thig would have been to cut them out and replace with clear plastic. Too late for that when I found out they were  missing  :banghead: 

 

I forgot to mention that AIRFIX skipped another pretty visible detail on both wing tips, which is a small bump just forward of the green light:

http://p1127.co.uk/Harrier/HarrierGR9/slides/ZD433-W295.JPG

 

I have no idea on how to reproduce that, at this stage ... :hmmm:  :shrug: 

 

Ciao

 

G'day Giemme,

 

Fantastic work so far, I will be squirrelling this build away as a reference for the time when I am ready to build mine.  As for how to reproduce the additional wingtip features, my approach would be to drill a small hole and glue  asmall section of sprue or plastic rod. Once the glue has dried, cut the section of plastic just a tad longer than required and finish shaping with files and a sanding stick.

 

The jet is looking really nice, but one thing I noticed (which may be too late to fix) is that the missile rails still have the triangular wedges on the underside. These are only there to help locate the kit missiles and should be sanded off if no missiles are fitted. This is not intended to take away from your awesome work so far, but if anyone else is planning on leaving the missiles off, this may be of use to them. I am really looking forward to the final photos,

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

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3 hours ago, PlaStix said:

That is an amazing update Giemme! Looks like you got loads of excellent work done. Your attention to detail is also clearly evident! And your photos show how 'busy' the actual air-frame is. Very well done! :worthy:

Kind regards,

Stix 

Cheers Stix, thanks :thumbsup: It is busy, indeed!

 

2 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

Yes, amazing detail work Giemme, and the Paveways are looking great. 

Thanks Cookie :thumbsup: For the Paveways ... better wait till I complete them, I'm still on time to screw them up totally... :chair:

 

2 minutes ago, Pappy said:

G'day Giemme,

 

Fantastic work so far, I will be squirrelling this build away as a reference for the time when I am ready to build mine.  As for how to reproduce the additional wingtip features, my approach would be to drill a small hole and glue  asmall section of sprue or plastic rod. Once the glue has dried, cut the section of plastic just a tad longer than required and finish shaping with files and a sanding stick.

 

The jet is looking really nice, but one thing I noticed (which may be too late to fix) is that the missile rails still have the triangular wedges on the underside. These are only there to help locate the kit missiles and should be sanded off if no missiles are fitted. This is not intended to take away from your awesome work so far, but if anyone else is planning on leaving the missiles off, this may be of use to them. I am really looking forward to the final photos,

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

Pappy, thank you very much for your comment and for pointing out the missile rails issue :thumbsup: Don't know how I missed that :banghead::chair:

I think I'm still in time to fix it, though. :thumbsup2:

 

Ciao

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Pappy, I forgot to add: thank you for the wing tip idea, too. :thumbsup: Not sure I'll try that in place, though - I think I'm to close to the small bumps; I'll probably shape whatever I come up with prior to putting that in

 

3 minutes ago, basket said:

Always amazing work.

Each time I look at your birds , I can't believe it's 1/72.:clap2:

 

Cheers Basket, thanks! :thumbsup: 

 

Ciao

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7 hours ago, keefr22 said:

Cracking work again Giorgio, she's really looking the part now!

 

Just one thing, the port wingtip light should be red - I think you've painted them both green?

 

ATB

 

Keith

Cheers Keith, thanks! :thumbsup:

 

Funny you should mention the wingtip lights; I found that odd myself and I forgot to mention, but looking at ref pics they seem to be both green.

Port: http://p1127.co.uk/Harrier/HarrierGR9/slides/ZD330-W010.JPG

Starboard http://p1127.co.uk/Harrier/HarrierGR9/slides/ZD437-W045.JPG

 

I'd have thought the green/red lights were a sort of standard thing, but it turns out this not the case ... :shrug: 

 

Ciao

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Well, that's weird, as it defeats the point of nav lights which is to show you which way to turn if you're flying head on to an oncoming aircraft...!

 

I've never seen that before, good spot Giorgio!

 

(I wonder if they had some strange coloured lamp, that when energised turns the light red? Many 'green' nav light covers are atually blue as they used yellow bulbs?)

 

You learn something new everyday here!

 

Keith

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18 minutes ago, keefr22 said:

Well, that's weird, as it defeats the point of nav lights which is to show you which way to turn if you're flying head on to an oncoming aircraft...!

 

I've never seen that before, good spot Giorgio!

 

(I wonder if they had some strange coloured lamp, that when energised turns the light red? Many 'green' nav light covers are atually blue as they used yellow bulbs?)

It is weird, Keith :frantic:  I did find a sort of explanation here:

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?107836-Harrier-GR9A-Nav-lights

 

Sounds convincing and educated - whether this is reliable or not, I would ask some Harrier experts ... :shrug: 

 

Ciao

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7 minutes ago, keefr22 said:

So the sensible explanation there is similar to my funny coloured bulb theory! :lol:

 

Wonder what this is then? Looks like a very dark red light to me, but they seem to be painted over in most pics...

 

http://data.primeportal.net/hangar/luc_colin/harrier_gr.7/Harrier_GR.7_017.jpg

 

Keith

As you say, it looks like a very dark red light (well, it's off - I'd imagine it is quite bright when on) with a ... well, green/blue cover from your pic.

Anyway, since my point was to depict it when the aircraft is shut down and parked, I was more after the look you see in the two pics I posted earlier - which by the way show a dark greenish tone similar to the one I painted on (call me lucky, there :winkgrin:  ).

On the other hand, if you look at this pic, of the stored aircraft and probably taken with artificial light:

http://p1127.co.uk/Harrier/HarrierGR9/slides/ZD433-W295.JPG

the bulb cover looks a lighter shade of green and slightly dull (which may also be due to the fact that it is a retired airframe) :frantic:  :frantic:  :frantic: 

 

Ciao

 

 

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11 minutes ago, giemme said:

As you say, it looks like a very dark red light (well, it's off - I'd imagine it is quite bright when on) with a ... well, green/blue cover from your pic.

 

 Which just shows how our colour perception can vary - it looks more dark purple/black to me...!! :lol: ( I was talking about the big lumpy looking 'light' more outboard of the definitely green one by the way Giorgio)

 

Anyway, as I say, that was a great spot and shows how much better you research things than me -  I'd never likely have noticed, & would just have automatically painted my port light red...!! 

 

Keith

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The lumps are part of the aircraft's Electronic Warfare (EW) systems. I think the largest one is part of the ZEUS Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) system; may be wrong on which one is the Zeus one - just compare with a US AV-8B. I *think* one of the others is part of the Missile Approach Warning (yep - you guessed it "MAW") and I don't know what the 3rd is. If it is GR9 only (and I can't recall whether GR7 has 2 or 3) then it might be something to do with ISTAR???? (as in transmitting data to other stations - wild stab in the dark and I would love to be corrected).

 

As the linked post says the green filters on the nav lights, strobes & beacon are a night vision feature. If you look at a GR5, you'll find conventional colours. There is an "EXT LT" panel on the left hand side console that allows the pilot to select a mode of operation for external lights. They could be set from conventional brightness down to very dim for formation flying.

 

Kirk

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19 hours ago, keefr22 said:

( I was talking about the big lumpy looking 'light' more outboard of the definitely green one by the way Giorgio)

Ooops, sorry, my mistake. :blush:  On my GR9 (the specific one I'm building here) that part is just painted like the rest of the wing - one less thing to worry about :phew: 

 

19 hours ago, Kirk said:

The lumps are part of the aircraft's Electronic Warfare (EW) systems. I think the largest one is part of the ZEUS Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) system; may be wrong on which one is the Zeus one - just compare with a US AV-8B. I *think* one of the others is part of the Missile Approach Warning (yep - you guessed it "MAW") and I don't know what the 3rd is. If it is GR9 only (and I can't recall whether GR7 has 2 or 3) then it might be something to do with ISTAR???? (as in transmitting data to other stations - wild stab in the dark and I would love to be corrected).

 

As the linked post says the green filters on the nav lights, strobes & beacon are a night vision feature. If you look at a GR5, you'll find conventional colours. There is an "EXT LT" panel on the left hand side console that allows the pilot to select a mode of operation for external lights. They could be set from conventional brightness down to very dim for formation flying.

 

Kirk

Thanks Kirk, very informative as usual :thumbsup:  I saw a picture somewhere on the 'net that said the MAW "lump" is the yellow one facing backwards, while the ZEUS is the bigger one (the one Keith was referring at). Can't find that pic anymore, though ...

 

Ciao

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1 hour ago, Kirk said:

The lumps are part of the aircraft's Electronic Warfare (EW) systems. I think the largest one is part of the ZEUS Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) system; may be wrong on which one is the Zeus one - just compare with a US AV-8B. I *think* one of the others is part of the Missile Approach Warning (yep - you guessed it "MAW") and I don't know what the 3rd is. If it is GR9 only (and I can't recall whether GR7 has 2 or 3) then it might be something to do with ISTAR???? (as in transmitting data to other stations - wild stab in the dark and I would love to be corrected).

 

As the linked post says the green filters on the nav lights, strobes & beacon are a night vision feature. If you look at a GR5, you'll find conventional colours. There is an "EXT LT" panel on the left hand side console that allows the pilot to select a mode of operation for external lights. They could be set from conventional brightness down to very dim for formation flying.

 

Kirk

 

Brilliant (no pun intented!) - thanks Kirk, great info!

 

Keith

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HI everybody; some more progress done during the week, I'm rally close to completion now.

 

Paveways, working on the hump:

paveways8

 

paveways9

 

Glued in place with some CA gel

paveways10

 

paveways11

 

Not exactly like the original, but that's the best I can do :) . Now I need to carve the mounting slot on top of them and complete the painting (and there are only 10 decals each to lay down, then :frantic: )

 

Removing the mounting triangle from the missile rails, as Pappy pointed out:

 

launchrails1

 

I used needle files here and a nail polishing stick for refining, here's the result:

launchrails2

 

launchrails3

 

A bit of paint lift on the last one, but I was going to repaint anyway ... That was done by brush:

launchrails4

 

launchrails5

 

Looks good enough to me, thanks again Pappy for mentioning it :thumbsup: 

 

Canopy step glued in place:

finishing6

 

and the nose sensors; those were a nice fit, for a change :devil: 

 

finishing7

 

finishing8

 

I also added the control stick and bang seat:

 

finishing10

 

Very tight fit, and I'm not totally sure it's all my fault; if you remember, I modified the IP coaming with Milliput to make it more similar to the real thing, thus extending it a bit on the front part.

The IP location on the tub, though, is pretty straightforward, because you have the small side consoles as reference, and I also managed to leave a bit of a gap between them and the coaming/IP block.

Something to think about if anybody wants to use the PAVLA cockpit set.

 

A few more interior details:

finishing9

 

finishing11

 

finishing13

 

Nose lens detail:

finishing12

 

Overall top view:

finishing14

 

I don't think I will attempt putting the missing lumps on the wingtips, so now I only miss: Paveways, stabilators and yaw vane.  

 

That means I should be able to take RFI pics during next weekend :) 

 

Comments welcome, as ever

 

Ciao

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I have to keep looking in my Airfix box to remind myself how tiny 1:72 is. Some of your detail is unbelievable Giemme. :thumbsup: 

 

So whilst you're performing miracles, a couple of molecules of metallic colour on the sway braces (the bits that stop stores from wobbling on the pylons for those who don't know) would be impressive but may be beyond the realms of nano-engineering.

 

Kirk

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Thanks Kirk, you're too kind :thumbsup: 

 

4 hours ago, Kirk said:

So whilst you're performing miracles, a couple of molecules of metallic colour on the sway braces (the bits that stop stores from wobbling on the pylons for those who don't know) would be impressive but may be beyond the realms of nano-engineering.

Nice definition of "sway braces", there :D You know, I thought about that - actually, much before the painting stage, I thought of a way to improve them, as what AIRFIX represent are just some triangular plastic blobs. I think this kind of details should be possible with resin AM parts (I had an example when I built my F-4J, using outboard pylons from Hypersonic Models: the actual sway braces were nicely cast with the resin pylons); I'm also afraid that if I put some metallic paint there, it will just emphasize the current poor shape. Don't know, I'll ponder that during tonight's modelling session :hmmm: 

 

Ciao

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On 16/2/2017 at 19:16, keefr22 said:

That is looking really smart Giorgio, top job!! :thumbsup:

 

Keith

 

On 16/2/2017 at 19:46, Harrywilliams said:

Nice to see it's coming together!:yes:

 

harry

Thank you, guys :thumbsup:  I'm about to start laying down the last few decals on the Pavewaysand hopefully completing the build by tonight :pilot:

 

Ciao

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Hi everybody;

 

I'm calling this completed :yahoo::yahoo:  Started June 29th, not bad uh? :chair:  :banghead:

 

Anyways: the decals to be applied were 14 each Paveway (!!! :frantic: ), and here they are:

paveways12

 

paveways13

 

After some weathering and a flat coat:

paveways14

 

And here she is, finally completed. Better pcis to follow in the RFI topics, later today

finishing15

 

finishing16

 

finishing17

 

finishing18

 

finishing19

 

finishing20

 

Any comments welcome

 

Ciao

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