Irish Air Corps Whiffs

nighthunter · February 03, 2014, 11:14:35 AM

Well as many of you know, I am a bit flighty when it comes to model building. And for that I apologize. But I have a 1/72 Esci MDD AV-8 "Matador" kit from the late '70's early '80's. I would rather do something closer to the Sea Harrier FA2. But that would require spare parts of which I don't have any atm, cause those are at my parent's house about 30 min north of me, and my work schedule doesn't allow for it nor do public transit schedules. Anyways, It has all the parts I need to build what I am aiming for. Just needs a new nose, fortunately the nose of the kit is separate from the rest of it. Pictures will start on my weekend (Fri-Sat) as work consumes my life for the rest of the week, LOL! The Hawk that I was going to make as an IAC aircraft is no longer available to me at this present time. But I have the Harrier and the decals... so, wish me luck.

Captain Canada · February 03, 2014, 12:31:14 PM

Good luck !

Sounds like a plan....anything Harrier sounds like a plan !

nighthunter · February 04, 2014, 12:00:07 AM

Thank's Cap, much appreciated! I plan on making it an Air Defense variant with Ground Attack capabilities.

nighthunter · February 06, 2014, 12:16:21 AM

My plan for world... I mean, my plan for the Kit:

major · February 06, 2014, 04:35:58 PM

Look's well nice. May nick the idea if you don't mind, for a frog 'spawn' harrier i got off Pyro a while ago.
Cheers... Ray

Captain Canada · February 06, 2014, 04:53:37 PM

That does look nice ! Looks like a GR.1 with a bigger nose cone ?

nighthunter · February 07, 2014, 01:35:09 AM

It's a Blue Fox radar nose cone, for the Air to Air/Air to Ground ability. The idea is that as the RAF was getting rid of their GR.1 Harriers, Ireland purchased some and had them modified for an Air Defense role as well as Ground Support for UN Operations.

PR19_Kit · February 07, 2014, 01:58:30 AM

Having seen the miniscule size of some the Irish airstrips that could have been a really good idea too, Coonagh just west of Limerick being a case in point.

Captain Canada · February 07, 2014, 04:47:58 AM

And range wouldn't be an issue. And the coolness factor is already through the roof.......

nighthunter · February 07, 2014, 10:24:43 PM

Thanks Guys, only way it would be cooler, using a Sea Harrier FRS1 or FA2

Weaver · February 08, 2014, 03:55:16 AM

That's a neat idea.

Not sure how practical a radar is on a low-cockpit Harrier, but there was a test Harrier in the 1970s with a similar nose to that which carried MARTELs. I'm pretty sure it test-fired them too, but I'm not sure if it actually had a radar fitted in the nose.

In real life, Ireland doesn't have the threat to justify spending much money on, but in Whiff World? Maybe they join NATO in the 1970s and spend loads more money making a contibution to the defence of W.Germany? Or maybe they decide for whatever reason to put a much bigger slice of their budget into international peace-keeping (they do a lot of this IRL) and decide that a rapid-reaction air support component is needed, with Harriers, plus KC-727s and CH-53s to support them....

Rheged · February 08, 2014, 05:03:59 AM

Ditch the 727 and CH-53s and do it all with Dornier D31s or AW681s. Who needs runways?

pyro-manic · February 08, 2014, 10:05:46 AM

UN peacekeeping. Harrier detachments in Somalia, Bosnia, Rwanda, etc?

Maybe Ireland has it's own Trawler War with Iceland or Spain?

nighthunter · February 09, 2014, 11:18:00 AM

That would be feasible, then again, I would need a lot more IAC roundels and a few more dollars to put into my modeling budget for a Sea Harrier or two... I would actually be willing to trade kits to use a Sea Harrier version as the FSR.2, Wouldn't be the first time the IAC operated a Naval aircraft in the land based role... ie the Seafires...

major · February 09, 2014, 05:03:58 PM

Quote from: nighthunter on February 09, 2014, 11:18:00 AM
That would be feasible, then again, I would need a lot more IAC roundels and a few more dollars to put into my modeling budget for a Sea Harrier or two... I would actually be willing to trade kits to use a Sea Harrier version as the FSR.2, Wouldn't be the first time the IAC operated a Naval aircraft in the land based role... ie the Seafires...

Budget cuts in our little castle has curtailed the illicit styrene fondling!
Apparently, food and bills are far more important. We've a lot of mouths to feed.
Having to look into alternative, ie free, unwanted household items, the bin, etc, materials.
So says the waged one in the house!

Cheers... Ray