DINKY Restoration No. 722 Harrier GR1 1971 

Those spray-booth news paper headlines never cease to amaze me.

Great vlog Marty. I was lucky enough during a navy day to stand on HMS Fox as a Harrier drifted over the top at about 100 feet. It stopped in the air rotated 180 degrees and bowed to the ship. The sheer power of that machine and seeing the pilot looking straight at me was just awe inspiring. So this makeover brought some amazing memories back to me too.

I had this toy when I was a kid! I am 57 now and I still remember this plane. What memories.

Still have mine. Brought it from Butlins in Bognor Regis around 48 years ago. It needs some tlc too. Thanks for this, Marty.

Boils led on that spoon and puts it back to use it for food. Your one of a kind Marty

The end result is just fantastic👌🏻the colours are amazing and I take my hat off to you for working out how to make and fix the replacement parts 👍🏻

Outstanding restoration Marty. Thank you for all that education for no extra tuition. You are the best! Cheers, Larry, Memphis, Tennessee USA

Great video restoration Marty. I had one of those Harriers as a kid, bought for me by my dear Mum. I must have been 6 or 7. Your build brought me right back - thank you!!

Brings back memories. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🇧🇪nice restauration. And there was indeed a spring.

My dad was one of the designers that worked on the real life aircraft.

Love this makeover. My elder brother had one when we were kids and it now looks very much like the ‘before’ model here. The nose cone and outriggers never looked right. Great stuff. Thank you.

Thanks for your video presentation. As a child I had one of these. I lost the outrigger wheels, nose cone and canopy, but it still gave me a lot of enjoyment. 😎👍

Brilliant restoration - a real trip down memory lane, I loved my toy Harrier and what an amazing aircraft. Thanks for sharing.

This makeover brought back memories of visiting Farnborough Air show with my dad back in the 60's.

I had one of these as a kid too. It was an awesome toy. I love what you've done to restore this beautiful model.

Great build and I love all the experimentation you did.... So creative....

I bought 2 of these in 1971 - I was 8 - still have them. Many, many hours of fun. Oh, to go back.....

Hey Marty, thanks for this video. I had this exact toy when I was a kid and it was just as beat up by the time it was passed on to another kid. Man, talk about a walk down memory lane! Thanks!

I loved the Harrier. We had one visit RAF Benson when I was there and a female officer asked if the pilot would take off and bow to the tower. The pilot took off vertically on the runway and while quite low he tipped the plane forward to the tower. The result was the removal of a layer of the runway underneath and the closing of the main runway. My favourite though was the Vuclan which went out of service while I was still in training.

So Marty..... can you tell me where I can get some of those "Fellatio" paints you mentioned? @ 26:07 I'm not familiar with that brand.

My pops got me this same Harrier when I was a kid living in Germany. Had the Dinky Apollo recovery Sh-3 Sea King "Old 66" too. The Sea King had a motorized rotor. Flew alot of sorties with those two! Great memories. Thanks! 👍

Looks absolutely brilliant, hats off to you for stripping off the paint when you got it wrong

Well done! You showed a lot of craftsmanship on this one. Excellent work.

Fantastic job Marty - what a pleasure to watch and what attention to detail. Absolutely fabulous work and well worth the wait. On a side note I loved that this came out on a Saturday morning! It just makes my day when this happens. Even if you miss a Saturday I really recommend you hold off on publishing till your Saturday night to catch us weekend warriors at our best and most relaxed! Bravo again sir.

If there’s a will to restore or replace, no matter the obstacle, Marty finds a way to restore or replace! Good job, mate!

Marty you did it again. Great job of bringing the model back to life. Thank you Marty.. I'll be looking for your next episode.

I was fortunate enough to see a Harrier at the CNE Air Show at the end of summer in Toronto back in the 80’s. It stopped in front of us along the lake shore and rotated and rose vertically before taking off. Never knew they were as old as me born in ‘67.

Nice job Marty, you know how to cherrish sentimental moments!

Hi Marty, My name is Andy Archer from Bradford west Yorkshire England i think i have seen all your video over the last 12 months you inspire me in so many ways . I was born in 56 and my local corner shop was a family run shop and every weekend i went with my pocket money and purchased two or three matchbox cars . I was the number one customer and they always asked me to call to the shop when the sales rep was dew .as i had all the cars i had to look at the catalog to see the ones i did not have , i still have all my Matchbox cars .they have most defiantly been played with and one day i will restore them all , following your videos for each one , many thanks Marty please keep up the super work I have to say i have watched others but yours is the best and funniest please don't ever stoop , hope the family and Kevin stay well

I had one of those Harriers as a kid. It’s long gone now. It was great to see you restoring one. Another great video, keep up the good work. 👍

Good job Marty, a lots innovative trying solution, I like the way of your research. One comment from my side, I hope you wear a gas mask during the lead melting process, the fumes are very dangerous for your health. Julie.... sorry for your spoon. Good job

such a great casting showing all the unique details of the Harrier's wing design, the vortex generators, the doogtooth, the wing fences and the anhedral design! A work of art.

Brilliant. Some great skills on display. I used to have that Dinky Harrier.

That final scene is incredible. Great stuff.

I love this video. Seeing you use a kitchen ladle to melt lead, reminded me of a schoolfriend. I used to go to his house, and we'd make fishing weights, using one of his mum's cast iron pans, to melt the lead in. We always washed it carefully afterwards. Used it dozens of times, not even thinking about how poisonous lead is. I expect millions of people do it every day. The underside of my Harrier was an odd 'duck egg green' colour; they varied greatly.. Nice one. Stay safe.

A really lovely model of one of my favourite Aircraft. As a kid, my dad took me and my older brother to North Weald Air Show. It was only a 25-minute drive from home. As part of its display, it would hover over the VIP stand and do a bow in front of them. A Great Aircraft designed and made in England. We sold the design to the Americans and now we are buying the newer version from them. (Maybe Frogtape is green because Frogs are green.) Martin. (Thailand)

Beautiful job. I like your way to find solutions for the Problems. You've given the old Harrier a new and colored life. Greetings from Germany😊👍👍👍👍

Marvellous. I stumbled on this as I'm going to strip the paint off a Dinky Empire flying boat. Enjoyed watching it and learnt heaps. Your finished model is brilliant. The best bit of your video took me by surprise as your Harrier lifts off with the dust swirling below it. One of the original Hawkers screamed past my school in the week of the Transatlantic Trophy race. I remember seeing film of it lifting off from a coal yard near St Pancras in London - your video reminded me of this. One day I might make the big 1/24 Airfix kit, but there's piles of smaller ones that have been in my loft far too long. Thanks for sharing your skills Marty.

Super resto Marty !! You did your usual bang up job. Love those out takes at the end !! Good laugh for sure ...

I knew it, I knew it, this video and makeover were AWESOME! Marty, you never need to apologise to us for making over ANY brand that you want, they all look so good when YOU are finished with em. Love your work, thank you and to You, Julie and young Kevin, stay safe, the end of this covid-19 stuff may almost be in sight.

Dinky's well worth the nostalgia too. 😁 Really enjoy it when you release your inner craftsman and test out different techniques and solutions. Great resto and great vid. 👍

You did need to do this Marty! There's nothing wrong with a change and the result is stellar! I also had one of these as a young un! Well done! 😎👍

Marty, i just want you to know that your program has been a source of comfort and escape from the misery of this corona induced lockdown. Thank you.

Another super makeover - I'm happy with that !

I had one, got very bashed up. The switch became impossible to operate after a while. Fantastic project and great memories for me too!

Another job well done.. it needed love and tenderness and you gave it just shows that it needed.. KUDOS

Good Morning, Mr. Marty! This one turned into a lot of Scratch building. Good on you and Good Job! Stay safe, folks!

That's a fantastic and sympathetic restoration.

Wow Marty ! You are taking on some pretty fearless restorations. Hats off to your skills. Thank for sharing .

I love watching you draft you stickers and such, so precise and professional

Lovely restoration and nice insides on all the hobby tricks and failures. Just a great hobby video!

Wow - challenging restoration and very nice outcome. The lead casting brought back childhood memories for me - my dad had a *real* molten metal ladle, and we used it often to cast lead. The temporary canopy looks good from here.

Holly heck Marty! Brother you are awesome! That model is beautiful! You are a true artist and craftsman... The level of work is second to none. Grreat job.

i used to have that exact same harrier when i was a boy, loved it:)

Great restoration 👍! "Jump Jet"...one of the finest military aircrafts of modern times. Unfortunately Dinky was not as common here in Germany as Matchbox and Corgi Toys. So I built a Hawker Harrier in 1974 from Airfix in 1/24 scale. Great model kit!

Im just heading out to buy some essentials then ill be back to enjoy this with a cuppa and some biscuits. Ive already given this vid a LIKE anyway because hey, I know its gonna be GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!

Amazingly good fab work. I'm always astonished at how you manage to restore missing/broken parts. Two big thumbs up! Very impressive. And the final result is outstanding. Very nicely done, as usual.

Great job Marty. Unfortunately I watched a Harrier crash at an air show here in Milwaukee back in the 1970s. The pilot ejected, was hurt but he survived. Was a very surreal experience for a 10 year old kid....

Loving the Bloppers at the end. Another excellent refurbishment job Marty.

Awesome restoration , Marty !!!!!!!!!!!!! That is a work of Art , Sir Two thumbs way up !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You left no stones unturned on this project Marty, excellent restoration, looks really cool.👍

What a beautifully done model! It's nice to see something different from time to time.

Nice job, had one as a kid too....spent a week working on these at RAF wittering in 1987...

Nice model harrier jet I want of my own. I enjoyed this video.

Awesome! The Harrier and the Touch Up great job!

Brilliant job on casting the new nozzle Marty, and also working out a solution for the undercarriage mechanism. I remember making my very first Airfix model in about 1966. It was called a Hawker Siddeley P1127 which was the prototype of what became the Harrier. Great work again 👍

It looks great, even of it's not a matchbox, it is always a pleasure to see your work!

Fellatio paint 😂😂 that was pretty funny Marty ...nice vid thanks bud 👍

Fantastic job Marty, amazed at the new techniques you experiment with, you are a genius!

Loved this makeover Marty...the best plastic for vacforming is the clear plastic packaging used for Easter Eggs. Plastic rectangle in a rigid frame; heat till the plastic starts to sag then pull over the form.

The Harrier Model... Looks awesome You did a brilliant job.

Marty all of your recreations are outstanding.

Wow, that brings back a lot of memories. Nice one 👍

Wow Marty! That was outstanding! All the custom parts you had to make. Including the canopy. You, sir, are a wizard. Thanks. See ya next time.

Phantastic restoration ! Looks like just taken out of a toy shop ! I think you can do all restorations you like to do. Never a failure at the end. To bring back old and demolished toys is a real gift ! I'm always entertained how you restore these toys ! 10 from 10 stars for this restoration! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Greetings and best wishes!

Once an air craft fitter always an aircraft fitter what a great restoration I though you might have done a stand camo job👍✈

First rate job again Marty.I so admire your ability to work around the issues and come up with great solutions. I've still got my Harrier from my childhood,baking with the Jaguar, Royal Navy Phantom and Tornado ( or MRCA - multi role combat aircraft bas they called it then) The hours I spent playing with them ...

Great job Marty, brought back to new. 👍👍👍

Excellent job, always surprising us with your solutions to difficult problems to solve. Congratulations and greetings from Argentina.

Great to see the problem solving process. Would've made many give up but you're clearly made of stronger stuff!

I had one of those and loved it so much

Marty "The bleeps were great just like my home! " Loved the Dinky for a change!

Outstanding effort & result, Marty. I saw a Harrier do that vertical stunt at an air show at Andrews AFB years ago - it was surreal !! Beautiful✈ restoration, yes indeed!

Hi Marty, Fantastic job you did of the Dinky Hawker Harrier ,I had one too when I was a kid so it brought some memories for me, keep up the great work.

‘Plague of black eyed ghost children’ 😂 I see you’ve found the only good use for the daily star! 🤣

"I'm happy with that." That seems to be such a British/Aussie phrase.

Beautiful job, top notch Marty! You are the Master of your craft. 🐨

Wow. Such as beautiful model! I wish Dinky still made toys today, which were and still are far better than the competition. I owned a few Dinky cars that I played to death (only the lunar rover vehicle survived). I was so jealous of friends who owned planes!! I kept an original Dinky toy booklet #8 from 1971 when I was a kid. This shows the Harrier Jump Jet at page 18 in colors that look a bit different from this model in the video. More dark gray than blue with a light gray/greenish underbelly.

You can get pieces of spring steel from metal banding that has been discarded from large pallets or boxes. Good luck . Great job as always Marty.

Enjoyed every second of this video! Inspirational improvisation, keep it up. Love the video at the end.

Fabulous makeover. Not even recognizable from its original state. Bravo! I think I one of these too!

I played with this model when I was a boy thanks for the memories.

A piece of art indeed, and as ever a privilege and a pleasure to see you at work. Pity we don't get to see the vacuum forming attempt.

Lovely! Great result. Always a pleasure to see you work through these -- matchbox or not. Many thanks!

Fantastic job Marty. You are so talented making up the lost or damaged parts and ending in an amazing result. The model is beautiful. Thanks for your continued video makeovers.

Good effort. Sometimes as modelers things don't go quite as we would like. Nice to see your thought processes as you worked through the setbacks. Outstanding result.

Beautiful!!!😊 Be sure to show the replacement canopy piece when it arrives👍🏼

That is a gorgeous finish!

Absolutely brilliant

Great job Marty! A superb restoration.