I am contemplating a winter project concentrating on the Harrier in its various marks and using the excellent decals available from Sky Decals. I am interested in obtaining views on the most accurate 1/72 scale kits of the following marks. GR.1, GR.3, GR.5, GR.7, Sea Harrier FRS.1 and AV-8B. Searching the internet it would appear that the choice in most cases would be between Italeri, Airfix, Revell and Hasegawa. Any information you can give on this topic would be useful and most appreciated. Thanks, Derek Shaw
For the first generation Harriers, (GR1, AV-8A, GR3 and FRS1), the most accurate ones are definitely the Hasegawa kits. The problem is going to be getting hold of the external stores as, from what I can remember, the GR3 kit doesn't have the 100 gal tanks which are an absolute necessity.
As I am basing the models on what is available on the BAFRA decal sheet. I would probably be looking at various mixes of Dark Green/Dark Sea Grey overall for the British aircraft or Dark Grey/Grey for the AV-8B models. Maybe a GR.5 of #3 Squadron in Nato green (upper) and Lichen green (lower) or a GR.3 in overall grey. There are a couple more options on the sheet but I will probably pick from this decal sheet unless the kits have something more adventurous to offer in the way of decals. Derek Shaw
There was only one grey GR3. It was XV738/B, the first production Harrier an was used by IV(AC) Sqn. A 3(F) Sqn aircraft, XV809/AF, was painted in the greens scheme that was evenually adopted for GR5s. Both aircraft were delivered in those schemes on return from major servicing and Phase 6 mods at St Athan in early 1984. Both aircraft had been repainted in standard camouflage by June 85.
That reminds me to ask, Enzo: is there anywhere that we can see "standard camouflage" patterns? I tend to randomly blodge paint about, but I wonder if there is a standard pattern to be used.
Oops! The Sky Models (not BAFRA) decal sheet . The GR.3 is of course not overall grey, what I meant to say was overall greys. i.e. Dark Sea Grey upper, Medium Sea Grey lower (# 4 Squadron, serial XV 738) Overall grey would be GR.7 aircraft illustrated on the sheet. Derek Shaw
There *is* a standard pattern for each type. The best online reference that I can offer is the Don Color site.
Harrier
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The Harrier scheme doesn't show the undersurfaces, but in that specific case, your method of "randomly blodging paint about" seems to be a valid course of action. The undersurface is *supposed* to be a mirror image of the uppersurface, but from what I remember, the wing undersurfaces varied quite radically between wing assemblies.
How about the eighties Esci kit? I always heard that the Esci AV-8A/GR3/FRS1 was the best choice, with Fujimi second. The IPMS UK Harrier SIG kit list that Harro cleverly found through the Wayback machine confirms it. My Esci GR3 has tanks that appear to be 100 gallon.
My three jets all still exist in some form or other. XV738 is on the gate at Stafford. XW768 is on the gate at Cottesmore. ZD669 is sat in the warehouse at Hannants!
The GR3 was - strictly speaking - two marks. Modifications such as improved engines, INAS that actually worked reliably, secure communications systems, full AIM-9 and countermeasures capabilities, as well as the removal of a lot of spurious equipment such as the RAT, made the Phase 6 jets far more capable than the earlier GR3s. They didn't gain a seperate mark number because the GR5 was already under development.
The first *real* Harrier was XV738. The previous pre-production aircraft were, strictly speaking, designated P1127/RAF.
At Gutersloh we had two of these aircraft for load training. We called them "plastic pigs" - a name which was later used for the GR5 version. Although at first glance they looked similar to the GR1 Harrier - in that they didn't have a laser nose - there was something "odd" about them. When you looked closer it became apparent that they didn't have the same number of intake bleed air doors as a production jet - and both plastic pigs actually had differing numbers of doors. Both aircraft had dfferent control vents for the Reaction Control System, both of which were again different from a production jet. One pig didn't even have an airbrake. The other pig had the airbrake, but had no nose camera ports! It seems to me that all of the pre-production machines differed from the rest in some manner.
As for the production models, I can think of the following distinct models, but not all of them had different mark numbers.
GR1 - basic model GR1A - uprated engine T2 - Trainer version of GR1 T2A - Trainer version of GR1A GR3 - basic version with further engine uprating uprated GR3 - added LRMTS nose and RWR fairings on fin and tailboom GR3 Corporate fit - Added basic AIM-9 capability GR3 Phase 6 - Full AIM-9 capability, added secure comms and countermeasures capabilities. Removed some redundant equipment. Can be identified by the large antenna on the spine. GR3 Phase 6 Carrier fit - Added an INAS system that could be aligned on a moving deck. Identified by a small fairing and antenna underneath the laser nose. T4 - Trainer version of GR3 with LRMTS and RWR fairings. T4A - Trainer version of GR3 *without* LRMTS but *with* RWR fairings. T4N - Naval version of T4A
Then of course there were the export versions... and the GR5, GR5A, GR7, GR9, T10... no doubt there were several different fits of those marks as well.
Each upgrade of the first generation Harrier added a distinct improvement in capability. I can understand that the GR1 and GR1A kept similar mark numbers. However, the GR3 Phase 6 should really have been given a new mark number, or "GR3A" at the very least.
As I wrote much of the 1/72 part, I suppose I should chip in!!
The ESCI kits are by far the best (The SHAR is currently available from Italeri, and Heritage do a conversion to run it back to a GR1) - there is some dispute about the GR1/3 nose section - reports of it being lost whilst in the ownership of Ertl.
At the time I wrote the list, I said the Fujimi was second, I still think shape wise it is, but the most recent Sea Harrier I got was a pig to put together - it fitted where it touched.
The Hasegawa ones are nice, but not accurate. Well, some are nice! The GR1/AV-8A is the original 60s mould they shared with Frog. the GR3/FRS1 were released in 1983, the Sea Harrier has too short a nose, and the GR3 has too long an LRMTS
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