2nd Gen Harrier's, AV8B+2, GR9

[neil5208]

Not content with having the B58 and TSR2 on the go together I've got some spare drawers in my modelling desk and I have been waiting to build Airfix's GR7/9 kit for a while and while I was ordering the weapons set for the B58 I found the Hasegawa AV8B Plus II kit so that was ordered as well. This should be an OOB for both so I can compare the 2, Hasegawa's is from 2001 and the Airfix kit from 2011. So onto the kits, Airfix first.

And the Hasegawa kit

Initial impressions are good, the Airfix kit is the usual light grey plastic with slightly heavy panel lines and the Hasegawa has it usual shiny harder plastic with finer panel lines, the newer Airfix kit has multiple LERX parts, better decals and weapons, the Hasegawa kit has only one LERX option and one pair of AIM9's with fuel tanks. I hope to start cutting plastic this week.

 

Edited February 17, 2020 by neil5208

[neil5208]

On to the cockpits and seats, the Hasegawa kit is showing its age with little in the way of detail and reliance on decals where as the newer Airfix kit has better details so I wondering if I should get a resin cockpit set for the AV8B. Airfix seat on the left.

No detail on the side walls of the Hasegawa kit

Bare cockpit

Decals for AV8B cockpit

Airfix's cockpit

[HOUSTON]

neil5208,

EXEMPLARY  start to your build.

 

 

keep up the Excellent  job.

 

[neil5208]

So I crumbled this morning and ordered eduard cockpit pre painted photo etch and agm65's, so much for OOB build!

[825]

You can't see much in the Hasegawa cockpit once everything is closed up so apart from adding some seat belts/harness the transfers do the job with what's already there. I'm threequarters the way through finishing one as a FAA GR9 in the centenary livery. Although it's a good shape and everything fits reasonably well as one would expect from Hasegawa I was disappointed by the number of ejection pin dimples and pins that had to be filled and/or sanded down. Not what I would have expected even from a slightly older kit. I thought I'd have a look at the Revell Gr7/9s in the stash and they're the same kit. As I've seen the Hasegawa version at close to £30 I'm glad I got the Revell ones significantly cheaper when Modelzone closed down. 

[neil5208]

I found mine from a Japanese seller, got the aircraft and a weapons set delivered for £13. Can't understand why the UK price is so high.

[TonkaGuy]

Looking great so far. Which kit do you prefer? That’s a great price for the Airfix kit But hasegawa really draw you in with their artwork, however their moulds seem to be dated still. 

[neil5208]

13 hours ago, TonkaGuy said:

Looking great so far. Which kit do you prefer? That’s a great price for the Airfix kit But hasegawa really draw you in with their artwork, however their moulds seem to be dated still. 

At the moment the Airfix kit seems better engineered but we'll see if that hampers assembly, this kit I pick up from the Avaition Book Shop in Tonbridge 2nd hand hence the price.

Started on the GR9 last night with the intake and rear undercarriage bay assembled and painted, the main intake trunking is split and has ejector pin marks on the front face which were sanded before spraying. The rear fuselage section has been mated to the rear undercarriage/airbrake part and also sprayed white.

Hopefully the bits from Hannants arrive soon so I can start on the AV8B.

[neil5208]

Hopefully the etch and AGM65 I ordered will arrive today and I can get going on the US Harrier so I cut the fan ducting of the sprue and compared with the Airfix one, one piece compared to the Airfix four piece assembly but look a bit flat, maybe it will look better after painting.

Whilst doing that I noticed that the Hasegawa kit has no front/rear undercarriage detail, checking against photos of both type shows some aircraft with front undercarriage door closed with undercarriage down and some have door open. I would be interested to know if this something that changed during production or if the pilot can select. The rather blank looking AV8B+2 under side compared to Airfixs offering

[Seamus]

As I understand it the undercarriage doors are more often that not open when the aircraft isn't powered up. They will be closed with the engine running to prevent FOD entering the wheel wells. The airbrake however is always extended when the underarriage is lowered. It's my main gripe with the Hasegawa kit, along with the fixed auxiliary doors on the intakes. If you want to accurately depict the AV-8B on the ground then the airbrake at least will need opening up- quickboost do an aftermarket replacement IIRC. Add a pilot to indicate the aircraft is powered up and the other issues go away!

[neil5208]

If I'd realised earlier I would have ordered but I'll have to live with it now.

[neil5208]

The order from Hannants arrived this morning.

And I got some paint on the AV8B's fan assy, looks better but stil not as good as the Airfix one.

[neil5208]

This morning I started on the etch for the AV8B, the IP has 4 layers if etch to add as long as I can get it fit under the cowl.

Start point, already sprayed some grey on the cockpit and side walls.

And with 2 layers of etch, need to wait for the Gorilla glue to set before the last 2

The GR9's rear body section has had the fan duct fitted, the AV8B's fan is on the left. By the looks of it Airfix based its Harrier GR1/3 design on this earlier Hasegawa kit but improved the fit

[Col.]

Nice start Neil

[neil5208]

Completed IP and side walls of cockpit, as usual the IP etch is lager than the plastic so some trimming is required, hopefully it all stays together.

[neil5208]

Cockpit etch done last night so the fuselage went together this morning. The etch look good but we'll see how much is visible at the end. Seat has some small handle to go on but otherwise ready to slot in later. Definitely an improvement over the Hasegawa decals.

[neil5208]

Not much to report this week, been kept busy by wife/work and trying to finish a Jet Provost for the next model club meet but a bit more done on the AV8B. Nose and fin extension fitted, I'd forgotten how much harder the Hasegawa plastic is compared to other manufactures, not as nice to work with.

Edited March 3, 2020 by neil5208

[neil5208]

Some more work tonight, intakes and tail cone on and inst cowl painted.

Main wing is just 3 parts in the Hasegawa kit but 6 parts in the Airfix one. Shown together for comparison. The GR9 wing fence is further out than the AV8B's.

The AV8B+ wing has sprue gates right on the leading edges.

Test fit on fuselage

[neil5208]

Main wing is now fitted but I was unable to fit the LERX as this part needed filling and sanding, also fitted the refueling probe but there is a shocking gap which also needed some filler. Up to now this kit has not needed any filler just some clean up around the seams.

The Brassin resin AGM65 are very nicely moulded, certainly much better than any plastic one's I've seen, this aircraft will have 1 AGM65 and 1 mk82 snakeye as in many pictures so 1 launch rail has been has its casting block removed and Gorilla glued onto its pylon.

So now waiting on the LERX panel and refueling probe filler to harden before I can do more on this one.

 

[neil5208]

Today I fitted LERX but again the fit is not great so will need some fettling before the canopy can go on, also fitted the fail packs of the flanks.

The LERX panel is only glued to the wing atm but even with pressure the front will not line up with the fuselage.

The flare pack had a single tiny alignment pin and 2 ejector marks which needed sanding so ended up as best guest but looks to be right position.

Onto the GR9! Cockpit is ready to be fitted.

And the fuselage has been fill on the underside ready for sanding, This is the 4th Airfix Harrier I've made and found that to get the best result I ensure the join on the top lines up and do the sanding on the underside.

A comparison between the AV8B's and GR9 fuel tanks and jet nozzles, the AV8B's fuel tanks are better than GR9's but with the nozzles are the reversed with the GR9's being much better. That said both sets have issues with seams and thick edges.

I may end up with resin replacements for both aircraft.

[neil5208]

GR9's underside sanded and main wing section fitted.

The Airfix kit also has an issue with its LERX panel, seems to be a high spot where it meet the main wing leaving a large step, I may leave this off until the cockpit tub is ready to be fitted.

And the two together, looks like the GR9 starting to catch up but still has a lot more parts to be fitted as yet.

[neil5208]

Today I was hoping to get the canopy on the AV8B but I hadn't removed the clear sprue from its bag until this morning so didn't see the lovely mould line running across both parts so I have to find the micromesh and get polishing.

 

[neil5208]

Worked on the GR9 toady and noticed the kit engineering differences between this and the later GR3 kits, firstly the separate cockpit/fuselage of the GR9 to the one piece moulding of the GR3. This looks as though this was done to get more detail into the intakes area behind the cockpit but once the assembled never to be seen.

Next onto the tail, with the GR3 kit the vertical tail is a separate part so the same fuselage can be used on both GR1 and GR3 kits and this allows for the horizontal tail planes which is moulded as one part to be fitted before the vertical one. On the GR9 the vertical tail is moulded with the fuselage, the horizontal tail planes are still moulded as a one piece item with the tail extension being a separate part.

GR9

GR3

GR3 tail planes

GR9 tail planes, the centre pin snapped as I was removing it from the sprue. Although an accident it will allow me to paint separately and fix later

The intake inner surfaces on the GR9 has a 2 colour pattern that will be difficult to achieve once assembled so I have masked before assembly. There are not identical but should be good enough at this scale.

The cockpit tub has been fixed to the main fuselage, I'll let this harden before the intakes are fitted.

And finally I was going to fit the flaps and ailerons but I noticed that there is ejector pin marks on both so will need filling.

[Agent K]

Some great detail and information here, thanks for sharing this.

[Johnson]

Hi Neil,

Great thread, very interesting to see the two kits being built and the differences. Also thanks for the comparison with the GR3. I have the GR9 and GR3 waiting in the stash, so will follow with interest.

Best wishes,