[Drums01]

Taking a break from modifying some die-cast cars, I began work on the 1/24 Harrier from Airfix. My kit is from the initial release (1970's).

PRO's:
- It gives you the options to make a British GR1 or American AV8 edition (different antennas, fuel probe, and weapon stores).
- There are also posable jet nozzles, wing ailerons, rudder, tail plane, air brake, landing gear, and canopy.
- Kit decals are provided for both British and American variants.
- An option exists to keep the main wing assembly removable to view the Pegasus engine assembly.
- Exterior surfaces show recessed panel lines and rivet details.
- By size, the finished kit will be an impressive addition to any collection.

CON's:
- Very basic cockpit detail with a very simple single piece Martin Baker ejection seat.
- No details on the side of the cockpit (standard fare for that era of kit).
- Front and rear wheel wells are completely devoid of any detail what-so-ever.
- The engine and engine bay are very basic.
- Mold ejection pin marks on everything.
- Supplementary air intake doors are not molded into the kit (?).
- Fitment of kit parts is not up to todays standards.
- Several "after market" suppliers were out there to make up for the cockpit and wheel well issues but most has dried up by now.

Well, since I am one not to take the easy way of modeling (normally), I decided to research the aircraft and make an attempt to scratch build some of the issues in the interior and wheel wells. Here is phase one of the modifications:

Modified front wheel well:

Cockpit with modified panels:

Martin Baker Ejection Seat (Highly Modified):

Kit Intake (left); Corrected intake with supplementary intakes etched (right)

Basic Engine (Painted but no detailing yet)

Currently working on painting and detailing the rest of the landing gear wheel wells. I will be displaying my finished kit in flight but with gear deployed so the wheel wells will be a focal point. Being it is in flight, the supplementary intake doors will be closed (but now visible). More to show once I have sufficient updates.

Your input or feedback is welcome and thanks for looking

v/r,

Ben a.k.a. DRUMS01

 

[drivinghermad]

Well done and hats off to you for taking this project on.This will look Awesome and intimidating at 1/24 scale,i look forward to seeing this with updates,all the best,enjoying so far...

 

[Drums01]

thanks, I hope to have the details of the rear wheel well posted soon...

 

[Rust-MyEnemy]

Wow. That cockpit must have taken a steady hand! Watching this thread with interest.

 

[spikyone]

It's shaping up very nicely already. Sounds like the kit has some good details, with all of those movable parts. This is going to be an interesting build!

 

[Craig]

I love this! I'm not into planes (I just don't know anything about them really) but I can see that the detail is looking fantastic!

 

[Drums01]

Progress:

1) This is the front landing gear with the strut positioned to simulate the weight of the jet. This also shows the wheel nuts that I added:

2) Here is the front wheel well to include the back of the cockpit. The black wire is the wiring loom from the cockpit controls and gages that is going back to the engine, wing, rudder, etc. When both parts are attached it will appear that the wiring is going up into the center of the aircraft (see second photo):

3) This is the rear wheel well, it was 100% scratch built. This also shows the repaired rear landing strut which was damaged in the box.

4) Here are the side panels inserted into the rear wheel well box. Note that I am still detailing the wheel strut area (WIP):

More to come soon and thanks for looking

Ben

 

[Drums01]

Sorry for the lack of updates as "life" has been happening which has kept me real busy outside of modeling. No fear, as all is well because I remodeled my master bathroom and we sold our second home. Here is a photo of my bathroom modeling

As for the 1/24th Harrier:

- finished the cockpit (to include both right and left side walls) and glued it into the right fuselage.
- detailed the landing gear to include brake lines, a front landing light, etc.
- assembled the rear wheel well and fixed both the front and rear in place on the right fuselage.
- the landing gear were a pain because they instructions indicate to choose either deployed or retracted; I wanted mine to do both. After fixing the fragile hinge points with brass, I believe I got them to operate how I want. The rear main strut is molded as if it were landed with the aircraft weight bearing on it and not as if it were deployed and about to land. Small price to pay, just an observation.
- added the air intakes to the fuselage. In the process the intake runners in front of the engine did not line up. I have read about this in other builds of this aircraft. My solution was to heat and bend it to match. Even though it is inside the fuselage, it will matter when aligning the engine.
- built various sub assemblies to include the main wing, tail with rudder, etc.

My next update will be after the engine installation and fuselage halves are joined. I have not decided if I will leave the engine panel open for viewing or seal it. The will determine how much scratch detailing I will or will not do in the center of the fuselage.

I reached out to Airfix for new decals. Their initial response was that they did not have any available for my specific (old) kit. I then asked for ones from their most recent release of the 1/24th Harrier and told them I would buy them, but I have not received a reply.

Here is the progress on the fuselage, so far:

NOTE: I am leaving the ejection seat, pilot, and HUD out until the exterior is finished.

Until next time, happy modeling and take care!

 

[Drums01]

UPDATE:

- I cut out ports in the main wing and added the Roll Control RCV's as they were not molded into the kit. This is where they belong in the AV-8 and GR1 variants. If it was a more modern AV-8B Harrier II, then they would have been moved out to the very wing tips.

- Finally got the engine installed and both halves of the fuselage glued together. Because of other kits being built simultaneously, I decided to seal the engine up. This means no scratch building inside the fuselage (and much time saved in research and building). You can also see the amount of putty I had to use to fix alignment issues, ejection pin marks, dimples, or distortion.

I deviated from the instructions and kept the tailplanes off until the putty and painting of the fuselage is complete. I still plan on making them posable along with the air brake you can see directly behind the rear landing gear well. You can also see some plastic sheet I had to add to the wing root as the alignment of the main wing left gaps in the right rear and left front (now the fit is better). At this point I am happy with how it is progressing.

 

[Drums01]

HI Everyone, sorry for the lack of updates as I ran into a couple road blocks along the build.

- After joining the fuselage halves I had to putty the uneven panels and some gaps. In that process I lost some of the panel line and rivet detail. My solution is to re-scribe the panel lines and hand dimple all of the rivets back on the plastic (still a work in progress).

- When working on the fit of the exhaust nozzles I found that even though the engine appeared aligned in the body and intake runners, it was not EXACTLY perfect and has caused some concern in aligning the nozzles to the engine on both sides. Also in that process I noticed that the fuselage fairings in front of each nozzle were open and could be seen around the nozzles when placed in position. My solution is to glue thin plastic sheet into those areas in contours to match the intake and aircraft body. Last, the front exhaust were far to small for the openings in the kit leaving open view points around them into the engine area, I am fixing that with shimming plastic sheet (still a work in progress).

- Last, when adding the main wing assembly, the CA glue I used set before I wanted it to (before I got everything in place) and created a panel miss-match between the wing and the engine cover in front of it. This will require some shaving, putty, and remarking of panel lines and rivets (also a work in progress)....

I am also coming to issues with how to replicate the det.cord in and around the canopy as nothing was provided with the kit or after market. I would appreciate all of your expertise or suggestions on this (thanks in advance)....

I have built hundreds of kits over the last 40 years but I did not have any idea that the age of the kit (and perhaps my modeling skills) would make this the challenge that it is. I hope to be able to show progress soon (something I will not be ashamed of (smile)).

Till then,

 

[Drums01]

ANOTHER UPDATE:

Here is the aircraft with the wing corrected. You can also see behind the cockpit the white plastic items I added to replicate the canopy slide, the boundary layer air exhaust ducts, and the vents for the cockpit A/C system heat exchanger:

This picture shows several things (1) the spacer I inserted into the front nozzle area of the fuselage as the body did not enclose the fuselage between the engine and the exhaust. I will use the spacer to create the rotary nozzle bearings. (2) It also shows the corrected gap and positioning of the main wing. (3) You can also see some of the replaced panel lines and rivet depressions:

Here you can see the blocks for the exhaust nozzle fairings:

The next two photos show the front and rear pitch RCV ports that were not part of the model mold.

Here I punched a small screen vent from brass and added it to the tail. I also added the exhaust ports for the heat exchanger in the fuselage. I did a similar thing on the leading edge of the main wing (near the wing root) for the engine bay venting ram air intake.

More to come. Your feedback is encouraged!

v/r,

Ben

 

[Drums01]

Finally progress:

- all surfaces attached.
- ordnance racks added, attach points will be scratch built later.
- airframe painted with DoD scheme for AV8A and GR1 (hard separation lines).
- seat and pilot modified to fit in closed cockpit.
- all weapons painted and awaiting decals. They are not attached in the photo.
- canopy modified with sheet plastic to include rear of back canopy.

- waiting for replacement decals from Airfix (England).

Still needed: gloss coat, decals, seal coat, weathering and flat coat, detailing and adding of "doo-dads'.

 

[Kaiser Technica]

Awesome! The Harrier is one of my favorite aircraft so it's great to see big kits like this. I wish I had the time or even the space to display something like this.

 

[drivinghermad]

Fantastic build and added parts.I have been tuning into this thread and enjoying the build with you.Very impressive to see your Great model how it is now,thanks for taking the time to show us.