Project Harrier Blog 2

Hello, and welcome to the third instalment of our Project Harrier blog series! For those joining us for the first time, it’s worth reiterating what this is all about. We have begun developing a new 1:32 first-generation Harrier family, with the first boxing being released in Q3 2027.

Rather than design the kit and begin tooling before announcing to the public, we wanted to do something slightly different: bring you along on the development journey and give you a behind-the-scenes look at the processes we go through to deliver a new kit. To that end, we’ll be providing monthly updates using a YouTube video series, blogs such as this one, plus occasional updates via social media and model shows. The blogs and videos themselves will be created by the development team working on the project, so you are hearing it directly from the horse's mouth!

This month has seen our design team, Chris & Horatio, progress their respective elements of the design even further. Chris has begun to split the model into various parts, and Horatio continues on with the Pegasus engine. We’ll also be addressing some of the feedback from our previous updates.

Airframe Progress

Chris has been working hard on the airframe; originally, we thought this update would be primarily focused on the cockpit detailing stage, but it’s turned out to be a bit of everything this month! Overall, the shape is now near final, with parts having thicknesses added and the model being split into its various parts.

The model at this stage looks slightly sparse on the detail front, but this is because there is nothing worse than spending hours/days/weeks adding panel lines, rivets etc only to need to change the overall shape of the part and delete all that work!

We had some head scratching when it came to the wing, more specifically the vortex generators and wing fence angles. On the real thing, these elements are angled perpendicular to the wing rather than 90 degrees, but this makes it impossible to mould; therefore, most model kits have a slight compromise in this area.

We decided that at 32^nd scale this would be too noticeable and therefore started exploring our options. Around the same time, it was suggested to us that splitting the leading edge would make a modeller's life easier from a seam/join clean-up perspective. Eureka! We knew we had a solution to two issues; by splitting the leading edge, we can angle it within the mould to allow the vortex generators etc to be moulded correctly whilst also making the build experience better for the model builder.

Another area that was ‘fun’ for Chris was the auxiliary intake doors behind the main air intake; each one of these doors is a different shape because having them all the same would be far too easy! Luckily the 3D scan picked up on these door shapes rather well, which made Chris’ life slightly easier; that was until I told him we need to mould them in multiple positions at least.

Unlike most models where we simply design an ‘in-flight’ and ‘on the ground’ configuration, the Harrier has a third which we had to consider: hovering! When on the ground with the engine off, the upper doors sag/flop downwards due to gravity, and the lower doors are flush/shut. In forward flight the doors are all forced shut by the airflow, whereas in the hover they are all open as they are pulled inwards by the suction of the engine. We’ll be offering all three options within the kit.

Talking of positions! We had to decide on the best method for setting the thrust nozzles. Some kits leave the location for these parts loose, meaning the modeller has to ‘eyeball’ the position of each one. Others use a linkage position; this means that all 4 are in the same position relative to each other but the angle is still manually set. After a fair bit of discussion, we elected to ‘fix’ the nozzle positions with a variety of options for the modeller using a series of notches. Whilst this will mean the modeller needs to be sure to manually set each nozzle in the same position, they will be at the correct angle for whatever stage of flight the modeller so chooses.

Now, we had to choose which angles to ‘set’ by consulting both the RAF and USMC manuals, and decided on the following:

• Fully forward: For when the aircraft is in forward flight.
• 10 degrees: Used for conventional take off.
• 30 degrees: Used for Rolling Vertical Take Off (RVTO).
• 45 degrees: Between 45 and 60 degrees was used for taxiing.
• Hover stop: Essentially fully downwards for when displaying the aircraft in the hover.

40 degrees of nozzle was used for some landings, but as you can see this would make the notches simply too close together, and so we elected for the options above. It’s also worth noting that the nozzle angle would be altered depending on the all-up weight of the aircraft.

3D printing has proved invaluable to our designers; the ability to print out sub-assemblies to quickly check fit between parts in real life allows for changes to be made throughout the whole design process, leading to an optimised design. Chris recently printed out a rough model of the main Harrier fuselage and wing section to check a few things; this also allows us to get a real sense for the size of the thing! Thankfully, a 1:32 Harrier is not all that large due to its diminutive wingspan.

As a result of the 3D printed tests, Chris was able to identify a few issues and implement a few solutions. One such issue was the wing strength; on the model they were susceptible to crush/deformation when under pressure from clamps. Adding ribs across the wing has solved this issue.

Engine Progress

Horatio has been working hard on the Pegasus engine; and one of the more complex areas has proved to be the fuel control system and various bits of piping/wiring. You can see the progress that has occurred since our last update, but Horatio believes that he has another 50% or so to go before calling that area done! There are lots of calls that need to be made regarding feasibility when it comes to the pipework, as some of it is simply too small when made 32 times smaller.

As well as all the ‘bits and bobs’ atop the engine, Horatio has been working hard to detail the inside of the engine. It’s very easy to go down a rabbit hole and start adding unnecessary detail at this point; we therefore have to constantly evaluate whether a part/detail we’re adding is in fact visible. As you can see from our cutaway, we have trimmed a few components out of ours, mainly because it doesn’t need to generate thrust!

One place we know we need to add more parts is the front intake, where there are multiple layers of fan blades but the model currently only contains 1; we therefore need to add a 2^nd set, but anything more feels unnecessary, especially when you take a look at the real thing below:

One example of an area with marginal visibility is the rear nozzle apertures; you can just about see some of the components, so we therefore felt we should add them. However, we did debate just how many people will be picking up their engine model to take a look at this exact angle!

Horatio and I decided it may be best to ‘park’ the engine for a couple of weeks to allow him to focus on other parts of the design, such as the drop tanks, rocket pods etc. These little ‘side quests’ are quick mini projects by themselves and allow Horatio to come back to the engine in a few weeks with fresh eyes. The small projects also allow us to more accurately predict the time remaining on various parts of the project.

Artwork

Now, I hope you agree that these updates are interesting and give a level of insight not previously seen before. However, CAD images are all very grey! I’ve been keen to inject a bit of colour into these updates in the form of an image, something to act as a cover image for the updates. A quick call to our friend Adam Tooby and we agreed on a paint scheme and background; a week or two later we had this great image!

This is not the box art, simply an image to get people's juices flowing and use alongside the project updates until we have the ‘proper’ box art to use. Please note that this image is a first draft and several areas will be corrected on the subsequent version; we were just keen to show it off sooner rather than later! However, it’s a good test for our Harrier aficionados out there: what needs correcting? We’ll be showing an updated image next month with some discussion around how these changes are made and how customer feedback can be a really useful tool with this sort of thing!

Now, whilst talking about lovely box art, I want to look ahead and share our thought process with you. We are keen to make this project not just about updating our audience but rather involving them wherever we can! Therefore, when the time comes, we intend to ask for your input on the box art, with you ultimately deciding what makes it onto the front of the box! We’ll do this via polls and voting both on various forms of social media and also in-person at the many shows we attend in the UK and Europe. As an added treat, Adam Tooby has agreed to share some of the behind-the-scenes magic that occurs to turn these grey CAD images into something spectacular-looking.

YouTube

As with every update, we have also recorded and released a video update covering much of the same content but with a few differences. So, if you simply can’t get enough of us wittering on about Harrier (pun intended!), then please check the YouTube video out:

What Next?

Over the next month, the design team will continue their work, and we’ll post another update in early August (7^th). Chris will mainly be focusing on adding detail, specifically in and around the cockpit, now that he is confident that the key shapes/assemblies are unlikely to change in any major way. Horatio will work on a few small projects such as the under-wing stores before returning to the engine design in the latter half of the month.

We’ll also have an exciting interview with Sean Bell, a former Harrier pilot with experience on both the first and second generation Harriers, recounting some of his experiences from his flying career.

Between this and the next update, we’ll be exhibiting at the Scale Model South Show and the IPMS Avon Scale Model and Wargaming Show, and we’ll hopefully have some prototypes of the Harrier on display, showing off the development journey. We hope to see some of you there!

Thank you to Tangmere Military Aviation Museum for allowing us to visit earlier this month to record the video update. Nick Greenall (Harrier Leader of the IPMS(UK)’s JaguHar Special Interest Group) has been providing invaluable support to the whole team in the last month. Finally, a big thank you to Dave Cotton, who sent through some very useful images that helped us crack the Nose/Fuselage breakdown.

I must also thank both Chris and Horatio, who worked hard to get renders and prototypes ready and shipped to our office in Austria (just outside Salzburg for those wanting to re-create The Sound of Music … and look at models) for an internal meeting/sales preview. I’m glad to say they arrived in one piece!