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1:32 Trumpeter Harrier GR.7


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  • 2 months later...
On ‎08‎/‎08‎/‎2017 at 1:35 PM, John Wolstenholme said:

After having suffered a structural failure (one too many aeros with an old stressed wing) with one of my gliders, present efforts are to make a replacement suitable for lighter winds. So no Harrier progress for a while. :crying:

Hi Vitaliy. This is the reason, somewhat demoralising.

 

Spent 2 months making a 100” built up wing for rudder/elev/spoilers to get wing loading down to 12oz/sq ft, supposedly for light wind flying. Even with a bigger motor it did not perform as well as the 17oz/sq ft full house glider. Waste of time!

AOeBykS.jpg%20

 

Now making an 88” wing (foam core/veneer) with enlarged full trailing edge flaps, so going the efficiency of the variable camber route. This being my priority as there have been many light wind days and no flying.

 

Bn6evTn.jpg%20

 

 

Thanks Steve. Will finish, eventually :rolleyes:

 

Regards, John.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Riding on the success of my new 88” wing with full TE flaps, I now feel geed up to redirect my efforts back on the GR.7.

 

I opted for fixing all the gear legs in place before painting, knowing the downside of the significant time to mask these and the bays; think it was the best thing to do with this gear arrangement. Having completed the masking, now fitted all the ‘vulnerable’ bits: antennae, pitots, access ‘steps’, nose gear door opening 'lever' etc. The final item on my fix list was the vane on the nose. Looking at photos it is anywhere but parallel to the longitudinal axis when acft is static. Solution, make it pivot so it can be set at any angle. Also, removable to prevent the inevitable breakage.

qr3jlv8.jpg%20

Primed all the small areas (PE, resin, plastic card etc.) so at least everything is grey. The wind direction has changed.

oCcX5wm.jpg%20

 

Meanwhile, thinking about the underside camou pattern, bit of a dilemma. When you look at these stbd photos

http://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/8/0/4/0546408.jpg

http://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/4/9/4/0546494.jpg

and compare to the decal sheet profile

TKie8CQ.jpg%20

the white does not appear to wrap under the mid and aft fuselage, only on the nose.

 

This port photo, albeit in 3 Sq markings,

http://www.planepictures.net/v3/show_en.php?id=173356

shows the white does not go beneath and between the nozzles (as Zotz), but does in fact go onto the gun pod LID (as Eduard). The white is also not on the LID dam, which would support no wrap around further aft.

 

When comparing the Zotz underside schematic to one shown in this Eduard schematic,

http://www.militarymodelling.com/sites/1/images/member_albums/42220/699040.jpg

they are almost identical, whilst the other views are different (Zotz stbd better, Eduard port better). I cannot help but wonder if this underside pattern is based on supposition, rather than photos.

 

Need to create somewhere to spray entire model. I may have a plan.

Edited by John Wolstenholme
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Hi John, good to see you're back at the Harrier!

 

I wonder if the typically filthy state of the Harrier rear fuselage and the temporary white might have changed after a good washdown? Certainly those pictures of the starboard side you posted seem suspiciously clean, compared to the port side as below, so you may be dealing with a scheme that transformed during the course of the exercise and the months afterwards.

 

zd379-ns-230104.jpg

 

The photo on the link below suggests there was white on the undersides of the flaps and wingtip, rear of the ADENs stabs and dam, at least on 3 Sqn's participant.

http://www.planepictures.net/v3/show_en.php?id=173356   in January at Bardufoss. The Airliners.net links you posted are dated March and back home at Cottesmore.

Doubtless a confirmation from a witness would help greatly, but in the meantime guesswork is all that's left.

 

Edited by chek
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Hi Charles, many thanks for your thoughts. You could well be right regarding cleaning, but maybe earlier. Here’s a stbd side view of ZD379 in transit to Norway on 23 January 2004, the same at the stbd rear as 2 months later. The strange thing is the white in front of the tailplane ends somewhat abruptly, rather than being feathered – due to cleaning!

http://www.airliners.net/photo/UK-Air-Force/British-Aerospace-Harrier-GR7/1003161/L?qsp=eJwljbsKwkAQRf/l1rHQgCHb%2BehNYWW37A5JMDrL7IAuIf/uJHaHc%2BHcGYHfSl%2B9l0RwyOQlDKiQvPhXhpvxpPJhicZ4XOum3R2adR9Y%2BeKVepYC11bILHo2RDR7CoGSUsTf3ySSrBPlsMV7O9sbkHQboz6aj2NOk98apH6csCw/%2BoU0vQ%3D%3D

 

Certainly the white goes under the wings eg at outrigger bays and flaps, but I still wonder if the white does not wrap around the mid/rear fuselage for the reason you state, its dirty. Nothing on main gear doors it would seem. Or looking at this photo again

http://www.planepictures.net/v3/show_en.php?id=173356

it was in 3 Sq markings (if date is correct) for ‘white’ application. Whether then ‘cleaned’ to underside and stbd rear prior to going to 1 Sq markings, who knows!

 

I was wrong in my assumption regarding the LID dam, forgetting the inside is facing forward.

 

Don’t you just love ambiguity!

Edited by John Wolstenholme
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6 hours ago, John Wolstenholme said:

Don’t you just love ambiguity!

 

Well, it does make for some interesting (and some not so much) additional research! 

 

Whatever your final choice, it'll be a striking model in the winter scheme, with added conversational value for the eccentricities.

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Another masking session to simulate the protective coating (tape) applied to the wing, fin and tailplane leading edges; I need to extend this a little at the fin top.  Also the black enamelled areas for some Alclad metal treatment.  Leaving the enamel 2-3 days before applying Alclad is a good excuse to do nothing on the model for a few days.

Ew86lww.jpg%20

 

This gives me the opportunity to further ponder the white camou under the wings.  Looking at this photo of ZG474-60 (different acft)

http://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/9/8/1/0525189.jpg

there is no lateral flowing white between the fuselage and the fuel tank inner pylon. Apparently there were 7 jets involved in Snow Falcon and I cannot see them removing and refitting pylons to achieve the white pattern shown in the Zotz and Eduard underside schemes. In the photos I have seen of various jets, there is no white on the pylons. My thinking is the pylons were minimally masked and the camou emanated from the wing TE forwards, from the flaps and outrigger gear bays, and from the fuselage to differing degrees. But, it’s just supposition!

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I'd say your summation is about the size of it, in the absence of more definite information such as paint guides issued to the squadron's painters.

I'd also surmise that on-the-ground camouflage would be the priority - I'd hazard a guess that at speed at low level, the Harrier and its shadow would appear quite dark against the snow background though the grey tones would still be nowhere near as prominent as when the old light aircraft grey undersides needed to be over-painted in topside grey/green in the '80s to suit temperate European terrain to mask lo-level maneuvering.

 

I'd recently been reading a John Farley lecture about early P1127/Kestrel/Harrier trials (and tribulations) he gave back in 2000.

Your photo of ZG474 (a GR9 btw, despite the Airliners net caption) even though not fully loaded, demonstrates clearly the advances made from the days when undercarriage doors and ancillary bits and pieces were removed to give the early 11,000 lb.thrust Pegasus at least a fighting chance to get the airframe airborne.

 

 

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On 12/13/2017 at 5:46 AM, John Wolstenholme said:

Another masking session to simulate the protective coating (tape) applied to the wing, fin and tailplane leading edges; I need to extend this a little at the fin top.  Also the black enamelled areas for some Alclad metal treatment.  Leaving the enamel 2-3 days before applying Alclad is a good excuse to do nothing on the model for a few days.

Ew86lww.jpg%20

 

This gives me the opportunity to further ponder the white camou under the wings.  Looking at this photo of ZG474-60 (different acft)

http://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/9/8/1/0525189.jpg

there is no lateral flowing white between the fuselage and the fuel tank inner pylon. Apparently there were 7 jets involved in Snow Falcon and I cannot see them removing and refitting pylons to achieve the white pattern shown in the Zotz and Eduard underside schemes. In the photos I have seen of various jets, there is no white on the pylons. My thinking is the pylons were minimally masked and the camou emanated from the wing TE forwards, from the flaps and outrigger gear bays, and from the fuselage to differing degrees. But, it’s just supposition!

 

John what color did you use the leading edge of the wings et al? It looks very convincing.

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7 minutes ago, John Wolstenholme said:

Hi Matt. Used airbrushed thinned Vitrail transparent yellow. It's actually a brownish yellow, rather than yellow like Tamiya transparent yellow, which didn't work.

Regards

John

 

Any chance I could bother you to show me the part number or a photo of the bottle? Is it possible to mix the color using Tamiya clears?

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Start of trying to achieve a worn irregular camou pattern, with grime to the underside. All the pictures I have seen, including what must have been the newly oversprayed 3 Sq ZD379 do not display an ‘even/solid’ colour pattern. Round 1, laying down some white on the upper surfaces to get a feel for the task. Proved to be very time consuming with my airbrushing skills and dull cr*p natural light. This is the easy part!

ePkBqER.jpg%20

 

Taking a break before the round 2. Have a good Xmas.

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