Author Topic: Sea Harrier in 1/72  (Read 2597 times)

Pen-Pusher

  • Guest
Sea Harrier in 1/72
« on: June 15, 2017, 11:09:07 AM »
Taking on board the thinly veiled warnings on over-long histories of the subject of (my) modelling efforts, I will keep them simple from now on...

To commemorate the 35th anniversary of the end of the Falklands War on Wednesday the 14th, I decided to build this old Fujimi Sea Harrier which, although not one of the easiest tasks and despite its age, provides an accurate replica of the real thing! My hopes of having this ready for the meeting were thwarted however but here is the build process (so far)...
« Last Edit: June 15, 2017, 11:21:10 AM by Pen-Pusher »

Pen-Pusher

  • Guest
Re: Sea Harrier in 1/72
« Reply #1 on: June 15, 2017, 11:10:56 AM »
I think it was 1985 when the Fujimi kit appeared. Dimension-wise it's much better than the Hasegawa which is a scale foot too short and too low) and the Matchbox which suffers from nose contour problems. With the major components assembled (with more than a little difficulty for the forward section), a dry-run indicates a fair amount of filling and sanding will be necessary...?

Pen-Pusher

  • Guest
Re: Sea Harrier in 1/72
« Reply #2 on: June 15, 2017, 11:13:30 AM »
One part of under-wing work completed. This has to be finished before mating to fuselage as sanding is almost impossible after that.

Pen-Pusher

  • Guest
Re: Sea Harrier in 1/72
« Reply #3 on: June 15, 2017, 11:15:31 AM »
Progressing on Fujimi Sea Harrier: A lot of filling and sanding but it's beginning to look the part. Curious to find I'm dealing with 2nd generation plastic which is quite brittle by modern day standards.

Pen-Pusher

  • Guest
Re: Sea Harrier in 1/72
« Reply #4 on: June 15, 2017, 11:17:00 AM »
Might look a bit rough here but a thin coats of acrylic gives me a better view of any problem areas.... quite pleased actually!

Pen-Pusher

  • Guest
Re: Sea Harrier in 1/72
« Reply #5 on: June 15, 2017, 11:19:37 AM »
With the 'build' more or less finished. I can now concentrate of the cockpit interior and complete painting of underwing stores before weathering...

zak

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6901
  • Grumpy by name and nature
    • View Profile
Re: Sea Harrier in 1/72
« Reply #6 on: June 15, 2017, 12:02:58 PM »
Great, Ian, I like the peeled back approach.
Grumpy by name and nature

Pen-Pusher

  • Guest
Re: Sea Harrier in 1/72
« Reply #7 on: June 15, 2017, 06:00:00 PM »
Brevity from now on...

Pen-Pusher

  • Guest
Re: Sea Harrier in 1/72
« Reply #8 on: June 16, 2017, 07:58:55 AM »
Contrary to the widespread belief that RN Harriers were hastily painted en-route to the Falklands, most aircraft were stripped of their original paint and markings and resprayed extra dark sea grey in the carriers' hangar decks. Much of the stencilling normally associated with the Harrier was also applied but not all. Some aircraft were not able to enter the repaint process due to practice combat missions and other drills being deemed necessary in the work-up and these were then mostly repainted by hand.  '004' and '008' (XV494) below had no markings forward of the intakes except for the latter bearing one 'kill' marking for an A4 Skyhawk.

FINALLY: Until last meeting I wasn't aware that the original 1/48 Sea Harrier from Airfix (and indeed the GR.3) had a serious error related to the relevant sizes of the ailerons and flaps. Originally the flaps were moulded as smaller width than the ailerons. Airfix corrected this and the current kit is right. Similarly, some of the 1/72 kits also have the wrong layout - so when you go out there to buy a Harrier.... CHECK!

'We counted them all out....'
« Last Edit: June 16, 2017, 10:32:58 PM by Pen-Pusher »