The Shearwater Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 I think this might be the next project to start. Not an easy kit to get hold of these days - managed to find it on ebay a couple of years back. Heard some comments in the past about some tricky parts fit? I've also bought aftermarket intakes / nozzles which seems to be this big issue with the Sword kit. It's going to have to be a rattle can paint finish too, so let's see how that works out!!! Will try to update some pics through the build. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis95 Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 Oooh. Now this looks intriguing... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Armstrong Posted February 6, 2021 Share Posted February 6, 2021 I have this kit as well, so will be very interested in how this build goes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazza l Posted February 6, 2021 Share Posted February 6, 2021 Looking forward to seeing this come together. A good choice on the replacement nozzles and intakes, definitely a weak point in the kit. gazza l 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gondor44 Posted February 6, 2021 Share Posted February 6, 2021 I only have the Airfix and Heller kits in my stash so shall follow this with interest Gondor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shearwater Posted February 8, 2021 Author Share Posted February 8, 2021 Thanks for the comments folks. I’m not the best modeller in the world but I really want to do this kit justice (if only ‘cos it’ll be hard to replace if I screw it up!). footnote: I’ve just ordered an airbrush so this is probably going to be my first ever airbrushed kit. What could possibly go wrong...🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shearwater Posted February 9, 2021 Author Share Posted February 9, 2021 And strangely enough, the day I prepare to start this one is the anniversary of the full-size one being written off - 9th Feb 2009 in Cyprus, fortunately both crew ejected safely... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shearwater Posted February 13, 2021 Author Share Posted February 13, 2021 Starting out. Nice resin ejector seats included with the kit. Painted up along with instrument binnacles. But now I'm starting to see the fit issues reported by other people... the cockpit tubs are too wide for the fuselage halves to join properly, so a bit of hacking away required. Talking of which.... what sort of monster designs fuselage halves without any locating pins & holes?!!! It's a "line up the edges" job. Not confident about this one. Let's see. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 Some small tabs of card around one fuselage half to help locate the other one, just take care of their angle that they don't stop the two sides coming together. Bending them to match the angles at the join works here. Steve. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shearwater Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 13 hours ago, stevehnz said: Some small tabs of card around one fuselage half to help locate the other one, just take care of their angle that they don't stop the two sides coming together. Bending them to match the angles at the join works here. Steve. Thanks for the tip 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shearwater Posted February 20, 2021 Author Share Posted February 20, 2021 All the important bits glued into the fuselage now prior to joining. Really not loving the fit of most of these parts! I see my future will involve filler, sandpaper, and swearing... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shearwater Posted February 21, 2021 Author Share Posted February 21, 2021 One trickier fit issue is the junction of the wing (flap) with the fuselage fairing - they should be flush but you can see from this dry fit image that the fairing drops away, making the flaps appear raised. Partly overcome by heating / twisting the trailing edge of the wing, to meet up with the fairing, but I think more sanding/filling is also required. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shearwater Posted March 9, 2021 Author Share Posted March 9, 2021 Slowly moving on with this one! Odd to see the lack of landing light on the nosewheel leg - it's just a big square flat moulding there - so I've improvised with a small piece cut off a clear sprue. Poor quality pic off the phone but: So....first ever go at airbrushing. It's only a little budget compressor (on/off, no tank or adjustment for pressure etc) but not a bad brush (H&S Ultra). I've read plenty of horror stories about 0.2mm nozzles with acrylic paints and low pressures! Let's see how it goes. Primed with Mission Models primer (couldn't get grey, so mixed white & black). Seemed to go on fine after a very quick practise on a scrap model. Then it was some nervous pre-shading in black! Top coats followed using the Hataka Red Line Modern RAF set, with lower parts medium sea grey and the upper surfaces dark camouflage grey. I have to say (although close-up photos are always unforgiving) I'm really pleased how this is looking - I personally don't really like the look of very harsh, pre-shaded panel lines, so tried to keep it quite subtle for just a slightly patchy, weathered look. Bearing in mind this is my first ever shot at airbrushing, and it's a pretty fast learning curve(!), I'm happy! Bit of tidying up to do before a gloss coat and then some oil weathering (again, first time for that. If this all comes together without a huge disaster I will be as astonished as I will be pleased!). Although now realising my error in putting the wing pylons/fence on before masking and spraying that beige leading edge... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 Coming along nicely! I would like to add one of these to the stash as well, but as you say, like a lot of Sword models you better get 'em when they're out. Cheers, Andre 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shearwater Posted March 9, 2021 Author Share Posted March 9, 2021 48 minutes ago, Hook said: Coming along nicely! I would like to add one of these to the stash as well, but as you say, like a lot of Sword models you better get 'em when they're out. Cheers, Andre Thanks... I believe they’re re-issuing their T.2/T.4 in 1/72 shortly, so if you fancy the older 2-seater version, keep your eyes open... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shearwater Posted March 10, 2021 Author Share Posted March 10, 2021 Exciting morning.... this just arrived in the post: Not sure how I'll be feeling after finishing the current T.10 project... either in a total Harrier state of mind, ready for the next one... or totally fed up and needing to build a Jaguar for a change! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shearwater Posted March 11, 2021 Author Share Posted March 11, 2021 Pavla nozzles were quite a bit oversize for the fuselage holes (or more likely, the Sword mounting holes are smaller than the Airfix ones for which the nozzles were designed). Like another builder on these forums said, a fair bit of whittling of both nozzles and holes was required to get a satisfactory fit. Then a bit of filling & sanding to repair the fuselage gouge caused by a runaway router bit!!! Rear nozzles' first coat brushed on. "Burnt iron" colour improvised with a mix of gunmetal, black, and copper. (It's actually slightly more metallic than the picture shows) Front ones just seen in primer, but will be aluminium-ish. Main parts then given first airbrush coat of varnish - I'm using Winsor & Newton Galeria Acrylic Gloss, very slightly thinned with water. Nervously waiting to see how this comes out. I suspect a light sanding then another coat will be required before the weathering/decal stage. Hanging up in its own little drying shed, hopefully to keep the dust off! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shearwater Posted March 13, 2021 Author Share Posted March 13, 2021 The most nervous moment in any Harrier build? Waiting to see if the mainwheels AND the outriggers all line up and touch the floor together... Hurrah! Success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shearwater Posted March 13, 2021 Author Share Posted March 13, 2021 (edited) Some weathering - initially with Flory's clay wash, as I've used that before and am vaguely familiar with it. I'd also bought a couple of oil paints intending to try oil wash for the first time, so thought "why not?". Didn't manage to get the pin wash look (or undercarriage) effect I was after, on the test model, but some flowing dirt across the surfaces worked out ok. Should really have decaled it first, but will leave the weathering now & see what it looks like with the decals finally on. Can always slap a bit more on top if necessary... Edited March 13, 2021 by The Shearwater 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 Looks pretty good from here! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shearwater Posted March 15, 2021 Author Share Posted March 15, 2021 (edited) Most of the parts are on.... most of the decals too. Just need to add various probes, the clear nose cover, and the fuel tanks. Final bit of paint touchup then a coat or two of matt varnish, before it's the moment of truth when the canopy masks come off! (another nervous moment coming up...). Not great quality pics here, again off the phone, but the model is standing on the Noy's Miniatures "Cold War" ground section which looks superb. It'll be better when I sort out some sort of background too... Edited March 15, 2021 by The Shearwater 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shearwater Posted March 16, 2021 Author Share Posted March 16, 2021 One final detailing bit: on the real Harrier, the targeting unit behind the clear nose cover has a quite vivid blue colour (very obvious when you look at head-on shots of the real thing). Turns out that the shiny wrappers off Lindt Salted Caramel chocolates aren't too far off the colour... I've stuck a tiny bit on the back of that nose cap using ClearFix, hoping it'll catch the light when viewed head-on: Perfect excuse to mix chocolate and aeromodelling! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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