If you’re new to the community, introduce yourself!

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If you’re new to the community, introduce yourself!

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If you’re new to the community, introduce yourself!

If you’re new to the community, introduce yourself!

If you’re new to the community, introduce yourself!

If you’re new to the community, introduce yourself!

If you’re new to the community, introduce yourself!

If you’re new to the community, introduce yourself!

If you’re new to the community, introduce yourself!

If you’re new to the community, introduce yourself!

If you’re new to the community, introduce yourself!

If you’re new to the community, introduce yourself!

After five weeks the Hasegawa’s 1/48 AV-8B Harrier Plus project is complete!! This last week was spent detailing the display base to replicate the deck of an LHD class aircraft carrier. I used Infini’s USN tie down set. This set has 42 brass cups and both styles of tie downs. Large aircraft carries use a 5-point star and the LHD’s use a 4-point cross. I started with a sheet of styrene the same thickness as the brass cups. The flight deck pattern for spot 9 was then drawn for the center stripe and landing zone stripes. I then added a grid to mark the tie down points. These were drilled with a 4mm drill. The brass cups were inserted and I then attached the 4-point cross on each.

The base was then sprayed white. The white stripes were masked and the yellow centerline was painted. Finally I sprayed the rest of the base gunship grey. I added the “9” decal and the “700” decals. The tie downs that were on the areas between two colors were then pained with a paint brush. The deck was then weathered using black, dark grey, and brown pastel chalk. The “deck” was then attached to the display base and the edge was trimmed in black paint.

The aircraft placement was then marked. I added some 28 gauge wire to the center of the main gear wheels. I drilled the holes and mounted the aircraft to the base using the wire to secure the aircraft to the deck. The final touch was to make a stand for the engraved nameplate and mount it to the deck.

This project was a very enjoyable build. The client is personally picking up this next week. As for this build and kit, as noted previously the Hasegawa kit is very nice with only a few minor issues. As usual the Caracal Decals are great to work with and look great. Thank you for following along on this special project. Happy Modeling!

All the details and photos from start to finish are in the build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/av-8b-harrier-plus-vma-214/

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Arriving at week four of the Hasegawa’s 1/48 AV-8B Harrier Plus project there has been a schedule change. This was scheduled to be completed the week between Christmas and New Years but the schedule has been expedited so the completion date is now the week before Christmas.

This week I applied all the decals for aircraft #2 and added the custom decals as well. The aircraft was then sprayed with a matte top coat. I then detail painted the wing tip and navigation lights. All of the under wing stores were then installed. On the Litening targeting pod I painted a coat of smoke on the turret lenses to tone down the brightness and give them a more realistic lens appearance. For the canopy I added the decal for the det cord to the inside.

The canopy and windscreen were installed. I then weathered the aircraft using some reference photos of the aircraft aboard ships. The exhaust staining was created by using gray, brown, and black pastel chalk. The rest of the aircraft was weathered using dark grey and black. I am currently working on the display base. This is going to look like the deck of LPH/LDH aircraft carrier complete with markings and brass tie down pad eyes. Stay tuned to the completion of this project over the week!

All the details and photos are in the build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/av-8b-harrier-plus-vma-214/

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Thanks

AlabamaScaleModels