What's on my desk? Part 36.

Here we are again!

Plenty of pictures this week, even though I don't feel like I've really done a whole lot of work.

First off: I'm calling the Virago done. I've darkened the folds in the seat with some pure ivory black oil paint. As the rest of the seat was done in the same black, mixed with some grey, the contrast won't be big, but hopefully it'll be more noticeable once the oils are dry. For some reason, they're taking a really long time and are still sticky to the touch... I also broke off the right side mirror, so had to reattach it using superglue.

Here are the pictures:

Final conclusion: building a motorbike was a nice change of pace, but it's not really my cup of tea. I can see the appeal, but it's more a case of my interests lying elsewhere.

 

Some things were done on the house. Someone said the white outlines on the broken plaster were too bright and yeah, I could see it. So I smeared some brown oil paint over the white, let it dry for a minute, then wiped it off with some paper kitchen towel. The contrast is a little more subdued now, while still showing a definite lighter shade.

Here's the oil paint applied very roughly:

This is the effect once wiped off:

Finally: I started on the next neglected project: a Kinetic Sea Harrier FRS.1 (kit 48035). This is a kit from 2015.

I've built (or started) several Kinetics:

I've finished their Super Etendard (which Kinetic shared on their social media a while back), a Mirage 2000 and a Kfir C.7. Still on the shelf of doom are an E-2C Hawkeye and Patrouille de France Alpha Jet (two kits in one box!). I also have the AMX unstarted.

In the Gold line I have their great F-16 MLU (unstarted), an F-104 Starfighter (that I ruined by using unfamiliar paint) and the Pucara.

All this to say that I love Kinetic. And I hate Kinetic. The Gold line is fantastic and I can recommend these wholeheartedly. The 'regular' blue boxes, though... Interior detail can be a bit soft, instructions are vague and worst of all: parts fit can be straight up abysmal in places. You can make great models out of these, but be prepared to pour a lot of work into it. On the other hand: decals are very nice and you get a lot of options. With this Sea Harrier kit, for example, you can basically make any SHAR that ever flew, if you have sources for markings and colours.

Anyway, on to the kit. The cockpit, intake and landing gear bays need to be assembled before you can close the fuselage.

Here's the cockpit:

I airbrushed the base grey, then used oils for the different colours and a Neutral wash to get some dirt in there.

The wheel wells were up next, and this is where the fit problems start. The rear one is made of several plates that shape into an open box type thing. The front plate, however, does not sit right and the instructions are vague on how to actually fit it. The front gear well is supposed to back onto the intake duct. Again, there's at least a millimeter of 'play'. Detail on both of these is a bit on the weak side, but it will be mostly hidden by the doors and gear legs. A little Neutral wash brings it out.

Here's the rear gear and airbrake assembly in place:

The front of fuselage. You can see the air intake here. The vertical white line is filler, which gives you an indication of how bad the fit is in places.

The fuselage halves assembled. Unique to the Harrier are the jet exhausts. There's four of them, which rotate together to allow for vertical thrust. Kinetic tried to simulate this by having a rotating bar click on the exhaust pairs. Unfortunately, the fit is terrible, so it broke almost immediately. I'll just make the exhausts fixed... Overall, the fuselage halves fit okay-ish. It'll need some filler, but it's not bad.

Lastly: the wings. Again, not the worst fit, but there's a small area on the lower wing ends (circled in red) fitting into the upper wing that maybe needs to be cut off? Or not? The instructions are completely unclear on that point. I cut them to shape and glued the wings together, using clothing pins to hold them in place while drying. It'll need some filling and sanding to close any gaps later.

 

This week I'll try to get started on the house windows and continue the Sea Harrier.

Remember: Wednesday will be wargaming night. 18.45 until 21.00!

See you next week!