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1/72 Airfix Sea Harrier FRS 51 Indian Navy


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I have been on and off this build for around a year and half. Every time I felt I was close to done I would screw up something and came close to making it a paint mule a few times if not trashing it. The discontinued Airfix kit has some nice detail in parts and is puzzlingly lacking in others. I scavenged my spares box to try and overcome some deficiencies and before I screw it up again by overcorrecting, I think this is good enough and will call it done.

 

Apart from bits and bobs from the spares box, since I was building an Indian Navy bird, I used Magic Matra missiles from an old Heller Mirage 2000 and used my pin vise hand drill to make holes in the tailpipes of the missiles. Colors, wash and clear coat are Tamiya. The decal instructions said that this airplane, IN618, was heavily weathered by 2005 and the extra dark sea gray had worn down to a dark sea gray. 

 

Decals are a mix of the ones that came with the kit and Model Alliance Indian Navy SHAR decals though the roundels are from the Italeri SHAR boxing.  

 

This build could have been better but for my overcorrections and impatience. Regardless, I hope y'all like it. I do hope the new tool SHAR from Airfix out in the winter is much better. I have high expectations. LLAP 🖖🏼

 

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Edited by Madmaks
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  • Madmaks changed the title to 1/72 Airfix Sea Harrier FRS 51 Indian Navy
1 hour ago, jhutchi said:

This may be a stupid question so my apologies, but does the Indian Navy have carriers to fly them from? 

They have one (ex-Russia) in service currently, but their SHARs operated from the aircraft carrier formerly known as HMS Hermes, decommissioned in 2017. . 

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2 hours ago, jhutchi said:

This may be a stupid question so my apologies, but does the Indian Navy have carriers to fly them from? 

The Indian Navy has tried to keep 2 aircraft carriers at any given time but usually one is available. The previous two - Vikrant and Viraat were Majestic (HMS Hercules) and Centaur (HMS Hermes) class respectively. The current two - Vikramaditya is a heavily refurbished Kiev class and the new INS Vikrant is indigenous and going through sea trials. No. 300 Squadron, The White Tigers, now fly MiG-29Ks from the carrier(s) having retired the SHARs

Edited by Madmaks
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15 minutes ago, Tweener said:

If I remember right the new kit out this winter is just new decals on the 2010 era tooling, but hopefully that isn't the case.

I really hope they new tool it. It had a lot of potential but fell short.

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For all of the frustrations, the end result looks very nice. Wouldn't know there had been issues if you hadn't mentioned them.

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5 hours ago, Alpha Delta 210 said:

I love any Harrier and yours looks great!

Thanks! I am with you on the Harrier - the lines are so beautiful like a Spitfire or Hunter

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4 hours ago, SAT69 said:

For all of the frustrations, the end result looks very nice. Wouldn't know there had been issues if you hadn't mentioned them.

Thanks SAT69. There is a slight color brightness difference in a couple of places that I had to repaint. They are tiny but my mind knows they are there. Hopefully time will blend them in.

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That's an extremely nice Harrier!

I really like that scheme - which I hadn't known about until seeing it in a magazine recently.

If I were a Harrier fan, I'd be keen on that scheme myself!

You've done a very nice job of it.

:clap2::clap2:

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On 8/22/2021 at 10:10 PM, kapam said:

That's an extremely nice Harrier!

I really like that scheme - which I hadn't known about until seeing it in a magazine recently.

If I were a Harrier fan, I'd be keen on that scheme myself!

You've done a very nice job of it.

:clap2::clap2:

Thanks Kapam!

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Nice work on a challenging kit it seems.

 

On 8/20/2021 at 8:12 PM, Tweener said:

If I remember right the new kit out this winter is just new decals on the 2010 era tooling, but hopefully that isn't the case.

 

I fear you may be correct. I have posted a question on the Airfix forum on their website to establish if the "new" release is indeed an entirely new tool. I'd love it to be, but doubt it!

 

Terry

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