discussion Joe's 1/72 Italeri Harrier GR.3

[flyjoe180]

You can see the vents here:

View attachment 79419


View attachment 192442

 

[yak face]

Top work Joe and fast too! The intake area is a perennial problem on all Harrier kits , I dont think any manufacturer has successfully solved it, trouble is its such a noticeable aspect of the aircraft ,so if you want even token accuracy it has to be addressed. Keep it up , its coming on great , cheers tony

 

[Guest]

Great work on the intakes Joe! Little details like that make a build extra special I always think.

As for the roundel, would it not be easier to apply it as normal & cut it when dry? The gaps would then act as a guide.

Cheers

Patrick

 

[flyjoe180]

Great work on the intakes Joe! Little details like that make a build extra special I always think.As for the roundel, would it not be easier to apply it as normal & cut it when dry? The gaps would then act as a guide.

Cheers

Patrick

Thanks for the idea Patrick.

Will be away from home and the build for the rest of the week from tomorrow evening so back to it on Saturday. Thanks for looking in and commenting guys.

 

[colin m]

Nice one Joe. I'll have to check my Hase' kit to see what air intake looks like

 

[flyjoe180]

Build update. In between house renovation and other things I have made some progress.

The intakes were fitted and cleaned up and given vent flaps made from thin plastic card.

View attachment 80338


View attachment 80339


As you can see the aircraft has been masked and primed, the grey stuff inside the vent is foam to mask off the engine intake white interior sections in preparation for painting.

Two coats of Dark Sea Grey was applied. The tape helped me to handle the model and once removed exposes areas which will be dark green. The wrap-around scheme is a first for me, and this will be my first entirely airbrushed model.

View attachment 80340


View attachment 80341


After removal of the tape it's lightly sanded where required and ready for the next stage. In addition I have the landing gear and out riggers ready as well as the SNEB launchers, drop tanks and Aden cannons.

View attachment 193361

View attachment 193362

View attachment 193363

View attachment 193364

 

[flyjoe180]

Then begins the puzzle of the green camouflage. Using rolls of Blue tac I marked out the pattern for the camouflage over the grey, ensuring the Blue tac sits inside the grey area slightly. I'm hoping once the grey areas are blanked off that I will get a gentle blend between the colours, aka a soft edge.

I don't normally have problems with spacial awareness or object rotation in my mind, but this was a real puzzle. Look at the pattern provided and see if you can work out where the green on the starboard rear fuselage goes, when you also check it against the underside of the aircraft:

View attachment 80347


I opted for a continuation of the green for the wrap-around scheme as I couldn't fathom it out, even after looking at photos online and in books.

Three hours later we have a Blue tac sausage roll fest:

View attachment 80348


View attachment 80349


View attachment 80350


View attachment 80351


Next mission is to blank off the grey areas for spraying the dark green. Probably won't happen today as I am operating on three hours sleep after a long shift last night flying freight, and the weather is perfect so I'm off to sand and paint house windows if nothing else. Past experience tells me not to do too much to a model when tired.

View attachment 193370

View attachment 193371

View attachment 193372

View attachment 193373

View attachment 193374

 

[Dave W]

Looking good Joe.I occasionally get a kit where the camo scheme doesn't join up if you follow the kit painting guide.My recent Defiant was the same around the nose.I find you just have to alter it a bit so it works.

 

[colin m]

I've been through this. I often find the camo sort of spirals along the fuselage, well up to a point. But I don't think that's the case here.

 

[flyjoe180]

I think I did the right thing, just found Airfix's paint instructions online and they have the pattern continuing as I had placed it. On to the Dark Green paint stage!

 

[Ian M]

Coming along nicely.

Ian M

 

[Guest]

Nice surgery on the Intakes Joe. Iv'e never had luck using Blue Tac for masking like that, I always seem to get a very irregulars finish, not obvious until the Blu Tac is removed, probably just me. Cheers Derek

 

[flyjoe180]

Thanks Colin. We'll see how it turns out once I actually get around to doing it.

 

[Guest]

Ready for painting Joe?

Good work til now, starting to get shape very well.

Francesco

 

[flyjoe180]

Ready for painting Joe?Good work til now, starting to get shape very well.

Francesco

Thanks Francesco. Yep, ready for the green coats of paint. Dark Sea Grey is already on.

 

[Guest]

Oh yes, my bad...

I think I was thinking to all the primer I'm spraying on mine.

Francesco

 

[flyjoe180]

Been busy doing life things but now on to blanking off the camouflage and hopefully getting a dark green coat on today.

 

[Guest]

Go for it, Joe.

We're waiting for it.

Francesco

 

[flyjoe180]

Had trouble with the paint so had to order a new pot. Dave's paint bug is spreading! The finished camouflage didn't have quite the effect I had hoped for, maybe a bit hard edged, but it is what it is considering the issues I had with the original dark green. Bits and bobs attached and now waiting for a gloss coat and the weather to play ball before decal application. I'll update with photos later, am away until Saturday for work. Determined to get this one done and then plan to move onto the FAA SIG build with the Sea Harrier. May as well stick with the Harrier theme for a while. I've also acquired and started a Bedford fuel tanker to go with the GR.3, so will start my first vehicle build soon.

 

[flyjoe180]

Photo update:

Grey blanked off with Tamiya tape on the Blutac rolls. This was in itself at least a two to three hour job:

View attachment 81852


The dark green on. Had a lot of issues with this paint as indicated in previous posts, had to get a new pot but it worked out okay in the end at the expense of my hoped-for nice feathered edges.

View attachment 81853


The result:

View attachment 81854


Air brake, landing gear, outriggers, exhaust nozzles and other bits started to go on:

View attachment 81855


View attachment 81856


Just noticed Italeri provided a few errors in their decal sheet. The first is the serial number, XV744 has been presented as XW744, easy fix with a pair of scissors. The second is the pilot name, Captain Pasquale. Captain Thomas Pasquale was a USMC pilot on exchange who was killed in 1973 in GR.3 XZ137 in Germany, 9 years before the model depicted here. Italeri kits are prone to small errors like this all the time in my experience. Reasonably nice kits, but the research can be dodgy do do your homework as always if you want accuracy.

View attachment 194875

View attachment 194876

View attachment 194877

View attachment 194878

View attachment 194879