6th October 2025
Many of you may well remember that almost a decade ago I converted the ancient Airfix Harrier GR.1 into a two-seat T.2. Taking up almost six months of my life, the model was completed and then displayed in my office.
Fast forward to last year and we had a load of work done around the house. My office was turned into a snug, our kitchen and dining room were ripped out and remodelled and that Harrier, well, it ended up in a box, covered in dust and other detritus, details damaged and in need of repair.
With upcoming shows a priority, I decided to take a look at the old girl again, to see if I could clean it up, deal with the finish and then repair the details.
This afternoon, I started that work…
To be honest, the model is in a poor state. First things first was to try and remove the dust and then clean the surfaces as best I could. Dust can embed itself in paintwork, so this involved careful dust removal with a soft brush and then actually cleaning the airframe with a microfibre cloth, some warm water, and mild detergent. In order to do this, I had to remove the underwing tanks, the glazing, tailplanes and parts of the undercarriage. All of these needed to be repaired, so it seemed like a good idea to deal with them separately.
Cleaning the model has slightly damaged the camouflage, so it’s looking likely that I will have to do some touching up, perhaps give it a coat of VMS Satin and then rework the weathering. I’m also planning to deal with some smaller details. I must have really rushed to get the model done for the 2016 SMW, because there are some areas that I can see haven’t been fully painted, which I plan to remedy.
As it stands, I now have a disassembled model sat on my desk that will need considerable work to rebuild. Still, it will be worth it because I’ll be able to take it to shows once again, something that’s not been possible given the poor state that it’s found itself in! I will certainly keep you up to date with progress and when it’s finally back together, I’ll show you the results.
See you tomorrow.
SPENCER POLLARD'S KIT BOX 
Wow was it really 10 years ago? That was also the first time I visited the aircraft museum at Caernarfon and got pics of the two-seat Harrier they have there 🙂
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Spence that’s such a good model and the two seater is a great subject it just has to saved. I did spend a week at RAF Wildenrath on a CCF summer camp in 1976 with the RAF Harrier force in Germany including sitting in on mission briefings with the crews; incredible experience. I’ll never have the skill/patience to tackle an Airfix 1/24 Harrier never mind convert it but I do have a 1/48 Kinetic Harrier T2 in the stash and your book on me shelf… that’s it I’m inspired to “model an icon”! 😉
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