EAV-8B Harrier II Plus

[blackbetty]

very nice work! are you going to correct the wing-kink?

[Stokey Pete]

Nice.

It's rare to see a Harrier being built, given the amount of stick the various kits get. I will get round to one...eventually. 

Good work. 

[Nic C.D.]

Thank you for the feedback! Like I said, it is a fun project, which is helping me getting my modelling mojo back! 

 

I don't think I'm going to work on the wing kink, Blackberry. I've seen what you talk about and to be honest, this is something I can hardly see on the real aircraft. Cutting the wings, placing a spar and doing surgery on the lower wing will probably stall my build. I'm afraid that in the model, you can exaggerate the effect very easy, so I haven't got it planned. 

 

At the moment, I'm scratching the centreline pylon. There's one in the kit, but it is completely wrong. Bit funny actually, I'll post a photo of it when it's done. 

 

True Stokey Pete, and I don't know why that is. Sure, there is some work to correct minor issues, but I haven't had a kit for which I haven't. I'm building an F-16 MLU from Tamiya's Thunderbirds kit and I've spent loads more time correcting, converting and detailing that one! I guess if you want to build a kit the best you can, you just take the time to do research and detail it.

 

What I like about this Trumpeter Harrier kit, is that it is an easy kit to build; the fit is just great. I'd really recommend this kit.

 

Nic 

[Nic C.D.]

Have been busy with some of the smaller stuff on the kit. Necessary to get the kit a little better, but quite time consuming.

 

First, correct a mistake made in the kit. On the port side of the upper fuselage, the in-flight refuelling probe is located. To make sure that you know where to glue it, Trumpeter provides some panel lines to guide you. The problem is, they put these lines on both sides! Oops. So, on the starboard side, the lines have to be filled with putty. I've also finished the trailing edge flaps, engraved and riveted them.

 

 

The nozzles of the kit need some attention. The halves and the vanes inside need to be cleaned-up and some details needs to be added. Some putty is required here to get everything smooth. For the Spanish Harriers, these nozzles have to be painted in the fuselage colour.

 

 

Some more work on the cockpit: the seat with the two rings in front (one ejection ring and a smaller green one next to it) and the leg straps and the instrument cover with the HUD, additional instruments and documents clip to the side. 

 

 

The canopy framing; since the last post, I dropped it - smart, I know - and the wiring on top of it cracked off. I'll have to redo all of that. I scratched the aft part of the canopy frame because this is all missing in the kit. You won't be able to see much of it, but just enough to see that it's more like the real jet.

 

 

Here's the status of the cockpit. The fuselage halves aren't glued yet. Still need to add some more details, but painting the cockpit is getting closer!

 

 

Final photo for now: the starboard side of the upper wing interior is almost done. The part with the yellow and metal tubing is just 5 mm long and holds just over 30 parts. On the port side, this has to be added as well.

 

 

Well, that's it for the update! Hope to be back soon!

 

Nic

 

[Out2gtcha]

Great update!

[red Dog]

Great detailling Nic

[dodgem37]

Nicely done additions.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Nic C.D.]

Little update this time, but still having fun with the EAV-8B Matador !

 

So, I've started adding the detail to the area under the canopy again - it broke off when I dropped it a few weeks ago - so, here's the start of it. 

 

 

Another point that I'm giving a little detail, is the air intake. When the top doors open, you see some detail on the inside, mostly rivets, so I added some for the top auxiliary doors (the lower ones will be closed, so they don't need them.

 

 

The inner part of the engine bay, where the LEX joins the fuselage, has been detailed too. First, a very thin piece of plasticard with holes punched in at the right spot glued to the LEX side. After that, I sanded it flush and added a few details to it (which I realise now looking at the photo, you can hardly see...)

 

 

The connecting box with all the tubing on the port side has been added now. Loads of parts there, but by doing so, the engine bay is almost done. Still have the front part to do, though!

 

 

Aft fuselage: I've cut out the bad exhaust and inserted a tube that I've sanded flush to the fuselage. Some putty to make sure it is completely flush, but I'm not completely satisfied with the result. I'll have to work on it a little more. At the end of the fuselage, I've opened up one of the exhausts. Next time, I'll have the grills installed.  

 

 

Now it's on to painting the cockpit. When that's done, I'll post some photos of it!

 

Hope you like the progress, little as it is.

 

Nic

 

[Rick Griewski]

Hello Nic C.D.

Any more progress? Your model looks great so far and the build is very informative.   I will be starting my kit next month so I am eager to see how this build comes out

 

Rick

 

[Barry]

Hi Nic,

 

You've got some fantastic detail work going on! I really like the Hydraulic Plumbing it can get very complex as you've shown.

 

Barry

[Nic C.D.]

I did get a little more done on the Harrier, mainly on the landing gear - adding some wire, removing the moulded on tie-downs and replacing them - and started painting the cockpit, I'll make some photos soon and post them.

 

I have to say that I got a little bit side-tracked, because I started building a 1/32 Sea Vixen, based on Tigger's vacuform kit. As you can imagine, there is a massive amount of work to be done on that one, but so far, I've only been cutting up the plastic. The plan is to show it with wings folded, port engine bay open and engine next top the aircraft. Scratch-builder's heaven! Fortunately the plastic is thick enough to work on it. So, that'll be next. 

 

This weekend, I hope to work on the Harrier's avionics bay. I'll show the progress on it soon!

 

Nic

[CZPetrP]

Good job. Perfect details.
I wish a lot of strength to finish.

[Shawn M]

holy ^$*@

that engine bay is amazing not to mention the cockpit work

wow

[scvrobeson]

Great looking build Nic! Looks like Aeries got the instrument coaming almost right, just missing a couple of the facets from the original.  Your scratch work is always top notch though, especially that engine bay.

 

 

Matt 

[Nic C.D.]

So, before the big work of painting can start, there is still some work to be done on the little parts. Here's a little update:

 

First, the air intakes. The 3 top auxiliary doors are open when the jet is on the ground, but there isn't any depth in the wells for them, so you have to scratch that. For this, I used the thinnest plasticard that I could find. This photo shows the strips of plastic glued to the intake, waiting for the glue to dry.

 

 

 

Below is the same part, with the strips trimmed and sanded smooth. This will look so much better when on the kit, especially on the port side of the kit, where the inflight-refuelling probe will be extended. Because it sits on top of the air intake, this area just had to be much better than out of the box. 

 

 

The area behind the aft engine nozzle needs some attention too. For this, I use parts of an Eduard set and some parts that I scratch build. Photos of some Spanish Harriers show some strengthening panels attached to the lower fuselage, so these are shaped and glued to the model as well. The hydraulics panel immediately before the aft nozzle opening has to be detailed on the inside, but that's for later in the construction.  

 

 

One of the things that is missing in the trumpeter kit, is the underside of the LEX. When you look at the kit when finished, you probably would never notice it, but it bugged me, so, I modified the parts. Again, some thin plasticard, careful sanding and done. I'll have to add a few rivets though. 

 

 

Some more small parts with details added; the one landing gear, with the tie-downs sanded off and replaced with some better ones. I'll still have to add the hydraulic and electrical lines. I also drilled a hole in the connecting point, so I can add a tow-bar later. To the right is the set-up for the instruments in the avionics bay, aft of the nozzles. This is just the basis, it needs loads of more details and many, many cables. I also added detail to the speed brake and the outer rigger gear. 

 

 

And finally, the inside of the landing gear doors and the added part to the vertical tail that should be left metal. I also riveted the tail itself. 

 

 

So, work continues slowly but surely. Painting is closer than you might think, though. Next time, I might be able to show some REAL progress !

 

Nic