1/48 AV8-B II Harrier by Hasegawa done 1/27

[kyledehart5]

Well, I think it turned out pretty nicely. I agree with your assessment of Hasegawa. Not my most favorite company. But I know they have some kits that people think are really good. Anyways, great work pushing through the issues you had and getting an awesome result.

[Leon]

This turned out pretty good considering all the issues you had with it!

[handiabled]

Well I can say this convinced me to not get the Has boxing of this. Overall considering the shortcomings of this kit you dragged it over the finish line just fine. Great work sir!

[Tojo72]

Real nice job on a difficult kit

[reserve]

Thanks gents I do wish the dammned decals had turned out better I'd have liked to display it differently

H I'd sure not recommend it glad you were able to dodge this one

[Medicman71]

Well it looks great to me! Very well done!

[nathant]

Looks very nice overall. The ordinance is nicely painted and detailed. I think the Harrier normally has the gear doors closed even after the gear is extended, hence the exclusion of gear doors. I believe there are panel lines representing the closed doors under the nose? Did you say the Flying Leathernecks decals are poor quality? If so, what was the trouble? I have a set set aside for a future build.

[keavdog]

Turned out great. Looks mean with all that ordinance. I used to be a die-hard Hasegawa fan until I tried their 1/48 F-14A..... probably never finish that one.

[lyle]

[reserve]

Thank you gents

Nate I read somewhere that on the ground the gear doors were open...don't know if that's right but it's too late now. The decals? Perhaps it's just me not being very good at using them. They are on a very thin carrier film and quite delicate. What I do is a Future clear coat for a shiny, slick surface. Once dry, I'll dip the decal, wet the area where it's gonna go with some Micro Sol, then try to slide the decal off the paper onto the model where they stuck fast. Since I'm bad at positioning large decals I tried to adjust them and they'd tear or fold up with no chance of recovery. Smaller ones I can get onto a wet paintbrush which makes it easy but this won't work with larger ones. These were too delicate to try to hold with tweezers they'd just curl up or tear. Also, some of them were for a specific side and I could not tell the difference. Flying Leathernecks apparently feels it's not important to tell you which is which and this added to the debacle. Perhaps I'll gin up a different technique that will work but for now I've not much good to say about it.

[sharp]

That looks pretty awesome bud! Great job on the pilot too!

[stikpusher]

Beautiful Harrier build here! No Mavericks to take out bad guys on the Florida Keys Hiway bridge?

[reserve]

Thanks gents

SP nah, and I could not find any figures that looked like Ahnold or Art Malik so that idea went out the window too

[TJ]

Jan 28, 2024 1:13:11 GMT -5 reserve said:

Done, and it's almost a relief











Many things went wrong on this one. If I'd known about the wheel well omission on this kit I'd have bypassed it. Fit was poor in spots and the transparencies are not all that transparent altho this turned out for the best given the sparse cockpit detail provided. I used Tammy light grey, XF-66 I think, on the bottom and it turned out to have a blue cast to it I did not expect. I did not get the upper surfaces a dark enough grey. I used Flying Leathernecks vinyl canopy masks and they lifted in spots so I got a few spots of primer on the clear parts that ain't supposed to be there, and the AM decals by the same company were awful to work with...I lost many of them while trying to apply them so it's another one sided model. I figure it turned out well enough to occupy a dark corner of the display case.

I have one more Hasegawa kit in the stash, the A-4 Skyhawk that I'm looking at sideways after this one. Seems this company is pretty hit and miss as I recall their F-104 to be a delightful model to build

Excellent finish on a tough kit. 
Hasegawa Skyhawk kits are excellent do not worry about an issue. Completely different then the Harrier.  

[406 Silverado]

Every now and then we get "that build". The one that we wonder why we put as much time and effort into because of the very reasons you listed here. As far as my take on what you've done with this particular model....I'd most certainly say that you pulled this off rather well Mark. It takes a person of your abilities to salvage kits like this and make 'em look this good. 

[reserve]

Thanks gents

T that's good to know

Joe guess I just decided this one was not gonna beat me. It really wasn't all that bad, my troubles were likely due more to my own squirrel approach to the build

[stikpusher]

Jan 31, 2024 21:02:02 GMT -5 reserve said:

guess I just decided this one was not gonna beat me. It really wasn't all that bad, my troubles were likely due more to my own squirrel approach to the build

And that is a great mindset to have... no kit will beat me!

[jmarc]

LLLLLLLLLLLooking good and well done also ,my favorite on a stand .. way to go SIR and thank you for sharing it with us, it's quite appreciated

[lyle]

I think the last two pictures really showcase your work. Excellent and well done.

[reserve]

Thanks gents