1/48 Hasegawa AV-8B Harrier II
'Desert Harrier' 

by Engin Toredi

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Hello Steve and my fellow modelers.

I'm Engin from Ankara, Turkey and I'm happy to present you the first model I have finished after a six-month-break from my hobby.  Actually, this was kind of a forced break because I was away from home to complete my military service.

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The kit is Hasegawa's 1/48th Desert Harrier (09538).  It is in standard Hasegawa quality with very fine recessed details and a good cockpit with a nice pilot figure. There are some minor fit problems but nothing too important. As usual, decals are somewhat thick and again as usual Hasegawa didn't include any weapons in the kit except a pair of Sidewinders. So you have to check your stash to find some spare weapons if you plan to buy this kit. Neverthless, this is by far the best offering in the market of Harrier in this scale and I strongly recommend this kit for all Harrier fans out there.

I have finished the model OOB with the kit's decals. Painting is realized with my trusty Iwata airbrush. Building was pretty straighforward too. First cockpit then construction of the fuselage, painting, decaling and weathering. I will install weapons after finding some suitable stuff from my stash.

Hope you liked my work.

Happy modelling.
Engin

P.S. You can check our modelling club's web site at
www.ankaramaket.com. Sorry the site only in Turkish but you can still visit our photo gallery and references section and see the works of my friends and reference photos of some Turkish planes and AFV's. It can be interesting for you to see that both Panzers III and IV is used in the Turkish Army along with Sherman and M-10, just like the Spitfire and Fw-190. Click the links below.
Photo Gallery:
http://www.ankaramaket.com/galeri.htm
References:
http://www.ankaramaket.com/projeler.htm

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Photos and text © by Engin Toredi