Jump to content

1/32 AV-8B Harrier II+ with Zotz Decals


seiran01

Recommended Posts

It's hard to stress how glad I am to get this kit finished. It's still disappointing after all these years that Trumpeter made so many errors with accuracy and fit/design of their harrier series. Considering how well engineered most large scale trumpeter kits are (in my opinion), the annoyance caused by the following led me to shelf this build many time, and probably also are the reason that I can count on one hand how many of these kits I've seen completed:

  • exhaust nozzles
  • HUD
  • gear wells (especially nose well)
  • exhaust nozzles again
  • gaps in intake where front fuselage plugs in
  • ejector pin marks in intake
  • fit of intakes to fuselage
  • exhaust nozzles
  • LERX being hollow underneath
  • and yes, again, the exhaust nozzles.

he Zotz decals are simply superb. I liked them so much that I actually used two whole sets of the decals on the plane! Granted, I didn't clear coat before decalling the first time so silvering was everywhere, but I don't think Eli will complain that he got an extra sale out of me! :whistle:

 

photo+1.JPG

 

photo+2.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks!

 

Ok Brian, here are some more. It's in the display case now so the quality of these is not as good. You can see I misplaced the landing light lens for the nose gear too. You can see on the underside pic (a bit) what I'm talking about with the gear door fit that I did not work to correct.

 

photo+1.JPG

 

photo+2.JPG

 

 

 

and since I was photographing the model case, here's one for laughs, my two sturmoviks. I managed to completely lose the IL-2 exhaust, hah!

photo+3.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

nice work on this Mike.

 

after all the brouhaha this turned out to be a beauty. Only you know where the sins are cause I cannot see any. Bravo!

 

will we see this "Jump Jet" at the next NOVA IPMS meeting?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Rick,

Sorry no, I won't be taking this one back out of the case to bring to the meeting next week, i just want to forget about it as something I built and enjoy it from a distance :whistle:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Eli for the kind words, and thanks so much for designing such great decals. I'll likely be using yours on the P-61 and 50/50 chance on the B-25 (unless i decide to do a Dutch B-25, I'll be doing Sag Harbor Express). Are you still considering RNZAF decals for the skyhawks by chance? I could use a set for the old SEA camo schemes

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very nice job, Mike. Having just finished one of these exact same models just this past weekend, I can sympathize with you. That huge air intake took me an exceptional amount of work to get to fit, fill the ejector pin marks and seams, attach all those little blow-in doors, and finally mask to get that sharp demarcation line -- it was tedious.

Edited by Lee_K
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Wow, really nice, I bought the same decal sheet from Zots , but i am using them as reference for my av8b night attack version. hope it turns out as nice as yours

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A Really, Really nice Harrier! Keep the faith, as fixing these problems is what separates us from the parts assemblers! I have a couple of these in the Stash and you have gotten me thinking ab out building one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...