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I'm still not sure in which markings I'll be doing this SHAR1 in, but I'll have plenty of time to think about that!

I'm using an Esci kit for this - for my money the best "metal-winged" 1/72nd scale Harriers. Both the Sea Harrier and the Harrier GR3 have of course been issued by Italeri more recently....shame they haven't issued the AV8A as well.....

Just a few shots of the kit parts...and accessories that will be used - eirher on this, My FA2 or my Harrier GR3...

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I managed to get some initial modelling started yesterday afternoon during the cup final....

1st of all - the intakes. I decided on using the kits parts for the SHAR1. On all parked Harriers the upper intake auxilliary doors are most often open - as gravity takes over. Unfortunately Esci depicted theirs closed.

There are resin alternatives - mine are from Pavla, and I'll use them on the FA2, but I thought I'd show one method of depicting the doors deployed on this and on the Harrier GR3.

i) mark out the area to be chopped out...

IMG_7243.jpg

ii) and chop it out

IMG_7246.jpg

I'll deal with the next part later.......

On to the wing.

The lower wing has a bulge over the outer pylon. When Harriers /Sea Harriers flew without outer wing pylons, they had aerodynamic fairings in place, and this is what I believe Esci have tried to show. Its wrong, (unless you want to show the wing fairing in place in lieu of the pylon....

IMG_7252.jpg

......good news is, its relatively easy easy to correct (I'll show you later how to amend the pylon...), with a file, wet and dry and some magic sponges. I'll tidy it up before painting. I will replace all of the wing fences later with thin plastic card.

IMG_7253.jpg

I'll be using Pavla's resin cockpit set - for this and the SHAR2, these are meant for the Airfix kits, so some additional trimming will most likely be required.

IMG_7254.jpg

And heres where I am at the moment. I've added the intakes (maybe a little bit too early!) and joined the fuselage halves together. I've also drilled out the intake at the front of the fin.

IMG_7259.jpg

Note that I haven't added the main undercarriage unit yet - as you are supposed to - I'll explain why soon....

Edited by Bill Clark
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A bit off the track here so please bear with, i dont usally do aircraftmuch but I have some to do.

Question what does SHAR mean (google gives me software,stringed music and chinese dogs!)

ans what does bump mean in some posts.

thanks graham

I managed to get some initial modelling started yesterday afternoon during the cup final....

1st of all - the intakes. I decided on using the kits parts for the SHAR1. On all parked Harriers the upper intake auxilliary doors are most often open - as gravity takes over. Unfortunately Esci depicted theirs closed.

There are resin alternatives - mine are from Pavla, and I'll use them on the FA2, but I thought I'd show one method of depicting the doors deployed on this and on the Harrier GR3.

i) mark out the area to be chopped out...

IMG_7243.jpg

ii) and chop it out

IMG_7246.jpg

I'll deal with the next part later.......

On to the wing.

The lower wing has a bulge over the outer pylon. When Harriers /Sea Harriers flew without outer wing pylons, they had aerodynamic fairings in place, and this is what I believe Esci have tried to show. Its wrong, (unless you want to show the wing fairing in place in lieu of the pylon....

IMG_7252.jpg

......good news is, its relatively easy easy to correct (I'll show you later how to amend the pylon...), with a file, wet and dry and some magic sponges. I'll tidy it up before painting. I will replace all of the wing fences later with thin plastic card.

IMG_7253.jpg

I'll be using Pavla's resin cockpit set - for this and the SHAR2, these are meant for the Airfix kits, so some additional trimming will most likely be required.

IMG_7254.jpg

And heres where I am at the moment. I've added the intakes (maybe a little bit too early!) and joined the fuselage halves together. I've also drilled out the intake at the front of the fin.

IMG_7259.jpg

Note that I haven't added the main undercarriage unit yet - as you are supposed to - I'll explain why soon....

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A bit off the track here so please bear with, i dont usally do aircraftmuch but I have some to do.

Question what does SHAR mean (google gives me software,stringed music and chinese dogs!)

ans what does bump mean in some posts.

thanks graham

SHAR is short for Sea HARrier. Shar1 = Sea Harrier FRS1, Shar2 = Sea Harrier FA2 (or in its early days an FRS2)

Some posters will put Bump on the post to bring it back to the top of the pile. Say for instance a poster asked a question and had no reply for a week or so, that question would go progressively further and further down the line and may not be seen. By posting a Bump it brings it back to the top of the pile..

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SHAR short for Sea Harrier. i guess. and bump...er something this is slightly raised, like a speed bump :-)

nice lookingbuild, gonna watch it cos i have all the esci kits, inc a few italeri reboxing. the best harriers by far (apart from their GR5 crap lol)

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  • 2 weeks later...

On to the wings proper then........The wing fences are abit understated on The kit, easy enough to fix, lop 'em off and replace with plastic card. I made thin slices using my razor saw and added squares of plastic card. these were then sanded to shape.....

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A problem with any Harrier kit is getting all 5 wheels to touch terra firma. Easy enough to fix. Thenose gear and outriders will be added and allowed to set, then the amended main gear will slot into the hollowed sprue added to the inside of the upper wing...easy peasy!

IMG_7289.jpg

Edited by Bill Clark
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A problem with any Harrier kit is getting all 5 wheels to touch terra firma.

Not for me, I will display my model in flight. :pilot:

Nils :)

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Nice work so far!

I'm building the Fujimi AV8A which the more I look at it the more I think it's the same kit! I'm interested to see your take on the dropped intake doors. I used bits from a scrap airfix kit but I'm not so sure it's exactly right!

Nice touch with the main gear I racked my brains for a while and ended up using bits robbed from airfix kit again. I'll watch how you do it with interest!

Phil

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Nice work so far!

I'm building the Fujimi AV8A which the more I look at it the more I think it's the same kit! I'm interested to see your take on the dropped intake doors. I used bits from a scrap airfix kit but I'm not so sure it's exactly right!

Nice touch with the main gear I racked my brains for a while and ended up using bits robbed from airfix kit again. I'll watch how you do it with interest!

Phil

Cheers Phil, The Fujimi Harrier's are certainly NOT the same as the Esci/Italeri kits, though the seats are very similar - but very, very wrong! I suspect one or the other may have used the other one as a reference!! The Fujimi kits aren't as good as the Esci kits. The fit isn't as good and the stores a bit "suspect". They are generally accurate though shape wise!

Regarding the doors I've already started on these - I'll be using plasric card.

The Esci Harriers are by far the best "hard-wing" Harriers. At oone stage - a decade or so ago - I had over twenty built, ranging from GR1's through to SHARs, and including a T4 (using the same method as Nils on this T2). I've used the same method of dropping the doors. I did try drilling each upper door individually, but the plastic inbetween fell through...

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A cheap copy then, as the sprue layout looks almost identical!

You're right though, fit is not the best and and the stores are pretty poor! Rocket pods are nearly as big as the fuel tanks!

I'm quite happy with how it's turned out so far, I'm no harrier expert but the shape looks ok to me!

I'll wait patiently to see how you tackle the doors!

Phil

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A cheap copy then, as the sprue layout looks almost identical!

You're right though, fit is not the best and and the stores are pretty poor! Rocket pods are nearly as big as the fuel tanks!

I'm quite happy with how it's turned out so far, I'm no harrier expert but the shape looks ok to me!

I'll wait patiently to see how you tackle the doors!

Phil

IF I could never, ever get hold of an Esci/Italeri Harrier then I'd certainly consider the Fujimi kit. It seems to be reasonable accurate - The breakdown of the kit is a bit suspect, and I think that lets it down - as much as anything else - particularly the nose section which is as you've found a difficult fit and fix. Likewisethe fin. Fujimi chose to mould it separately from the di-electric panel and intake, another poor fit - whereas Esci moulded the tail and fin and intake as one whole item.

If and when I finish the SHAR1 I hope to build a Harrier GR3 (and then a SHAR2) both for the GB, but then again I've signed up for the Hawk SG, PhantomSG and the Tornado SG!!! There just ain't enough hours in the day......

Hope to get some more work done on the SHAR1 later, so hopefully the doors/intakes will be complete!!!

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In hind sight I wish I'd kit bashed the AV8A with an italeri GR3 to make my GR1 but that's life!

Yeah the tail was a real odd point of the kit! It comes with 2 tails, one with and one without RWR but why not just mould the whole thing...

I know the feeling with GBs I'll see you in the tornado one too!

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Yeah the tail was a real odd point of the kit! It comes with 2 tails, one with and one without RWR but why not just mould the whole thing...

Yes, I saw the pic's on your thread - I'd forgotten about that!! Its handy though - If you wanted yo build a later Spanish (or Thai) Matador....

OR............

G-VSTOLXV742.jpg

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Early GR3 with 'pointy' nose.

The LRMTS 'Snoppy' nose was a 2nd stage GR.3 mod so to speak, early GR3s had the early style nose, the main change being uprated Pegasus engine.

HTH,

Nick

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Some progress.....

The cockpit and rear coaming/bulkhead is meant for the Airfix kit, so not surprisingly - it doesn't kit the Esci kit - I'll add milliput later. Not painted yet either - I'll do that after filling and sanding the gaps

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Here's the next part of the blow in doors saga. Plastic card spacers - full length - from bell mouth to fuselage these will need trimming slightly.

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To add a bit of interest I've deflected the tail planes slightly - Just drill a hole then remove some plastic from the tailplane tab - and glue

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Plastic card doors added to one side. Generally speaking gravity works here - so the upper door will be slightly more open than the next one and so on.....

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Here she is - nose added ready for filler....

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Early GR3 with 'pointy' nose.

The LRMTS 'Snoppy' nose was a 2nd stage GR.3 mod so to speak, early GR3s had the early style nose, the main change being uprated Pegasus engine.

HTH,

Nick

Hi Nick, The caption accompanying the photo says thats it G-VSTO/XV742, Note the lack of fuselage roundel. I'm not that up on the history of this aircraft but I believe she was with BAe for a while, before returning to the RAF as '742. As such it could be that the RWR fit is a trial. Note the Rear WR on the tail boom as well. I did a quick google search and it said on one entry that '742 was converted to GR3 in 1982 (which seems a bit late - though it would have been post Falklands...) and crashed a year later.

This is the only photo I've ever seen of an RAF Harrier with pointy nose and later RWR fit....

EDIT: Found another pic, looks like at the same time. Listed as being with the A&AEE at Boscombe Down. Dated 1973. If so this is an early RWR fit.

Also discovered that the aircraft did suffer a fatal crash - in 1983 whilst with 233OCU

Another pic of XV742

Edited by Bill Clark
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I did a quick google search and it said on one entry that '742 was converted to GR3 in 1982 (which seems a bit late - though it would have been post Falklands...) and crashed a year later.

Chaps - XV742's movement card says

3-Aug-68: Pre CA release

undated: A&AE Boscombe Down (MOD PE ??? ???? (words not readable)) - LOAN

27-Sep-82: 1 sqdn, Wittering - ex LOAN

5-May-83: 233 OCU

31-Oct-83: ADA - Cat.5

6-Aug-84; Disposal

6-Aug-84: SOC

So if it was my file you saw Bill, I flagged it as GR3 in 82 as that's the point it would have been back in service with squadron markings and up for photographs (which is what I've based a few dates on, given the potential date differences between engineering dates of completion and operational flying / visibility to the public, etc).

I expect that muddies as per my usual way

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Hi Bill,

Yes XV742 was registered G-VSTO by HS as a GR.1 demonstrator that John Farley took to Switzerland for a few days in June 1971. Famously, John took off in it across the runaway at Lugano straight towards a 4,000ft peak doing a 'Farley Climb' to go up its side and clear it, much to the amazement of the watching Swiss.

The GR.1A / early GR.3 differentiator was the lack of the twin long vents on the forward engine cover of the GR.3 when compared to the GR.1A, their removal indicating the use of a Pegasus Mk.103 in the Gr.3 rather than the Mk.102 of the GR.1/1A. Later the Laser Ranger Marked Target Seeker nose was introduced.

The photo seems to show 742 still with HS/BAe, being without the roundel and, maybe being usedby HS/BAe for the PWR fit tests... circa. 1974-5.

We need Dennis Robison's expertise on this to be sure.

HTH,

Nick

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The photo seems to show 742 still with HS/BAe, being without the roundel and, maybe being usedby HS/BAe for the PWR fit tests... circa. 1974-5.

We need Dennis Robison's expertise on this to be sure.

HTH,

Nick

Thanks Nick, The second photo posted in identcial fit - is dated as September 1973, so its almost certainly an early RWR fit test.

Edited by Bill Clark
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