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1:32 Trumpeter Harrier GR.7


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Hello John, I do hope things are now getting better for you.

Hi Skyhawk, thanks for dropping in and your interest.

 

This is the extent of what I am doing in the outrigger gear bays. It is a patience tester getting the ‘scissor’ type mechanism (Aires RP8) superglued in position. I added 5 thou card at the rear to get the stepped detail. Also, thinning the gears doors (compare inset L & R)  looks more realistic when viewed w.r.t. the width of the bay. As before, the doors are drilled for Cu wire to aid and improve gear door angle fixing, without filling the piano hinge with glue. Rear of fairing also shaped, which means the doors are then slightly too long.

qhIM3r7.jpg%20%20

 

Finally, have some serious gluing to look forward to with the nose/nose leg/rear fuselage/intake cheeks now painting etc complete. :yahoo:

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I don`t know which exact airframe you are building, but I recently finished the GR.9A with the Cross of Lorraine on the tail (in 1/48), and learned that the rivets are visible almost everywhere, especially on the back fuselage side (the firt pic, around the airbrake), cause the surface is a titanium heat deflector. Just a hint. ;)

 

PS: the brake itself is very nicely detailed!

Edited by my favs are F`s
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well you learn something new every day. here is a shot of a USMC harrier and clear as day it is covered in visible fasteners (they are not rivets) the flap and aileron are single piece composites, but I can only take an educated guess at the construction of the wing. I guess the skins are composite and are fastened to the internal structure  with what appear to be Hitorq fasteners (basically a fancy screw).

so to summarize, yes the wing should have a bunch of tiny divots in neat little rows. 

 

link

 

 

 

 

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Interesting point raised. Rivets etc are like weathering – a personal preference. There is the question of how can less be more. For me it means less is more effective, but a model devoid of detail looks like a toy.  So no, I don’t think I will be going mad with rivets. Although you can see these up close, you don’t have to move back that far for them to be not so visible.

Looking at this photo:

http://www.freeweb.hu/hunavia/AIRSHOW/Kecskemet_2007/KECSKEMT2007HARRIER/_ke_2007_fv_1290.jpg

Most (all?) of these skin rivets look to be flush riveted, whereas on the airbrake/bay they are not for obvious reasons. Don’t want it looking like an Su-25  :wave:

Edited by John Wolstenholme
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Although the intakes are short on the Harrier, there is real potential for unsightly joints (8 No) when the nose, rear fuselage and intake cheeks come together. Finally have a complete fuselage, including nose leg, at the final stages of blending in said joints. Thin foam rubber pieces prevent overspray onto the rear intake and compressor fan.

G6Kg8Bq.jpg%20

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Don't believe anyone replied to your question on the cleaning stations. I have found that they just trap particulate matter, the fumes/smell will remain  until aired out or removed.

 

On your work, I wish I could do anything even close to that... You sir are a very good builder, capable of taking a bad kit very far. can't wait to see more!

 

Cheers

Harald 

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On ‎28‎/‎02‎/‎2017 at 5:52 AM, Winnie said:

 I wish I could do anything even close to that...

 

Think I said in a previous build, a 1:32 F-14A built about 30 years ago was so crap I later threw it in the bin. So there's hope, but it does take time and practice :cheers:

Thanks anyway Harald. In the absence of any response I went ahead and bought one. Yeah, traps most of the paint/solvent by ‘liquefying’, but obviously cannot contain all vapours.  In previous abode my set-up was in the laundry and I just stepped out the back door for airbrush cleaning. Anyway it does for small jobs in my upstairs workroom with window open.

 

I don’t always succeed, but I try and think ahead to (possibly) save me a problem later on. A case in point is the refuelling probe/housing; fitting too early could give access problems when doing the LERX and most likely when final painting. By adding a couple of lugs I can fit last thing without concerns about accurate positioning.

v7ycw2f.jpg%20

 

Next corrections on the done list deal with the tailplanes:

i) The pivot studs are next to useless, so I drilled to receive 1.5 dia. brass rod – easily bent for any adjustments and a whole lot firmer. Snug fitting plastic tubing set in fuselage.

ii) Convergent ‘tramlines’ were filled, as I see no hint of these on photos.

iii) The fairings are unrealistic thick. By thinning to ~1/3 thickness they are more scale like.

iv) The ‘fillets’ to these fairings are simplistic and can be improved. Having removed the material, new pieces were shaped from sq section, with 5 thou card flange.

v) Rounded the tips - removed ‘square’ TE and a little more to the LE.

OeB99WY.jpg%20

 

 

iyhiZgD.jpg%20

 

And no the back-end is still not complete TTTT.  :rolleyes:

 

 

 

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Moving onto the outrigger gear legs, which generally lack detail:

i) hollowed out some of the upper section, fitted a trunnion (?) and rounded the top to give the impression they could rotate.

ii) removed moulded tie down ring and fitted new assembly.

iii) kit wheel hubs are featureless. Although I could not achieve the authentic recessed detail, the semi-recessed hub with bolt fixings at least looks more realistic.

iv) miscellaneous details.

Knifrfv.jpg%20

 

3hu7CAn.jpg%20

 

Still working on the retraction strut!

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… and so to the leg actuation strut. I danced around with this a bit. Didn’t like the detail, so removed that, then the connection of strut to leg, then the connection of strut into bay – found the fwd part of the door sat below the outer skin. Whether this is the same when using the kit parts or made so by using the Aires components I do not know. Finally ended up with a section of rod to reform, setting the fwd connection into the front wall, and still to include wiring.

f6zPXoS.jpg%20

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5 hours ago, TTomcaTT said:

Hi ! Good progress ! This area  it finally  ???

 Not sure what the question is, but are you asking if this is complete? Since taking the photo I have rounded the bottom of the 'opening' (in the area you mark) so it is no longer square. When you see it painted it will be complete. :whistle:

Edited by John Wolstenholme
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Simply incredible. How did you make the tie down ring (starting stock styrene type and tools maybe)? It looks so beautiful. I think it cannot be a simple hollow tube because of the connection points I see, so you must have done quite a bit of work to get that result. I wish I had the skills for this type of scratch building. 

 

Edited by Janissary
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Hi Janissary. Tie down rings from ~0.5mm thick sections cut with 5 thou saw blade of appropriate dia. Evergreen tubing with wall thinned internally. 0.5mm card shaped pieces attached to the rings with thin CA (sellotape on glass, not Sellotape as CA seems to stick to it) then assembly (and fingers) sanded on W&D flat stick (dry) to finished thickness. The centre being removed to form the hinge with a ground down square needle file. Cleats from 0.5mm card.

Have a go. 

John.

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