MiG Mongoose Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 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. Considering I my only experirences with ESCI decals have been good (nice results on an F-5A), I decided to take the plunge (pardon the pun!). I firstly tested by applying the one on the one on the inside of the airbrake, no probs there. In fact all of the decals went on very well, the only cracking was with a stencil from an Airfix sheet as I had accidentally binned the kit decal! The date on the bottom of the sheet is March 1990 (older than I am!), probably near the end of ESCI. This may be why they went so well, although a 21 year old decal sheet could be seen as being too old? Onto weathering, no panel line wash as my painting adventure filled the panel lines, just a bit of Tamiya Weathering Master around the nozzles, control surfaces and the stabilising jets (?) at the bow,stern and wingtips. Dealing with the landing gear is a tricky matter, I firstly attached the nose gear and outriggers, thinking I could sand down the main wheels to fit (the main gear leg had to be fitted when the fuselage halves were joined a year ago. Knowing I'd be sanding into the rims, I filled the insides of the wheels to get a level surface and attached them to the main gear leg (ie, the wheels are not attached at the center). Since the main gear leg was so long, I should have cut it off cut it down to the appropriate length, add unmodified wheels and re-attach. Either way, the Harrier wasn't wobbly, so I'm happy. Onto the pics Not long to completion, will be glad to see the back of it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark M Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 considering the problems youve had that looks FAB well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Looking good! Nice work with the decals! Cheers, Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Looking good, nice to see a different version of the Harrier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiG Mongoose Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 (edited) And... I... Have... FINISHED! Given the difficult nature of painting the aircraft, a result of my mistakes (this would also be eligible for a PITA Group Build! ) , I'm glad to see it done. Being unique as a VTOL aircraft, the subject matter posed some problems. No conventional jet nozzle to mount the model for painting and how the jet nozzles protude from the sides of the fuselage, making it difficult to get paint in there. The landing gear arrangement was tricky, I would rather be able to adjust and install the main gear legoutside of the model, instead of closing it between the fuselage halves. I am aware that ESCI Harriers are great kits and I am disappointed that I wasn't able to do it justice. However with the Harrier SIB coming up, I plan to give an ESCI Harrier another go, ideally a Sea Harrier in Indian Navy colours. Anyway, here it is... Thanks to everybody who commented and assisted with the issues I had with this build and thanks to the GB mods. Edited January 7, 2011 by MiG Mongoose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrcooljules Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 nice. glad you removed the canons :-) look forward to the indian one you mentioned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousDFB1 Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Lovely job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Lovely looking Matador! Nice work! Cheers, Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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