US Marines - AV-8B Harrier II - Trumpeter 1/32 COMPLETED

[spook]

Definitely on your way !
Looking good !

[406 Silverado]

Sept 28, 2024 0:36:18 GMT -5 themongoose said:

Well I’m back on the Harrier! Mostly normal build stuff and PE so haven’t posted anything lately. Tonight I got on the guns and am pretty happy with my mock-up. This is made from the pointy end of a rocket launcher from a 1/35 Viper attack helo and some styrene.




raining like crazy today. If the rest of the weekend is like this you’ll see more Harrier!

  Very much looking forward to more progress on this one Chris and this is one time when rain and modeling intersect for a good outcome. 

[themongoose]

Here it is with a bunch of putty on it. I’ve got the ammunition pod and the gun pod corrected and I’m custom making the crossover between the two. The piece trumpet gives you doesn’t even fit across here. It’s too narrow anyways. I may make a little more progress on it this weekend, but I still have a bunch of car stuff to do.

[handiabled]

Your making great progress considering the amount you've had to fill and sand! Trumpeter kits like this should include a tube of putty with them.

[TJ]

Nice work. Amazes me that a newer tool kit like this has this many issues

[themongoose]

I have been making progress on her. Just not much more than some boring pics as I assemble things. I've been fairly lucky so far in that I've been able to trim and shim parts to get them to fit with minimal putty.



I added typical styrene strips under the wing to fuselage joint and I sanded away the back face of the piece that sits inside the inlet fan hub. That got the front fuselage to mate up clean with the back-half 




And I am making up something that looks more like the ammunition belt crossover than the kit part did...by the way the dang kit part didn't fit across the gap side to side, ugggh, that was the final straw in the decision to make my own part!




I'm done with my 1:1 car build for the Fall so hoping to spend lots of time at the bench this weekend

[themongoose]

Oct 13, 2024 2:30:03 GMT -5 TJ said:

Nice work. Amazes me that a newer tool kit like this has this many issues

I think the “C” team designed it. Shapes are wrong, equipment is wrong, and in places where they apparently didn’t have a reference they Just made stuff up! Nearly all the pylons are wrong. The fit is “ok” if you take your time and add supports in places and trim in others. I honestly have just fine lines of putty on it to make surfaces smooth or come together.

[Medicman71]

Some really impressive work!

[dupes]

I'm really late to the party on this one...DANG that is a lot of aftermarket!

You're far more patient that I with all of the correcting and puttying, that's for sure.

[themongoose]

Well the beautiful looking pylons from flying leathernecks turned out to be a huge amount of work. They just don’t fit the shape of the wing. Fortunately the hinges on them fully cover the kit hinges that have to be cut off. That saved some effort for sure. Then for the outer 2 where I changed the wing dihedral i had even more sanding and shaping to do. Each of them had to be drilled for at least 1 pin. There’s no allowance for that but I think it’s worthwhile so they don’t shift while the glue dries.
This inner pylon is on a section of wing not modified so you can see the gap. I checked pics to get the alignment to the leading edge right so this is where it’s supposed to be.



Work in process from the morning…









Im very happy with how straight they came out. The stabilizers on the pylons look sharp. Wait till I get some paint on them. Now I’m conflicted on what ordnance to load up. Saw another cool mixed loadout while I was studying how to install the center pylon. My logic may be to build a bunch up and see what looks best... more on that in the upcoming weeks.

[TJ]

Your work on these really paid off. They look fantastic

[themongoose]

Lots of progress today! I found all but 1 piece of ordnance in kits except for the Litening pod. For that I did find a flir pod so I’m going to use that as it will at least look the part until you get up close and personal. Once I sand all those old attachment points on the ordnance it will be ready for paint!

[Steve Zuleski]

Man, that is one big puppy! Lookin great from here!

[themongoose]

Nov 10, 2024 23:50:07 GMT -5 Steve Zuleski said:

Man, that is one big puppy! Lookin great from here!

 🤣 once you’ve build the F-15 in this scale everything seems small…including your display space 😆

[handiabled]

You really having this looking great! Looks like they give a good selection for the loadout with this.

[themongoose]

Nov 11, 2024 10:11:55 GMT -5 handiabled said:

You really having this looking great! Looks like they give a good selection for the loadout with this.

You know I should’ve posted a picture of that. I have one that actually includes the credit on it even though this is just for show.

[kyledehart5]

Very nice!! This is coming along excellently.

[themongoose]

Paint is on 🍾

Main paint done. Gonna have to repair the sand color tho. It came off in the same spot on both sides, which is where I had the black superglue. I must not have cleaned it off properly. 1 small edge where my snake was out of alignment. 1 blue spot, just a corner of the intake, that should’ve been dark gray instead of blue gray.

Mottling






freehand the blue










Poster putty for the grey




And the reveal










I’m using MCW lacquers so everything will be gloss. This is nice because once I do my touchups, I can go right to decals and then a flat clear….but I guess I need to fix that leading edge before I go too far lol

Pic with the overhead light off to reduce the glare

[handiabled]

Your camo paint work has a really nice modulated look to it!

[kyledehart5]

Very nice. Love the camo work

[deafpanzer]

Nice work on the camo!

[themongoose]

Gracie!!

Loaded for BEAR tonight! I spent near 2 days working on the Harrier. I’m down to just the antenna tomorrow and then some flat coat. The canopy and windscreen will be next to last to add. The last thing will definitely be that wind-sock on the nose 🤣😂

[handiabled]

You have this looking fantastic! Watching for the grand finale your really close now!

[themongoose]

Nov 18, 2024 3:04:26 GMT -5 handiabled said:

You have this looking fantastic! Watching for the grand finale you’re really close now!

Ask and yee shall receive 🥳
I made this a fun build, didn’t worry about the little stuff, just did the mods that I wanted…although that turned out to be quite a few off the tweaks list lol
The paint scheme I chose is from WestPac in 1992. The armour tan on all the leading edges, shark motif, and the British roundel on the rear fuselage were all special for the squadron. Decals are a bit of a mix based on what I had available, combo of VMA-231 and 331. I tried making the Whistl’n Shitcan nose art decal in 1/32 but alas, it looked beautiful out of the printer and then after I let it dry the ink all balled up in little beads lol maybe another day for that add. The mods include:  Flying Leathernecks - HUD, pylons, canopy and wheel masks, an/alq 164 pod, bondo nose to windscreen to get the angle right, scored wings to change the anhedral and attain the wing kink, Eduard - exterior details, chaff and flare dispensers, and formation lights, Aires ejection seat. MCW acrylic lacquer paints, a little Vallejo in the cockpit, and Flory washes round out the build. So let’s take a look at this jump jet!




























Yep, in the have fun category I picked my favorite load out of all the Harriers I have looked at(though I only had a flir in my stash so that’s a substitute lol). Since it was all training it seems to fit the WestPac theme. I love the paint scheme. It makes a colorful addition to my display case 🤩

[bradley25mm]

Your work never ceases to amaze me. Trumpeter kits are a bear, but you surely tamed this one. My two favorite areas, the cockpit, and the gun pod. Your paint job is “ultra” realistic. Can’t wait to see this in person buddy. Congratulations!! Now go have yourself a nice glass of bourbon, you deserve it.

[eaglecash867]

Very cool, Mongoose!

[stikpusher]

Looking pretty darn good. But I would suggest replacing the JDAM with something else as those did not enter service until the late 90’s, just before the Kosovo campaign.

[themongoose]

Nov 19, 2024 21:31:48 GMT -5 stikpusher said:

Looking pretty darn good. But I would suggest replacing the JDAM with something else as those did not enter service until the late 90’s, just before the Kosovo campaign.

I’m totally with you on that sentiment. Full disclosure the pic I duplicated is listed as a II-Plus 😏 I really just liked the variation. 
what would be an equivalent ordnance as a substitute? I used PVA to secure everything so pretty easy to change at some point. 

[stikpusher]

Another LGB would work, or another Maverick, or any sort of unguided ordnance such as a Mk.83, Mk.82, or Mk.20 CBU.

[themongoose]

Nov 19, 2024 21:18:11 GMT -5 bradley25mm said:

Your work never ceases to amaze me. Trumpeter kits are a bear, but you surely tamed this one. My two favorite areas, the cockpit, and the gun pod. Your paint job is “ultra” realistic. Can’t wait to see this in person buddy. Congratulations!! Now go have yourself a nice glass of bourbon, you deserve it.

Thanks buddy!
 can’t believe I forgot to mention I scratched the gun and the ammunition transfer crossover between the pods 😆