Building the Hasegawa 1/48 Scale AV-8B Harrier 

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Oh my gosh, Stephen!! 😜

Max_Afterburner I had to do it!

Thanks Pug, dogs are our greatest joy... and sorrow. 😔

Hi CK, 😴😉

Thanks Lance T., it's been 5 months and nothing is the same without my little guy...

Thanks Ryan, great to hear you're building again! 🙂

Hi Honestly 1981, thanks. Dogs are the best, sorry you had to part from yours.

Thanks Stephan, it's hard to lose a pet family member as you know. Milo passed away 5 months ago and I did a little thing at the end of the A-6E video for him. I think about him every day and I wanted to put in another little homage to him in this latest video.

@@MaxAfterburner Sure - RIP Milo and Coquette; much loved and sadly missed.

Thanks Shashman82 🙂

Thanks, had a bit of difficulty finding free time to work on this one.

Thanks kommasar 😊

Thanks Mr Titanium, and best wishes for your Harrier build! 😁

Thanks Lawrence, I'm glad you enjoyed the video. It was a shame I had to remove the Marine Hymn, I thought it would have been a good touch for the Marines and fans of Marines out there. But darn those false copyright claims. I didn't feel like another RU-vid fight...

Helloooo MAAA, thanks! 🙂

Thanks oot 😊

Thanks Ghost Rider 🙂

Thanks Drew, it's a monster!🙂

Thanks James C 🙂

Thanks Jeremiah 🙂

Thanks Nino Nino 🙂 J.L. Curtis: Have you killed people? Schwarzenegger: Yeah, but they were all bad.

Thanks Carlos! It didn't quite end up where I wanted it though. 🤔

@@MaxAfterburner I couldnt even tell man still looks stellar!

Thanks so much Bill, I'm glad you enjoyed it 😀

Many thanks, squidkid2 🙂

Hmmmmm 🤔

Thanks Isaac 🙂

Thanks Peter, I hope my next one goes better 🙂

Hi VooDoo Nights, thanks! 😎

Hi Bob, I'm glad you're enjoying the series so far! 😄

Thrilled you enjoyed it tattabox, thanks for watching 😊

Thank you Javier 🙂

At least a gallon, Julio 😀😛

Thanks SFC! 😊

Thanks OttoVonSkidmark 😊

Thanks Christopher! 😊

Hi P cj, "interesting" is the word for it. 😉

Thanks so much Dave, I appreciate your comments 😇

Thanks! 🙂

Thanks Jakub 🙂, work has already begun. I also await some parts for the project that are overdue.

DFX2KX Very first model I ever built with my dad when I was 7 or so was a 1/72 Harrier. I remember the kit had grey and green plastic parts and RAF markings. Early harrier with the pointed nose. Been trying to find that exact kit, but no luck so far.

@@soupfork2105 not sure which kit that might have been, but if you want a decent 1/72 GR1 (pointy nose) RAF Harrier, the best choice nowadays would be the latest Airfix version. Indeed, for any 1/72 first gen Harrier, GR1, GR3 or AV8A, Sea Harrier FRS1 or FA2 go for Airfix. If you want 1/48 Sea Harrier then get Kinetic's FRS1 or FA2, or wait for them to release the rest eventually....

@@DavidLee-df888 Did some more digging and eventually recognized the box art on an old 70's airfix kit, I'm 99% sure it was this one: www.scalemates.com/kits/matchbox-pk-16-hsmk-1-harrier--1162920

@@soupfork2105 wow, I'm probably not quite as old as you but I remember seeing this kit in my local(now long closed) newsagents. I bought a few kits from them as a boy but not this one though. Still waiting for a Kinetic GR3 though.......

Definitely the biggest sticking point on this kit Georg 😬

Always great to hear from you, thanks R34DLINE Gaming! 😊

Max_Afterburner may I ask how you get the camera angle for the videos? I’m considering starting to yt some of my builds

Hi, I just set my camera on a chair beside me. Nothing spectacular 🙂

Hi Logan, glad it might help. 👍

Maybe san down the wheels to fix it?

Hi Foab Moab, and thanks! 🙂

Gracias Francisco!

Thanks yousif, good luck with the finishing touches 🙂

Max_Afterburner thank you sir! I hope so but still not as good as you keep them coming! ❤️

Monster-big for sure!

Thanks hunters1AR 38654, I'm glad you enjoyed it 😉

Oi MONTEIRO SILVA , muito obrigado!

Hi All Good, that's great! After a little more time, I think all of our remaining U.S. Harriers will be in museums or in the boneyard as they get replaced by their F-35 counterpart. 🤨

@@MaxAfterburner HMS Invincible visited NZ in 1983 and there was an airshow the Sea Harrier did a bow which is quite unique! ... a mate of mine was Tactical Radar Operator on HMS Invincible during the Falklands War he was impressed with the Sra Harrier and he said he didn't know if he was going to live or die.. war is a scary thing! 🤔🇳🇿

Thanks for Milo, and I'm glad you enjoyed the video. 🙂

Thanks Kyaw 🙂

Hi Gary, is yours an older kit? I'm not familiar with that edition.

It’s Hasegawa’s Harrier GR-7 kit reboxed with Eduard resin and PE parts and new marking options. www.scalemates.com/kits/eduard-1166-harrier-gr7-9--1000783

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Thanks T.S. 🙂

Hi TomP-148, I still remember the portion behind the cockpit being problematic. 🤨

Hi LP Couturie, that's a great story, thanks for sharing! 😉

Hi Alex, awesome, thank you for the comments and your service! 😃

Thanks Gianluigi 🙂

@@MaxAfterburner ;-)

Hi Ian, better late than never. That fin error was caught early on after the video was uploaded and is noted near the bottom of the "More About" description for this build. The model's external tanks were corrected afterwards. Thanks for watching! 😇

Thanks Bryan, and best wishes on all of your projects!

@@MaxAfterburner after this build, what's the next one? Is it still based on the poll results last time? The 2nd highest number of votes from the poll or your personal choice?

@@bryanjacla1068 Hi Bryan, the next build is the model that received the 2nd most number of votes. There is a clue at the end of this Harrier build video.

Thanks TJ, I was planning to make the AV-8B Harrier a bit grimier, but the photos from VMA-223 showed they actually keep their Harriers pretty clean. Seems like the B-52s will be flying forever 😮

No doubt kept clean by LCpls on a working party armed with tools completely insufficient to the job. Did the Air Force ever make guys cut the grass with fingernail clippers?

Nah man, we're the Air Force, not Grunts! LOL!

Thanks, I need to work on improving them.

большое спасибо 😄

Hi Clarence, you're absolutely correct. I didn't even pay attention to that. Another stupid mistake on my part. UGH! 🙄

I use either depending on what I'm working on at the time.

I may have to hang it on the wall or something!

seen one built once and it was in a flight diorama being refueled by a 1/48th KC-135

Thanks vish 🙂

Hi Chris, with the modern model kits you don't need to pre-clean them. I would only do so if it was an older vintage kit.

Hi tthee01, glad you liked it! 🙂

Hi Nathan, my guessing game to figure out what Project #17 was going to be didn't go well, so I'm hoping to generate some anticipation and enthusiasm for this next one. 😄

Max_Afterburner It's the Blackhawk behind the BUFF, right? ;)

@@jaanikaapa6925 Mabe it's a 1/700 scale version of the airport that video was filmed from?

Jaani, you have great eyesight! How did you see it? 🤣

Max_Afterburner INFJ, baby. We notice everything. Actually, to me the BUFF was too obvious, so I started looking behind and around it. The Blackhawk would be a prank I'd pull. :)

Hi Bryan, I can't say I'm much of an expert on Harrier load out capabilities. This particular kit had only the AIM-9L Sidewinders, 300 gallon drop tanks, gun pod option, and the AN/AAQ-28 Litening II pod.

Hi Marcus, it's been awhile since I built the Harrier. I only recall struggling with the "turtle shell" just aft of the cockpit. I'm not sure if you got a bad production unit?

@@MaxAfterburner it was a pain. I got so frustrated. I think im going to build it again. I threw away the one i had

Thank you kindly Edgar.

Hi, the underside camo #1 is still the XF-19 "Sky Grey" that was continued from earlier in the "parts" painting. That might not be obvious in the video.

Yes, please see the Community Tab for this channel showing pictures of the corrections. 😉

Hi Jeff, of course it can depend on a variety of things. But, if we consider just a decent medium quality 1/48 scale kit with a few jars of paint and no after market parts, maybe an average of $65-70 USD.

Max_Afterburner thanks so much!

Hi Andrea, I mainly use Tamiya acrylic paints and many kits may not list Tamiya colors on their suggested paint guides. I stick with colors that have worked well for me in the past, so it's a combination of experience and personal taste. 2) Flat paint colored surfaces are grainy if you look at them on a "microscopic" level. Decals affix better to a smooth finish and this is one of the reasons for applying the clear gloss coat. If you put a decal onto a matte surface, there is a chance that the decal's clear carrier film border/zones especially will be very visible after drying in an effect known as "silvering". The emblem will look more like a decal rather than something that is "painted" on and therefore not give a realistic appearance to your model. The final flat coat is to get everything back to a matte tone that military aircraft mostly exhibit. 3) After applying the oil based washes and I'm looking to just emphasize panel lines, I allow the paint to dry only for a short time. When I want to add more grime to the area, I'll allow the wash to dry longer so that the wash doesn't come off too easily as I work the area. Most of the time if you decide later you want to clean up a grimy region, you can dip the cotton swab in clean mineral spirits and wipe away what you don't want.

@@MaxAfterburner Sticking to the topic of camouflage, I thought that kit producers would refer in their kit instructions to real colors, having real reference numbers, and that paint producers would offer a paint, with its own code, but matching the real one....it sounds from your reply that this is not necessarily the case 🤔...

Hi, most of the time they will refer to specific paint manufacturers with the product code for each color. However, they usually don't list all the companies. For instance, Hasegawa does not list Tamiya paints for their kits, but they will list other companies.

Hi F.Alfonzo, I've definitely had some requests for the Tornado! A few squadrons of them used to visit at Davis-Monthan AFB over from Britain and from Germany and I would see them on the flightline parked nearby whenever our F-16 Vipers were doing "Live" fire exercises. 🤩

They're all going to bow out to the mighty F-35, I guess.

@@MaxAfterburner The F-35 is the biggest aviation pork barrel project in a LONG time. I think the only worse pork program was the B-2 in retrospect but that got shut down early. A huge chunk of the maintenance budget goes towards keeping those hangar queens stealthy. Even if the avionics work on the F-35, the plane maintainers will have to work AROUND THE CLOCK to keep that plane flying. My prediction -- the maintenance man hours will be AT LEAST triple, if not quadruple the amount the F-16 and F-18 currently need. Yes, the F-35 will be at least as maintenance intensive as the F-14 for about half the performance capability! I'm calling it -- at least 40 MMH/flight hour, and it could be higher than that. It's the airframe material the plane is made of. It's very brittle, sensitive, and melts easily. You can't even fly at supersonic speeds for more than 80 seconds in an F-35 without compromising the skin! The stories coming out about how weak and fragile the skin of that plane is (because of the stealth material, the Achilles heel of ALL stealth aircraft) just keep getting better and better (as in it was a HUGE mistake to try and make it an all-aspect stealth plane instead of a more sensible reduced RCS plane and natural evolution of existing aircraft). I hope the F-35's avionics work because if the stories about its temperature limitations are true it will NEVER be able to outrun its adversaries and it will never able to wind up to supersonic speed for any appreciable length of time. They'd better hope the missile contractors do their work and don't deliver defective long-range missiles to the services. You know the F-35 started as a Harrier replacement project but had to be adapted for the USAF and USN. At the end of the day, the F-35 have less than 25% commonality because of all the modifications needed to make the "common airframe" work in different operating environments. This is the F-111/TFX fiasco all over again but there won't be a better fighter coming out of this for any service (other than new production, upgraded F-15s for the USAF). The F-35B Marine Corps version, at this point, is still the most bug-prone version because of the V/STOL requirement just like the Harrier was orders of magnitude more beastly to maintain than the F-16 or F-18. At least the F-15 production line is still open and the avionics upgrades for that plane were funded already by the Saudis and Qatar. The plane should be less than $100million a copy for the new F-15EX but that plane SHOULD work at least! The USAF really needs more than 144 of them. The F-15Cs are in BAD shape.

Hi THEdanru, it's just habit. Both techniques work to their respective extents.

Thanks Ian, I hope your projects are great successes! I don't really use social media, but feel free to contact me via the comments section or my e-mail address listed in this channel's profile section.

I'm not sure what you mean on this one.

@@MaxAfterburner sorry I mean do we have to use clear coat before we wash the lines on the model

Yes, I'll use a clear coat unless I'm trying to make it extra "dirty/grimy".

@@MaxAfterburnerso the only consequences of not using clear coat is it getting dirty,the model paint will not be very messed up?

As long as you're not too aggressive with the washes.

Hi Knightmask, thanks, someone already beat you to it 😉. Check out the update in this channel's community tab if you'd like.

Hi The Gunny’s gaming, depending at what part of the process you're watching, the paints used are displayed on the screen at the beginning of each session.