1/72 Airfix Sea Harrier FRS.1

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Sep 25, 2011
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I started this in the 2011-2012 winter group build, but I never did finish it. It got shelved in favor of the spring contest build that I did complete. I though that I would get it out of the way before moving on with my Merkava. You can find the original thread here:
http://www.scalemodeladdict.com/index.php/topic,4430.0.html

I'll update every few days here. I plan on using metalizers for the leading wing edges and landing gear wheels. Right now, the decals are applied, and I'm waiting for a good day to airbrush some protective clear before some weathering and airbrush the landing gear. The rain and wind here's been horrendous. :p
 
Cool.
I just took a look at the old thread N.D. - where is the build at? Is it still primed, or have you stared painting?
 
Actually, painting and decaling are pretty much finished. We finally have a gorgeous day for airbrushing here in Alberta, but it's mom's birthday so I'll be out with the family all day. When I get home tonight, I'll be clear-coating the plane a few times and painting the landing gear.
 
You should end up with a nice weekend also. I think the weather report said 25°C to 30°C (Friday through to Sunday).
 
A quick pic of where this is at...
P7050724.jpg
Paint, decals, and about 4 layers of clear coat. I added a drop of the main body color to the clear to tone down the brightness of the decals and the nose (painted in XF-1 Flat black, oops :-[ ) Some weathering should help too!
 
She's looking good ,wont take yer long to get that one finished :)

Chris.
 
So, in between working at a rock & roll summer camp, I've been chipping away at this, and it's almost done. The bird's got an acrylic sludge wash to accentuate the panel lines, and it's getting the oil paint weathering treatment this week. Should I apply a protective clear coat over the panel wash before oils? I think I'll leave it glossy (it has several coats of future over the decals) and allow the oils to tone & scale down the glossiness. It looks like the SHARs in the Falklands had a glossy paint finish (at least the ones from HMS Hermes did).

Quick question: I just bought a wide array of Testors metalizer paints for the rear exhaust (not the leading wing edges anymore, according to the latest issue of Model Aircraft anyways)...
1. is it brushable, like the Gunze Metalizers? If so, I'll do the wheels with Testors stainless steel buffable metalizer (or another metalizer with a slightly yellowish tone; suggestions?).
2. the humidity's really high here this week. I know that's bad for airbrushing acrylic; will that affect lacquer-based metalizers, do you think? My compressor has a moisture trap, and a couple vinyl and rubber/fabric hoses.
Thanks for your help, everyone! Happy modeling! :D
 
Progress?
P7170724.jpg
P7170725.jpg
Just gave it a little oil paint streaking over the panel wash. It takes the shine down to an acceptable level and further blends the decals into the overall paint scheme, IMHO. Any answers to my metalizer questions would be appreciated.
Happy modelling! :D
 
That looks good N.D., toned the shine down quite a bit.

Sorry, I don't have an answer to your paint question - I've never used the Testors Metalizers.
 
I like your Harrier. Paintwork and marking look great. Coming up on the finishing stages.
Good luck on her. Bill
 
Sea Harriers are awesome! This old scheme is classy looking, too.

The Metalizer really needs to be airbrushed. It should spray okay in the elevated humidity because you use real light coats and low pressure. Usually it's glossy lacquers that will blush in high humidity. Make sure your moisture trap is working, though! Right now we have upper '80's and low '90's with about 70% humidity. I've sprayed some lacquer primer on a couple of projects just fine.
 
You're right, the metalizer REALLY needs to be airbrushed. I found one guy who showed a technique for handbrushing metalizers by priming an old brush with the metalizer, allowing it to dry, then picking up the pigment only from the cap of the bottle after a good shake. He would work it into the part to be painted, and would continue scrubbing away at it until the paint started to buff up (1-2 minutes). So I tried. I ended up with a thick, sticky mess that would most certainly NOT buff. I need to sand and clean off that gunk, then off to the spray booth!

Landing gear's done, at least. Any tips out there for painting tires without a clear border between the metal rim and the rubber? :p
 
NecronautDrummer said:
Landing gear's done, at least. Any tips out there for painting tires without a clear border between the metal rim and the rubber? :p

Do you have any small punches to punch out a tiny disk from some kind of masking material, like tape or frisket? How about finding a brass tube the correct diameter for the wheel and holding it against the part to provide a temporary mask?
 
I've already thought of that (occurred to me Monday night). I have MicroMark's cheap punch set, and it looks like the largest diameter punch should work for the larger middle landing wheels. I won't have to mask the front and side landing gear wheels, since they have a defined rim. Thanks for the tip, JO!
It's another busy week for me, with family outings, a motorbike course, and I've still got dinner and Iron Maiden Friday night, and my new motorbike delivery on Saturday. Having a hard time filling any modelling into the summer schedule. Still all fun, though!

Happy modelling!
 
Hey N.D. just wondering how the Harrier is doing. Hope you had a god summer.
 
As a matter of fact, it'll be finished tonight! I'll be posting pics later tonight. Yup, summer sort of got in the way of finishing this off, between motorbiking, camping, and creating a wedding/parties/corporate event band (available for bookings in the Edmonton area year-round, if you need a country/folk/classic rock/modern rock band!). That's 3 bands I'm in now...

Anyways, look for finished pics later today!
 
Okay, maybe not last night, but Tonight for sure! Forgot about all the UHF antennae, wind direction thingie in front of the cockpit, and the pitot tube. The kit pitot tube was just awful, so I had to scratch-build the pitot tube out of steel florist wire & CA (no sewing needles around to use). Touch-up paint's drying on all the finally attached parts, then brush-on clear for these new bits, and some final touch-up weathering. Final photos for sure tonight!
 
Cool, looking forward to the pictures.

JMac said:
Hope you had a god summer.

Sorry about that, I thought I typed "Hope you had a good summer".
 

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