Jump to content

BAe Sea Harrier FA.2


Recommended Posts

Here's my Xtrakit 1/72 Sea Harrier that I have recently finished. To say it was a battle was an understatement! I fought every step of the way, and nearly defeated me when it came to the canopy. Plently of filling. sanding and re-scribing was required all round to make anything near decent. It is done straight out of the box apart from some scratchbuilt intake blanks which were easier to make that sorting out the insides of the intakes :S

Anyway, here's a very brief idea of the main issues encountered along the way...

First up is the above mentioned intakes. They were lumpy and bumpy with sink marks all over the insides, and there was a reasonable gap when fitted which would have needed lots of filling to smooth out.

Dscf0461.jpg

Dscf0462.jpg

Dscf0473.jpg

Then there was the canopy which was too large for the kit!? It was about 1-2mm too long, and about 2-3mm too wide to fit on there. It needed quite a lot of encouragement to be squeezed together to meet up with the fuselage sides. CA was needed to get the thing to stick on there properly with the pressure involved. This caused some crazing in the windscreen on the left hand side, but I'll put that down to a bird strike ;) The length issues were resolved by filling in the gap under the windscreen and re-shaping it out. A real nasty job overall that nearly ended up binning the entire thing.

Here's the canopy parts lined up on the left hand side...

Dscf0494.jpg

and the overhang on the right hand side... (you can see the fuselage edge inside the frame painted black... and look at it over the intakes :S )

Dscf0498.jpg

There were quite a few other niggly bits as well, but were easy enough to put right... just very time consuming! The build was done for the Promodeller.com site, and there is a complete photo build available on the home page there.

Here's the finished article. The intake blanks were scratchbuilt and then cast up in resin. These will soon be available in the Jenesis Designs range that will be available from modelsforsale.com

Dscf0618.jpg

Dscf0624.jpg

Dscf0625.jpg

Dscf0630.jpg

Dscf0638-1.jpg

Dscf0641.jpg

Dscf0157.jpg

Dscf0158.jpg

Dscf0161.jpg

Dscf0648-1.jpg

Dscf0650.jpg

Dscf0651-1.jpg

Let me know what you think!

Karl.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Damn fine job there Karl! I really think I'd have binned it and I love those intake blanks! Best one I've seen built.

Paul Harrison

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mmmmmm, Shar :wub:

Fantastic build buddy, the exhaust staining looks great, and those intake blanks are sweet! Might have to pick up a set when it comes to my own build of the new Airfix kit (I chickened out of this one and decided to wait :whistle:)

Are the decals from the box? I have an MA sheet with the same markings which I'm planning to use on said Airfix kit

:goodjob:

PS will you be bringing her to the Avon show? :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Utterly stunning build of what looks to be an almost unbuildable kit! I'm waiting for the Airfix one too :thumbsup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

one thing though, the radome to fuselage join/angle seems a bit weird to me :shrug:

Yes, there is quite a few shape issues at the front end IMO. The join between the cockpit section and the main fuselage was pretty vague and does result in a sort of bent look to the whole thing!

Karl.

Oh, and Shaun, yes it will come along for the Avon show ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Silk purse from a sows ear!

Nice job. Seeing that canopy I am glad I sold mine, no way would I have worked with it!

Would say a canopy from FRS.1 work in place of the kit one?

Julien

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Such a shame about the canopy but what a finish, she looks gorgeous, one to be very proud of mate.

Regards,

JB.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Such a shame about the canopy but what a finish, she looks gorgeous, one to be very proud of mate.

Regards,

JB.

I agree with JB, great job Karl and shame about the clear parts. I think I will wait for the Airfix offering (just hope it is not a Xtrakit rebox!).

:thumbsup:

Edited by TrojanThunder
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I e-mailed Hannants a month or so ago and they sent me a replacement canopy that does fit.

Tony

I'm glad you mentioned this... I thought there was a replacement available, but was beginning to think I'd dreamed it up!! Unfortunately I found out about it too late though.

Karl.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...