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1/72 ESCI AV-8S Matador


MiG Mongoose

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Hi there,

I started this kit about a year ago, put it aside as life intervened (yet again) and the fit was terrifying. Later this year I looked at it and having aquired some new Tamiya Putty, I was able to conquer the poor fit and gaps that had prevailed for months. Hopefully the decals are still useable. It's time to find out and push this project to completion!!

P1010141.jpg

The project as it stands now

P1010140.jpg

I re-detailed the seat during my second attempt in July, wher I also did the filling and sanding

P1010139.jpg

I added the windscreen today, all the filling is clearly visible. The reason I have been so reluctant to start painting is because I glued the exhaust nozzles on (What was I thinking!! :frantic: ) and I can't remove them. Clever masking should overcome this.

More progress soon...

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Looking good to me. I especially like the 'hovering one inch from the deck' stand that you've made for it! Go on, stick a pilot in it - you know you want to :winkgrin:

Andy

Thanks. I made that stand in place of the nose gear during assembly as a means to protect the pitot tube. You can see how well it worked!

Its a great project , but look at the horrible swirly silver plastic! I hope you've got a decent primer :)

Speaking of primer, here it is now, covered in Humbrol 1 (Grey Primer), I wouldn't call it decent, but its worked well so far.

P1010115.jpg

Normally, I can use the jetpipe opening to mount the model to ease painting, of course the Harrier does not have a conventional jetpipe, so I had to devise a new mount using the landing gear. I had concerns over the fineness of the panel lines (they are very refined and lightly engraved) disappearing under coats of paint, so far it seems I was right to fear so. Oh well, getting this complete is all I am looking for :thumbsup:

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Thanks. I made that stand in place of the nose gear during assembly as a means to protect the pitot tube. You can see how well it worked!

Speaking of primer, here it is now, covered in Humbrol 1 (Grey Primer), I wouldn't call it decent, but its worked well so far.

P1010115.jpg

Normally, I can use the jetpipe opening to mount the model to ease painting, of course the Harrier does not have a conventional jetpipe, so I had to devise a new mount using the landing gear. I had concerns over the fineness of the panel lines (they are very refined and lightly engraved) disappearing under coats of paint, so far it seems I was right to fear so. Oh well, getting this complete is all I am looking for :thumbsup:

i too feared that about the primer and panel lines (but how many coats of primer would it take on the new airfix SHARs lol)

i would scribe softly again into the primer the panel lines, even just a few.

Nice

My Matador for the Naval GB is still awaiting completion

wouldn't worry too much about panel lines

not sure how many would be seen at this scale.

Did the Matadors use the Adens?

They were obtained from the American AV-8's

what decals you using?

cant help on the Adens from memory, but i bought esp a book some years ago to help build mine, dedicated to the spanish ones. i will see if i can find the book later (models room is upside down at the mo).

FOUND the book, been through it all and can confrim from all the fotos, i cannot find any spanish ones carrying the cannons. (ok one foto HAS, but its in brit? (its underside 90% angle) camo but with spanish roundels....taken at wittering)

Edited by mrcooljules
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Found a pic online from here with the Adens:

http://kr.blog.yahoo.com/shinecommerce/21735

Have the Sky Models sheet Jules iirc

ah wierd. i must have had this project planned for around 10 years, cos i kept to the right page my very old aircfaft mags for these spanish planes, and again not one fotos shows them fitted.

what that decal sheet like? will hunt it out, i have hobby calcas tranfers i got from spain some years ago.

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http://www.kitreview.com/reviews/harrierdecalreviewbg_1.htm

Think it is the same as this one

Though I thought it had the sharkmouth T bird as well but could have been wishful thinking on my part as I really want to do that!

ps think it may be OOP now and I can't find it on Hannants catalogue now.

ta, i looked on hannants and couldnt see it.

i have some nice fotos, of harriers next to each other having ARMADA and MARINA, so thats always been my plan to do, on deck.

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Did the Matadors use the Adens?

They were obtained from the American AV-8's

oops! I have checked through all the photos I have of the Matador, no Aden cannons (silly me), I guess if the UK wouldn't sell Spain Harriers, they wouldn't sell them Adens either, which makes sense. I can't really think of a way of removing them, so they will have to stay.

Found a pic online from here with the Adens:

http://kr.blog.yahoo.com/shinecommerce/21735

Now that's a rarity, but a great find. Thanks Walrus!

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I plan on using the ESCI decals in the kit, assuming they are useable!

Anyhow, disaster has struck. The Tamiya spray can I was using has a crazed texture due to the Humbrol Primer reacting. I can remove it and apply another coat, but it it is still a pain. As if I needed any more proof that Humbrol enamels are rubbish! :thumbsdown::suicide:

Edited by MiG Mongoose
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I plan on using the ESCI decals in the kit, assuming they are useable!

Anyhow, disaster has struck. The Tamiya spray can I was using has a crazed texture due to the Humbrol Primer reacting. I can remove it and apply another coat, but it it is still a pain. As if I needed any more proof that Humbrol enamels are rubbish! :thumbsdown::suicide:

i think thats happened to me, hence use the car primer everyone else does over here

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I plan on using the ESCI decals in the kit, assuming they are useable!

Anyhow, disaster has struck. The Tamiya spray can I was using has a crazed texture due to the Humbrol Primer reacting. I can remove it and apply another coat, but it it is still a pain. As if I needed any more proof that Humbrol enamels are rubbish! :thumbsdown::suicide:

Sounds like you're getting a pretty normal reaction from putting a hot lacquer paint (like the Tamiya spray cans) over enamel. That's just the properties of differing thinners/solvents reacting.

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Did the Matadors use the Adens?

They were obtained from the American AV-8's

Matadors used the Adens, as the USMC AV-8 did. While many pictures show the AV-8S without guns, the guns were ordered with the planes.

The one in the picture above is one of the original batch ordered through the US. A later batch was ordered directly from Britain.

Regarding the decals, some old Esci decals had a bad tendency to crack when they became too old. Happened to me a couple of years ago on an F-104 sheet. Best test one bit that will not be used ! If this breaks in the water, then a coat or two of microscale decal film will sort the problem.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Silly me, I had no idea that Tamiya spray cans were laquers... :frantic:

Anyway, a removal of the paint was in order, followed by a repaint that didn't go well. The upper grey didn't dry fully, so bits of that were removed and was repaired by brush. After re-doing that, I decided it was close enough and added the clear coat and this is as it stands today.

P1010133.jpg

Yes I know the grey is too dark, but I'm not really bothered. Seeing this complete matters more than accuracy considering I have had enough of this project. I will probably put aside for the Vietnam GB.

Thanks for the info Giorgio, I broke the Adens off while removing the paint, I fitted the strakes instead. It will be interesting to see how the decals go.

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