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H A R R I E R T . M k 1 0 / T . M k 1 2 I N 1 : 4 8 t h S C A L E Heritage Aviation’s conversion set for the Revell/Hasegawa GR.Mk7/9 kits

Mastered by N I C K G R E E N A L L

v6 15/04/2013 Nick Greenall Harrier Special Interest Group

Harrier T.Mk12 ZH663/111 of No.1(F) Squadron taxies out at RAF Cottesmore on 13th December 2010 (Photograph: Graham James)

These notes explain how to fit the parts in the Heritage Aviation Harrier T.Mk10/T.Mk12 conversion set to the

Revell/Hasegawa Harrier GR.Mk7/9 kits. The Revell GR.Mk9 kit includes the fire access ‘frog-eyes’ for the LERX, which

are not in the Hasegawa kit. The conversion set - which was mastered for the Harrier Special Interest Group’s in-flight

‘Kestrel Formation’ Harriers - comprises the following parts:

1. 1-piece new dual cockpit section with internal details, with closed undercarriage bay doors

2. 2x Martin-Baker Mk.12 seats (a TAV-8B boxing will have an extra resin Stencel SIIIS seat instead, to match the kit’s seat)

3. Front (3a) and rear (3b) instrument panels/coamings; a separate detail piece for the front canopy bulkhead (3c)

4. Rear cockpit fairing and separate intakes which are ‘handed’, port (P) and starboard (S); (4b, 4c)

5. New fin, tailcone (5b) and yaw vane (5c) for the top of the front windscreen

6. 4x underwing fairings for the outer two hardpoints: port inner (PI) and outer (PO), starboard inner (SI) and outer (SO)

7. Additional items based on the kit parts: 1x control column (7a); 2x temperature vanes (7b)

8. Plus, two vac-formed windscreens and vac-formed one-piece canopies transparencies

Pre-production parts still on their casting sprues. The numbering is referred to in the following text.

1

2

3a

4

5

3c

5b

5c4c4b

3b

6

7b 7a

8 8

Heritage Aviation’s HARRIER T.Mk10 / T.Mk12 conversion in 1:48th scale


Assembly - The conversion set was engineered be 95% simple ‘plug’n’play’ replacements for the kit parts, only one

razor saw cut to the kit will be needed. From the rear, the work required is…

Tailcone - Remove the kit’s tailcone at the panel line

just aft of the small semi-circular vent ahead of the

rectangular RCV openings. Carefully fill the small semi-

circular vent ahead of the lateral RCVs which does not

appear on the T.Mk12. The new resin tailcone is a

simple push fit into the opening.

Fin - Simply replace the kit parts with the new resin fin.

Note, it does end further back on the fuselage’s top than

the GR.Mk7/9 fin.

Cockpit section - Make up the kit’s nosecone (parts V3 to V5) and fit it to the front of the resin cockpit section. Modify

the kit’s 65% LERX by removing the formation light strips and filling in any small depressions left. Assemble the whole of

the main fuselage, using Revell part K5 (Hasegawa part B3) taped in place to ensure that the upper fuselage is kept to

the right spacing when joining the fuselage halves and fitting the intake bellmouth and front compressor blades (part A5)

in place. I recommend you add the wings and kit’s 65% LERX to the fuselage, before removing part B3/K5.

Then, simply fit the whole of the resin front

fuselage where the kit’s cockpit assembly would

fit. Use 1.5mm wide 15 thou microstrip to make

the cockpits’ internal edges, fitting them to meet

the tops of the internal frames; refer to the kit’s

cockpit parts and the photos below. Small

amounts of filler may be needed to fair in the

undersurface joints. Add the two small resin

temperature sensors (7b) - which are like that on

the fin (kit part X8) - into the holes on the sides of

the rear cockpit inside the intakes. Now fit the

intake ‘ears’ (kit parts A3 and A4) in place with

their doors (kit parts G9-G11) fitted as required.

Use filler where required around the B3/K5 area;

some kits are better than others in the fit here!

Add the fairing behind the rear cockpit, aligning the seat rails, and the two intakes to its sides; noting that these are

handed, port and starboard. Finally, fit the two ‘frog-eye’ fire access ports on top of the LERX, kit parts W9 and W10.

Cockpit detailing - Simply fix in place the two instrument panel / coaming resin parts, plugging them into the forward

hole on each cockpit’s floor. The rear cockpit’s coaming needs the detail panel adding to the front of it; make the backing

for this as thin as you dare - 10 thou ideally! The front IP and coaming needs a bit of careful alignment to ensure the

windscreen fits ok. Add the seats, plus the kit’s control column (X7) and resin one (7a). The front seat needs one higher

canopy breaker adding to it from a roughly triangular piece of scrap plasticard, see photo, once the existing small breaker

has been removed from the right hand side. If you are making an ‘on the ground’ model without ’crew then fix the kit

throttle (X9) and one made from plastic rod in place, having deepened the small the holes for them on the port consoles

close to the cockpit walls. Use the wider Head-Up Display (HUD) parts Y6 and Y7 for the T.Mk12 (or GR.Mk9).

‘On the ground’ suggestions - Harriers’ front undercarriage bay doors are usually open unless the engine in running.

Use a mini-drill and burrs to carefully remove the resin undercarriage bay doors and make the bay 2-3mm deep; after

Fill this vent (The plug

shown is the master)



that you’re on your own with the bay detailing! Remove the undercarriage doors from kit parts C1 and C8 and fix them in

place. The nose gear assembly is located in the hole as in the kit’s instructions and rear door (part G5) fixed in place.

Underwing Hardpoint Fairings - Use these instead of the kit’s pylons, depending on your preferred stores load-out.

Painting - As with the GR.Mk9, the predominant cockpit colour is Dark Admiralty Grey (BS381C:632), which is very

close to Dark Sea Grey with a dash of white added. The bodies of the ejector seats are matt black as are any frames

above sill height. The photos below show how the resin parts look after detail painting, the details being picked out using

a 000 brush and dry-brushing. The photographs on the following pages will be helpful.

Right: The painted cockpits complete with their

kit HUDs - the HUD frames need careful painting. Eduard do photo-etch HUD frames which could be used instead.

Below: Note the flight documents in their clip

Canopy - very carefully trim the windscreen and canopy to length and depth, using the windscreen fairing and bulkhead

behind the rear canopy as reference points but taking care not to undercut the windscreen in length at its front or rear.

Microstrip should be fixed inside the main canopy’s lower frames to facilitate fixing them to the fuselage, also being fitted

to the cockpit sills so that the canopy fits flush with the fuselage sides.

Tack fit the canopy in place with some small dabs of adhesive, then finally trim the windscreen to fit its space. Cut the

internal screen from a piece of clear acetate to the template above.



All the transparencies will benefit from being dipped carefully a few times in Johnson’s Klear. Paint the frames inside the

windscreen and canopy matt black and use paint to detail the internal screen using the photos below for reference. The

MDC decals will need their decal film inside the cords cutting out before they are fitted inside the canopies; sealing them

with another dip in Klear. Then, having detail painted its edge, fit the internal screen inside the front of the central fixed

part using Humbrol Clear Fix, or similar. Attach the canopy to the fuselage first. At the apex of the forward windscreen’s

frame fix the resin yaw vane (5c) in place; note this angles forward unlike the front one.

Canopy MDC and Transparencies Footnote (April 2013) Due to their shapes and cut-out centres, the MDC decals can be very difficult to apply and can look a bit too see-through.

If you have a steady hand with a 000 brush, a method I found to work for me is to tape the decals, carefully aligned and

still on their backing paper to the outside of the dry Klear-dipped canopy and then paint the MDC on the canopy insides.

I used Humbrol 147 Matt Light Grey for the MDC. Keep the paint thinned so that it does not go on in blobs but enables

you to brush each section with 1 stroke; but, too thin and it will spread everywhere and look to transparent. So practice

first on some old Klear-dipped acetate off-cuts. Yes, I’ll admit each canopy’s MDC took about an hour to do, but I think

the end results are worth it.

It’s best to paint the canopy’s exterior frames and MDC piping around each canopy before fixing them in place. After

fixing the transparencies in place find Vallejo’s tube acrylic filler will be needed to fill any gaps between the

transparencies and the fuselage, on the starboard side where the join is not the canopy’s hinge lines and on the port side

under the central portion. I’ve also found that the windscreen’s exterior frames are best painted after fixing in place.



Above: Four close-up views of the model’s completed canopies and nose area. Refer to photos of the aircraft you’re making for the different degrees of staining and clarity of the canopies’ hinge lines on the starboard side. You can see the benefits of blending the joints between the

canopies and the fuselage with the acrylic filler.



Harrier T.Mk12 Detail Photographs - Photographs copyright Chief Tech Andy Robinson



Top: Rear cockpit showing the internal sills

Left: Front cockpit instrument panel Right: Rear cockpit instrument panel

Right: Close-up of HUD



Top: Detail view of upper LERX and rear fairing annotated to illustrate the build notes; note GTS/APU exhaust stains and black sealant on the

engine panel / wing panel join

Below: LERX and fairing panel details; note the discoloured anti-erosion tape on the wing leading edge

Use microstrip for flanges on

Twin formation lights both

sides

Scribe this panel line on

both sides before fitting

the fairing



Left: Rear seat, harness, MDC wiring and canopy hinge details

Above: T.Mk12 tailcone detail

Below: The fin of No.1(F) Squadron’s Harrier T.Mk12, ZH663/111



Decal Options

1. Harrier T.Mk10 ZH663/Q or ZH659/O of 20(R) Squadron / 233 Operational Conversion Unit, RAF Wittering,

circa July 1996

Lichen Green (BS.4800.12B.25) with NATO IRR Green (BS381C:285) upper fuselage, including canopy and

windscreen framing; wings and tailplane surfaces. The first photo can be used in the instructions. It’s not known

which pilot’s names were carried on ZH663/Q. The photos of ZH659/O are BAE copyright.

Note, the wildcat’s head faces to the left on both sides of the fin.



2. Harrier T.Mk10 ZH663/111, 20(R) Squadron / 233 Operational Conversion Unit, RAF Wittering, August 2002

Dark Camouflage Grey (BS381C:629) with Dark Sea Grey (BS381C:638) upper fuselage, including canopy and

windscreen framing; wings and tailplane surfaces, note the demarcation line under the canopies.

Photographs copyright Dimitris Triadafillou, Neil Dunridge, Peter Tonna and Mark McEwan (ZH656/104 lowest) via www.airliners.net

Note, by 2002, the wildcat’s head faced to the front on both sides of the fin.



3. Harrier T.Mk12 ZH663/111, No.1(F) Squadron, RAF Cottesmore, November 2010

(See the photo on page 1) Medium Sea Grey (BS381C:637) overall. The pilot’s name on the starboard side only is

FLT LT G CROFT.

The two close-ups by Andy Robinson below show the now simplified cockpit-side stencils for both the DSG/DCG

and MSG overall schemes on another T.Mk12. In 2010, the wildcat’s head still faced forwards on both sides of

ZH663/111’s fin.

Comprehensive notes on detailing and improving the Harrier GR.Mk7/9 kits can be found in the modelling area of the

Harrier Special Interest Group’s website: http://www.harriersig.org.uk/models/index.htm

Harrier T.Mk12 decals for the aircraft flown by No.IV(R) Squadron for the Harrier’s last UK flights on 15th December 2010

can be found on AIRframe decal sheet AF48-218 ‘UK Air Arm Update - Harrier Retirement’, now available through

Hannants: http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AFD48218



Harrier T.Mk12 ZH659/107 of No.IV(R) Squadron being piloted by Lt Cdr Paul Francis, OC B Flight, with Sqn Ldr Andy Tagg, QFI, in the rear seat taxies out as ‘Poison 3’, of Kestrel Formation, RAF Cottesmore, 15th December 2010 (Photograph: Andy Robinson)

My completed model of Harrier T.Mk12 ZH659/107, ‘Poison 3’ of No.IV(R) Squadron’s ‘Kestrel Formation’ 4-ship.

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