A little work in progress

[NARSES2]

Looks good!!!  She means business!   "I Shorts Tucano....... but I did not Shorts the deputy!"

I used to like that song....probably give me nightmares now 

[TheChronicOne]

I got it stuck in my head the ENTIRE WAY THROUGH my Tucano build.   

[Martin H]

And my first build of the new year is...........................


Spanish Navy Sea Harrier FRS-1.





Italeri Kit Build OOB but with the paint job and Decals robbed from an old Esci AV-8A kit (Same base kit as the SHAR) Paint work is a mix of Lifecolor acyrilics and Halfords rattle can

[TheChronicOne]

Nice work!

[NARSES2]

Nice, simple scheme that really looks good on the Harrier 

[JayBee]

Tucano = tricycle u/c Mustang.

Most definitely!

[zenrat]

Looks very nice.
Well done.

[Dizzyfugu]

Nice! 

[Mossie]

Took a moment for the cogs to click into place, looks good.  Indian GR.1/AV.8A next???

[PR19_Kit]

AN RAF SHAR might work well too.

[Weaver]

Martin - sorry to hijack your thread, but can you DM me about the Crewe show ASAP please?

Love the Spanish SHAR - that's so logical: say they'd waited a bit longer before getting their AV-8As or if the AV-8B-IIplus got delayed or cancelled.

Along the same lines, you could do an Italian Navy SHAR to go with it, then have either or both upgrade to the F(A).2.

Kit - there was a late '70s proposal to sell Harriers to China which would have had SHAR airframes but with a tin nose containing nav/attack avionics (presumably a Jaguar-ish fit).

[DogfighterZen]

Simple but good looking, nice work!

[The Rat]

Beauty job on the SHAR. 

[Martin H]

Cheers guys. 
Back story is that Spain wanted to update its Matador fleet. So the public were sold the story that they were to be rebuilt as Sea Harriers as a "cheaper" alternative to buying new builds all as part of a NATO upgrade package. In fact the reverse turned out to be the case so New builds were provided with the original airframes traded in, Hence why the SHARS had the Matador identities as part of the scam. Most of the Matadors were updated to GR-3 standard and sold on to an undisclosed export customer.
The SeaHarriers served Spain well, often being seen sharing deck space with their British and Dutch sisters. And were later sold on to Thailand along with their new light carrier as new AV-8B's came on stream. The fact they were New built airframes rather than conversions only came to light when the British national archives published the documents after declassification under the 30 year rule. Much to the annoyance of the Spanish MOD.

I've built way to many of the Esci/Italeri 1st gen Harriers. I can build em almost blindfolded.
I have got at least three or four more Harrier / SeaHarrier ideas in the planning stages. One is linked to the Spanish SHAR, the others aren't 
India does figure in my plans, but the GR-1 Idea wasn't it. But it may now be hijacked, tweaked and added to the list

[The Wooksta!]

Here's a few that I'd planned on doing but long since abandoned:

GR1 Harriers refitted with the AI23 radars and Firestreaks/Red Tops from the scrapped Lightnings in the mid 70s and used as QRA in Germany - easy to hide in forest clearings.

Post Falklands - Sea Harriers bought to cheaply upgrade RAF Germany in a similar capacity.