Tamiya

Here's the photos of my build of Tamiya's 1:48 scale Sea Harrier FRS.1 - reference 61026.
See: robsmodels.co.uk/tamiya-sea-h...
It should be noted that this is an old kit, first tooled in 1971 - and it shows! This was before the Harrier had entered active service with the Royal Navy, so it's a combination of old moulding design and techniques, merged with designing a kit based on projections as to what the final design will be. It is very lacking in detail in areas, especially the cockpit and ejector seat (which is literally just plain plastic), and no detail in the wheel wells.
I decided to complement the build with Flightpath's upgrade set. Though this costs more than the kit itself it represents massive value, with large frets of photo-etch. This not only includes replacement parts for the external details, but also weapons, FOD covers and ladder. The weapons include white-metal cast sidewinders and rails, and even a resin 1000lb bomb.
Instead of using the scheme on the box art I decided to paint mine the way they were painted for the Falklands Conflict, which also meant I could get a bit more creative with the weathering as the Harriers got very dirty during their time in the South Atlantic performing multiple sorties a day.
There are some large errors in the kit, and unfortunately these come from the design and tooling process. Either the kit Tamiya's quality control was a lot lower in the 70's, or the kit was rushed out. I suspect a combination of both, as I simply can not except that even when this kit was first released that standards were so shoddy
The kit has severe fit issues. Be prepared to use plenty of filler and sanding to get smooth joins between the parts. The panel on the back that allows you to see the engine doesn't fit properly, and unless you want to spend A LOT of time scratch building detail for the engine you will want to seal this up.
The kit also had raised panel lines. I sanded then down and re-scribed the entire kit so that these details could take a wash. Moulded details are also huge.
There are errors such as the joins where the tail-planes connect to the fuselage not having the upright panels, and critically the air intake doors that go around the side of the intakes are moulded shut. Well, they are actually moulded at all - it's smooth. When the Harrier is in flight the pressure of the airflow will push these closed, but when the engine isn't running the top ones are open due to gravity (with the side ones hanging in slightly). Some argue that they like the look of the doors closed, but in reality this isn't correct and I feel the addition of these doors being open adds interest to the model.
Initially I used the Flightpath upgrade set to replace the doors, but this didn't work too well. In the and I removed the areas completely, fitted some plasticard strips and cut out the doors. This filling and sanding the results were a lot better than I hoped for and definitely worth the work involved.
Other areas that were in desperate need of attention were the exhaust nozzles. These are shockingly shoddy and I can't believe that Tamiya thought the way these were moulded was acceptable. The Flightpath set had new vanes, but this could have easily been done using brass sheet or thin plasticard. Again, another simple upgrade.
Following primer I was pleased that join lines were minimal, and the additional details from the scratch-building and photo-etch upgrades were blending in nicely.
Pre-shading was applied, before the final coat. This was a dark grey by Tamiya (I can't remember which) and was chosen by comparing paints with pictures of the real aircraft.
Weathering was achieved with Flory Models clay based washes, mainly the Grime and Dark Dirt. These are painted on and left to dry before being wiped off with paper towel. This leaves a filter over the model and also highlights panel lines and other recessed details. The paper towel can also be dampened to remove more for a cleaner look.
I honestly do not feel that I can recommend the kit because it is such a poor standard compared to so many other kits out there, and the "cheap" and "old moulding" arguments really do not stand up.
The people who would benefit the most from this particular kit are those like myself who want to embrace the challenge of improving their modelling skills, and to do it on a cheap kit as to take the pressure of making mistakes off. Over the course of making this model (and in conjunction with the Flightpath upgrade set) I had experience in:
Working with photo-etch, white metal & resin
Scratch building and modification
Re-scribing
Detailing
Custom painting
The result is far from perfect, and this is to be expected for my first model using so many new techniques in one go. However, it is still a vast improvement from making the kit straight from the box without using such techniques to at least modify it (even if an upgrade set is not purchased).

[@EdsAttentionToDetail]

Absolutely fine job on this Harrier! Love all the extras and photo etch. New subscriber and supporter!

[@ModelMinutes]

That's a fantastic looking kit! You did an excellent job :)

[@RobsModels]

Thank you! Glad you like it!

[@jetsofthecoldwar1149]

Great build and finish, new sub 👍

[@RobsModels]

Thank you!

[@archerry6457]

Great, Rob, thanks! 👏 subbed

[@RobsModels]

Thanks! I appreciate your support!

[@marcbrasse747]

Very nice. You took care of all the main issues of this otherwise nice kit (raised pannel lines, badly fitting exhaust halves, lack of intake suction doors). 2 remarks though: As far as I know it never flew in an overall grey scheme combined with 3 colour roundels, only with blue and red ones. Correct me If I am wrong though. Furthermore the navigation light on the top of the wing should be red and offset from the centre. Otherwise: Excellent work.

[@RobsModels]

Cheers for the comments Marc. Must be honest and say that this kit fought me so much my interest was severely dwindling, by the time it got to the decal stage I was just slapping on the kit decals just to get the thing finished and I could get on with making something enjoyable!! (Never knew about the navigation light though.) That being said; my modelling skills definitely improved after doing this build and attempting to correct all the imperfections of the original kit.

[@marcbrasse747]

@@RobsModels Yeah, I cannot remember it as being particularly trying but maybe I was just patient enough. Judging on al the other comments it seems to be the kit that says: "So think you are already a great Jedi you do, hm?". :-)

[@RobsModels]

I planned on capturing the grime and dirtiness of the South Atlantic in the early 80's - the next build will be cleaner!

[@c8136132]

Not being critical as much as very interested to understand, why after adding the extras that you did, and correcting some kit faults did you then not bother to get the scheme and markings correct?

[@gailraby1722]

Fantastic looking finish, amazing, one thing, wouldn't the intake vents be closed with the engine off? they're spring loaded and work on air pressure so with engine off they would be closed, or have I got that wrong ? great build though, looks great.

[@paulwetherhill5676]

Hey rob any chance do you remember what paint you used for the grey? Lovely build

[@stevebutterworth60]

I'm totally confused, if this paint job is representative of the scheme in 1982, all the research I've done suggests it should be in a matt sea blue, not grey. This 's also true in the book Harrier 809. Can I ask, if there is a particular reason you chose a sea grey instead. Many thanks.

[@InternationalBritishModeler]

Cool! I liked the backing track, was that a copyright free download from the KZbin library? I subbed to your channel! Cheers : )

[@RobsModels]

Hi Martin, just found some generic music from the KZbin library. More looked for something that was about the right length rather than from an artistic perspective!

[@InternationalBritishModeler]

That's a cool track for a freebie from KZbin! Cheers : )

[@jooyounglee8938]

I gave up this kit even start of re-engrave. It is totally +mold panel line. Poor detail of cockpit and land gear pylon arms. It is big disappointment in comparison of fame TAMIYA. But the shape or proposition is good. I think this kit comes from late 1970's or 1980's but only change of decals. If people want to practice something revise or add up some parts, it is recommendable

[@RobsModels]

That's my thoughts on it too. I believe the original tooling was from 1971, and additional parts replaced late seventies/early eighties once it entered service. Problem is it is cheap and sells well so Tamiya aren't going to stop producing it! For me it was the first kit that i properly had to re-scribe raised panel lines, and to scratch build elements to correct parts. Also first time using photo-etch that wasn't a simple Eduard Boost set. And going for a Falklands theme meant I could go crazy with weathering techniques. For that it was worth it as a test-bed to practise skills.

[@archerry6457]

Just bought this kit; £15 I'm not complaining about raised panel lines...

[@rgj8044]

Just like breast implants, people are taking weathering a bit too far in my opinion.