Part 3 of the Hasegawa Harrier Trilogy

Hi All!

At the 2024 Modelpalooza Show here in Orlando, FL. I managed to acquire several Hasegawa Gen 2 Harriers, two AV-8B+ and an AV-8B. This build is of one of the AV-8B+ Harriers. I decided on an Italian AV-8B+, as I have built the Spanish Navy and USMC Gen 2 Harriers.

 I pre-painted as much as I could and found the cockpit sparse, with black and white decals used to represent the side console and instrument panel. The bang seat is nowhere near accurate. The radar nose was close to fitting, but no such luck. If you aligned the upper seam, the lower seam was off. The tailpiece was too large for the tail and had to be filed to fit. I fitted the fuselage as best I could and then added the wing and 100% LERX. I had to file, trim, and sand the parts to fit reasonably well. The gun pods did not fit at all. I fiddled with them and finally (!)the port pod fit where it was supposed to. The remaining parts fell into place.. Finally, the attachment points for the wheels on the main gear are very anemic, and it is difficult to align the wheels correctly.  Thickened crazy glue came to the rescue.  

        The tails would not fit until I trimmed most of their mounting pegs. The front air dam would not fit because of the gun pods.After the filler (applied to just about every seam!) was sanded to my liking, the entire model was wiped off with Isopropyl Alcohol to clean the surfaces. Vallejo Air paint was used for the camouflage. 

      The model represents a McDonnell-Douglas AV-8B+ Harrier II, Serial MM7199, N0.1- 03 of Gruppo Areai Imbarcardi, Portaerei Cavour CVH550 during June of 2009.

The model was finally done. Because I had built 2 previous kits, I was aware of the pitfalls, I had an easier time. I had built the old mold Airfix generation 2 Harriers, which were a much easier build as they fit MUCH better. I was disappointed with this kit because I expected Hasegawa to do better. This was a difficult kit, and I do not intend to buy any more of them. I need to get a hold of one of the new Airfix kits and compare them to the Hasegawa kits. Just do not go out of your way to get one of these kits, as there are easier kits to build that look just as good if not better.
Next up is a Royal Thai Navy EAV-8S Matador.

Bruce

3 additional images. Click to enlarge.