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Falklands Harrier GR3 Airfix 24th


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..you got to be startin something, I say you wanna be startin somethin, you got to be startin somethin..

I guess the Michael Jackson lyrics are pretty apt to what's going on here at the moment.

With a 48th scale Lightning F6, 24th scale Hawker Typhoon and a Type IXC42 U boat on the go at the moment, along with a Phantom FGR2 and B26 Marauder oil paintings, it would be poor discipline to be

even contemplating starting anything else until these are finished off?

Then again,  if you manage to get a break from work and something takes your fancy in your bit of spare time, then what harm could it do just to 'start dabbling a bit' just to find the 'lie of the land' with a project?

I'm obviously a serial starter and will have to get serious and finish one of the other projects soon, but life's too short and I just fancied tinkering a bit.

I would probably advise against pulling up a chair, as I'll be nipping in and out of this and the other projects and I fear this will be a long haul.

 

Anyway, I'd been looking at this kit and thinking that it might look good (to me anyway) with the pilot sat in it, if only I could make him look 'up to scratch' enough to be included (as against the belts just sitting in the seat

of an empty cockpit).

Some dabbling later and I'm starting to get a of a sort of plan going and the head's starting to look like a 'head' I hope.

Bodywork to come later.

 

Kit part with visor (made from Eurofighter Typhoon 48th scale spare external tank), oxygen regulator, mask and milliput life vest added so far.

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Nick Greenall (who has been a tremendous help with research and a complete inspiration with his build) suggested he might look better with the head turned slightly (if I could saw it off still).

That done, I remodelled the right arm and hand to replicate a signal in a scene in a video I'd come across, but realised that I'd have to paint his head before it becomes permanently fixed

to his body as there isn't much clearance between the head and hand. 

I made a peg for the head to sit on.

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Here the head is just balanced in the body for effect to see where we're going.

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Obviously a long way to go with the body and all (he will be wearing an immersion suit) and check out those unsightly seams (!), but it's a start.

Hopefully more to come.

Cheers Bob.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Wow the head is phenomenal,  crikey this will be a heck of an excellent build.  Great start.   I will pop in when I can.  I have just cut the front fuselage off mine in readiness for the Sea Harrier nose but intend to do as slow build with other builds on the go.

Chris 

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Thanks all for the generous confidence building comments. It can only go downhill from here then.

Whilst I wasn't really happy with the kit visor and moulded on straps, mask and oxygen hose details, I thought the face actually looked ok so went with that.

I think it helps if you've got the pilot wearing a mask (cheating a bit?).

I watched a couple of youtube face painting tips videos and used oil paints.

I'd never attempted to paint the 'whites' of the eyes until I saw it done in a video. The technique shown was to use vertical strokes down across the eye initially.

I wanted him looking sideways so just added the white (more of a slightly buffy cream) to one side and iris colour to the other.

You're left with a couple of 'splodges' of colour over the eyes at that stage, but you can then start to very carefully narrow the splodges down, using a mix of flesh tones and red/browns

going into the recesses, leaving just the smallest 'eye sized' bits of colour coming out of the shadows. Mine didn't look right until I'd added some flesh colour to the bottom eyelids.

The figures section guys will have all this nailed of course - I'm just dabbling. 

One thing I will do is to just add the smallest amount of gloss varnish on the eyes as well.

Seat is going to be interesting, as will getting the straps and buckles looking right.

 

Looking forward to seeing how your Sea Harrier goes, Chris. I've re-shaped the LRMTS 'snoopy' nose for my GR3 and have started addressing the rivets and have cut out the auxiliary air intakes

(as the engine's supposed to be still running on mine). Long haul ahead. Cheers Bob.

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4 hours ago, bobsyouruncle said:

Looking forward to seeing how your Sea Harrier goes, Chris. I've re-shaped the LRMTS 'snoopy' nose for my GR3 and have started addressing the rivets and have cut out the auxiliary air intakes

(as the engine's supposed to be still running on mine). Long haul ahead. Cheers Bob.

Hi Bob

Thanks for the tips above.  Mine will be a long term thing and an infill type project.   Can I ask what you are using for the rivets.  I was thinking about an automotive filler primer to spray on then rub back but would be interested to hear what you are planning. 

Chris 

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  • bobsyouruncle changed the title to Falklands Harrier GR3 Airfix 24th

It's been a while since I posted but in between busy times on the ambo and getting covid myself back in December, I did actually manage to make

some bits of progress in the gaps of spare time, but this will be a long journey (enjoying it so far though).

 

I started carrying on with the pilot and seat initially (see some seat top additions here)....

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...but whilst I was enjoying the detailing, I was thinking about some of the other bigger issues with the kit that I'd have to face at some time.

To avoid being plagued by doubts, I thought I'd have a go at starting sorting some of them out.

 

One of them was the heavy fuselage rivets, so I set about filling those in to look more like the surface I saw on a GR3 when I last got to see one (you'll see

a spotty fuselage in later shots).

 

Next was the question of if it might be possible to make some Paveway LGBs from what I'd got in the box plus some bits of card and tubing, utilising the

1000lb bombs in the kit. Here's how they are at the moment and the 'Paveway production line'. 

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I'm leaving the fins off at the moment (they're just tacked on in the top shot and not finished anyway) so I don't knock them off.

More detailing to be done on these but at least I know roughly where I'm going with them (and there's still a spare 1000 pounder in the box, in case

I decide to go for the asymmetric load).

 

Another thing that was playing on my mind was the whole Pegasus intake area.

The kit has a gap behind the cockpit with the outside of an oversized front gear bay on view, where there should be a tapered fuselage section and a tubular

fairing which sits in front of the fan hub. Not only that, but you have to open up the sides of the intake if you want to have the 'blow-in' doors opened.

Another complication is remembering that this tapered fairing makes up the rear of the front undercarriage bay.

I spent quite a while thinking about how to best sequence this and what should be attached to what.

I eventually threw caution to the wind and decided to try and make a 'slot-in' piece which would comprise the intake walls and the tapered fuselage fairing (to be fitted into the fuselage later), as seen here.

This is is from the front..

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...and the back

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I thought it'd be easier to fit this in and out if I'd made a card frame for where the Pegasus fan goes.

I've added quite a bit of material to allow the intake fairing to be filed back some more, so the 'bell' profile of these will probably be opened out a little more at

the sides.

This is a how it pushes into the (spotted) fuselage that's just been taped together for now.

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I'm going to try to build the front part of the intake (with the blow-in doors) as one piece that includes the doors and their dividers, before fitting it onto

this rear part of the intake.

I've opened up the doors on one of them here

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The other thing was to widen out the internal wall of this front intake part. Modified one is on the right next to the kit one on the left, for comparison.

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I probably wouldn't have thought about altering the Pegasus fan blades at all, until Nick Greenall showed a photo of what he'd done with his (Nick has been a tremendous help with information and references, but he's also inspired me to have a go at things I normally wouldn't have - because his big Sea Harrier looks so awesome). 

So having seen what was possible, I thought I'd chance a go myself at replacing the plastic blades with something that I might be able to try and twist, as the actual ones do. That was why I started cutting up a tin can from the kitchen.

There are 26 of these and I thought I'd have a rest after doing 13 and take a shot for comparison.

The LP1 main an blades are one thing, but when you look at photos down the intake, you can just make out the fan blades from behind the front element and there are a shed load of them in that fan. I might try and do something to represent them, (and risk madness) or.... I might just hope nobody looks too closely down the intake?

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I think that's about it for now.

More later...................much later I should think.

 

 

 

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