82Whitey51 Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 (edited) OK, along with Pappy and A4s4Eva, I'm also in work on a Kinetic FRS.1 Sea Harrier...mini Group Build! The other two guys are a little bit ahead of me in the progress...which is good, I can learn from any mistakes! Here's where I'm at; Like most Harrier kits, the nose landing gear well typically has a horrible seam through the middle. Like Pappy, I too used some sheet plastic to cover the area altogether and avoid sanding and filling: I knocked out the main gear well in the process: The cockpit is also coming together. I opted to use the kit seat but decided to use some Miliput to fix the look of the headrest and also to dress up the seat cushion : I added a throttle control, and a couple other levers and used Mike Grant, and Airscale decals to dress up the cockpit instrument panel and side consoles: I'm planning on building XZ 457 (a/c 14) from No. 899 Squadron aboard HMS Hermes during the Falklands War, April 1982. Edited January 1, 2017 by 82Whitey51 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pappy121 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Great start Whitey, welcome to the fray! cheers, Pappy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
82Whitey51 Posted January 3, 2017 Author Share Posted January 3, 2017 (edited) A quick update. I finished up the cockpit and got the fuselage glued together. I didn't glue the cockpit and intake assembly in place, I left them "free floating" as I glued the fuselage halves together, in order to allow for me to make adjustments to the fit. I'm still going to have a small gap where the intake and fuselage sides meet up but nothing too hard to deal with. On to the intakes next. Edited January 3, 2017 by 82Whitey51 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
a4s4eva Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 Good stuff.. I've been on holiday for the past 3 weeks so I've done nothing (all my photos were taken in prior to Dec 17, I just never got around to doing the posts) ... I've learnt a bit from Pappy's build which means I have some things I want to fix up on mine (the gun pods being one) .So now I'm hoping you and Pappy can take the lead and I can learn from your mistakes :D I notice neither of you guys fitted the engine face. Any particular reason for that? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 Another one to watch. I like the way you guys are beating those kits into submission. Nice start Andrew Quote Link to post Share on other sites
82Whitey51 Posted January 4, 2017 Author Share Posted January 4, 2017 7 hours ago, a4s4eva said: I notice neither of you guys fitted the engine face. Any particular reason for that? Welcome back to the fray! Regarding the engine fan, I haven't glued mine in place yet because I planned to paint the inside of the intakes at this stage (and once I fill that gap at the fwd fuselage section...). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pappy121 Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 15 hours ago, a4s4eva said: Good stuff.. I've been on holiday for the past 3 weeks so I've done nothing (all my photos were taken in prior to Dec 17, I just never got around to doing the posts) ... I've learnt a bit from Pappy's build which means I have some things I want to fix up on mine (the gun pods being one) .So now I'm hoping you and Pappy can take the lead and I can learn from your mistakes :D I notice neither of you guys fitted the engine face. Any particular reason for that? 8 hours ago, 82Whitey51 said: Welcome back to the fray! Regarding the engine fan, I haven't glued mine in place yet because I planned to paint the inside of the intakes at this stage (and once I fill that gap at the fwd fuselage section...). What he said, I sprayed the intake interior EDSG, without the fan face fitted, there is nothing you need to mask in there. I will need to touch up this area after fitting the intake seams. The fan face fits very easily through the wing opening.- just don't forget to fit it before attaching the wing! Pappy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
a4s4eva Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 10 hours ago, Pappy121 said: What he said, I sprayed the intake interior EDSG, without the fan face fitted, there is nothing you need to mask in there. I will need to touch up this area after fitting the intake seams. The fan face fits very easily through the wing opening.- just don't forget to fit it before attaching the wing! Pappy I fitted mine at the beginning after painting the intakes and face separately so I'm good :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
82Whitey51 Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 Spent the weekend sanding seams and filling gaps. Still lots of work to be done; Also opened up the APU exhaust port and detailed the opened area: Found some circular access panels for the aft canopy section detailing: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
a4s4eva Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Nice work on the APU port. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
82Whitey51 Posted January 21, 2017 Author Share Posted January 21, 2017 Alright, a little time the last couple of days to get at the bench. I got the intakes in place without too much hassle and little to no step as a result of having not glued the fan shroud and cockpit assembly in place earlier. By doing that, I had some "play" in the fuselage to squeeze things into place; I did some filling with "Mr. Dissolved Putty" and "Mr. Surfacer", shot some Gunze Extra Dark Sea Gray on it to check for seams; Now on to getting the wing assembly glued on :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Boy that's some great work there! All these Harrier builds sure are making it hard not to want to pick one up. Looking forward to following along. Cheers! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
a4s4eva Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Looks like you get eh best fit or us all on those intakes Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Nice progress Andrew! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
82Whitey51 Posted January 25, 2017 Author Share Posted January 25, 2017 Sea Harrier wheels...? Are they different from a GR.3/AV-8A wheels as far as circumference and width go? I can't see a difference from pics I have but...? These are the Kinetic wheels compared to the Monogram AV-8A wheels; The Kinetic wheels, especially the Mains, look way too skinny. I have a set on Monogram wheels coming my way to replace them with. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
82Whitey51 Posted January 28, 2017 Author Share Posted January 28, 2017 Some Friday progress... Got the nose cone glued on, pitot tube housing (cut the kit one off, going to replace with brass), and air scoop in place; Wings were glued on last weekend. Sanded seems and rescribed details/panel lines. Also got the flight controls in place; I found the rudder to be too short, leaving gaps on each end, so I am fixing that with some sheet plastic before gluing it in place; Quote Link to post Share on other sites
82Whitey51 Posted January 30, 2017 Author Share Posted January 30, 2017 Gluing the gun packs into place. It would be nice if they supplied you with optional holes to drill out for these. A buddy of mine lent me his copy of the "Modellers Datafile" Sea Harrier book, which has some nice 1/48 scale foldouts in the back. That made accurately placing these correctly a bit easier. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 I am liking the little fixes you are making Andrew. nice job! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
82Whitey51 Posted February 3, 2017 Author Share Posted February 3, 2017 (edited) I acquired a set of Monogram AV-8A wheels from fellow ARC'er "Chorse6". Thank you again. These wheels are much better looking than the Kinetic kit wheels, which are too thin. A comparison of the main wheels: I only had to drill the main wheel holes a little bigger, and trim the nose strut axles to make them fit. Edited February 3, 2017 by 82Whitey51 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AndrewPerren Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 Much better look to those wheels. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
82Whitey51 Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 (edited) Update time. Wow…it’s been a few weeks. I’m in the finishing stages here, decals on, flat coat painted and getting her up on the gear. The decals went down really nice over the Gunze Aqueous paints. No gloss coat, just buff the area where needed and lay down the decal. Gunze Aqueous paints are great for that technique. No silvering, even in the larger clear areas of the side numbers. After letting them dry overnight, a few thin coats of Testors Dull Coat lacquer were put down over the decals and airframe. The thinned out coats allow me to get a slight semi-gloss finish on the model. These things were painted glossy Extra Dark Sea Gray and in reference pics looks pretty shiny (lots of wet sea spray over them as well??) but I didn’t want it looking like a show bird either. The landing gear of any Harrier model (or any aircraft with outrigger gear I suppose) can be tricky. If everything is engineered perfectly, you end up with all the wheels touching the deck. If not... My method of attaching gear on any manufacturers Harrier model, is to get the nose landing gear (NLG) in place first, followed by the out riggers and finally the main landing gear (MLG) assembly. Monogram’s Harriers are the best for this, as the MLG strut slides up into a hole in the gear bay, and if you use slow setting glue you can just let the MLG come to rest naturally on the deck and let it dry. This kit will require a little bit of correction to get the MLG to sit. As it is, the outriggers get lifted off the deck just a tiny bit. Here is where she sits now, and this evening I’ll get onto the MLG; When finished I want to pose her on a carrier deck base, with a pilot figure and also a boarding ladder in place. This is Brengun’s Harrier ladder. Pretty easy to put together if you have some experience with photoetch parts. Edited March 6, 2017 by 82Whitey51 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
82Whitey51 Posted March 8, 2017 Author Share Posted March 8, 2017 (edited) Success! MLG in place, and sanded flat spots to have them all touching. Now, on to weapons/stores and fiddly bits. Edited March 8, 2017 by 82Whitey51 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
a4s4eva Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 Nice work there. I do like the Monogram wheels, the kinetic ones are't that flash. I was wondering about a ladder as I'm doing the same. I've lost interest though so no ladder for me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
82Whitey51 Posted March 10, 2017 Author Share Posted March 10, 2017 6 hours ago, a4s4eva said: Nice work there. I do like the Monogram wheels, the kinetic ones are't that flash. I was wondering about a ladder as I'm doing the same. I've lost interest though so no ladder for me. The Brengun ladder is easy to find...also, Skunk Models makes a Royal Navy deck tractor set that includes the Harrier ladder, as well as several deck figures. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.