1/48 AV-8B Harrier conversion to TAV-8B "VMAT-203"

[Night Owl Models]

 

Yes I am back at it again another difficult build while I await some parts for my Sunken Hellcat.

 

To my disappointment no kit exists in 1/48th other than the British T2/T8 trainer by Kenetic. Some reaserch revealed two conversion kits so I ordered them both. Here they are...

Kit on the left is North Wing Models and on the Right CMK both have their pros and cons.

NWM

-More parts that deal with parts specific to the TAV-8B 

-Horrid decals correct markings but I could print better clarity

-Canopy is vacuumed formed very poor quality

- Low quality surface detail

 

CMK

-Does not cover all parts needed for conversion

-Great surface detail

-No decals

-All parts are very detailed

-Canopy is salvageable but low quality

 

Side by side comparisons 

NWM vs CMK

 

 

 

 

Here are the canopies this just screams "work" to fix this mess. The top right canopy on the carrier sprune is the canopy from the Kinetic T8. With that, so I purchased two kits the Kinetic to pick parts and the main kit Hasagawa AV-8B II Plus U.S.M.C Attacker.

 

 

I am all about crazy detail so I have sourced detail sets to compliment this build. Ill do some scratch building as i go its hard to tell at this stage what is needed.

Landing gear bay detail set

 

CMK-Flap detail set

 

Armory-weighted wheels 

 

Eduard-Exterior detail set

Eduard-Nozzle replacement set

 

Variety of two seater canopy masks we will see what fits the canopy selection.

 

So starting the build I am looking at the canopy just cant get past it, it will make or break this build. I decided to go with CMK canopy. I cut the canopy into the front and aft sections so I can display it in the open configuration. You can see here on the front wind screen the CMK has a haze to it not sure why. So I dipped a corner in some Future wax and it appeared to clear up the problem good old Future to the rescue.

Left wind screen is untreated right pilots canopy was dipped and dried. I am pretty happy with that outcome.

 

Next ill move to figuring out the fuselage allot of fitting and decisions to be made.

Edited September 2, 2021 by Night Owl Models
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[Tom de Castel]

Hello, I will follow this building, lot of intresting stuffs here !

[Night Owl Models]

Part of my planning is to recreate this scene using Reedoak figures I am not very skilled at cutting up and manipulating figures but ill have ago at it to get them as close as possible to the photo.

Reedoak 1/48 US Navy modern fighter pilot standing 

 

Cutting and repositioning the arms and legs but maintain a natural pose, we'll see how that goes any tips would be appreciated.

[Brian P: Fightertown Decals]

Looks very cool. And the figures are amazing! My suggestion it to buy several of them to reposition. 😉

brian 

[crackerjazz]

Great to see it's a prolific year for you, Night Owl!   That Reedoak figure look fantastic!  Following along.

[Night Owl Models]

Arrrg full stop I just noticed that the CMK forward fuselage is short of the required length to mate to the nose section. To correct this I'll have to cut off the section forward of the tape and mate it to the CMK part. I may also be able to use the Hasegawa kit. I can't believe CMK missed this.

The nose cone is a smaller diameter no way I could put it directly on the CMK-gray part. Plus it's missing the contours and coping for the windscreen.

[Seaknight]

Very nice idea. Will follow your build. A twinseater Harrier is since long time on my to do list too 

Regarding the CMK conversion, they call out to use the Hasegawa kit parts V3 and V4. They are part of the Hasegawas RAF Harrier GR Mk.7.

As the cockpit section (part C1 / C8) is on all 1/48 Harrier kits from Hasegawa the same, I suspect, the nose section from any Hasegawa Harrier should fit to the CMK parts....

 

[Thadeus]

Nice! I fell in love with double seat Super Harrier as soon as I saw one. Unfortunatly only on tv. The huge cockpit section looks almost out of place on such a small aircraft, and yet it fits.

Excellent idea with the scene. I'm quite sure You'll pull it off. Weren't Marines wearing some boot covers when boarding aircraft? I seem to remember reading it somewhere.

One more thing... aren't the boarding steps on starboard side? At least on single seaters they are... I wonder how the boarding procedure works.

I'm glad I have no need for a Harrier. I have no need for a Harrier. Do I need a Harrier? Oh maaaaan. I'm off to find one Thank You very much 😉

 

[Gwen Phoenix]

On 9/5/2021 at 6:36 AM, Thadeus said:

One more thing... aren't the boarding steps on starboard side? At least on single seaters they are...

 

Canopies open to starboard side, so I don't think crew could board on that side? Single seaters' canopies slide backwards.

 

 

On a side note, at first sight I thought the crew member in the front seat had forgotten his pants and was boarding with just his G-suit on from the belt down 

G

[Aigore]

How I love crazy conversions! It's mind over matter the whole way and when you are finished you taste the sweetness of victory against all odds.

I am rooting for you, you can do this no matter what the model throws at you, in the end it will conform to your will! 👊

[Night Owl Models]

On 9/3/2021 at 11:47 PM, Seaknight said:

Very nice idea. Will follow your build. A twinseater Harrier is since long time on my to do list too 

Regarding the CMK conversion, they call out to use the Hasegawa kit parts V3 and V4. They are part of the Hasegawas RAF Harrier GR Mk.7.

As the cockpit section (part C1 / C8) is on all 1/48 Harrier kits from Hasegawa the same, I suspect, the nose section from any Hasegawa Harrier should fit to the CMK parts....

 

My local hobby store had a RAF Harrier in stock and because ime such a good customer I get my 10% off then an additional 5% for being a veteran so the purchase is not too painful.

 

Out of curiosity I am going to compare the two Hasagawa kits and see what the differences are besides the nose configuration.

 

Here are the only two kit differences.

 

So it's apparently I'll have to remove the pod off of the nose cone.

 

The upper wing fairing for the GR7 is the same at the TAV-8B. 

Edited September 11, 2021 by Night Owl Models

[Night Owl Models]

A few weeks have gone past over the time I have removed the pod, filled and reshaped.

There are also sensors parts on GR7 nose on the underside that need to be removed as the pods won't be used.

 

Problem has arisen 

If you look at the side profile matching the windscreen up with the curve on top of the nose it means raising the windscreen. Didn't see this before arrrg!

 

It gets worse on the side to side matching.

 

So I am starting with filling the gap this is compound curve so it will take some careful sanding and shaping.

 

[Dutch]

Dave, You ARE a glutton for punishment.  But, you do finish up well, extremely well.  So I am sitting down and watching this one and learning, though perhaps not as painfully as you are learning.  Kind regards, Dutch

[Night Owl Models]

Back onto my main project I have been working on the cockpit details. Through my research I have discovered the complex details surrounding the hinged tandem canopy. 

 

So this is a months worth of scratch building parts a few hours a night. 

 

I added the combing around each of the four parts that make up the canopy. Layers of hydraulics, actuators and weather stripping alone with the rivets, mirrors and handles.

 

This piece is made of ten different custom pieces assembled painted.

 

Front finished and rear unfinished canopy sections.

 

Rear canopy and instrument panel.

 

More completed work but not finished.

 

Adding the hinge point detail completely missing from kit.

 

It will take a few more weeks to move into the fuselage.

 

I also noticed that all the seats provided one is the wrong model it's the British model that the US used in the Harriers so I have ordered the proper seats. The lighter seat is correct but a horrible casting. 

 

[Night Owl Models]

Aaaaarrggg this is by far the worst build ever I love this jet but obviously I have to pay in spades to the modeling gods in order to add this to my collection. 

 

I stepped away for a bit got distracted with my 3D printer building a Machine Kriegen painted in Luftwaffe colours 100% 3D printed so much fun. Here is a peek not to get too off track. This thing is huge 11" tall.

 

 

Anyways back to the Harrier, I was impressed by the detail in the CMK wheel well detail set however it is made to fit a standard Hasagawa kit not the CMK TAV forward cockpit section. So I had the not so bright idea to tackle the problem of adding a wheel well to a solid chunk of resin. I started by measuring and cutting out just the right section.

 

 

 

Boat load of sawing with a micro saw. I cut the aft section from the single seat kit because it is hollow and will wrap around the wheel well so I thought. I had to sand the wheel well to paper thinness then dry fit many times.

 

I masked off surrounding areas to minimize removing surface details then did the putty work.

Opposite side.

 

Whew!

Here it is sanded and primed some panels were rescribed. This section unique to the TAV-8B has taken months to recreate accuratly not something you can buy.  Trying to marry three diffent kits together and a ton of scratch building at times makes me set this aside until I can feel a renewed sence of enthusiasm. My 3D printer sits in the corner talking to me "Hey buddy put that aside and lets print something" so I am trying to stay committed to moving onto the main fuselage looking forward to joining the forward and aft section that will be a big day.

 

  I have looked for 3D files for the intake fan and landing gear not much out there for specific parts lots of ejection seats though. See how I can incorperate my new obsession with old craftsmanship.

Edited April 13, 2022 by Night Owl Models
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[Collin]

Is that red Bondo putty you are using?  How is it to scribe?

 

Excellent effort here.

 

Cheers

Collin

[Thadeus]

So, You say the 'conversion' pretty much converts... nothing? 😉 Nice work on a hard matter. I keep looking at that nose and it looks a bit too long to me. I get the TAV's have longer noses that AV-8B's and Night Attacks, but this looks a bit too much. Especially with that photo of pilots climbing in the cockpit You posted.

[Night Owl Models]

The CMK conversion kit is made to accept the nose from the Hasegawa GR7 kit only. From left to right top to bottom the nose meets the convesion perfectly. It cannot be cut short, the camera angle forces the perspective and makes it look longer than it is. I spent many hours examining this issue when converging the kits I am pretty confident the specifications are correct. The older AV-8B Night attack kit has a optics sensor that attaches to the nose so the kit nose is cut short to accomodate the clear plastic part. Also the older night attack kit does not incorperate the wind screen fairing its just a cone. 

 

The GR7 is the same nose only the nose tip is solid and the AN/ABS-19 bombing system was moved up onto the top in front of the windscreen. So thats where I had to remove the sensor hump and retain the proper nose configuration with solid nose tip. The AV-8B II plus nose is the wrong shape all together and actually longer.

 

As far as the putty it is Bondo glazing and spotting putty it goes on much smoother and thinner than normal hobby putty it has a longer open time and sands much easier and finishes smoother.