Something Big!

[DRUMS01]

After finishing my 1/35 Churchill AVRE with SBG Bridge diorama I hinted to everyone that I was going to get into something in a larger scale and subject. I wasn't sure how big I wanted to go, but I knew it was much bigger than 1/35th.

Several of you provided suggestions from the list I provided, and all were good choices. So I will tell you it is bigger than 1/20th, but smaller than 1/9th scale. It is a military model with 4 or more wheels and tires.

As soon as I opened the box I knew I needed to get some aftermarket detail items....

Some items are showing decent detail while others are severely lacking (for the scale).

This will require some modifications and scratchbuilding too.

Any guesses?

Ben and Jarrod

[cor]

1/16 jeep?

[Stokesy44]

1/16 jeep?

Good call.

Maybe a motorbike and sidecar? Or the 1/16 German Puma?

[Twokidsnosleep]

Tease

[DRUMS01]

No and No.... I will tell you that the correct answer will soar above the rest!

And Yes Scott, isn't this fun? Some people would say that I'm just winging it....

[Stokesy44]

No and No.... I will tell you that the correct answer will soar above the rest!

And Yes Scott, isn't this fun? Some people would say that I'm just winging it....

Ah, I deduce maybe a 1/18 aircraft?

[DRUMS01]

I think you’re on to something, now what 1/18 aircraft could it be? I’ll give you another hint, it does not need a regular runway. Thoughts?….

[Stokesy44]

Its the 1/18 Harrier! Holy Moses, what a beast to work on.

[digger303]

It's huge....Hell you'll be able to fly it and be the pilot

[DRUMS01]

Or perhaps it could be a helicopter as well? Such as a UH-1 Huey, or Little Bird, etc.


I also have the 1/18 Dauntless which does not use a conventional runway, but a carrier runway instead?


So, is it a Harrier?......

[Stokesy44]

Or perhaps it could be a helicopter as well? Such as a UH-1 Huey, or Little Bird, etc.


I also have the 1/18 Dauntless which does not use a conventional runway, but a carrier runway instead?


So, is it a Harrier?......

You said it had wheels so that knocks out the Huey and Little Bird. The only 1/18 aircraft I know of are the Harrier, Dauntless, Me262 and Fw190....

[Twokidsnosleep]

[DRUMS01]

So what else have we been up to lately you ask? Let me tell you,..... my mother celebrated her 95th birthday and my whole family was present to have a big party. My mom was born in Essen, Germany in 1930 and was raised there during WW2. Without gong into detail, to say that this was not a good time in her life is an understatement. She came to America in 1958 married to my father and with my older brother and sister. So, considering all she has been through, including us four children, she deserved a nice party. Happy Birthday Mom!



Next we continued as a part of our Legion color guard to raise our national colors (flag) at five local football games. Our team, the Heath Bulldogs won the "Cardinal Division" Championship, but lost in the first round of the State Playoffs. On another football note, my grandson, Bentley, won team MVP while his team won the divisional and district championships down in Houston, Texas.





Later we took a weekend to visit friends at their cabin for a "get-away" from the rest of the world. As a gift to them, we purchased a concrete ornament, cleaned it up, sealed it with etching primer / sealer. Then Jarrod and I painted it before applying a top sealer and rubber cushions beneath it. It was their gift for our visit and looks very nice on the front porch of the cabin.



Just a couple days ago, we attended a concert featuring Toby Mac (he is a pop christian singer). The venue was a couple hours away but proved to be a beautiful setting. Jarrod absolutely loved it.







I could go on but enough about all the other stuff, it's time to get back to the new build. And, yes,.... it's my 1/18 Harrier. Length 806mm, wingspan 514mm, yes.. it is indeed big!



Unfortunately, while it may look impressive by scale, they really missed an opportunity to make a nice detailed kit instead of a toy. This can be see in various points on the kit, such as the cockpit, wheel wells, engine and exhaust, landing gear, wing shapes and angles, did I say the cockpit?

There are several previous builds online showing the weakness of the kit and several modelers who spent a lot of time and effort to scratchbuild solutions (nearly half the aircraft). While it is all impressive and commendable, I am not going all that way. Instead I'm going to try to make some minor changes to make it acceptable as a 10 foot ceiling hanger. This kit could have benefitted with a pilot figure too, along with more up to date ordinance.

The instructions have you starting with the intake fan and engine in Step 1.



The intake shroud has several ejection pin parks in prominent locations that require filling. In addition to the pin indentions, there is also a generous amount of flash on the fan blades, but nothing that some time and effort cannot cure. The parts count for the sub-assembly is a whole 4 pieces, but it serves the purpose. Time will tell if the intake shroud fits inside the fuselage well or not. More to come on this assembly.





The engine is a whole 2 parts with three internal pieces which are actuators to make the nozzles function together in pitch and action. We cannot enclose the assembly until we finish sanding, priming, and painting the intake as it is assembled into the two engine halves. While we initially thought of detailing the engine, we finally determined the effort is not worth it, so it will be closed inside the fuselage when fully assembled. This would've been a great opportunity by the manufacturer to add more detail to the engine and in fuselage structure to make it show well. It would also be a great chance for a good 3d printer modeler to make a detailed engine and fuselage internals.

Step 2 has you working on the central landing gear.



When assembling the main landing strut, they show to instal a metal spring inside the strut before adding the piston portion (part S151) of the strut. The problem with that is that the spring does not have any kind of retainer or limitation of movement. This means that the hinge parts S153, S154, S162 and S163 are the spring stops. So the spring tension makes them go completely extended which makes the strut way too long. It does not look realistic in the forced over-extended position. Our solution was to study images of actual Harrier's to determine the compressed length they should be and we glued the assembly into a fixed position. This also allows the main strut to actuate into the closed position properly. Other options we pondered was to slot a sliding hole in the main strut center cylinder and then pin the outside to limit the travel. Another option would've been to cut the spring to a smaller length to limit the travel. We chose the fixed position instead. The main gear also is in need of more detailing with hoses, pins, nuts, bolt heads, landing light, clips, etc. Another item requiring correction was the wheels and tires. Lucky for us an aftermarket supplier had them available. AMG, or Armory Modelers Group makes one piece resin detailed wheel and weighted tires.



When comparing them to the kit parts, they drastically improve the kits appearance.



Modifications were needed to make the main gear strut accept the resin parts as the center pin on the kit wheels versus the resin pieces were very different (see the photo below).



We will not finish the assembly of the main gear into the wheel bay until the wheel bay is further detailed, painted, and the main gear is painted and detailed.

Enough for now; time for more research. The next update will have us getting started in the cockpit.

[cor]

Nice post . Big model . That's a lot of painting incoming.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Well there we go!
A bit of aftermarket, a dabble of scratchbuild and voila a detailed jump jet

[Stokesy44]

Great update but OH NO, image content not viewable in the UK!

[DRUMS01]

QUESTION: IF I find a image hosting platform that is compatible with the UK, are all my images currently in IMJUR transferrible to the new site?

The reason I ask is I have well over a decade and hundreds of images currently in IMJUR. It appears that the UK is the only location restricting its use (?), why?

[Stokesy44]

QUESTION: IF I find a image hosting platform that is compatible with the UK, are all my images currently in IMJUR transferrible to the new site?

The reason I ask is I have well over a decade and hundreds of images currently in IMJUR. It appears that the UK is the only location restricting its use (?), why?

I'm afraid I dint know the answers to your two questions. If I had to guess I would say yes to question 1 although it would be a laborious process. For question 2 I would say a mix between greed, bureaucratic stupidity, smartest guy in the room syndrome and recent 'changes' in global trade rules.

As always, the end-user suffers while the idiots who caused it move on to their next man made disaster in the making.

[RangerNeil]

QUESTION: IF I find a image hosting platform that is compatible with the UK, are all my images currently in IMJUR transferrible to the new site?

The reason I ask is I have well over a decade and hundreds of images currently in IMJUR. It appears that the UK is the only location restricting its use (?), why?

1. Not directly. You'd need to reload all the images to the new site - and then go back through every post either changing the links to point to the new site or adding new ones. A pain in the <censored> for you and one thats unnecessary. As said elsewhere on the site UK users just need to install a VPN and connect using a point outside the UK to be able to view images.

2. Due to the stupidity of a particular breed of politician who want to turn the UK into a clone of the CCCP.

[digger303]

QUESTION: IF I find a image hosting platform that is compatible with the UK, are all my images currently in IMJUR transferrible to the new site?

The reason I ask is I have well over a decade and hundreds of images currently in IMJUR. It appears that the UK is the only location restricting its use (?), why?

I'm not a 100% sure, but If it's anything like the detestable photobucket you have to be a paid up member then you can download the images even though they are your images originally. Of course you then have to upload them to the site of your choice. A lot of time and work to do that.

[DRUMS01]

I guess I will just keep moving forward continuing to use IMJUR knowing that those UK members can view my images through a VPN connection.

Step 3 is nothing more than the assembly of three parts representing the fuselage area between the nose cone and the cockpit. In fact it is so simple that I'm not going to show it until later.



The next major assembly is step 4 which is the cockpit.



The first portion being assembled is the SJU-4 ejection seat. If you go with the kit parts the end result will be a very rough and simplistic generic replica of the seat comprised of two halves, a top and three rubber parts for the seat and head cushions. Since it is a prominent piece that is a major viewpoint in the cockpit I'm going to accurize it.

This is the kit parts already slightly modified:


Here is what we are going after:






In the kit image, we have already remove the plastic between the upper seat back and the head piece. In the desired images, you can see numerous items to be added, such as the metal hand hold on the right side of the seat, the numerous nuts and rivet heads, the seat adjuster on the bottom left seat position, the yellow connecter mid-way up the right seatback (I believe it's for the "G" Suit), the leg straps on the bottom front seat area, the grab hoop in the seat front center, various small details on the metal seat,and of course the entire seat harness. We are also going to recreate the seat and head cushions using sheet plastic and medical tape for the textured coverings.

Next update will show some of the modifications to the main gear and ejection seat.

Till then....

Ben and Jarrod

[digger303]

[DRUMS01]

Digger, you must go through a whole lot of popcorn!

I know I'm not the prolific builder I used to be, but I still thought it was time to show some effort on the scratchbuilding for our Harrier.

Since the last update I've spent hours working on modifications to the ejection seat. So far I have 61 pieces, and modifications on it. We've also created the safe/arm Control on the right of the seat back (not attached). Some modifications are still needed for the headrest and we still need to cover the cushions with medical tape for texture. Along with it, I still need to create the rivets, leg restraints, harness, and buckles. Here's where Jarrod and I are on the seat after around 12 hours:

BEFORE:


CURRENT:




Your input or remarks are encouraged.... Till next time!

[cor]

The seat is model in itself. Looks really good. Can't beat thick brass rods.

[DRUMS01]

Thanks cor, Today I managed to finish the seat chassis details (rivets, etc.) and the canvas head cushion.

I found some hem material at a sewing store that works perfectly for 1/18 or 1/16 seat belt and seat harness material. It sure beats the costs for an after-market seat belt set, as the texture and stitching looks almost perfect to scale. For 1/8 the costs of a after-market set, I will have well over 5 yards, enough to create a whole fleet of harnesses. I have a spare 1/18 racing seat belt PE set that I'm going to try to modify for the harness hardware.

Also worked a little on the front wheel, specifically getting the resin wheel drilled to accept a axle shaft and then some centering shims for the front gear yoke. The landing gear struts are toy like but can be made to look the part with a little work.



The cockpit control panels are a joke, but the instrument panel is something that can be reworked pretty easily, but I removed all detail from the right and left panels as they were nothing more than lumps and bumps. The back of the cockpit (bulkhead?) will also need some detail love applied too.



There is also a very well known issue of the cockpit being around 1/8 inch too far forward. It actually interferes with the spacing of the instrument panel, control stick, and seat. That is why you see a very thin piece of sheet plastic cut to shape to cover the hole in the cockpit tub where the instrument panel would've been glued. More on that in the next update.

Ben

[digger303]

[RangerNeil]

Lovely work so far!!!
Does someone like Quinta or Red Fox do 3D decals for the cockpit??

[DRUMS01]

Nobody does anything for the cockpit. It would be a good item to market for this kit, 3d decals, with a resin seat and pilot. I did locate a 1/18 pilot from Reedoak that looks great, but $79 plus tax and shipping.

Flying Leathernecks has some 1/18 ordinance for the Harrier, but each pair of items average $30 (USD) . I could easily add $120 to the weapons alone.

Ben

[digger303]

Yes the aftermarket add ons can add up to a scary amount quite quickly.
Makes me think of getting a 3d printer, but then there is a steep learning curve with that too as not all prints attempts succeed and resin isn't cheap.

[DRUMS01]

I agree with you digger, as for the cost associated with getting started with 3d printing. Until I can justify those costs and ramp-up time, I will simply stay with old fashion scratchbuilding.

Speaking of that, I have a couple more photos of the ejection seat cushions and belt texture.

Seat


In Cockpit


Belts (WIP)


As previously mentioned, I purchased hem material from a local sewing store. When I bought it, I ended up getting it in red, blue, black, and the light cream that you see in the photo above. In the photo you can see the texture and stitching in the belt material that mimics that of the 1:1 material. If you are someone who likes to create seat belts and harnesses, this material is amazing, and super economical and pre-colored. They have different widths as well, so I found some for 1:18 or 1:16, another for 1:20, and some for 1.24-5.

Last update I briefly mentioned step 3 which is the three part assembly between the nose cone and the cockpit area of the fuselage. Here is what I was referring to (taped together only):



The out of box placement of the cockpit tub is 1/8" inch too far forward. This causes the instrument panel, control stick, and seat to be out of position. I found in other online builds that the solution was to cut a part of the front wheel well out to allow for the cockpit tub to move back, allowing the items to fit more accurately.



I suppose we will see how the move of the cockpit will disturb the relationship of the cockpit rear bulkhead, and ejection seat with the canopy later (fingers crossed).









As we test fit the cockpit we noticed some rather large gaps on both sides between the fuselage and the tub.



The kit has some very basic trim parts that are primitive in detail to try to fill the gaps. We are going to fix the gaps by scratchbuilding side control panels as well as trim out the fuselage portion on the cockpit. In the photo below you can see how the added part on the front cockpit floor will fill the hole where the instrument panel would've fit before moving the tub to the rear.



Here are some illustrations and images I copied from online reference sources to help me when creating the right and left control panels"









And here is a photo of the instrument panel I will be using as a template when correcting the kit part.



There are items on this drawing that will be referenced as well:



And here is a better image of the foot pedals that will be scratchbuilt:



During the test fit of the cockpit I also noticed that the instrument panel shroud is far too thick to be believable. In the photo below is my solution to fix it; simply thinning the exposed portion:

Unmodified part:


Work in progress: (left thinned, right side is kit thickness)


Done:


Since I'm showing the instrument panel in pictures,, here is how it looked in kit form. Notice the heavy ejection pin mark in the left MPCD screen, the raised circles for the instruments, and blobs for the various switches. There are also items missing which I will create. In the "done" photo above, you can see some of the modifications in progress for the panel.



Yes, there is still much more to do in the cockpit. I really haven't started on updating the landing gear, other than adapting the resin parts to fit the kits struts. Next update I hope to be showing more progress on the cockpit and perhaps even some on the landing gear.

Honestly, I'm currently using online sources for the images, but I am trying to locate a very informative book from Jane's that I have on the Harrier. Once I find it in my library I will be able to detail with more intent.

Till next update, share your thoughts, images, recommendations, or even encouragement as all is helpful.

Ben

[DRUMS01]

OK, I guess I lost everyone's interest already (smile), but I'm slowly pushing forward anyway. Once again my apologies for those that cannot see IMJUR hosted photos. I hope that will be resolved some day soon.

So where am I on this build? The last update I commented that I was searching for a Janes manual on the Harrier, but I believe I lent it to a friend some years ago and never got it back. Since then we have lost touch (he moved across the country for a job). So I’m going to rely on other sources for my modifications, or choose to simply do the cockpit, landing gear, and just put the rest together.

I mentioned in an earlier post that there are several modelers who have all but recreated this kit because of its lack of detail and inaccuracies. I told myself before I started that I will not be a rivet counter and try to fix everything. So far the only things I HAVE TO IMPROVE are the cockpit and gear. I guess as long as it looks better than my other 1/18 toy like kits hanging in the basement, I will be OK with that.

Last week I was in my winter exercise phase (less activity to do outside due to frozen winter). When performing squats and leg lifts with what I thought were light weights, I damaged my right knee (again). Both of my knees have had surgeries, shots, fluid drained, and more. I was wearing my fitted knee braces to protect myself from injury, but evidently at 67 I was doing more than I should've on these knees. One way I look at it is, at least the knee braces prevented a major injury. The results was a slightly torn LCL and a couple pulled muscles or stretched tendons. The reason for telling everyone about this is to also say that is why I haven't published a lot recently. My work bench is in the basement and the stairs are not my friend with a bad knee. Actually I was on bed rest for several days and only started walking again with crutches Saturday. Today is the first full day without crutches, but it is slow and steady. With great care I managed to navigate the stairs and work some on the Harrier.

I hoped to be working on the final details of the cockpit and moving to the landing gear, but I'm still working in the cockpit. Last update I talked about the severe gaps on the side of the cockpit. When looking closer I also found that it was the same issue for the rear bulkhead of the cockpit too. The fueslage panels for inside the cockpit do not fix the gaps and are far too short to cover the area needed. This means that I'm now correcting the cockpit fuselage panels, the right and left control panels as well as the space between the panel and the fuselage; the rear bulkhead as it connects to the fuselage, and more. During the process I also decided to add realistic control pedals as they can be partially seen beneath the instrument panel, which is also being highly modified as well).

Before I could add new sheet plastic I had to remove all the detail from the referenced areas. Here are some progress photos updating the basic fitment.









I would greatly appreciate it if anyone can refer me to any after market switches and control knobs in 1/16, 1/18, 1/20, or 1/24. Same goes for any modern jet cockpit decals, etc. If not, everything will have to be created from scratch.

Till next update where I hope to have the cockpit much farther along.

Ben and Jarrod

[digger303]

https://anyz.io/shop/product/AN028
https://www.manscalemodels.com.au/shop/ ... 9-wD1AbY2p
https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/ind ... -airscale/

I'm still watching and learning

[SteelScooter]

As a Brit it is obligatory to love the Harrier and you've made some great mods already on this beast! Also as a Brit I recently discovered I have to use a VPN to view the images as Imgur have withdrawn from the UK due to a child safety dispute with the government. Regarding the cockpit I saw a video of the preassembled Merit version of this kit and they put a pilot in and his face was basically mashed up against the windscreen like Mr MaGoo out for a Sunday drive. Keep up the good work.

[DRUMS01]

I feel bad about the IMJUR problem, but I cannot see trying to convert well over 2000 images I’ve posted over the last 15 years.

Funny you mentioned about a figure. I just purchased a very basic (cheap) 1/18 “Chap Mae” toy figure that I’m going to try to modify to fit.

Thanks for following along.

[DRUMS01]

Update.... not much to show.

I've worked on the fuselage side panels sme. My goal it to get the main parts correctly sized and applied before I really get into the cockpit details.

Speaking of details, I did order some 1/32 and 1/24 decals. Also purchased some aircraft gages in various scales from 1/48 through 1/16. Thanks for providing the links digger. I still think it is going to be difficult to find switches and knobs that will work in scale. Seems like more scratch building in the future.

Jarrod has been sick lately and he only wants Papa when he's not feeling well. So, while I cherish my snuggle time with my little man, it definitely stunts the build process.

More photos soon....

[Elve1984]

Thats a great bird! love the scratchbuilding your doing!

[Garion77]

Stunning build ! Had a lot of catching up to do. The seat is just stunning.

[DRUMS01]

Hi Everyone!

Time for a small update. Still working on the cockpit, but there is progress.

Last update I mentioned the need to finish the remaining main panels before adding any details. Jarrod and I believe we have done that finishing the cockpit side panels. The last photo shows a spare PE part that will work well as part of the HUD.







Before we dig into what's been finished I want to share some of the other things we've been doing.

Over the last month, we have been practicing both the music and choreography for our annual Christmas celebration at More Life Church. This year we will recreate a setting depicting the city of Bethlehem during Christs birth. There will be town's people, shepards, wise men, Romans, along with a nativity scene. Lucky for me, being the percussionist, I'm sitting in the background behind a drum set, so I do not have to wear any period dress. The show is very interactive and has acting, naraition, and music. I play in six of the seven songs and sing with a group in one. This has taken a significant amount of modeling time away in the last month, but has been very rewarding. We will finish it off with three performances on Christmas Eve (this coming Wednesday).

Last Saturday we rang the Salvation Army's donation bell to raise money for those less fortunate, so they might be able to enjoy the holiday season. The Salvation Army was established in 1865. It is a faith based organization that provides more than a roof. It offers warmth, safety, a listening ear, and a path forward. With emergency shelter, compassionate counseling, and life-rebuilding services.



Earlier this week we worked with our local Veterans' Service Office (VSO) to pack and deliver gift packages to senior veterans' that reside in our local senior living centers and nursing homes. During these visits I met one person, an Army veteran from the Korean war, who is also a Bronze Star medal recipient. He was a very sharp and witty fellow with some great stories of military history. The time spent with our senior veteran's is both humbling and rewarding. A great time was had by everyone.



Last Friday, Jarrod went to a local game stop and won the jackpot. The game credits and tickets allowed him to choose from the prizes at the arcade; Jarrod was a happy man!



Just yesterday I finally began to receive some of the items I ordered for detailing the cockpit. There is still more on the way.



So while waiting for the mail order items, we began to work on the pilot. Yes, we are looking at adding a pilot to the cockpit, as it would look funny of we decide to hang the aircraft in flight without a pilot. We will ensure that he is removable in the case I want to show the aircraft on the ground with the finished cockpit details. If you look around for a 1/18 detail modern jet fighter pilot, you will find out that there are only a couple options. A company called Redoak makes a fantastic figure that would be perfect, but it costs more than what I'm willing to spend. So, I found a cheap "Chap Mae" plastic toy figure on-line. I ended up getting it along with six other similar figures for less than $10. My hope it that I can dismember him then reshape certain areas and cut the arms and legs so I can post them in a manner to fit the cockpit and controls in a realistic way, while still looking credible and somewhat realistic; easy right?

I was very surprised by how oversized certain portions of his body were. When trying to re-shape those areas I ended up working through the sides of his torso. So along with reshaping I also had to reconstruct. During this time I was not sure if it was worth the effort, but I pushed forward. I found when working the figure that the overall height was fairly accurate, but his arms and legs were far to long for the size of his torso. To fix this Jarrod and I ended up cutting through the elbows, wrists, knees, and feet to both shorten them and allow me to reposition them. For those who have done this before, you know that the difficulty is to make the length and articulation of each body joint to look realistic. In addition to those concerns, we also had to ensure their positioning allow the figure to properly sit in the ejection seat while also ensuring his left arm would both fit in the cockpit while also ending up with the hand on the throttle controls; then the right arm was positioned to fit the cockpit while properly holding the flight stick; and then both legs had to clear the ejection pull on the seat pad, the flight stick, and the bottom of the instrument panel, while also fitting the foot controls. All of this was to be done while still looking natural. Jarrod and I accomplished this by drilling into the cut end of each body part. Then we cut a length of solder to fit the drilled hole. This allowed us to bend/shape and position of each body part in a manner to look and fit correctly. The joints once fixed in place was then filled with a combination of CA cement and putty. We still have some minor work to finish the pilot, but here is how they look at the moment. Please disregard the colors as that is what was on the figure when purchased.





We also started looking at the color options for the aircraft. The image below is something we would like to attempt if the enhanced version ever had this type of color scheme (?).



Next we finally begin detailing the cockpit.....

In case we fail to post again before the holidays, Merry Christmas!, Happy New Year!, or with respect we say happy holidays to what ever type of holiday you recognize!

v/r,

Ben and Jarrod

[digger303]

Your a very busy and giving guy, something more of us should do more of including myself.

You have me intrigued about the jewellery items and how you intend to use them. Can't quite see what they all are , but I shall be watching to find out in due course.

[cor]

That harrier is going to look great when you've finished.

Sorry to hear about your knee issues. I hope everything heals up quickly.

[RangerNeil]

Looks like you are about to exceed your previous high standards - congratulations!!
I love the idea of using solder to "animate" the pilots legs/arms, going to make a note of that.

[DRUMS01]

Slowly moving along, now adding the details to the cockpit.

We've been spending time on the HUD and main control panel. Being the thrifty people we are, Jarrod and I have attempted to scratchbuild the items. We started by using various thickness of sheet plastic to create the individual thickness or depth each panel, gage, or control surface.

Next, while referring to the previous referenced photo, we:

- Created and added the Master Caution lights to the top corners of the HUB facing the pilot (small rectangles on the upper corners of the UFC Up Front Control Panel). Looking at the photos, I think we need to fix the right one as it is tilted. Then again, we may file off the face and correct the round bumps to appear as square flat buttons along with two knobs and three toggle switches.

- Below the HUD is the HUD Control Panel. We filed off the bumps and drilled out individual toggle switch holes and added lengths of solder for each switch. The solder still needs cleaned up a little.

- To the left lower area of the main panel we filed off the erroneous bumps and created the Weapons Control Panels. To build them we started with sheet plastic shaped to scale, drilled the holes for the switches, added a small hollow bead of jewelry for the main control knob, and stretched very thin sprue for the switches and cut/filed them to length. We still need to add another smaller knob and switch. The numeric indicators will be made out of decals.

- Above the Weapons Control Panel and just to the left of the MPCD we added spare PE to simulate the HUD Mode Control unit.

- The kits left MPCD was left untouched, other than removing the large round circle in the MPCD display. The left side was done.

- On the upper right of the dash panel we created the Threat Advisory Lights and added them to the inside right of the main panel cover/hood.

- Just to the immediate right of the HUD unit we created the Warning/Caution Advisory Lights module from plastic sheet and scale ribbed plastic.

- Next we created the engine, ECM control panel, and Fuel Panel and added them to the right center and right lower areas. For this we used spare PE, and create knobs from stretched sprue.

- Then we created the analog clock module laminating sheet plastic and shaped, then added it to the outside of the right lower main panel cover/hood. The bezel ring for the clock came from spares PE.

- Now the real fun began when we created the gage cluster for the flight instruments by cutting individual squares of sheet plastic and used some of the jewelry circle loops for the bezel rings. While the bezel rings might appear larger than desired, we believe that after painting, decaling, adding clear lenses, etc.; they should scale down appropriately.

- Below the instruments we used some spare PE to create the Misc. and Circuit Breaker Panels to the lower section of the center post. We may still decide to add very small toggle switches here too.

- Last, we reattached the spare PE we are using for the upper HUD panel and added another metal bezel for the HUD lense.

Here is what it looks like in the raw:







We still need to create the left and right AUX panels that reside just beneath the main panel. The left contains Landing Gear Handle, Anti-Skid Switch, Emergency Jett, and the landing gear and flap indicators. The right panel will have the Brake/Hyd. Indicator and Accumulator, Annunciator Panel, and Cabin Alt. Pressure Indicator. Next update will show these finished.

Till next time... Oh!....... Happy New Year!

[digger303]

Very industrious/imaginative and it's coming up beautifully.

[Phillip1]

DRUMS01-This is an outstanding start! Beautiful work!

Phillip1

[DRUMS01]

Even though Jarrod and I haven't been posting much, we still have some work to show on the big harrier.

Yes, I confess, we are still in the cockpit trying to get it finished off this week. When you're researching and scratchbuilding, things that normally take minutes take hours. The amount of hours depends on the difficulty of the work, your desire for near authenticity, and how many times you have to start again to achieve the goal your after. So I guess I'm saying that:

- I do not have a lot of time at one moment to start and see things through immediately.
- My desire for authenticity surpasses my patience to achieve it.
- I've had to start from scratch more than a couple times to get where we are in the build.
- What I vision in my head and the God given ability in my modeling skills do not exactly match.

So, now that all of that has been said, Jarrod and I can tell you that we changed our minds on the large circular rings we placed on the main cockpit panel for the gages. So we removed them and cleaned up their remnants on the panel while trying not to disturb the other details we added (not as easy as you might think).

We found some smaller brass line that is easily moldable but stays in shape. We are going to use tubing to coil and cut the new brass rings for some, and for others we stepped back and ordered some 3d printed decals from Quinta. Several will work perfectly in our cockpit and will provide some of the detail we are after. Along with them we are going to use some printed from online onto photo paper and cut to fit, as well as another set we purchased for pennies from Waldron's. They are simple gage faces. We will show photos of the final Frankenstein results when we get there.

This last week Jarrod and I were able to make good progress on the left and right cockpit consoles. Thanks to the good old internet, we were able to locate drawings of those areas. Here are the ones we are using to authenticate a hopefully realistic cockpit for the AV8-B Harrier, with the exception of the right MPCD:

Instrument Panel:




Lower Left Forward Panel


Lower Right Forward Panel


Left Console:




Throttle and Exhaust Controls:


Right Console:




With all this information it should be easy, right? I suppose for someone that is a prolific modeler or an expert 3d modeler perhaps. For me, being an old fart using simple scratchbuilding, it is not super easy; .... but we try. I could deep dive into the details of scribing and laminating parts, shaping others, drilling holes, but I will spare everyone from that. So after much trial and error, some luck, and average ability, here is what we have for the right and left consoles. We believe they will look right after painting.







All thats left is the lower forward consoles and the rear bulkhead (behind the ejection seat). Oh! and lets not forget the side panels of the fuselage, but they are not as detailed and should be much easier to detail. I wish there was more to show, but slow and steady, we will get there.

As always, till next time, and comments, ideas, constructive input always welcome......

Ben and Jarrod

[RangerNeil]

Looks amazing - well done, you and Jarrod!!

[cor]

I reckon it looks fantastic.

[digger303]

Great looking control panels.

[Tomcat64]

Just did some major catching up - as mentioned by others I've now installed a VPN and generally connect via Sweden... this has two advantages: 1. I can see Ben's images and 2. When I'm watching YouTube the ads are Swedish rather than the British ones and are a damn sight more entertaining!

This upgrade is awesome work as always mate, your attention to detail and ability to improvise is simply off the scale.

I remember when I was (a lot) younger I built the Airfix 1/24 Harrier and no matter what I did I couldn't get the nose-wheel to support the weight and retain the angled profile so hoping you don't hit a similar problem here.

Now I'm VPN'd I'll make sure to check back in regularly - as someone mentioned earlier, the Harrier is sadly missed in British skies these days.

[DRUMS01]

I built the Airfix Harrier in 1/24 as well a few years ago. In the process of fixing that issue I also noticed numerous areas of corrections, like fixing the lack of detail in the landing gear wheel bays, and a cockpit fix on it too.







I'll be somewhat happy if this one comes out as well as it did. You would think that for the age difference in the mold making process, this newer one should be better, but it really isn't. This kit was a missed opportunity for Hobby Boss as so many details should've been created but were not; and details appropriate to the variant should be accurate as well.

Ben