Airfix has done a commendable job of issuing its new Harrier kit with darn near all the options a modeler could want. The extensive instructions are “busy,” with myriad illustrations and notes — and with all the options in the kit, the builder needs to pay attention to them. Painting specifications reference only Humbrol colors.
The kit provides a full complement of external weapons and stores, including Sniper and Digital Joint Reconnaissance pods, a pair of Paveway laser-guided bombs, AIM-9L Sidewinders, rocket pods, and fuel tanks. Options are provided for an open or closed canopy and speed brake, retracted or extended refueling probe and landing gear, a choice of extended or retracted flaps and ailerons, positionable nozzles, and plenum chamber blow-in doors. Both configurations of the Harrier Leading Edge Root Extension mods are given as optional parts, and an excellent cockpit tub and instrument panel with raised detail are provided.
I was really impressed with the engineering that went into the kit, as parts pretty much just clicked together — only minor filling and sanding were needed — and the only troublesome seams were those on the flow vanes inside the nozzles. I was pleasantly surprised to stand the model on its gear for the first time and observe all four points touching my workbench on their kit-supplied “flattened” tires.
Sprue gates are a little thick, and parts are best removed with a razor saw instead of nippers. But the trade-off is rewarding, since that allows for the kit’s excellent detail on all its parts. I’ve always liked the cobra-like appearance of a hovering Harrier from a front view, so I built my model with everything hanging, including the flaps. Options for posing the aircraft in flight are given in silhouette view on the instruction sheet, but no stand is provided (though one is shown).
The clear parts are a little thick but optically nice; a mold line runs down the exterior center of the canopy, which I easily sanded and polished off. The det cord for the canopy is given as a decal.
Decals are for one GR7A and two GR9As, but two have variations in their schemes so there are actually five options. The excellent Cartograf decal sheet has full stenciling for the aircraft and stores, and everything fit the model, settling right down into all the crevices and curves.
A fine kit and a fairly simple build, I spent 20 hours on my Harrier. It’s a lot of model for a reasonable price, and it makes a gorgeous replica just built from the box.
An operational note: Harrier flaps are retracted right after landing, and it’s considered a major gaffe to forget that item and leave them extended. So, the pilot figure, which Airfix has included in the kit, is absent from my build. He’s at the officer’s club bellying up to the bar buying an obligatory round for his squadron mates.
A version of this review appeared in the December 2011 issue of FineScale Modeler.