AV8B+2 Harrier USMC

[neil5208]

Finish no6 for the year is the Hasegawa AV8B+2 Harrier as used by the US Marine Corp. I have been building this one simultaneously with the Airfix GR9 Harrier to see how they compare, see the WIP below. Should have been an OOB build but I found the cockpit lacking detail when compared to the Airfix kit so Eduard etch was used to dress it up but unfortunately most has been lost due to the canopy distortion. Eduard also supplied the AGM65 Maverick and I found the detail on this and its launch rail very nice, much better than any injection moulded weapon in 1/72. The Mk82 bomb came from Hasegawa weapon set no1. Weapon fit was based on one of the many on line pictures of Marine corp Harriers. All paints are Tamiya with an oil panel lines wash and MIG Ammo weathering powder's for the exhaust and gun staining (first time I've tried this technique). The kit builds nicely for the most part with the usual nice fine panel lines that Hasegawa are known for but I found the radome fit lacking and the canopy had a big mould seam to be dealt with. I found the kit indicated colour callouts a bit on the light side so I went with darker greys on the side and upper surfaces. Just need to finish the Airfix kit now.  As usual all comments are welcome.

And with its earlier siblings, all Airfix, AV8A, and 2x GR3's

 

 

[Big_Bad_Bill]

Nice job Neil (as always).  Well done on the weathering especially as it is your first time using powder. 

[F-32]

Quality build and a great collection