Harrier AV-8A

[Dizzyfugu]

Academy Minicraft made the Sea Harrier in 1/144 for a while, I think they still do.

Is that the Revell (o. G.) one, too? IIRC there was one in the 80ies or 90ies...

[kitnut617]

According to the PAK-20 book, all the 1/144 Harrier/Sea Harriers originated from the Crown moulds, except the Dragon kit.  Academy, Minicraft & Revell all reboxed the Crown kit

[PR19_Kit]

Isn't the Dragon one a GR5/AV-8B though? The Crown/Minicraft/Revell ones are all 1st. gen.

[kitnut617]

I didn't check that far into it, the PAK-20 book comes in two halves, first half is of a listing of real aircraft manufacturers which is then subdivided to each particular aircraft they built that has had a model produced of it, and by who did it and what scale (then who reboxed it).  It doesn't go as far as what variant got produced by the model manufacturer.  You have to go to the second half of the book to look that up, find the particular model manufacturer and depending on who that is, say like Revell, then you have to search through pages of model listings.  It's a bit time consuming --- mind you if I wanted to be really adventurous, I'd put it all on the computer  ----  erm --NOT!       There's about 1400 model companies and nearly 33,000 individual models of aircraft listed   -----

[diegoepoimaria]

As far as i know, there are basically only 5 1/144 kits for the rarrier on the market:

- Harrier GR.1 / AV-8A => From minicraft / crown ( those i have posted here ). They came without the ventral gunpods, nor the ventral strakes, has a slightly wrong nose, wrong air intakes and canopy waaaay too thick.

- Sea Harrier => From minicraft / crown, as before, they came without ventral gunpods nor strakes, they have a TERRIBLE canopy, no auxiliary fuel tanks and wrong forward fuselage and air intake.

But both kits gives you 4 rockets pod ( matra ones ) and 2 Cluster bomb ( BL755 ) ( the sea harrier has 2 rockets pod and 4 cluster bombs ... or the other way around ... ), plus the sea harrier has two sidewinders with their specific single pylon.

Only those two version of the early mall wing harrier exist if you don't count the just arrived harrier GR.1 /3 from foxone ( mine is underway ).

- Harrier II ( AV-8B, AV-8B Night Attack , AV-8B +, GR. 5/7/7a/9/9a ) => From Dragon. Horrible ...
Canopy is wrong, forward fuselage is wrong AND too small, no internal cockpit ( no problem at this scale, but still ... ), intakes without inside ( exactly, you can't see the big engine fan ... ), COMPLETELY wrong gunpods ( i mean, they are simply ... immaginary things ... ) for both the USMC and the UK, Poorly detailed wings and quite bad lerx ( they only "mimic" the 75% lerx ... ), poorly done wings pylons, poorly shaped tail sting and vertical tail too pointy.
Horrible landing gear, ventral details completely wrong.
They all have 2 sidewinders ( not great ones ... ) and launch rails.
ALL the american models comes with 6 snakeyes ( quite nice ) and 2 TERs.
Some american harriers also have 6 mavericks with their triple launcher and a poorly done lantirn set.
If i remember correctly, the UK ones have only the sidewinders.

The new dragon rebox with two harriers includes an upgrade sprue with radar ( too small ), chaff and flare launcher and external pylons ( nicely done, but totally wrong in shape ), some weapons sprue with 500lb laser guided bomb ( can't rememer the name ... gbu 16? ... anyway, nicely done, but slightly wrong in shape ... mutch better the ones from pit road ), 2000lb laser guided bombs and sidewinders.
Plus, there's the tomcat sprue with tomcat's pylon for the lantirn, a lantirn set ( nicely done ) and a SINGLE rail/chaff launcher ...
No chances to have the 100% lerx.
Four external fuel tanks ( nice ).

The new dragon rebox for UK harriers have a new nose ( too small , but nicely done ) and some weapons ( like the USMC ones ).
also, no chances to have the 100% lerx.

Harrier AV-8B+ / GR.7a/9/9a => From Revell / Ace Corporation. BEAUTIFUL!
Nicely and correct shapedplane, with nice cockpit, a great canopy, easier building method, correct wing with 100% lerx, perfect pylons, they come with a litening pod, two fuel tanks and two sidewinders, all great pieces. But no other weapons. Gunpods are perfectly done ( there are separate parts for USMC /UK, as there are different noses and tailcones, different gunpods and specific sidewinders pylons for the UK's ones ).
UK ones didn't have the litening pod.

Only problems are the air intake, with not so correct insides ( even if it have the big beautiful fan ) and the lack of chaff and flare launcher for the USMC version. Plus a too long airscoop for the UK version.

So far those two are the best one i've ever found, and they can be found online at about 5 euros, shipping included ( yes, i've purchased 5 of them ... )


-Harrier AV-8B + => From Cafereo. Not so bad, but has ome big issues, along within some beautiful features.
Correctly shaped plane, but gunpods are too big and bulky. But it's the only one that gives you the ventral strakes.
Air intakes are FANTASTIC! The only one that really catches the harrier feeling.
Nice cockpit, but too thick canopy.
Fuel tanks are a single piece with internal pylons, plus you have two sidewinders ( not so bad ) and a litening pod and a 1000lb laser guided bomb.
Got one, but it isn't all that good. I still prefer the Revell ones.

[kitnut617]

I should mention that the PAK-20 listings are only as good to 2001, with four addendums which stretch it out to 2007.  Anything new after that doesn't appear so some of your listings probably came after this.

[nighthunter]

Thanks for the review!

[Captain Canada]

You hit 'er right on the head there Diego ! Those Dragon 'Harriers' are awful. Worth it for all the whif bits tho....lots of ords as do most of their twin packs. The Tornado comes with everything !

The Revell kits are absolute gems ! If anybody has seen their beautiful little BAe Lightning, you'd know the drill.

[diegoepoimaria]

And here's the last update for this year!

I have to make it fast, since i still have to buy food for tonight, and if i fail i might BE the food ... 

The bottom is almost finished, the color is right and almost all the details are there.
But i discovered too late that the israeli Skyhawk were painted withe on the underside ... So now i have to choose between changing the nationality of the plane and thus changing the camo scheme ( to a two tone low visibility ) or accept that this harrier won't have an exact A-4H/F/something camo scheme ...

Anyway, here's the photos, tell me what did you think.





I tried to add some dirt near the chaff and flare ejectors on the bottom fuselage, to represent the pyro used to launch the decoys.
I still have to do something fot the tailplane and to add dirt to the jet exausts, plus a couple of lines on the wings still needs to be blackened.

[Captain Canada]

I think she looks awesome ! Hard to comment on changing the camo from just the underside shots, but the weathering looks great for such a small aeroplane !

[diegoepoimaria]

Thanks mate
It's strange how the model looks completely different to my eyes ( and i have 12/10 ) and on photograph ... Anyway, for now, i have only done the bottom of the plane, the upper part is still grey / withe / unpainted ... But i have found photos of A-4H with grey underside, so it's still viable!

[diegoepoimaria]

Ok, i think too mucth over silly things ...

The Harrier AV-8I is progressing ( i've painted and mounted the sidewinders and mounted the refuelling probe, plus a couple of aerials. But now i'm stuck thinking that this harrier isn't "right" for the IAF in the intended period.

I was thinking that the Israeli, when chose the Skyhawk as a light attack aircraft, might have choosen to buy some Harriers for testing ( like 10 or 20 , to create a squadron ) too, since they were fightened that their bases might be destroyed by enemy attack, ad they did in the 6 days war.
So the Harrier would be the perfect plane fot the job.

But it didn't have the guns, and the IAF, in the late '60, tought that the guns were necessary, since in the 6 days war they used it quite a lot ( but in the Yom Kippur war they weren't so mutch useful ... ). Plus, it already have the "upgraded" chaff and flares ( and that might be justified by saying that it's a late Kippur war plane, with a crash program to add Chaff and Flares as in the Skyhawk they added the "barrel" at the end of the engine exaust. The lack of cannons can be justified with that as well , since they discovered that cannons weren't so useful ). And the ARBS was already in production with the A-4M, wich in turn became the A-4N that fight in the Yom Kippur War ...

But still somthing didn't fit quite right ...
Plus i'm a little scared of not be able to find the right colors for the upper camouflae ( since i use acrylics ) ...

Yes, i do think too mutch ...

What did you think? What can you suggest me?

[Captain Canada]

Finish the model and be happy 

[kerick]

Military forces seldom end up with the equipment they need at a certain time. Politics, budgets and changing strategies and tactics all conspire to make equipment obsolete or at least not quite the best for the situation at hand. Go ahead and finish your project as you intended and maybe build an alternative in the near future!
This is what makes whiffing fun!!!!

[diegoepoimaria]

You're both right ... that's why i've started with the Whiff ... not having to worry about documentation, realistic combat load, mission specific load, time specific load and camouflage ...
That's why i've started another harrier, this time without the arbs nose ( and so with the old pointy nose ) and with a couple of not-so-right-but-still-nice gunpods. It will be a pre Yom kippur War Harrier, with 2 with store rack taken from a Japanese sprue ( they resemble a lightweight, 2 point, version of a TER ) with 4 Mk.82 snakeye and something else on the external pylons ( still have to decide ... Sidewinders? Rocket pods? More bombs? ).

And the old hattier will probably be a USMC harrier ...

Thanks for the help, it was really important to me!