Harrier GR.9 - 1/48

[exdraken]

like it a lot!

[Biggles87]

Your desk looks like mine on a good day, with lots of items hiding in plain sight.

I looked at my GR7 in the box yesterday and I had forgotten that I had started it, the fuselage is joined aft of the intakes and the wings and I had been collecting various pods in the hope of bashing together some CRV-7s.I might even get it finished this year!

Looking forward to more

John

[daryl_five_zero]

6 hours ago, exdraken said:

like it a lot!

Thanks, Werner! No accidents with misplaced decals on this one, I promise! 😅

 

5 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

Your desk looks like mine on a good day, with lots of items hiding in plain sight.

I looked at my GR7 in the box yesterday and I had forgotten that I had started it, the fuselage is joined aft of the intakes and the wings and I had been collecting various pods in the hope of bashing together some CRV-7s.I might even get it finished this year!

Looking forward to more

John

Good to know I'm not the only one, John! 

 

With regards to the CRV-7 pods; the only place I've found with the correct pods in this scale is the CF-5 update & weapons set from Belcher Bits. Ultracast do have a couple in at the moment, but (withholding personal sentiment and inadvertently opening a political can of worms) I know they aren't shipping to the UK any more, whether that affects you at all. 

 

If you do struggle with them though, let me know and I'll see if I can help in any way 😉 

 

Daryl 

[Biggles87]

Thanks for the offer, I might take you up on that later, strange that the Hasegawa weapons sets do just about every rocket pod except the LAU5003.

I didn't know that Ultracast were not shipping to the UK, perhaps France will be different.

 

Cheers

 

John

[belcherbits]

2 hours ago, daryl_five_zero said:

. Ultracast do have a couple in at the moment, but (withholding personal sentiment and inadvertently opening a political can of worms) I know they aren't shipping to the UK any more, whether that affects you at all. 

Daryl 

I believe they are shipping to UK if you buy through their eBay store

Here is a linkhttps://www.ebay.ca/itm/CF-5-Update-and-Weapons-Set-Belcher-Bits-BB18-1-48-scale/154220610650?hash=item23e843c45a:g:j7kAAOSwhodfxUz5

Mike Belcher

[Shalako]

I don't know how I should classify this work? Masterpiece? 

 

Cheers,

Bill

Edited February 24, 2021 by Shalako

[daryl_five_zero]

6 hours ago, belcherbits said:

I believe they are shipping to UK if you buy through their eBay store

Here is a linkhttps://www.ebay.ca/itm/CF-5-Update-and-Weapons-Set-Belcher-Bits-BB18-1-48-scale/154220610650?hash=item23e843c45a:g:j7kAAOSwhodfxUz5

Mike Belcher

I'm glad to be corrected, Mike. Thanks for sharing the link. That set is invaluable for anyone wanting to build a GR.7/9 with an Afghan fit in my opinion (I'm pretty sure the 6-shot LAU-5002 included are also applicable to the Harrier too?), so I'm glad it will still be available in some capacity. 

 

5 hours ago, Shalako said:

I don't know how I should classify this work? Masterpiece? 

 

Cheers,

Bill

You're too kind, Bill! It really means a lot, thanks 😃

 

6 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

Thanks for the offer, I might take you up on that later, strange that the Hasegawa weapons sets do just about every rocket pod except the LAU5003.

I didn't know that Ultracast were not shipping to the UK, perhaps France will be different.

 

Cheers

 

John

From the email I received from Ultracast, I wouldn't imagine trade to France would be a concern at all. I ordered with them early last year and the delivery was insanely fast, from my experience it was a very pleasant transaction. Plus, the Belcher Bits parts are great, there's a good few options included in there and I couldn't recommend it enough. I'll try to get some work done on mine soon, and post results for you to see! 

 

Daryl 

[daryl_five_zero]

Good evening, all! 

I've been pottering around for the last few days, trying to get some of the less glamourous jobs done on the Harrier. I'm sure we all have our favourite jobs, and some we resent. Externally, she doesn't look too different since my last update. 

 

 

Some of the smaller details have been painted, such as the Zeus tusks...

 

 

... and more towards the rear, such as the MAWS radome on the stinger, Zeus receiver, and Transmitter aerial. All were painted using a cocktail of acrylics that I couldn't tell you if I tried to remember, with help from the the excellent visual references in the fantastic Fox Two! Book. The Zeus receiver is slightly too large on the kit, so this had been previously been shortened prior to painting. 

 

The NDT patches on the rear fuselage and vertical stabilizer were masked and sprayed with a dull silver, then the edges blended in a little with a fine hairy stick. 

 

The landing gear was up next - possibly my least favourite part on any build. I always find this part so tedious, yet have seen (and had) many a build let down by a sub-par job on it. 

 

 

Here are the nose and main landing gear. I've added whatever PE Eduard supply to them, and greebled a couple of pipes/tubes where it looks to benefit them - mainly on the main and outrigger gear. I've added placards scrounged from other kits, just to add a little interest. 

 

 

The wheels are Eduard's resin offering, and are as good as ever. Nice, crisp detail and easy to work with. 

 

I've noticed that built as-is form the kit, the Hasegawa Harrier sits slightly tall due to the nose landing gear. To remedy this, I've modified the kit part slightly to give the gear a slightly depressed look, getting it to sit a little lower than it would. 

 

 

Just a quick wash of Flory dark dirt wash to bring out the lovely detail of the Eduard wheels. 

 

 

The outrigger wheels benefit from PE, and also with the wheels included in their resin set. They provide a replacement section from the oleo strut down, so the forks aren't moulded into the wheels. It's a very delicate piece of kit, but the final result is far nicer than the kit part. 

 

 

For the Oleos, I got a new toy to play with, in the shape of a Molotow Liquid Chrome pen. 

 

 

I've been meaning to try these out for a long time now, and now I have, I am absolutely astounded with the finish they give. I wish my photography was adequate enough to do them justice, but they really do give off a mirror-chrome finish. 

 

Another first for me is using lacquers instead of acrylics; namely the Alclad II range of metallic lacquers. Again - a product I have been wanting to use for a long time, and again - a product I can't see myself going back to not using. 

 

 

For the cold exhausts, I used their Steel, which under a coat of Flory Wash, looks rather effective (clean on the left, Flory dark dirt on the right)

 

 

I also used Steel on the hot exhausts and heat shields, but with a coat of Pale Burnt Metal on top - again finished with a dirt wash. 

 

 

A light coat of Windsor & Newton Matt varnish sealed in the wash on the heat shields.

 

 

There's not much more to report for tonight; hopefully soon I'll be able to get a gloss coat down on everything that needs decals and weathering (so... pretty much everything!) In the meantime, I'm sure there's plenty more to keep me occupied until then!

Take care, folks! 

Daryl.

 

[Biggles87]

Great work on the nozzles and heat shield.

The corrugated cardboard is a brilliant idea for holding the undercarriage legs, I’ll borrow that if I may.

 

John

[bobsyouruncle]

Very nice work on this and I love seeing your Harrier progressing. Looks awesome.

[bigbadbadge]

Oh boy the Undercarrunirs do look fantastic,  and as John said the cardboard holder is a great idea.  The fuselage looks lovely too.

Cracking job

Chris

[daryl_five_zero]

On 3/5/2021 at 6:18 AM, Biggles87 said:

Great work on the nozzles and heat shield.

The corrugated cardboard is a brilliant idea for holding the undercarriage legs, I’ll borrow that if I may.

 

John

Thanks John. I'm pretty proud of those... although it must be said, the resin/PE pieces really do a great job on their own of looking good. I'd fully recommend using both on any build, they're leagues ahead of the kit offerings! 

 

 

On 3/6/2021 at 11:34 AM, bobsyouruncle said:

Very nice work on this and I love seeing your Harrier progressing. Looks awesome.

 

Thanks for the kind words! 😃 Sorry for the lack of updates... keep on reading for a little something below! 

 

On 3/6/2021 at 11:53 AM, bigbadbadge said:

Oh boy the Undercarrunirs do look fantastic,  and as John said the cardboard holder is a great idea.  The fuselage looks lovely too.

Cracking job

Chris

 

Thanks, Chris! They were fiddly buggers, but well worth the hassle. The outriggers are so delicate though... not one to be played with! 

 

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Evening, all! 

I must apologise about the absence on here lately. It's been difficult to find time to document progress during building recently. Over the last month it's been a case of cracking on when I can sit down, and unfortunately the WIP posts have suffered as a result, so apologies for that. 

On the plus side I feel like I've come to a point where I've ran out of little jobs and bits to add, and I'm happy to call this one finished! 

 

I'll be posting a RFI shortly, but wanted to add a cheeky sneak peek here before anything else! 

Rather than bore everyone on the RFI, I'll try to go through what I've been up to on here, for anyone with an interest 😅

I think the first job I cracked on with since my last post was the decalling. This was one of the jobs I was looking forward to the most - and yes, I did start with the roundels and insignia as is customary! - but this probably threw the biggest spanner in the works as far as leaving me scratching my head is concerned. 

I've been mixing and matching decals from both the kit sheet and the Model Alliance sheet as posted at the start of the build. Now, a word of warning with regard to the aforementioned aftermarket decals: the tail codes in particular are downright comically out of scale. As in, completely unusable. 

 

On the left are the tail codes mashed together from the Model Alliance sheet. The decals for '378 are the kit decals which are nicely scaled. 

A huge difference. See for yourself...

 

 

I was in absolute despair when I gave them a try. They stuck out like a sore thumb. 

After walking away from the desk and mulling it over with a coffee, I figured I'd give it a go with a sheet of Xtradecal letters & numbers I have from a previous build (albeit in 1:72) 

The small 'Z' in the first pic is taken from that sheet and although slightly underscale, was far more acceptable than the alternative. 

 

 

I think I worked it out that in 1:1 scale, they would come out as 2" too small. Not ideal but I was far happier to put those on than the Model Alliance decals. After this fiasco, I was reluctant to use too many from that set. The majority of the decals came from the kit sheet. 

The formation lights on the wingtips are - again - far too oversized on both sheets, so these were chopped up and resized. The Hasegawa decals, I must say, lay down like a charm. I've heard many mixed opinions on their decals and how they perform, but I was very pleased with these. 

Once this hurdle was cleared, things very much fell into place. 

 

 

 

I used Windsor & Newton Oil paints to give a stippled, dirty look all over the surface: another trick I had used to a pleasing effect on several F-14 builds. Although I've never seen a Harrier get as grubby as some of the USN jets, I like the effect and how it breaks up the monotony of Grey, Grey & Grey that seems to persist on modern Western aircraft. I'm sure I've mentioned before, but 50 Shades of Gray could just as easily be a reference book on modern aircraft paint schemes for modellers! 

After a panel line wash, all was sealed in using W&N Matt Varnish,  my go-to varnish at the moment. 

 

Not many points of note, although I did take the time to add/replace a few details with scratchbuilt additions to try and help the look of the kit a little.

 

The clear cover for the ARBS that is included in the kit leaves a lot to be desired. I added a little detail here, which got lost behind the thick clear plastic part the kit offers. I used a very thin sheet of clear plastic from some packaging and plunge moulded a replacement for this, which was far more pleasing and allowed a better view of the internals. 

Around the cockpit, I added a few details such as the handles for the sliding canopy, which helped to busy up the overall look of the office. There are a couple of tiny catches on the outside of the canopy rails which I managed to greeble together using seatbelt catches from an old PE set. 

 

I fabricated an access ladder on the starboard side, which isn't included in the kit. I read that when the canopy is open, this is always extended so I felt for authenticity's sake I better include this detail. 

One area I wish I had addressed earlier is the nose landing gear bay, which soon after buttoning up the nose section I learned was usually always open on a static a/c. I know there is an aftermarket kit to pose this open too which is a real annoyance. I'll be sure to include that if I build another... 

The Eduard PE set includes replacements for the oversized formation light covers, which themselves are also oversized. I wish I had just sanded the kit offerings down and settled for the decals on their own. 

 

The L'Arsenal EPW IV's were fiddly. Given the lack of an alternative for these on the market, they're a must though. I do with Eduard would release a Brassin offering though. The under-fuselage pods they provide in this range are sublime, and are an absolute joy to work with. 

 

 

 

Well, I'll wrap up here. I hope it's been enjoyable up to this point. Again, apologies for the lack of progress pics in the final stages of the build. Hopefully the pics in the RFI will make sense of my ramblings above! Obviously any questions of comments on any of the build that I can help with, fire away. It's been an enjoyable build - if not testing at times - and even if I manage to make someone else's build just a little easier or more enjoyable as a result, I'll consider this WIP a success 😀

 

... I just hope I've done the old Harrier the justice she deserves, may she rest in peace. 

Thanks for following, and hopefully see you at the RFI! 

Cheers, 

Daryl. 

 

[Biggles87]

Hi Daryl, good to se this one again.

Lots of useful info in your last post which I will bookmark for when I resume my Harrier, particularly regarding the Model Alliance sheet which I had considered buying. I have been looking at my aftermarket stuff since your last post and in particular the L'Arsenal Paveway IVs which I found a little disappointing as the leading edges of the rear fins are not very well defined and have lots of pin holes, but as you say there is not really an alternative. I think I will trawl through me spare LGBs from Kinetic F16s and Skunkworks weapons sets to see if I can find any rear fins to graft on to the L'Arsenal bodies.

Looking forward to more photos in RFI.

Stay safe.

 

John