CT Modeller Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 AV-8B Harrier II VMA-214 'Blacksheep', Yuma, Arizona, 1992 This is the old 1/48 Monogram kit built straight from the box except for decals, which were Microscale. This was unusual for me in two ways. Firstly I normally stick to 1/72, and secondly I would normally spend a long time re-scribing a kit that has raised panel lines. In this case I went for a quick build (is there ever such a thing?) as the kit only made its way from the attic because I needed the drop tanks from it to finish off my old UPC Skyray which I posted onto this site earlier. So it was lying around and I thought I might as well build it. I was very pleasantly surprised. Firstly to my eye it looks just right for an early AV-8B. The detail was all there in typical Monogram style and it went together very nicely without much filler. I kept wondering when I was building it whether I should have scribed in the panel lines but now its finished I'm glad I didn't as it looks fine. It's made me re consider re-scribing in future. Maybe I don't always have to do that! The old Superscale decals worked perfectly well, except that on the sheet I used there were no stencils except for the air intake warning so I had to search the spare decal stocks and found something that was roughly right from some F-18 sheets. I'm very tempted with more 1/48 Harriers now - a couple of those Kinetic Sea Harriers might be first on the list. 27 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJP Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 Very smart AV8B - look forward to seeing you do those Sea Harriers CJP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightningboy2000 Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 Very attractive! Nicely finished AV, nothing wrong with that! I know it might sound in patriotic but I do like the look of these American Harriers. Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan-o Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 Very nice👌 Was only watching a program this morning and it had the Blacksheep squadron flying Corsairs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 You Harrier looks super good to me. Glad you approached the build the way you did. Very nice results. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Brantley Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 That is a great looking Harrier! She's wearing a nice, sharp paint job and I noticed you've handled the kit's issue with the rear main gear not touching the ground. How did you manage that, as I know I've seen discussion of the flaw before. This was the fourth kit I built back in the late 1980s after I returned to scale modeling. I was always a bit embarrassed that those tires didn't quite contact the surface and along with a few other issues, never bothered to photograph it. I like the fact that you didn't rescribe the kit too. 👍 You've built proof that it's not always required to produce a fine model. Bravo Chris! 😀 btw-This Harrier has me rethinking my Harrier a bit. I'm wondering if it's possible to retroactively change the landing gear position to a more correct location after all these years. Or, perhaps, with some chocks in place, it might be taken out to the airport for a photo shoot...thanks for the great inspiration sir! 🍺 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Modeller Posted June 13, 2020 Author Share Posted June 13, 2020 8 33 minutes ago, Gary Brantley said: That is a great looking Harrier! She's wearing a nice, sharp paint job and I noticed you've handled the kit's issue with the rear main gear not touching the ground. How did you manage that, as I know I've seen discussion of the flaw before. This was the fourth kit I built back in the late 1980s after I returned to scale modeling. I was always a bit embarrassed that those tires didn't quite contact the surface and along with a few other issues, never bothered to photograph it. I like the fact that you didn't rescribe the kit too. 👍 You've built proof that it's not always required to produce a fine model. Bravo Chris! 😀 btw-This Harrier has me rethinking my Harrier a bit. I'm wondering if it's possible to retroactively change the landing gear position to a more correct location after all these years. Or, perhaps, with some chocks in place, it might be taken out to the airport for a photo shoot...thanks for the great inspiration sir! 🍺 Hi Gary. Thanks for your comments. How I handled the main gear was to leave it loose in it’s location slot rather than fixing it. I put some scrap plastic on the top of the slot to prevent it from slipping out. It means you have to paint the leg before you put the fuselage halves together and then be very careful not to damage it during the rest of the build. The aircraft then stands on its nose and outrigger gears, with the main gear free to touch the ground. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Brantley Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 13 minutes ago, CT Modeller said: 8 Hi Gary. Thanks for your comments. How I handled the main gear was to leave it loose in it’s location slot rather than fixing it. I put some scrap plastic on the top of the slot to prevent it from slipping out. It means you have to paint the leg before you put the fuselage halves together and then be very careful not to damage it during the rest of the build. The aircraft then stands on its nose and outrigger gears, with the main gear free to touch the ground. That's an ingenious fix! Great idea for sure! Thanks for the description. 🍻 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamiltonian Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 Ooh, I like the finish on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phone Phixer Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 Very nice, tidy build. Great work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeuschile Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 (edited) I used the tones indicated by the kit and I did not stay the same, will it be the version? .... something does not suit me ....... splendid work of yours. Edited June 13, 2020 by zeuschile 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vultures1 Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 Very nice AV-8B - definitely looks the part Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ c Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 Great looking Harrier there, really nice work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Looks like the kits aged well! Great job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markmcguire25 Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Great Harrier. Nice fix on the Gear. And the paint job is spot on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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