Harrier GR.9A of the Portuguese Marines

[DogfighterZen]

Looking good.......can't wait to see it finished........

Thanks! 
No pics today as it sits exactly like in the last pic but the windshield's been glued on, and the canopy glued to the rear sliding portion so it's ready for some paint, and that means it's also time to start looking for an appropriate scheme and markings for another Portuguese Navy bird.

[DogfighterZen]

Ok, time to dig this one up!
I've decide the scheme for this one, should be something like this one...



The problem, markings, i don't have the US type of stencils that would make it just how i'd like to have it, so i've got 2 choices, either buy a decal sheet just to use the stencils or try printing my own. I already had to print some decals for this model since i decided to make it a Portuguese Marines bird, and there are no such decals, the Portuguese Marines never had aircraft.
So it's just a matter of trying to print and, if successful, proceed to painting the scheme. If not, i'll have to spend some Euros...

[kerick]

Do you have left over decals from other Navy or Marine birds?

[Captain Canada]

That will look good. Those harriers looked awesome like that.

[DogfighterZen]

Do you have left over decals from other Navy or Marine birds?

I've looked in the spare decals bag and in some of the kits in the stash and there's nothing adequate... I think i may just go with the buying option, can't find decent images of what i need so i may just buy a decal sheet or a cheap Tamiya av-8b, which has the decals i need. The kit is around the same price as a decal sheet, so i'm leaning more towards the extra kit in the stash along with the few decals i need.
I will have to print some stuff anyway, the Portuguese Marines are called "Fuzileiros" and i'll probably print that and a symbol to represent the new CFA(Corpo de Fuzileiros Aéreos) or Marine Air Corps. I've got the rest of the decals, the PoAF black roundels and lo-viz fin flash so it's just a matter of getting the rest of the specific stencils... I'll start masking for the scheme tonight anyway, the decals can be sorted out later.

That will look good. Those harriers looked awesome like that.

Yes sir, Captain! It's my favorite scheme on these harriers, although my real number one is the US Marines AV-8B+, the dark Lo-viz scheme, that's how i wanna build my Hasegawa kit, but also in Portuguese Marine air corps service...

[DogfighterZen]

Er... thread revival... once again... 
I can't believe i've had this one on the go for so long... first i wanted to have the 30mm gun pods so i had to wait till i bought some, by then i changed my mind... then GBs got in the way, then the lack of decals, then the compressor... 
I'm set on finishing it now, i've got no excuses, got the decals, the compressor, paints and everything else i might need to do the job!
So, i've checked references and Paint4models chart and i've got'em both, XF-54 Dark sea gray and 61 Dark green, so i'm sneaking down to the Zencave to have a quick Xmas painting session before leaving to join the rest of the family at my parent's house.
Merry Christmas to y'all!

[DogfighterZen]

So, i got to do some modelling after dinner, so i took a look back at this build and realized there were some parts that should've been glued on before i sprayed the primer on so i had to take care of that.
After that, i masked up the area surrounding the plates that protect the fuselage from the rear nozzles and gave those some XF-10 gunmetal.



Then i sprayed the same XF-10 on the rear nozzles and XF-16 flat aluminum on the front ones, masked the protection plates and glued the flaps and ailerons on.



This was all i got to do today, but considering my modelling activity in the last weeks and that it was Christmas day, i think it was actually a lot. I think i'll just spray a light coat of primer on those bits that aren't primed, and it's ready for the scheme.

[DogfighterZen]

Well, today i didn't have much time but got started on the camo by first covering the whole model with the XF-54 Dark sea gray. I wanted a soft edge camo so i chose to do it freehand instead of masking, but some issues in getting the right combination of air pressure and trigger action on the airbrush, coupled with trying to do it quickly, led to a poor result...



It needs some work, especially on the tail area but at least, most of the dark green bits are done, it's just a matter of covering those areas a bit better and getting some of the edges a bit more defined. I also have to explore my new compressor a bit more to get the feel of the thing, but i really like working without a loud background noise all the time.

[TheChronicOne]

Oh man, this is going to be good.... .

[DogfighterZen]

Oh man, this is going to be good.... .

Glad you like what you see, if i don't mess up the camo during the touch-up phase, i think it'll look good. 

[TheChronicOne]

Go for the gusto!! Be one with the styrene and paint.   

[DogfighterZen]

Go for the gusto!! Be one with the styrene and paint.   

Sure thing!  
And we have a finished camo job! Did all the touch-ups needed, quickly masked up surrounding areas and painted all the pylons with the dark green. All the pics i've seen of the AV-8B with this scheme, it had some in green and some in gray, but i think it looks better with all of them green, which is how the RAF's ZG506 GR9A had them.



Also, most of the pics of AV-8B show the drop tanks painted with both green and gray, but i can't find any pics of the tanks where i can see the complete scheme, so i think i'll just leave them completely gray, should look ok, but i'll leave the decision for later.
Tomorrow is detail painting, start work on the landing gear and the rest of the ordnance.

[Captain Canada]

Looks good to me ! Love that camo on her. XF-54 and what's the green ? Looks sinister can't wait to see more 

[DogfighterZen]

Looks good to me ! Love that camo on her. XF-54 and what's the green ? Looks sinister can't wait to see more 

Glad to know, Captain! That's exactly what i'm aiming for and how i think all military aircraft should look like!
The dark green is the XF-61, it's the match for the Humbrol 163 and the XF-54 dark gray is the match for H 164.
Nothing else done on the model because of a very wild weekend...

[Army of One]

Coming along really well.....must finish my Royal Maltese Defence Force one......