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EAV-8B Harrier II Plus


Nic C.D.

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  • 4 months later...

At last a little bit of progress on the Matador II. With emphasis on 'little'. 

 

Because I want to show the radar in detail and the kit offers no framing for it, it has to be scratched. After a couple of tries, I made this basis for it; now I can start adding details to it.

 

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So, I started to build the radar itself. In the kit, it is too big and well... rather simple. With parts of the radar of an Academy F/A-18 Hornet that was donated by Fred (thanks again!), I'm on the way to something that resembles the real thing. Still some work to do though!

 

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I hope to add another point of interest to the kit by extending the in-flight refuelling probe.  First, the front part of it had to be cut from the base and cleaned. After this, the size of the extended tube was calculated and glued on it. I also made a hole in the fuselage, where the probe comes. Not the best photo, but it gives the idea. Still have to add details to it and scratch the cradle on the air intake for it though.

 

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And finally, the aft end of the external fuel tanks was drilled open, like on the real jets. Again, a bit blurry, but you get the idea. It is a lot cleaner than it looks in the photo.

 

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I'll continue the detailing, especially the cradle for the in-flight refuelling probe. Once that's done, I can add the rivets to the air intake and start thinking of getting some paint on this kit. Then, the kit should hopefully look a little like this:

 

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Next time !

 

Nic

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 1 year later...

Didn't have a lot of time for modelling in 2021, but I did make a little progress on this long ongoing project. Over the last few days, I built the deployed in-flight refuelling probe of the Harrier II. I had it measured out as good as I could, going over the plans and started scratching. On my third go, it felt right. The parts aren't glued in place yet, but I wanted to show where I'm at:

 

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This photo shows how wide the probe actually moves outwards, just far enough for the pilot to see it. The wings and top fuselage aren't glued yet.

 

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The mechanism is built up out of about 10 very thin parts of plasticard and it took some time to get everything lined-up correctly.

 

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I have to fill up the gaps between the probe's base and the fuselage, but after that, I can move on to the next part. Painting isn't that far away, now. I hope that the next post won't take as long!

 

Nic

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