James G Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 Morning all. Time to start building something new! I have the Revell reboxing of the Harrier GR Mk. 7/9 by Hasegawa, which has been winking to me from the stash for a while. I'm going to build GR Mk. 7A ZD404 'Lucy', RAF Cottesmore detached to Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2007. I believe all 'ZD' aircraft have the 65% LERX, not 100%, but happy to be corrected on this. I have the Eduard colour PE set and a Flightpath ladder to spruce it up, everything else will be from box/scratch detailed. I am going to hand some more interesting ordance off it than what is in the box, probably TIALD pod and a couple of Paveways. Can anyone recommend a good colour match for the camo greys used? I was going to go with AK. I was also considering getting the Duke Hawkins Harrier book and wondering if anyone can recommend it? Sprue shot below: 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick231 Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 I love this aircraft so I'll definitely be watching throughout the whole build! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 5 hours ago, James G said: I believe all 'ZD' aircraft have the 65% LERX, not 100%, but happy to be corrected on this. According to the list I have, ZD404 had the 65% LERX. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G Posted October 29, 2023 Author Share Posted October 29, 2023 2 hours ago, Beard said: According to the list I have, ZD404 had the 65% LERX. Excellent, thanks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Coombs Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 Does the kit have the correct ejection seat for an RAF Harrier? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G Posted October 30, 2023 Author Share Posted October 30, 2023 20 hours ago, Steve Coombs said: Does the kit have the correct ejection seat for an RAF Harrier? The kit seat is not great, I'm going to use a combination of Eduard PE and scratchbuilding to bring it up to spec. Am I right in thinking this aircraft would have been fitted with a Martin-Baker Mk 12H? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Coombs Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 3 hours ago, James G said: Am I right in thinking this aircraft would have been fitted with a Martin-Baker Mk 12H? That's the one. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G Posted November 29, 2023 Author Share Posted November 29, 2023 Evening all. I've progressed the cockpit and got the fuselage halves together. I added all the number decals to the fan blades, only to discover they don't cover them all the way round. Luckily the small decal identification numbers filled in the rest! I used some promodeller dark wash on the pre-painted Eduard cockpit side walls, side consoles and instrument panel, and that seemed the bring out the detail quite nicely. The details on the Air Graphics MB12H resin seat came up quite well with a drybrush. The kit-supplied seat is too slim in profile, and I think it is supposed to represent the SJU-4/A fitted to the USMC Harriers. Also just visible behind the seat is a little bit of scratchbuilt detail representing the cabin pressurisation valve and the ground power panel (I'm not a Harrier expert, I just own the Duke Hawkins book!). Other than that I've filled and sanded various seams, and worked a bit on the turbofan nozzles which I thinned out from the inside using my Proxxon Micromot, I think they appear more realistic for having done this. Sorry, as usual my pics are not great, but give an idea. Very much enjoying this build! 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bissyboat Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 Nice brushwork on the pilot´s seat with all the gubbins. ⚓👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G Posted November 30, 2023 Author Share Posted November 30, 2023 8 hours ago, bissyboat said: Nice brushwork on the pilot´s seat with all the gubbins. ⚓👍 Thanks, there's a little bit of photo etch from the Eduard at on there too, e.g. the ejection seat pull Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petr_Kreps Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 Nicely detailed cockpit😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serkan Sen Posted December 1, 2023 Share Posted December 1, 2023 Lovely details on little cockpit. I love this plane. Serkan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandros Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 Great plane, despite the boring painting. It will be challenging to add interest in the dull gray camouflage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G Posted December 11, 2023 Author Share Posted December 11, 2023 On 12/4/2023 at 8:22 AM, sandros said: Great plane, despite the boring painting. It will be challenging to add interest in the dull gray camouflage. I'll do my best... think I will mask off some panels and paint them a lighter colour, plus weathering should add some interest hopefully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G Posted December 17, 2023 Author Share Posted December 17, 2023 Morning all. It's starting to look like a Harrier....I've got all the major bits on, and starting to think about the undercarriage and stores next. I've clean up and rescribed/re-riveted most of the joints, and improved the LERX (already quite nicely detailed) with some parts fashioned from Tamiya 'pla-paper' (very thin cardstock). I have drilled and filed out the openings for all the small air scoops on the LERX and at the base of the vertical stabiliser. I repositioned some the antennae on the wingtips to better reflect an RAF machine as these were incorrect in the kit, and added some small details to the wingtip positioning nozzles. The fit of the refuelling probe was terrible hence all the white filler visible in the photos! I also added some more detailing to the Dual Mode Tracker (DMT) on the tip of the nose and the FLIR fairing above. I had a small mishap where I dropped the model and some bits pinged off, including the central cockpit console beneath the HUD, but drawing inspiration from the Chinese proverb about crisis & opportunity I fashioned a new one, and I think it looks the part! The Eduard HUD went on last night, I painted over the circular lens part with a chrome paint pen and then glued some iridescent nail foil over the top, it looks good when the light catches it and it is reflected on the acetate screens above. I will add some wiring to the cockpit coaming then calling the cockpit done....hopefully the paint stage is not too far away. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_alfisti_ Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 Nice progress on your Harrier. The cockpit looks superb👍. I´m building the AV-8B+ from Hase at the moment and I have to deal with the same fit issues on some parts. I'm used to better things from Hasegawa. Daniel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G Posted January 6 Author Share Posted January 6 Evening all. Some minor updates on the Harrier build. I've been working a lot on detailing all the weapons pylons with the locking pins represented by punched discs of Tamiya 'pla-paper'. I filled the pylon's incorrect panel lines with VMS flexi black CA glue (my new favourite filler), and re-scribed using the detail images in the instructions (see below). The area forward of the HUD has had some more scratch details added and painted black. On the underside shot of the tail you might be able to just see the scratchbuilt additions to the ventral fin: the VHF/UHF antenna and the Zeus low band receiver (not sure which is which!). A general underside shot some of the PE additions and the painted turbofan nozzles. The last shot shows all the ordnance which will be hung off the wings, and the few other parts such as the undercarriage for painting (the Eduard PE plus a bit more scratchbuilding has made these look more interesting). Sorry as usual for poor photos but hopefully you can see what I am talking about! On to painting next. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 Evening all. Brief update before painting commences on the Harrier. I had a re-think on the loadout that I wanted to depict on the model, to make it as realistic as possible for ZD404 'Lucy' as she took part in Operation Herrick in 2007. Thanks to all who responded to my request for loadout info on here, but especially to Nick Greenall of the Harrier SIG (@NG899) who provided lots of info and photos. So I am going with: a TIALD pod on the port fuselage station, Digital Joint Reconnaissance Pod (DJRP) on the centre fuselage station, fuel tanks on the innermost pylons, 2 x Paveway LGBs on the second pylons, BOL rails (but no Sidewinders - rarely if ever carried on Op Herrick as only countermeasures were required) and lastly empty outer rails as I had seen a post on here that addition unguided bombs would not be carried due to the weight issue. On the modelling side this meant removing the gun pods I had added before to the underside of the model, and installing the fence (strake?) on the starboard side, plus scratchbuilding a pylon from plasticard (the white one near the nozzle at the bottom of photo 2 below). I added some links made from stiff guitar string to a couple of the pylons that will carry fuel tanks and the LGBs (it's a bit long, I will trim it). My DJRP is on order from Air Graphics Models! Hope you like the pics. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 Morning all. Brief update on the Harrier's paintwork, getting close to the end of this build stage. The AK paints for the main colours have gone down quite nicely. I tried something slightly different with the pre-shade this time; usual Mr Surfacer 1500 black coat, then I sprayed Tamiya white through an Uschi metal stencil. I then went back over some lines with Tamiya German grey (see photo below): I then painted the main AK colours (dark sea grey on top, dark camouflage grey underneath) as a thinned layer over the pre-shade. The pre-shade shows in a very subtle way, which is not really apparent in the photo below. I masked and painted a few lighter grey strips on the flaps (apparent in reference photos), and the 'erosion tape' on the leading edges which shows as a greenish-yellow colour on photos of ZD404 'Lucy'. Hope you like the pics, on to my favourite stages (decals and weathering) spoon! 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_alfisti_ Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Looks good with the paint on👍. Also nice work on the scratched pylon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightwing Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Looks great! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G Posted February 25 Author Share Posted February 25 Evening all. I've completed decaling (mainly), the kit decals were nice to work with but the stencils are way too light in the shade of grey used (or my base paint is too dark - could be some combination of both!). I've ordered a spare sheet of decals from the Airfix GR7 kit which looks like it uses darker stencils. I'm hoping the matt coat lightens the paint up considerably. I might also lighten it up a bit more with a light grey filter (the bottle propping up the wing in the top pic!). The bottom pic shows the LGBs, TIALD pod and DJRP pod painted and decaled. Looking forward to getting onto weathering. The photo frame will be a 'micro' diorama base for the Harrier (I'm limited on display cabinet space). I'll paint it up to represent the dusty concrete of Kandahar Airfield, I have the Flightpath boarding ladder, some 'aircraft armed' signs, RBF tags and will scratch/adapt a couple of figures. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G Posted March 28 Author Share Posted March 28 I've been remiss in posted updates to this. I've posted the RFI here. Last photo update shows the completed underside. I added some iridescent nail foil to the lenses on the DJRP and the TIALD head, it might not be completely accurate but looks nice I think. Hope you like the RFI! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggynugget Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 This is really nice......... relaxing almost.......... Looks fantastic...... Might have to source one myself........ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G Posted April 4 Author Share Posted April 4 On 3/28/2024 at 6:53 PM, Ziggynugget said: This is really nice......... relaxing almost.......... Looks fantastic...... Might have to source one myself........ It's generally a good kit. One issue around the stencil decals is that they are way too light in colour, so I alternately painted over them or replaced them with darker stencils from the Airfix kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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