Airfix 1/24 Harrier GR.3 and FRS.1

[panzerrob]

Hi guys,

 

I'm building a 1/24 Harrier GR.3, followed by a FRS.1, both in the years 1982/1983 time period in the Falklands area.

My questions are:

What will be a tipical load for a Harrier during and/or just after the Falkland War?

What will be the right Vallejo Air collors for Air Force Green/Grey and Royal Navy greys?

I bought the Heritage Aviation Models Intake set for the FRS.1, it has the intakedoors open. Now I read somewhere that these doors are only open when the aircraft is on the ground, but could the doors also be open when the aircraft is hovering in the air? (both aircraft will be hanging from the ceiling as I have no more space for any models to display on their wheels)

 

With regards, and a Happy and Healthy 2019,

Rob

[PhilB]

I built an FRS.1 in a Falklands scheme some years ago (link in my sig).

I can't really help with  the GR3 but for the FRS1 then I can recommend getting the SAM Datafile number 11 "Sea Harrier" if you can.

The colours depend on which aircraft you intend to do.

They were either Extra Dark Sea Grey or Medium Sea Grey.

A lot were hand painted (with a brush) on the way to the Falklands to reduce visibility including squadron logos etc being covered up and the "white belly" of some of the extra dark sea grey aircraft being painted out..

Armament was normally a pair of Aim 9L' s and the 30mm cannon pods for the combat air patrol role although refs show them also carrying BL755 BLU's and 1000lb bombs on a raid on the airfield at Port Stanley.

I used the big Flightpath set on mine and the general rule about the intakes was that on the ground with the engine off, gravity took over so the intakes on the top would drop open whilst those on the side and bottom would drop closed.

On aircraft in the hover or at slow speed the intake doors are open whilst photos of the aircraft in level flight show them as closed.

There were quite a few variations on each individual aircraft including "home made" chaff dispensers on some.

The SAM datafile is a very good reference for the Falklands FRS 1's.

 

 

 

 

[Stevepd]

I too built one some years ago. Mine was a Sea Harrier as the one that exploded just after take off carrying 3 x 1000lb’ers with tanks and gun pods. As Phil has mentioned above the initial Sea Harrier deployed had all the “white bits” hand painted, with all the warnings tonned down and the roundels had their white bits painted blue again by hand. I sprayed mine but then sprayed over where the white would have been in a slightly different shade just enough to show the difference and badly painted the roundels. With regards loadout then bombs/Sidewinders were all carried daily depending on the sortie was allocated to which aircraft.

 

Replacement aircraft that were sent down came in Barley Grey as this is the lighter grey and named after the chap who developed the colour (RAE Farnborough?) with the light blue/pink roundels.

 

I’ve got a few books on this so if you choose a certain aircraft I can supply info.

 

With regards the GR.3s’ they carried 1000lb’ers and Royal Navy rocket pods eventually just towards the end LGB, oh and don’t forget BL755 cluster bombs. At the end of the War they were put on standby with Sidewinders fitted.

 

i could go on but I’ll stop here.....

 

Steve.

[Wegener]

A mate who was running the maintenance function for a SHar unit (post-war) tells me that the air brake is also open when the engine is shut down, so it hangs down.  Initially it was used, in the absence of dedicated dispensers, to store bundles of chaff for deployment as required.  Obviously only one shot though!

 

I hoovered up a load of info about the SHar in the South Atlantic for my 1/72 build, including an article or two in various mags and some stuff found on the www.  Can post some more later if interested.

[panzerrob]

Hi guys,

 

Thanks for all the info, it is much appreciated!

 

@ Wegener, please post more if you have!

 

I wish you all a very Happy and Healthy 2019!

 

Rob

[Wegener]

OK, back at my PC after the holidays and found the doc into which I copied what I had found.  Much of it is from here (and even has a contribution from Jennings ;o)):

 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/43158-airfix-sea-harriers-frs1-and-fa2/

 

Unfortunately most of the photos are no longer there but there are some knowledgeable contributors to the thread.

 

There is an UK IPMS Harrier SIG whose website http://www.harriersig.org.uk/ which may be helpful too.

 

Model Aircraft Monthly had a 25th anniversary special on Op Corporate in May 2007 with extensive colour details and also builds of an FRS.1 and GR.3s (admittedly not in 1/24 but it would give you an idea of the target result).  I doubt you'd find a copy easily these days but I can probably provide a scan if you PM me.

 

Happy modelling!