1/24 Airfix BAe Sea Harrier FRS-1

Gallery Article by Victor De Jesus on Nov 21 2013

 

 

I always wanted to build a Harrier and ten years ago I saw the Airfix 1/24 scale at my local hobby shop. Long story short, I won a cash prize last year with the F-86 Sabre during a model competition and I was able to get the Harrier at $45 (not bad considering this kit was originally $125). When I opened the box I was quite surprised to the extent of the work that I had ahead of me. It took me about seven months to finish this bird. The most interesting and daunting step for this build was cutting the entire cockpit area from the fuselage to be able to place the FRS-1 version. I liked having several cockpit options available to build with this kit. I used Humbrol and MM’s paint to complete the color scheme for this build. 

 

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I used the provided decals for this kit since I found none available for the 1/24 scale. Although I read many bad reviews for the decals included in the kit, I found them to be more than suitable for the job in spite of having been un-built for ten years. I tried to add cables and other details to the engine and cockpit, but for some reason the items would not stay glued on the surface of the original parts. I tried several different glues to no avail. I also opened the air intake sections of the fuselage along with many other smaller holes to add a little more realism to the finished product. 

I am very pleased with the outcome and I hope you like the photos. I recently visited the RAF Museum in England and I was able to snap several reference photos of the Harrier engine on display there. If any of you are planning to detail your harrier engine, give me a shout and I will E-mail the photos to you. 

Victor De Jesus

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Photos and text © by Victor De Jesus