1/24 Airfix Sea Harrier

Gallery Article by Mark Doherty on Mar 18 2010

 

This is an incredible kit............ Many things, good and bad, have been written about this kit but it is not until you open the box and get started that you realise the intensity of the challenges that you face. I started with the cockpit which is pretty basic. A lot of the cockpit is scratchbuilt, I added switches, panels etc.. The switches are thin pencil lead superglued onto the panel over decals and then given a blob of white paint. The warning lights just under the console are from an etched brass set for a 1:72 Zero painted in the appropriate colours. Once completed the cockpit it quite heavy and this is an important factor when fitting it to the fuselage.

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Unfortunately the main body of the kit is covered in deep rivet detail. To soften the rivets I used thick layers of primer paint that was sanded between layers. This meant that although almost all the rivet detail was now hidden, in a few areas it wasn't as deep and worked well when the model was weathered with chalks. I built the engine and fitted it to the model but decided not to open the model up. The engine detail is superb, so maybe next time. Fitting the front cockpit to the rear fuselage was a nightmare. You have to saw off the nose of the kit and replace it with the Sea Harrier nose. The fit is not great as the Sea Harrier nose sits just too high against the rear fuselage, a lot of work is needed to sort this out. The weight of the nose meant that it was very difficult to get a decent grip with glue alone. Luckily the intakes are incorrect and need filled at the top.  I mixed superglue with Squadron putty to make a super-hard adhesive/filler combination that worked well. Of course this resulted in the need for a substantial amount of time spent sanding. The wing fit is a bit odd as well, with many ill fitting parts used to make the upper fuselage. Again squadron putty and superglue came to the rescue.

The landing gear, drop tanks and missiles are great.  I scratchbuilt the bolts that hold the missile and tank rails to the pylons.  The paint that comes with the model needs a fair bit of thinning to airbrush but went on well.  I used several layers of Johnston's Klear to put on a thick gloss coat.  The panel lines are filled with Humbrol Satin Black Enamel and I used silver ink for the rivets.  The decals are terrible, lots of silvering ...... enough said.  Finally I used a mixture of Tamiya Flat Base X21 and Xtracrylic Flat Varnish (heated for the best results) to give the matt finish. Weathering was done using chalks.  Despite the difficulties, I really enjoyed building this kit.  It's not for the faint hearted and does need a lot of patience and ingenuity.  The model was built for Gordon Christie Toy Shop, St. Andrew's, Scotland who have a great range of model aircraft and equipment. The brass plaque was made by MasterCobbler also in St. Andrew's.

Mark Doherty

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Photos and text © by Mark Doherty