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

[rickoshea52]

Now that I have my workbench more or less back in action I have been picking at some of my stalled builds. It is about time I had a go at the brass work, particularly the PSP from Flightpath, it wasn’t as tedious as I first thought. With a good light source, magnifier, scissors, sanding pad and a decent folding tool I made light work of about half the PSP in less than an hour, the planks can be cut in half so that you can get an evenly laid area...and they even interlock together per the real thing. Painting next and some base board work then I can get them laid out.


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[rickoshea52]

The 1/2 ton Land Rover from Oxford Diecast has begun its transformation from UN & Commando markings to Royal Air Force green with yellow stripes. I began with painting out the printed on markings but it quickly became clear this would look crap so the acrylic paint was washed off. Then I had a light bulb moment and remembered my railway modeller trick for removing tampo printed markings - T-Cut. I used to renumber my locos and rolling stock using this method to remove the factory printed numbers and it worked a treat on this model too, the bonus with this method is it leaves a shiny surface for the yellow RAF stripes to be applied to. The only drawback is I can’t use T-Cut to remove the Commando dagger on the tail fender without also removing the other printed detail.

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[JR]

Rick.
Not normally a wingy man , but living near Wittering we had Harriers flying around here for years, so thought I would look in .
Some great work , more so for that scale, love the etch, you've done a superb job on that . Looking forward to seeing the set up .
John .

[rickoshea52]

Bren Gun's access ladders have been assembled and ready for paint.

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[rickoshea52]

I'm going to use the Flightpath airfield accessories set towing arm, what a pain. The brass rod supplied has an internal diameter too small for the cast fittings, after cutting the rod to the lengths required a session of filing the id with a round needle file and drilling was needed. The case fittings and rod have been superglued together and left to set. The ruler and tools are for scale and the other photo shows the tools used, yes, a hammer.
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[rickoshea52]

The Land Rover has a yellow disc on the front grill which is really thick and over scale so it has been replaced by a white disc cut from thin plasticard using a set of hole cutting pliers. I have no idea what the yellow disc means or indeed a white one but it will stay white (it is hiding the locating hole in the grill!)
On another note, the Commando dagger formation badge on the rear fender came off by scraping gently with a number 11 scalpel.

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[papa 695]

I'd forgotten all about this one Rick, nice to see you back on it. Nice work with the PE.

[Steve Jones]

Pierced steel planking! That is on my to buy list!! Wonderful build Rick. I will keep an eye on this one

[rickoshea52]

Pierced steel planking! That is on my to buy list!! Wonderful build Rick. I will keep an eye on this one

You can get bases with the PSP already laid but you don’t have the flexibility of the brass stuff that I am wrestling with.

[flyjoe180]

That's a lot of PE for the PSP Rick, but nice work on that, the adder, and the recycled Land Rover.

[rickoshea52]

PSP painted in dark green but I will vary the shades and paint some in different colours in a later session - the crew access ladders were painted too.
The Harriers themselves are almost done with just a few minor paint touch ups to do. I used Vallejo gloss varnish - utter rubbish finish and loads of airbrush blockages but the decals went on ok and a pin wash for the panels makes them pop out. The matt coat is AK ultra matt - awesome! I’m a convert. You might also see a Vulcan drying on the paint stand, this is my daughter’s and has been coated in Alclad aqueous gloss - double awesome! Another convert.
When the Harriers were assembled with their landing gear and out riggers I found that the flat surface of the base was too narrow so a quick bit of tissue and pva mix was added, painted and scatter applied; the white strip will be a section of concrete road. There is also a parking bay for some MT - maybe a bowser, Unimog etc.

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[rickoshea52]

Some baseboard work tonight with the PSP added after the concrete road section was laid, painted and edged in with Tamiya mud effect.

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[rickoshea52]

Some more ground work with different shades of scatter, tufts and a bit more mud effect. The white spots are wet pva that will dry clear and the dark scatter will shaken down to remove the excess and saved for reuse.
One thing was bothering me about the last photos I posted of this Harrier on the base mocked up, it was a bit of overspray just behind the cockpit, this has been corrected. [ATTACH]307584[/ATTACH][ATTACH]307585[/ATTACH][ATTACH]307586[/ATTACH]

And some trees and scenic material that I am using.
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[rickoshea52]

Both the Harriers are now completed with the exception of the engine panels for the jet with the resin engine insert, these can be posed installed or not and I still haven’t made my mind up yet.
Next to finish will be the base.
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[Fernando N]

Rick, those two Harriers look fantastic.:thumb2:
Love the Land Rover too, nice conversion.