Tamiya 1/48 Sea Harrier

[JudgeDredd]

I've now started work on my 1/48 scale Sea Harrier. I was very susprised at how cheap the kit was but it's apparently because it's such an old kit (1982 I think).

It's very dated and you can tell looking at it...machining has certainly come on a long way! You can spot the difference a mile off with newer kits, tooling is pretty poor, there are very few parts and there's a lot of sanding to get rid of run-over(?) plastic. Oh - and raised panel lines



So I put a few pieces together and gave them a prime


I'm going to have to try and do something with the jets - they're either not saveable or there's going to be ALOT of patience required.

[Nige201980]

I've built this kit and it can be a pain but looks ok when finished watch out for the engine cover on the back at the front of the wings the fir is terrible and will need some work to make good.
Best of luck mate

[UKguyInUSA]

Hello Judge....I made this kit back in March of this year and it was the 6th plane I'd built since beginning modeling in January. I was just starting out, so it wasn't one of my better models, but, I can tell you a few things about her that I came across;

1) She was cheap...$14.19 from Hobbylinc.com here in the states-

http://www.hobbylinc.com/tamiya_hawker_ ... cale_61026

2) The engine cover panel is a sloppy fit and will require filler

3) When the wings are glued in place followed by the wheels, you'll find that the outer two wing tip stabilizer wheels are above the ground slightly, so the plane will tip to one side onto one of those wheels, leaving the opposite one raised off the ground. To overcome this, sanded around 1/16" off the two fuselage wheels which lowered the plane down enough for both wing tip stabilizer wheels to sit on the ground. It also gives the effect that those central wheels are loaded with the weight of the aircraft.

4) When fitting the Air Intake Nozzles to the fuselage, either side of the cockpit, you'll find that their profile doesn't match the profile of the fuselage halve. Therefore, I had to fill the joints, sand and blend smooth.

5) The Air Intake Nozzles are also solid and do not have any features representing the square / rectangular windows around their periphery which are in the open position when the plane is on the ground at rest. You could try to perform some surgery to cut out those air flow windows, or buy after market nozzles, or stencil their outline onto the nozzles and paint them on?

6) The front canopy window was wider than the fuselage on my build and therefore, it hung over each side and didn't sit flush. You can see this on the starboard side of my model. I tried to flex the sides of this window inwards and hold in place until set, but stress crazing began to occur so I didn't continue and had to put up with it the way it sat in place.

7) The roundel decals on the sides of the fuselage are thick and glossy and are difficult to conform to the profiles of the area they are placed. To make them sit nice and flat, I used a scalpel to cut a couple of slits at the edges of the decals, 180` apart from each other. This allows any areas that would have creased to slide beneath itself, thus allowing the decal to sit flat and conform. Patience will be required with the decals.

8) Oh, I almost forgot.....the cockpit bay is lacking any detail....just a seat, a pilot and a instrument panel with a decal to decorate it. There has been no attempt by Tamiya on this model to make this area look half decent.

I bought this kit because of the price, thinking..."Wow! A 1/48 Tamiya kit for $14.19!!....That's a bargain!" But, it's an old tool with problems as outlined above, hence the reason it is cheap.

Anyway, overall, it can be made to look reasonable, with patience and the purchase of any after-market extras, like Air Intake Nozzles, Cockpit set, Flaps, Ailerons and Rudders.

Here's a link to my build video on YouTube, if it serves any helpful purpose:

Good luck with your build!

Cheers,

Martin

[JudgeDredd]

I enjoyed the video - thx.

I also bought it because she was cheap - so I know now that cheap isn't always a bargain!

If nothing else, I'll learn some techniques doing this one.