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Anyone like early Harriers?


desmojen

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Thanks everyone! You know, this is why I like this site so much. 28 replies in 2 days, I have had a thread on UAMF (the home of the Classic British Kits SIG) since I started the build and not had half the response that I get on here :fraidnot:

I'm not complaining though, but the encouragement does help a lot. I've got the left intake finished and fitted with Milliput fairing it in dry by now. Hopefully I can get the right one up to Milliput stage tonight :D

Jen.

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I've got the other intake done, all the baffle things are in and it's ready for fitting. Just a little putty to rub out on the innermost bit, spray it grey and I can fit it.

It's been so much effort just getting the intakes done, I feel like I've finished the bloody thing! :yahoo:

Jen.

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Oh WOW!!!!!!, if it's anywhere near your other builds, and no doubt it will probably be better your mastery will again be obvious. Just one teeny tiny little question. Did you also purchase a hangar to store it in :analintruder: :analintruder: . If not I think the RAF or USMC could use a replacement.

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Yes Gary, it'll be the box top scheme for a No 1 SQN bird.

I have both intakes finished and fitted, just Pillimutted the right one in. I also fitted the fin now that I've mostly done the fiddly work on the fuselage.

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I painted the fan with Alclad and that is fitted along with the rest of the engine block. I only put the engine in for something to attach the exhausts to so it's all painted black to reduce it's visibilty through any gaps around the exhausts.

Jen.

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Hmmm - "tad ambitious" eh??? Not much!! I've got a 90% completed 48th scale JP that I've been building for 7 months & think I'm going to struggle to get done - & you start that monster with just 3 weeks to go??!! (& I'm sure there's more chance of me seeing your Harrier there than my little jet!!)

Your scratchbuilt cockpit is stunning - & just goes to show that we don't need all this resin stuff!! ;)

Really hope the build goes smoothly for you Jen & looking forward to seeing this at the Nats!!

Keef

PS - I just remembered that I actually started the 24th Harrier when it first came out - back in the dark ages - & I still haven't finished it!! :rolleyes:

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I've mainly been sanding since you last heard from me! :rolleyes:

Rivet detail - everyone's favourite whinge it seems. I like the Airfix surface detail, it has one major advantage over everyone elses in so far as it accurately depicts a series of circles. Countersunk aircraft rivets don't look like holes (a la Trumpeter and everyone else) they look like a slight circle which is designed to disappear under paint. Unfortunately, the Airfix renderings on the Harrier are a bit overscale, to the point where some of them would be unacceptable on a real aeroplane!

The combination of this with the fact that for some reason the wings have very few rivets (?) left me in a position where I felt I had no choice but to lose the rivets.

I did this by covering the whole thing with a thick brushed on coat of Tamiya liquid filler. This was rubbed down and then the model got a good coat of aerosol primer which was also rubbed down. You can still see some of the rivets, but that's fine as I didn't want to lose them completely.

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I've rescribed the lost panel lines and done a heap of other stuff which you can't really see and/or I've forgotten about but the main thing for me is that I'm finally getting to the end of fuselage prep :yahoo:

Once I'm happy with the main fuselage I can fit the wing, and once I've done that I'll start feeling more confident.......

Jen.

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Thanks Oliver :D

As for coffee/Red Bull, I only use Red Bull when I'm riding my motorbike and I never drink coffee. Whatever talent I may have for speed building is purely down to a refusal to faff :shrug:

Latest instalment in the saga then,

I've added the instrument panel and the shroud thing that goes over it. The Flightpath IP is lovely, one of the best bits of the set I think. Made up of 6 or so bits of etch, with a film between showing the instruments. The film is painted from behind and then I filled the front of each instrument with Micro Krystal Klear.

On top of the shroud the HUD was added, made up of some kit parts, some etch and a piece of transparent plastic card.

Once all that was on I fitted the windscreen with superglue. There was a nice big gap so I Milliputted it in.

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I also spent some time painting the seat. It isn't finished yet, but you get the idea (should have sent it to NeilFGR to do!)

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And then, finally, I fitted the wing. I fitted the lower one piece half first because test fitting had shown that I would need to press it down into the wing seat, as it was too flat. I couldn't have done this if I had fitted the wing halves together first.

Once that was stuck I fitted the two top halves without any trouble. There is a nasty gap on one under wing root area but the other is quite good. When I came to fit the top part I discovered that the left wing was too flat on top as well as underneath and it left a massive gap where it didn't meet the top cover. I superglued some bits of cocktail stick inside to prop it up a bit and then fitted the top.

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So, that's been setting up overnight. Todays task, should I choose to accept it, will be to add Milliput to the join areas of the wing and sand down my windscreen.

If all goes well I should be starting to get some paint on by the weekend! :yahoo:

Jen.

(buying more Milliput at the Nationals)

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I don't think I could fit in it to fly it in Mike, nice idea though! And a perfect excuse for... :pilot:

Thanks for the encouragement dudes, god knows I'm going to need it!

Ok, it's moving along, not quickly enough I fear but here goes.

I've rubbed down the Milliput around the wings. Unfortunately it needs a bit more work so more filler has been added. An unfortunate setback since there's no substitute for time when it comes to filler work

I'm filling some of the waiting with working on sub assemblies.

I finished and painted the pylons and weapons yesterday, they may get decalled and Kleared today.

I've also started to work on the undercarriage parts.

The nose leg is a completely new part from the Flightpath set, all made from white metal and etch. There are three metal pieces that they would have you glue together. I drilled through them and have added some wirelocking wire through all the joints, since this model is nearly as heavy as a real Harrier! I added some wiring from lead wire and here is the result.

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Not comprehensive, but busy enough to look decent. I've since started work on the mainwheels. The Flightpath set includes 3 resin nosewheels and etch parts to convert 2 of them into mainwheels. I also cleaned up the mainleg (from the kit) and have drilled through the spindles on it for a nice lockwire axle.

If I only had the Harrier to get ready I think I would be justified in starting to feel quietly confident, but I've actually got two 1/32 cars, a classic sailing ship and a 1/72 Spitfire to do as well! :lol::suicide:

Jen.

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