Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted February 19, 2016 Posted February 19, 2016 Hi All,Picked this kit up a while ago at the Hornby Visitors Centre. It had a damaged box so was reduced from £15 to £9. I used my Club Card for the 20% discount and took it away for £7.20!/media/tinymce_upload/838177452cb42ff084bdcae36e95ea5d.jpgOn inspection of the parts, they look nice on the sprues, with plenty of underwing stores and options, including 65% or 100% LERX (Leading Edge Root eXtensions). The engraved panel lines may be a little heavy for some, but they are ok for me.More to follow soon.
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted February 19, 2016 Author Posted February 19, 2016 I've started construction with the cockpit and nose section. Unlike most new Airfix releases the instrument and side panels have relief detail, rather than decals, and this looks nice painted and dry brushed. The cockpit sidewalls have structural detail moulded in, and the bang seat is a good starting point for anyone who wants to add extra detail, although no straps are provided if the pilot is not used. The two nose sections close around the cockpit, and also provide a nose wheel bay with structural detail./media/tinymce_upload/57f50de0c77777d6d6c916bd7789f49d.jpgA little filler was needed on the underside, but the fit was generally good. You can see on this picture the under nose sensors, which were a clever drop in piece, although the edges did need sanding to fit properly./media/tinymce_upload/626351cb7c76604db3b43ce5966f955f.jpgI will be giving the undercarriage bay a dark wash to make the detail stand out a little.
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted February 19, 2016 Author Posted February 19, 2016 I've now put the rear fuselage and wings together. The fuselage halves trap the separate main gear bay and air-break bay, as well as the engine fan and intake trunking. All went together well, with just a little miss-alinement on the underside which was probably my fault. A dry fit with the nose section went well. The wings went together without trouble and attached to the fuselage well, with just a small seam at the upper centre section fuselage join to sort out./media/tinymce_upload/dbcebac2047857cf77a2bf266bf5f12a.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/68471b67ef4bc0205c96991f0ba11ad5.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/3b179a6d6a30f420de4bf2838bfa7bae.jpgAll the control surfaces on the wing are separate, and I intend to show them drooping, along with the UC bay doors, as if the hydraulic pressure was dropping.I've also put together the underwing stores, these need cleaning up, painting and decalling now. I've read that the bombs are the wrong type, being Paveway II's when they should be mark IV's, which are similar but have a fairing on top and more bulges and cable ducts, but I'm happy with the bombs as supplied, if anyone has a problem, the detachment had temporarily run out of the more advanced weapon and were using up the older munitions!/media/tinymce_upload/ee72af783f1e834d9eca79e448ea0ccd.jpgI don't think the Harriers flew with Sidewinders in Afghan, there being no air to air threat, but I'll use artistic licence and fit them.
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted February 22, 2016 Author Posted February 22, 2016 I've had a few problems with the LERX part. As I/m building a GR7a, it has the smaller LERX, but when I test fitted this part, it would not sit correctly, either meeting at the back or the front but not both at the same time. To remedy this I carefully bent the part between my fingers, which improved the situation, but did not completely fix it. In the photo the part has been aligned at the back, and is standing proud at the front./media/tinymce_upload/e96e60e8675c76157252761a61737568.jpgTo sort this out I glued the back edge in place, then left it overnight to set solid. Then the next evening I glued the front end, and left it clamped overnight. When the clamp came off the join was near enough perfect./media/tinymce_upload/eab0434c67f78705e8bb7961481ca855.jpgThat was not the only problem I've had. The tailplanes are designed to be built so they can be movable. This means that both tailplanes are cast as one piece, connected by a very delicate section, then trapped by the separate tail boom. Of course as soon as I tried to remove the tail from the sprue the connector snapped. Still no worries, I didn't want it moving anyway, and being in two parts now I could add it after the boom was fitted and sanded, so no harm done./media/tinymce_upload/27588e63d5d417a05ca4fb5ac6bb7188.jpg
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted March 3, 2016 Author Posted March 3, 2016 A quick update on progress.I've finished the main airframe construction, and am nearly ready to start painting, just got to sort out the intake seams a little./media/tinymce_upload/b4e7b6ef17f479afb6c5722167505b77.jpgYou can see that I've added the refuelling probe in the retracted position. I forgot to open up the holes for these before closing the fuselage, so had cut off the location lugs and site it by eye.On the sides I painted the areas around the heat shields and drooped flaps first in Camouflage Grey, to prevent any problems trying to paint the area later. I also painted and decalled the weapons pylons before fitting for ease./media/tinymce_upload/61c9d47914b4c175fe94723c8bda238b.jpgIn this final photo all the pylons are added, and the underside has received 2 coats of camo grey, although I think another coat is needed./media/tinymce_upload/cc264fde5c91eedbce1199b105b32433.jpg
Dad Paul B Posted March 4, 2016 Posted March 4, 2016 I have tried a few of these moving tailerons and the pins (TSR2 and a Tornado GR1) are too fragile to survive. Unless the pins can be replaced with metal I think the best option is choose the attitude and stick it in place.Comong together nicely. (I have one in the stash and it is next up once the Valiant is done) so your trsailblazing is appreciated.
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted March 5, 2016 Author Posted March 5, 2016 One week point on this kit are the jet nozzles. They come in two halves each, and actually join quite well, the problem is the vanes inside the nozzles. These join in the middle of the vane which leaves a seam that is almost impossible to fix, mine will be facing downwards so hopefully won't be to obvious./media/tinymce_upload/4926bb3d8ca0229e2532945e94bc2cc3.jpgI've also been working on the weaponry and pods, and these are now painted and ready for decals, of which there are plenty. They all went together well, the only issue, as mentioned earlier, is that the Paveway bombs are actually Mk II and not Mk IV as stated, but this is not a biggy for me. /media/tinymce_upload/ef7f000bd2d3444dfd7d6e89b85791f0.jpgThe airframe has also been painted in camouflage grey, which I thought looked to dark, until the dark sea grey went on the top surfaces, and the contrast looks okay now. This is also ready for decals./media/tinymce_upload/5ef5a8a0d3bfcecbf59d86c6c2b95c5f.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/26d33c7889683ef25cccfcecc70c8294.jpgIn the next instalment the decals should all be in place.
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted March 12, 2016 Author Posted March 12, 2016 I've completed decalling the airframe, the markings were very complete, there were hundreds of stencils! Unfortunately the grey of the stencils was a close match of the camouflage grey and most disappeared into the paintwork, so I only used the larger ones and the ones that weren't grey. I've also added the undercarriage, and all the U/C doors and air-brake. These required a little care but all fitted well in the end./media/tinymce_upload/9326aa6556fbf8a049f61fe798c261c0.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/891c6687f3f397de959c327f7c18fdeb.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/0ced1d9316174b5ebc53577cb9ac7b48.jpgI've started applying the markings to the under-wing stores as well. This is taking a while, as they all have multiple decals ( the bombs have 14 decals each). The coloured stripes around the bodies of the Sidewinders and noses of the bombs did not conform well and I ended up painting these on by hand.
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted March 14, 2016 Author Posted March 14, 2016 The model is virtually finished now, it's been varnished and only a few detail bits to do like adding the 'weather vane' in front of the windshield, and painting formation lights, before adding a little weathering and the weapons, which are now all decalled and varnished. Should be done by tomorrow evening./media/tinymce_upload/c426708f64c5f06bce9ef37a4eed1ce9.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/46f9b724e520e8caae3ee411071f3ca7.jpg
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted March 16, 2016 Author Posted March 16, 2016 The finishing touches have now been added to my Harrier, and I'm pleased with the results. This was a fairly straightforward kit to build, with nice detail and a good weapons load. The only part I had trouble fitting was the LERX, and the only additions were Tamiya tape belts, a plastic card aerial/ vent on the starboard forward exhaust fairing and the missing head up display from thin clear card. Only problem is grey aeroplanes are a little boring, even if they are 50 shades of grey!/media/tinymce_upload/9d932e017586a18a87160cc27f385483.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/d5fe9ea6e8bccf8193e394bb01cd02b2.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/e95a4827646c64ae69f31e839ea4c89d.jpg
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