Scale aviation modeller international

MAKING A START

After all that preamble – thank

you for your indulgence in reading

it – let’s get on with it. The first

job was to decide which of the kit

options I wanted to build, and

eventually I decided on Option

7, the venerable XW266. The

instructions describe this aircraft

as a T4A in 1975, and depict it with

the short fin, without the rear

warning radar (RWR) antenna.

I started where the instructions

start, with the seats. These

were built up according to the

instructions, and fitted well

enough, apart from a small smear

of filler being needed to tidy the

seam at the front of the headbox.

I also added replacement parts

for the drogue cover (on top of the

headbox) from the Eduard interior

set, before painting the seat.

The basic colour is black,

with black seat cushions and a

light khaki back pad and drogue

cover. After a light dry-brush, I

added the Eduard seat belt set.

No painting was needed here as

the belts are pre-coloured, and

unlike some early pre-coloured

etch that I’ve experienced, the

colouring held fast when the

straps were bent into shape.

Of course, that’s irrelevant

to you if you’re making an

American Harrier. The nearest

available equivalent to the Stencel

SEU-3/A is the seat produced by

Wingman Models for their Alpha

Jet, which is available separately

(WMF48002, from the Wingman

website, http://www.wingmanmodels.

com), and is easily adaptable.

COCKPIT

Next, it was time for a bit of “creative

destruction”, namely removing the

moulded detail from the instrument

panels, side consoles, and fuselage

walls, as specified in the Eduard

interior set’s instructions. The kit’s

moulded detail will be acceptable for

many, but the Eduard consoles and

panels are pre-painted and really

enhance the look when completed.

I deviated from Eduard’s

instructions by leaving the

throttle/nozzle controls and

quadrant in place: I felt that the

three-dimensional kit parts

looked more realistic than the

two-dimensional etch, and, I

confess, this meant that I had fewer

fiddly small parts to deal with.

After removing the moulded

detail, it was out with the airbrush.

The cockpit interior was given

a coat of Tamiya XF-19, and the

wheel and airbrake bays XF

Light Aircraft Grey. After that, it

was simply a matter of removing

paint again where the etched detail

was to go and then adding said

detail, in this case attaching the

various sections with PVA glue.

Before doing so, I checked

again that where the detail

had been removed the surface

was perfectly flat and there

were no lumps or bumps left

to affect the fit of the etched

parts. The left-hand console

parts needed to be adapted

as I’d left the kit throttle controls,

but this was no big problem.

The main instrument panels

and a couple of other small panels,

which involve dials, are in two

parts. The first part has the dials

printed, and when attached and dry

the second part is added over the

top. This approach produces a very

Replacement blast plate

Airbrake bay before adding Eduard detail ...

Original kit blast plate

... which does enhance it

The replacement in place. It looks better under

a coat of paint!

Airbrake/undercarriage bay: strengthening

the joint

Some “creative destruction” in the front cockpit

16 • OCTOBER 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

014-21-FEAT-Harrier-1018.indd 16 14/09/2018 15: