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RAF Harrier GR.7 "Snow Falcon"


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"Snow Falcon" is the name of the RAF training missions in Bardufoss, Norway (69°03′21″N). Aircraft sent there are usually in attractive white camo schemes. This will be a Harrier GR.7 from the last such mission in 2004. I will be using the Revell Germany GR.7/9 1.144 kit and some homemade decals.

Here are the parts:

gr71parts.jpg

The first thing is to add the proper depth and shape to the intakes. I used some Tamiya 2-part epoxy putty. I also drilled out the intake face to accept the tube that extends forward from the engine in the real thing. It turns out the kit part has a depression on the back face with the right size and position to help you drill it out.

gr72intake.jpg

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A Harrier in Winter/Snow camoflauge has to be a must for this kind of GB.

Can't wait to see some paint on your build spejic.

BTW, a Harrier in 1/144 can't be that large, 10cm/4inch?

Good luck with your build.

/Bosse

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A harrier should look good in winter camoflage.

When I first thought of this idea for a group build, I was imagining a lot of orange aircraft. It's nice to see how many more options are turning up.

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I glued in the intake facing and put in more putty to fill in the gap between it and the putty I already placed on that side. I shaped it as much as I could while it was soft because this place is a major pain to sand. I don't know how thick the tube is - I got it in a tube and rod variety pack. Looks the part, though.

I added some plastic strip to the side of the cockpit tub because it's a little narrow for the space. I also sanded down the inside of the cowl to better replicate the thinness of the real thing and to add some space to make the instrument panel wider later on. Once I deal with the instrument panel, I will close it up. I usually deal with detailing and painting the cockpit after that.

gr73intake.jpg

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You never realize how big the Harrier's intakes are until you see them in person.

Yeah, but in this scale they are so small and hard to get to I'm finding that I have to invent new tools to work on them, especially after the halves go together (oh - the halves are now together). Jeweler's files (even the tiny Testors ones) are just too clumsy and ill-shaped. One thing I do is use one tine of my extra-fine tweezers as a spatula. I also glue tiny bits of sandpaper to the ends of flat toothpicks to make sanding sticks of a useful size. Another trick is to cut out a thin strip of sandpaper, wrap it around one tine of my tweezers, and then clamp down on the tweezers to hold it in place.

Water is the most important tool when using Tamiya 2-part putty. Things that are wet don't stick to the putty, which will stick to anything otherwise. It also becomes much easier to smooth and shape.

Wings will go on soon. This build is flying so far.

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Wings, nose, tail, and gunpods are on now. The inset is what the cockpit looks like at the moment. You can see the big wide face that creates a much better impression and will look great with the decal I'm working on. I can't wait until I put on the canopy and totally hide my work from the face of the world.

gr74wing.jpg

Now comes the slow part. I have to detail the cockpit, which means scratchbuilding a new seat. I will also be working on the little details (including scratchbuilding the centerline pylon the kit doesn't have) which means lots of research. The more you look, the more differences you see between this and the American version. After I do the cockpit and detail work, I will add on the horizontal stabilizers and pylons which wouldn't stand up to the manhandling I will be doing in this stage.

Edited by spejic
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A Harrier in Winter/Snow camoflauge has to be a must for this kind of GB.

Can't wait to see some paint on your build spejic.

x2

I hope that scale is manageable,good luck!

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Here's the center pylon I created. It's a little hard to tell how big it was supposed to be, but it is a simple shape. I also shaved under the exhaust plate to make it seem look more like a separate part.

gr75pylon.jpg

I carved out the top three auxiliary intake doors on the sides of the intake that always fall in when the Harrier is parked. I'll glue that part on after I paint the white intake parts.

----

On an unrelated note, here are some AV-8B specific details I did on the build I'm doing side-by-side with this one. To make the flare bumps, make some rounded 3mm x 6mm rectangles, glue them in the right place, fill the underneath with putty, and then do some more sanding until you get the final shape.

av8b1flare.jpg

The kit strakes on the gunpods are too thick and incorrectly centered. I cut them off and glued in a .01 x .02 inch strip flat along the center and then put a .01 x .04 inch strip on its edge along the outside of that. Do do that, glue down one end, wait until it is very dry, and then carefully bend it over and glue the other end.

av8b2strakes.jpg

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go have a hunt on Britmodeller who is doing a buttload of scratch on a JU87R from Eduard. That is some crazy stuff.

Not that Spejic work is bad - far from it! I envy his skills (and supply of gear ) and the ability to design/print his own decals too :)

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Hey, that's a coincidence - I did something like that on an Eduard Stuka too (it's since been painted, but I don't have a photo of that):

ju871cockpit.jpg

The engine and the landing gear are different matters - that isn't adding detail, but creating mini-models of new objects. What he did there is highly impressive. And I can't deal with metal. I'll be stealing his canopy and flap detail ideas as well.

I had such trouble putting the wings on and getting it all aligned that I put it aside years ago and haven't finished it. I'm currently much more into modern aircraft, and there is a list of ones I really really want to do before revisiting the Stuka. At my current rate of finishing, it will probably be another few years before I get to it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've been painting the intakes and the cockpit. The intakes will take multiple sand/paint cycles to get them to look good. I need some white putty because painting white over the dark Tamiya stuff is a pain.

The Harrier will be armed with captured Sidewinder and Maverick missiles. I'm using Mavericks from the old Arii weapon set - it has a better shape than the Revell one, although I clearly needed a lot of work to fill in the pin marks and large trench for the Arii kit launcher. Captured Mavericks don't have the guidance fins. I scratchbuilt a pair of LAU-117 launchers for the Mavericks.

gr76launcher.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

I've been working on time consuming detail parts, like anti-sway bars on the pylons. I also added the little bump with the fin on the starboard side above the gunpod. I will add the other pylons as I add details to them and I fill in the gaps on the pylons I install.

gr77details.jpg

I put in the intake parts. I carved out the doors on the top which always fall in when the aircraft is parked. I just got some Tamiya white putty, and it made working on the white intake interior much easier. I wish I got it sooner - it would have saved a lot of work.

gr78details.jpg

I have to clean up that overspay a bit - I sprayed so much white it got a bit thick. I drilled out the little intakes up top, but I still need to replace the antennas.

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I finished adding all the small details that I will knock off during the painting phase. I have pylons, antennas, pitot tubes, the post for the little angle detector in front of the cockpit, the fuel dump thing, and whatever it is at the tips of the Sidewinder launchers.

I made the basic structure of the seats (GR.7 on the right, AV-8B on the left). Seat belts will go on after painting. I didn't make it too detailed (like adding the side structures) because it's going to be under a closed canopy.

gr79details.jpg

After the seat is done I can put the canopy on and paint. Maybe I should start figuring out what color these things are.

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I hadn't seen that video before. I just wish they had more images of aircraft with weapons - there were lots of images from inside the cockpit while doing Maverick training, but none of Mavericks outside the aircraft. I'm still not sure what was carried on the other side of the captured Maverick (another Maverick, the practice bomb carrier like they usually have in Britain, something else, or nothing).

The four fuel tank load looks really cool. If I can make resin copies of the kit fuel tanks I might go with that.

--

I painted up the seats and added seat belts made of foil. I also added the bit that goes in the back of the canopy behind the seat and the HUD. I then glued in the canopy. I have some decals for simulating the explosive cord, but the canopy is too thick to make it look good when put inside so I will have to put it outside. I put Future on the inside surface and polished the outside with a nail sponge - the canopy looks clear but there is quite a bit of distortion.

gr711canopy.jpg

With the canopy in I can start painting. I did the white in the 4 gear bays, but I still need a bit of white touchup in the intake. I think I need to paint the dark color first on the underside of the wing because that is the only way to get the color scheme (the dark wraps under the front edge). It would be really hard to mask the light side between all the pylons and maintain a neat line.

I got some Experts Choice decal paper and am working on making the custom decals.

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  • 1 month later...

It took me a while to find the appropriate color paints, but I could only find enamel version of the darker color (Humbrol 156) so I'm going to have to mix paint types. I painted the leading edge of the underside of the wing with that, then let it dry for a few days, then masked it off and painted the whole aircraft with Gunze Sangyo medium sea grey. It's a glossy paint and the finished ended up a little pebbly, but I think it will be ok after the gloss and flat coats.

gr712paint.jpg

I'm doing the greys first because of the complexity of the pattern of the colors. It's going to take a bunch of coats of white to cover it, but I don't really see another way.

You may also notice that before painting I sanded off the square bump on the spine between the wings and added a circle bump.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I did the darker color. The difference is subtle, but it looks nice in real life. I need a little touch up, but mostly I need to wait to make sure the enamel paint is fully cured before I start work on masking and painting the light grey sections on the top and then acrylic white camo.

gr713paint.jpg

I've also painted the stores and the engine exhausts.

Also, I've gotten the two lighter grey shades done on the Marine AV-8B and am currently masking it for the dark grey on the top of the wings.

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