P.1154(ish) Frankenfighter.

[ChernayaAkula]

<...> NOVO Sea Vixen, old-school Airfix GR3, Heller Bobcat Harrier parts and scrapped Matchbox Hawk and Airfix F-4E remnants. <...>

Sound interesting! 

[jalles]

This has me intrigued, I'm a big fan of VTOL projects and the P1154 is splendid looking aircraft. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

[kitbasher]

Sheesh! I'm barely started and some are already finished, aargh!

Anyway, some progress - front end pulled apart, paint stripped, cockpit rebuilt (Airfix parts plus oodles of plastic card), some gynaecology-style modelling (working from the outside in with the bulkheads and side consoles, the painting will be the same).  Tailplanes cut from Matchbox Hawk T1 wings.  the nose match up with the constructed fuselage - note the neat joint: Harrier got hacked 20 years ago, the Airfix Phantom a couple of weeks ago.  Just dead reckoning and the unintentional wibbliwobbliness works - how flukey is that!  and finally the nose matched (but not yet fixed) to the fuselage.

Next time I can lose myself to modelling the wings will get sorted and bags of filler applied to the fuselage.

Hoping for the thing we can't ask for just yet materialises, may be in a shout as far as finishing is concerned.  Love you Mods 

[Doug K]

Looking really good. I tried some thing similar a while back

https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=42033.msg722682#msg722682

[kerick]

I'll be watching this one!!

[kitbasher]

Looking really good. I tried some thing similar a while back

https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=42033.msg722682#msg722682

Good stuff!  Odd, I recall now the GR3-ish model but not the others.  The two-seater is very much how I see my 'Frankenfighter' turning out - not quite the same colour scheme but same era and Red Tops not 'Winders.

[kitbasher]

Well, courtesy of some pre-retirement leave and a generous extension (cheers Mods) I've got more modelling done in the past 5 days than in the previous 5 weeks!  So, cut and shunt fuselage glued (note plastic card building up around the jet intake), wings fitted plus various gaps filled with card and then filler, and tailplane plus fin/rudder fitted.  Oh and some PSR started.

Fuselage is Airfix (very) old-school F-4 front end, Airfix Harrier GR3 middle and Heller Bobcat Harrier T4 back end.  Heller Bobcat fin/rudder, Matchbox Hawk wing sections as the tailplanes and NOVO Sea Vixen wings. 

The wing fences look ridiculous so they'll be coming off when all the glue is set.  The cut-outs in wings are for undercarriage fairings but I may bin that idea, fair over the gaps and use wingtip outriggers (in other words ditch the tricycle undercarriage and go with the usual Harrier '4 greens'.  Also I may dispense with the idea of a Phantom FG.1 extended nose wheel strut and go with a more traditional Harrier nosewheel.  That would improve the sit of the model and it mean I wouldn't have to most like get rid of the dorsal tail fairing.

Finally, the tailplanes I realise now were a tad too short, and in any case I'd not got the training edge sweep right, so they're canted outwards in order to get a spot more span and the sweepback better.  Card + filler beckons!  Also they and the fin/rudder are much further forward than the P.1154's units - they're in the Harrier positions and if I go with the originally-planned wing undercarriage fairings it'll look rather cluttered.  Another reason to consider outriggers, but won't decide until I do an undercarriage 'dry run'.

Underwing stores are sorted - a pair of drop tanks plus a pair of Red Tops, with another two Red Tops under the fuselage.  Phantom pylons for the wings, not sure yet about the fuselage pylons (probably plastic card).

BTW, just out of curiosity I checked out the length and span of the real 2-seater P.1154 as per the artists impression featured in my post on 1 March @ 05:28:39 am and the model's fuselage is by pure chance 0.03" shorter than the P.1154 in 1/72 scale; the span is 0.34" shorter.  Jammy or what?

[NARSES2]

Looks like a Harrier met a Jaguar behind the bike sheds to me 

Coming along nicely mate 

[Tophe]

Yes: nicely taking shape

[DogfighterZen]

This is looking very good indeed! 

[buzzbomb]

Well blended 

[Old Wombat]

Looks like a Harrier met a Jaguar behind the bike sheds to me 

Coming along nicely mate 

You forgot the 3rd party, the Phantom. Must have been some kinky goings on behind that bike shed!

[kitbasher]

Given the curves I'm struggling to see the Jaguar look, Chris!

The gaps in the wings for the u/c fairings have been filled in, really would not have worked and I don't know why I didn't spot that at the start.  PSR continues and I've worked out where the wing pylons will go.  Meanwhile the first fuselage pylon (for a Red Top) has been fitted, the other one prepped.

Notwithstanding the extension (and work will continue throughout the week) I doubt I'll get it done by the weekend.  No matter, it's been good to pick up the momentum and to do more modelling in the last couple of weeks than has been the case over the last few years.  Will look to get this one done ASAP before returning to the part builds.

[NARSES2]

Given the curves I'm struggling to see the Jaguar look, Chris!

I think it's the wings in particular Dave, same sort of span ? Look as though someone smoothed out a Jaguar's to me, but then you've seen how thick the lenses on my spec's are