1/24 AV-8A Harrier of VF-84 - "Jumpin' Roger"

[wacek85]

Hello and Merry Christmas

Finished today AV-8A Harrier from Airfix in 1/24 made as a fighter from VF-84, nicknamed "Jumpin' Roger".
Very old kit, re-released this year. Needs a lot of patience but doable

[kerick]

Very well done! 

[Captain Canada]

Wow ! You have really done a great job on this one ! For sure, an old dog of a kit, but you wouldn't know looking at this build. Love the colour scheme and markings, as well as the weapons load. The refueling probe is a nice touch. It's crazy to see how big the kit actually is when you see your hand holding it !

[Weaver]

Whoa!, Not often you see a big-scale whiff! Well done!    

What decals did you use?

Also, I'd be interested to hear the backstory, since Harriers on the USS Nimitz sounds very intriguing!

[DogfighterZen]

That looks good... very good!   

[PR19_Kit]

Also, I'd be interested to hear the backstory, since Harriers on the USS Nimitz sounds very intriguing!

And it's NAVY too, not Marines. 

[NARSES2]

That looks tasty 

[sandiego89]

Looks fantastic! 

I have been tempted by this kit, what are the main problem issues with it? 

[scooter]

Also, I'd be interested to hear the backstory, since Harriers on the USS Nimitz sounds very intriguing!

And it's NAVY too, not Marines. 

My hypothesis would be that Zumwalt got his Sea Control Ship concept and High-Low plan ramrodded through approved over Rickover's objections, so the Nimitz-class is the first batch of SCS carriers, with a smaller number of nuclear-powered supercarriers (the FDR class/Lexington II(?)) being authorized.

[Old Wombat]

Very cool build, wacek!  

[Joe C-P]

That's a great concept, and a big model.   

[su27rules]

Great !!      Love it!!

[Weaver]

Also, I'd be interested to hear the backstory, since Harriers on the USS Nimitz sounds very intriguing!

And it's NAVY too, not Marines. 

My hypothesis would be that Zumwalt got his Sea Control Ship concept and High-Low plan ramrodded through approved over Rickover's objections, so the Nimitz-class is the first batch of SCS carriers, with a smaller number of nuclear-powered supercarriers (the FDR class/Lexington II(?)) being authorized.

That makes sense. The USS Nimitz was laid down in 1967, launched in 1972 and commissioned in 1975. Zumwalt became CNO in 1970 and retired in 1974. The name probably wasn't fixed in stone until launch day, so if he got his way in the first two years, he could have made Nimitz the name of the first SCS and given the second nuclear carrier (Enterprise being the first) a different name. Don't know how often the USN does it, but the RN regularly indulged in name-swapping within a class prior to ships being launched.

As an aside, it occured to me that a good name for one of the SCSs would have been the USS Clifton Sprague. Rear Admiral Sprague was the officer in charge of Taffy III, the escort carrier group that was attacked by a huge Japanese force off Samar in October 1944 and aquitted itself well, despite being hideously outnumbered. There was a Perry class frigate named after him, but she wasn't launched until 1980.

[wacek85]

Thanks a lot, guys

What decals did you use?
Also, I'd be interested to hear the backstory, since Harriers on the USS Nimitz sounds very intriguing!

Sorry, but no backstory, I've just thought than AV-8A in VF-84 scheme would look cool since their real camo (RAF or MARINES) is boring.

I've used Mil-Spec decals for 1/32 F-14, this set:
https://www.mojehobby.pl/products/Grumman-F-14-A-Tomcat-VF-84-Jolly-Rogers-1981-USS-Nimitz-59927651.html

I have been tempted by this kit, what are the main problem issues with it? 

Fit, warped parts and flash. Fuselage halves were warped so I had to glue them with CA begining with tail and radome, then spill a lot of CA in the middle of fuselage (while not glue my own fingers to it). Engine can be used only to keep exhausts movable. Top engine cover mustt be sanded to fit but no matter how well fuselage is glued , wings can't be fitted propely so there is 3mm leap between wing part and fuelage - putty all the way

Wing wheel struts have to be glued - making them movable is simply nightmare. Front strut needs to be glued too, also there is no damper so you need to put a piece of styrene to prevent if from folding up

These are most significant problems with this kit. There are more f.ex. inside of intakes but putty can fix it. Be prepared for a lot of sanding but keep in mind that this model has 50 years

[scooter]

Also, I'd be interested to hear the backstory, since Harriers on the USS Nimitz sounds very intriguing!

And it's NAVY too, not Marines. 

My hypothesis would be that Zumwalt got his Sea Control Ship concept and High-Low plan ramrodded through approved over Rickover's objections, so the Nimitz-class is the first batch of SCS carriers, with a smaller number of nuclear-powered supercarriers (the FDR class/Lexington II(?)) being authorized.

That makes sense. The USS Nimitz was laid down in 1967, launched in 1972 and commissioned in 1975. Zumwalt became CNO in 1970 and retired in 1974. The name probably wasn't fixed in stone until launch day, so if he got his way in the first two years, he could have made Nimitz the name of the first SCS and given the second nuclear carrier (Enterprise being the first) a different name. Don't know how often the USN does it, but the RN regularly indulged in name-swapping within a class prior to ships being launched.

As an aside, it occured to me that a good name for one of the SCSs would have been the USS Clifton Sprague. Rear Admiral Sprague was the officer in charge of Taffy III, the escort carrier group that was attacked by a huge Japanese force off Samar in October 1944 and aquitted itself well, despite being hideously outnumbered. There was a Perry class frigate named after him, but she wasn't launched until 1980.

It was done in WWII, as an example Lexington, CV-16, was initially designated "Cabot".  And there are a bunch of Admirals that would have been good names for the class, apart from Sprague and Nimitz.  Halsey, Kincaid, Oldendorff, etc.  And leave the CVNs as the "politician" class.