McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II Plus – Hasegawa 1/48
Ready for sharing is this Hasegawa 1/48 McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II Plus. The aircraft represents the lead ship of VMA-513 from around 2010. The loadout I've depicted may or may not be correct, but this is the way I wanted to depict my Harrier.
Of course, for those unfamiliar with the Harrier... the AV-8B Harrier is a V/STOL aircraft, which means it can take off and land vertically. This special capability means it doesn't need a long runway, making it well suited to operate from amphibious ships and the like. In US service, the Harrier is operated by Marine Corp pilot for missions such as close air support and ground attacks. The Harrier II was crucial in many past operations, including the Gulf War and missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, helping ground troops by providing air support and reconnaissance. Many versions of the Harrier have been operated by nations world-wide, to good effect. Despite this, the US is phasing out Harriers from their inventory by 2027, largely in favor of Lockheed F-35B's.
This Harrier kit is Hasegawa's PT28 kit, but with Eduard photoetch, and Super Scale International (#MS481249) decals. I really enjoyed building it, although the fit of the canopy, forward wing section, and engine cowls were all abysmal. I had read plenty of fair warnings leading up to that point of the build, thinking that careful assembly and fitting would spare me the issues others had... but nope, when it came time to put glue to styrene, much cutting and post-processing was necessary. If you can get past that, the rest of the airframe is typical Hasegawa.
This build has been mostly complete for a while, so I don't recall many other details other than Mr1500 primer, Vallejo colors, Tamiya varnishes, and oil washes. I've not taken pictures until now, as the aircraft was awaiting some munitions to be finished. The GAU pods, targeting pod, drop tanks and Sidewinders are all from the kit, and the GBU-12's are spares from a Kinetic kit that won't need them.
Overall, I'm really pleased with the results, and I hope you like them to.
Really nice
Thanks George.
Nice Harrier, Andrew.
Much appreciated, John.
I know how hard this kit is to get to this level of excellence, so I am very impressed, Andrew.
Tom, I appreciate the kind words. Thanks.
Nicely done Andrew!
Thanks for having a look, Bob.
Excellent result out of the challenging Hasegawa Harrier, Andrew!
Thanks Spiros, despite the challenges, I enjoyed this build!
Nice Harrier build Andrew... and in a livery I hadn't seen before as well.
Cheers,
Thank you @flypastrush. I like the darker grey scheme with this subtle splash of color. I'm glad you liked it too.
Beautiful result on this Harrier, Andrew @pb_legend
The livery is a really nice one.
I appreciate the compliments John!
@pb_legend I think you have an wonderful Harrier here. Why is it no one can make a Harrier kit that just falls together? Your result looks top notch.
Thanks Matt @coondog. Your recent AV-8A was part of the inspiration for me to get this one across the line and posted. Your article was also a nice reminder that it don't need to spend the money on the Kenitic kit, so thanks. Happy building!
Really nice looking model. It looks like it would be a difficult one to build. You did a great job building and painting this one.
Thanks Jay @ssgt. It is a bit of a unique airframe when you consider the cockpit and intake positions, but overall the kit was not so bad. Cheers
Well done, Andrew. Like the overall look
Gary, thanks, I'm glad to hear you like it.
That is a handsome Harrier, and loaded for bear.
Thanks Greg, hopefully not over loaded.