discussion Rick's Airfix 1/72 Harrier GR3 - engine change & crew in

[col68]

Looks good to me rick. They were also used as A/C tugs in the field

 

[rickoshea52]

Looks good to me rick. They were also used as A/C tugs in the field

Yes, I've seen footage of them towing aircraft, i have a Flightpath airfield accessories kit that has a tow arm so I have that option to add some interest.

 

[rickoshea52]

A bit of progress on these over the last week or so. So they are assembled for painting with the cockpit surround and canopies sprayed black then a primer coat, after that the grey followed by the green. Applying the white tack worms was a real drag, twice over! This wrap around camouflage scheme is just horrible to do, I got a bit cross eyed at times. I used foam ear plugs cut length ways for the intake masking blanks, I will try using this to replicate intake blanks on the finished model.
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[papa 695]

Its all coming along very nicely Rick

 

[rickoshea52]

Now unwrapped. There was a fair bit of touch up required where the maskol didn't cover the grey - this is the first time trying the camouflage this way as I didn't fancy cutting up loads of tiny bits of masking tape for the infills.
You can see some of the add on bits, I applied a lighter shade of green to the top side of the drop tanks and also on the aircraft.

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[flyjoe180]

Been there done that with the tac rolls. Great work on the wrap around scheme Rick, looking very good.

 

[Steve Brodie]

oooh their very nice

 

[dave]

looking good, i remember the wrap around scheme being a pain on the 1/48th Harrier I built a while back.

 

[Snowman]

That is looking great!!

 

[rickoshea52]

With varnish applied its time for decals, these Harriers don't have as many as Airfix's Lightning (as some of you are about to find out) but I do have to do it twice . You may notice that the under wing serials straddle the wing pylons, its best to add the pylons after the decals.

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[col68]

Coming on a treat mate

 

[flyjoe180]

Looking really good Rick.

 

[colin m]

to add the pylons after the decals

That's a mistake I've made before now. They're both looking great. Top marks for getting the camo the same on both models.

 

[rickoshea52]

Thanks Colin. If you could compare the models side by side you might revise that accuracy comment, one of the things that bother me with these models is the fuzziness of the colour borders. Most references I see have a hard green/DSG border.

 

[rickoshea52]

More decals. One other point on these decals, the tail RCS exhaust warning decals are tricky to apply as they go over a tight radius and ordinary setting solution won't help in sticking them down - I used Matt varnish to apply them.

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[Guest]

Thats a couple of very nicely turned out models you have on the go there.

Your paint scheme looks really very neat.

 

[flyjoe180]

Coming along nicely Rick.

 

[papa 695]

There looking very nice indeed Rick.

 

[Dave W]

Nice work Rick

 

[rickoshea52]

After thinking this through with a clearer head and sizing up both Harriers to assess the size of base required I just don't have the space available for a two ship diorama plus all the vehicles etc. So using this box frame and some polystyrene sheet I want to try and create a field hide site with slightly uneven ground. I have seen some hide sites with the Harriers taxiing from the PSP rising onto a road, this is something I want to recreate. The use of a box frame gives me the option of including a culvert/ditch and foxholes - if the RAF ever bothered with them!
More later.

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