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1:32 Trumpeter Harrier GR.7


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Those Ceeblies are bloody well detailed.I used to hate loading them as the spring's were that strong,you had to lie on your back & push the bomblet onto the carrier with your feet!Can't tell from your pics but each bomblet has a metal screw on clamp with a RBF tag attatched that is removed on final arming.

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The wrench in the third picture manually unlocks the missile from the launcher & allows the armourers (us)to remove the missile.The missiles are loaded unto the pylon & slid forward into the detent locks so IIRC,the pin & cable is a sort of safety interlock to prevent the missile being 'launched' & To lock the rear of the detent down to prevent the Winder coming off if the plane catches the RHAG.And the detent wrench (Plumber's key) comes out for flight as its ground functions are to prevent the mech assy microswitches being made if the solenoid inadvertently energises on the ground and to hold the detent down.

Hello Spike, always glad to receive expert input. With the photos all showing acquisition/drill rounds, do I take it the reasons for the variations are:

(i) unless live round, safety wrench not always fitted, but done so as a good working practice.

(ii) presumably photo 2 shows cord with a protective cover fitted when wrench is not, whereas in photo 1 this assembly is missing.

Can't tell from your pics but each bomblet has a metal screw on clamp with a RBF tag attatched that is removed on final arming.

Yes, you can see this in the photo in post #59, thanks to some photos you posted some time ago.

Thanks

John

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Hello Spike, always glad to receive expert input. With the photos all showing acquisition/drill rounds, do I take it the reasons for the variations are:

(i) unless live round, safety wrench not always fitted, but done so as a good working practice.

(ii) presumably photo 2 shows cord with a protective cover fitted when wrench is not, whereas in photo 1 this assembly is missing.

Yes, you can see this in the photo in post #59, thanks to some photos you posted some time ago.

Thanks

John

The wrench is always fitted when the jet is on the ground & replaced by the pin & cord when it's about to fly.The wrench is also used to unlock the missile from the launcher so it can be removed.As to the reason why one is not shown in one of the pictures,it's because the pin is on the other side of the launcer as the lock is on both sides of the launcher,unlike weapon pylons which are side specific due ti the shape of them where they fit the wingd & the design of the ERU.(Explosive Release Unit)

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John,

If you need detailed photo's of the engine,seat,weapons & cockpit,I have a load that you will not find on the internet,taken about 18 months ago in Afghanistan & also back at home base.If you need them,pm me.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks to all for your interest/comments and dropping in. Not a lot happening at the moment with big bro visiting.

Thanks Spike, I’ll be in touch.

I don't think the Wolfpack cockpit is that bad, just the Aires is better, finer details, e.g. wires etc., Might even be possible to use one of the current Aires Harrier cockpits with the Wolfpack seat, but then if you compare that with photos of the real thing it's lacking in detail... though not a bad starting off point.

Andy

I was thinking about using the Aires 2121 AV-8B NA cockpit set and modifying for RAF. Looking at the pictures included in the ARC review, the main instrument panel looks somewhat crude and inaccurate. Doesn’t give me great confidence for a GR.7 version!

AiresAV-8BNA.jpg

Anybody seen the Wolfpack set up close?

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  • 1 month later...

Looking at the pictures included in the ARC review, the main instrument panel looks somewhat crude and inaccurate.

Anybody seen the Wolfpack set up close?

Guess it's a no on both counts. Look at the Trumpeter part along side; at least they can get the correct number of buttons on the HUD unit.

52.jpg

For specialised aftermarket this is poor. I looked at the Wolfpack stuff on their website, low res/soft focus photos that you can’t see much. Deliberate? Not interested in replying to emails either.

At least with Aires you can see what you are getting. So better the known than the unknown, going for Aires and modify.

I can feel sanity returning, slowly!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Andy, thanks for the info on Wolfpack and Lucky Models. Thought these came from Hong Kong, but the postage and Customs Declaration labels show Deutsche Post. Distributor in Germany?

As you can see I have gone with the Aires cockpit set and using the Wolfpack seat. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the WP seat. My earlier disappointment with the Aires IP was offset by the usual Aires high quality for the rest of the cockpit set and the wheel bays set.

I decided to try something I haven’t done before since the seat doesn’t sit properly when placed in the cockpit due to the floor detail. In any event it shouldn’t sit on the floor. I could ‘block it’ to sit properly, or modify the seat and make the main gun so the seat slides down this, which also acts as the seat rail.

53-1a_zps2896aee9.jpg

I need to remove the shoulder straps as these should hook into the headbox and make the rocket pack.

Main gun modified to one cartridge.

Edited by John Wolstenholme
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  • 3 weeks later...

After looking more closely at the WP seat I decided I could detail it better/more accurately. So far, fitted the rocket pack, new shoulder straps with stowage to headbox, emergency oxygen handle, PEC, manual separation handle and seat safety handle – all the wrong shape (and position). Still have to finish rhs of seat, revise pitot heads, add seat straps (there are none), add leg restraints and probably some other things. My approach is not to remove any cast detail until I have made the replacement part; there is then a way back, other than having to buy a new seat! Thanks Merv, they are coming in very useful.

54-1a.jpg

To get relief from the tedium of the seat started looking at some other aspects. The cockpit is a very good fit if you take the time. The detail between the rails on the rear bulkhead is completely different for the GR.7. You are not going to see it when the seat is in, so the choice is yours.

55a.jpg

Ditto detail/fitting for the nose leg bay. There is a fwd ‘net partition’, so do I want a solid piece of plastic? Also, may help access for painting by its removal.

56a.jpg

I send myself to sleep at night (and sometimes during the day) thinking about the nose. The ‘concorde’ fix is a (partial) solution, but I am churning something over in my mind – remains to be seen whether it will work. Sorry if this is not coherent!

Edited by John Wolstenholme
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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Andy and Marcel appreciate you dropping in. Marcel my remark about a speed builder was my British humour (?), which I hope wasn’t taken the wrong way. I remember you saying about moving continent etc.

I don’t know how accurate available scale drawings are of the Harrier w.r.t. the nose shape and attendant detail. I opted to find suitable port and starboard photos and adjust the image sizes to the model; comparing the two photos came out very close. Turns out most things could be better: panels, position of access ‘steps’ etc.

60a.jpg

After much deliberation I took the plunge with the Aires main instrument panel and did a MFD transplant (cf photo in post #106) without anaesthetic, for me. Now have to re-instate detail above and below stbd MFD. Also, I wondered why the HUD projector lens was solid and not left ‘open,’ to then fit a transparency - well now I know. The walls become paper thin in places, but eventually got there without mishap. Kit part R14 shaped to fit.

57b.jpg

I decided rather than wait to find out the friction fit of the canopy to fuselage was not that good for holding it in the fully open position, I would make it so it opened/closed on a rail type fitting – it ain’t gonna fall off now.

58a.jpg

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Marcel my remark about a speed builder was my British humour (?), which I hope wasn’t taken the wrong way.

John, not taken the wrong way at all and certainly brought a smile to my face... although it did underscore that I need to be building more Tamiya kits :)

BTW thanks again for those Typhoon pics, they have helped a great deal.

:cheers:

Marcel

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  • 2 weeks later...

Boy John, you are right about that Aires instrument panel. How in the heck did they mess that up is beyond me considering they do amazing detail work with most of their resin sets. Well, with your skill I'm sure its just a minor bump on the road for you ;)/>

Mike

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I'm sure its just a minor bump on the road for you

Mike

Hey Mike, more like deep potholes. If you don’t watch what you’re doing you may wreck your suspension.

Finally got the seat completed by redoing the stbd side and reforming/repositioning both pitot heads. Taken me as long to do the seat as it takes some to build an entire model, but then there are 90+ bits of plastic, Cu wire, Pb tape, PE and masking tape – that’s enough for me. Thanks again Merv.

54ha_zps01f327e5.jpg

The leg restraints are only positioned, I have to thread them through the 'bars' on the front of the seat.

…and more important it still fits in the tub, just. Not by luck, I checked fit for each mod to make sure before permanently fixing to seat.

55-3a_zps2bd8ea91.jpg

I am in need some painting therapy. Think I’ll do the garage doors.

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Wonderful stuff as usual John.

Tell me, the yellow parts, are these scrap resin parts sculpted to suit or forms you created yourself using masters scratchbuilt and then copied? Look great!

Normally takes me a day to paint a seat......

DSCF0042.jpg

must get round to finishing this........

Edited by loki
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Hi Kristian and Martin, thanks for dropping in.

the yellow parts, are these scrap resin parts sculpted to suit

Normally takes me a day to paint a seat......

must get round to finishing this........

Martin, the yellow and grey ‘bits’ are all one off formed from scrap resin. I keep ALL stubs etc from resin sets. I find it easier to shape/work than styrene.

No way can I paint a seat in a day! Well I can get the primer on!

Yes, indeed you must.

Regards

John

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Scrap resin's worth it's weight in gold. Really great stuff John!

Nice to see the clips going into the headrest which so often gets missed. Not really surprising on one of your magical builds though.....

All the best,

Martin

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Bill good to hear from you. The Lightning build was a great learning exercise for this.

Looking at the nose gear leg there is much scope for improvement. It is not often I waste money, but I bought a pup with the SAC landing gear; certainly will look more closely before buying any other of these gear sets. They state “This set has a corrected nose gearâ€. It is not that improved on the kit parts and similarly inaccurate. For a start the nose leg fork is too long and wide; looks a bit silly with the wheel in place. Still has the poor representation of cables (or whatever they are supposed to be!) and tie down rings. Has a completely wrong sized oleo strut (?) with incorrect connection to the fork. Taxy light is too big. Inner part of ‘knuckle’ is too narrow. Haven’t looked at the rest of the set, but if this is representative I will be doing a gear retraction into the bin.

So after carefully removing all the unwanted moulded detail from the kit parts I started a rebuild.

61-1a_zps6f1c08fe.jpg

61-2a_zps4cc83782.jpg

A lot easier than working with white metal.

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It is not often I waste money, but I bought a pup with the SAC landing gear; certainly will look more closely before buying any other of these gear sets. They state “This set has a corrected nose gearâ€.

I share your opinion of the SAC product in general. When landing gear strength is a big issue, like it is on the 1/32 Academy F-18 kits, the SAC offering is OK and with kit plastic parts attached to it, can be just as good as the G-Factor brass parts. Otherwise, I see no reason to buy the SAC or G-Factor gear legs on any other model, because the kit parts are often better and a lot easier to clean up.

Love your edits with the piston. Nice and JW clean!

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I share your opinion of the SAC product in general. When landing gear strength is a big issue, like it is on the 1/32 Academy F-18 kits, the SAC offering is OK and with kit plastic parts attached to it, can be just as good as the G-Factor brass parts. Otherwise, I see no reason to buy the SAC or G-Factor gear legs on any other model, because the kit parts are often better and a lot easier to clean up.

Agree on the SAC legs... harder to clean up than plastic. Even worse is that on the set I bought for my Typhoon I found the white metal legs to be softer than the kit's plastic legs (I accidentally bent one of them while cleaning it up). They all went into the bin and I won't be getting any of those anymore.

Marcel

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I love the work on your Harrier and that nose leg. It makes one wonder why SAC is even bothering with these legs. I think a lot of people buy these sets just because it's another piece of aftermarket for their kit and surely, all aftermarket must be an improvement by definition... where in reality, a lot of their gear sets just seem to be rough copies of the kit parts.

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Your work and attention to detail is really spectacular sir :worship: :worship:

John

P.S. Please give a link to your A-7E build, i must be totally blind and cannot find it!!!! I would love to see it cause this is going to be my next project, a HAF A-7H, the bird i used to fly with.

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