Best Harrier & Phantom kits

[Bill Cross]

I am acquiring almost no new kits these days - doing this kind of build leaves little time (or cash) for much else - but I remain very attached to the gray & blue Harrier with the large roundels, and the Phantom was the plane of my youth during the Vietnam era.

 

I figure the Trumpeter kit is the way to go for the Harrier, but all the options seem to be Marine Corps (gray) and later RAF (gray, small roundels).

 

With the Phantom, I presume one of the Tamiya's are in order, but not sure which is the kit with the least problems.

• Are there major issues with one or all?
  
• Do they need extensive corrections?
  
• Besides Eduard PE for things like instrument panels, what is needed?
  

And what other AM goodies would be required/recommended?

 

I'm a novice in jets, so I'm putty in your collective hands.

[KOTR]

For the Tamiya Phantom, you might have a look at the Tweaklists. The Harrier has its share of problems, Dave Roof made a thread IIRC

[KOTR]

And here's the aforementioned thread covering the Harrier.

[Bill Cross]

Thanks, I believe Trumpy has three Harrier kits. The review you reference is the AV-8B. Am I to presume the others suffer proportionally and equally?

 

And can any of the kits be camoed with the blue & gray combo with large roundels? I don't even know which version that might be. Sorry for my ignorance.

[LSP_K2]

I can't really help with your questions regarding the Harrier, as I know next to nothing about the aircraft, but the Tamiys Rhino kits are great, and there's a fair amount of AM available to trick them out;... BB and Aires pits, burner cans from a few different sources, decals out the wazoo, etc. Also, I really like your Panther.

[Bill Cross]

Thanks, Kevin. There are four Tamiya Phantoms (five if you include the JASDF kit). Is any one better than the others?

 

I'm not tied to any particular variant or branch of service. My dad was a Marine, but a supply officer, not a jet jockey. If all things are equal, I suppose I would go with kit 60308, but that's why I'm asking around here: you guys are the experts, and I respect your opinions (all 5,381 of them, LOL).

 

And the tweak list page shows AM products for the kits, but most of them (CAM and Cutting Edge) are **** up (the Brit expression for dead) at this point.

Edited July 6, 2012 by Bill Cross

[Lee White]

Bill, the only harriers i can think of with a blue or grey, with large roundels is the Sea Harrier FRS.1, or "SHAR", as it was called. It had blue/ grey uppers and white lowers..... the only way you can get there in 1/32 is to buy the ancient Revell AV-8A Harrier, and modify it using the Tigger Models conversion set.... Not difficult, but it ain't shake-and-bake..... HTH!

Edited July 6, 2012 by Lee White

[Rob Colvin]

There is an Italian bird on the Zotz sheet for a 2 plus.....lo vis small roundels.....I built the Av-8b lots of corrections if thats your thing, but on the shelf OOB it is kinda close enough....The NA, 2 plus, and GR have less to fix. Look at like this...if you want a late harrier (not an RAN bird) the trump kit is the only game in town.

[Dave Roof]

I now have a II Plus kit in the stash and have plans to do a full review on it as well. Just trying to find the time right now is the issue. Most of the discrepencies noted in the afore mentioned review still apply though.

 

Hopefully I'll have something solid posted this fall.

[Derek B]

Bill,

 

It sounds like you are referring to the Harrier I (AV-8A in USM service, GR.1 in RAF service).

 

 

 

In which case, the only game in town in 1/32 scale is the very old and venerable Revell Harrier GR.1 kit.

 

 

This is the usual Revell olive green IM plastic moulding typical of the 1970's technology - raised panel lines and very basic detailing. Although it purports to be a Harrier GR.1/AV-8A, the bad news is that it is actually bassed on a pre-production P1127 RAF, so it is inaccurate around the intakes and the engine compressor fan is moulded in the wrong direction of rotation.

 

The good news is that I am making a correction set for it (although it will be a while before it is ready).

 

HTH

 

Derek

[Bill Cross]

Derek to the rescue.

 

Yes, that's the Harrier I grew up with. I can live with raised panel lines (if there aren't too many), and have done a full Jerry Rutman Bf110G conversion of the ancient Revell kit. So I'm not worried about some resin, LOL.

 

But given the simplicity of those old kits, is there AM stuff to bring the Revell kit up to today's standards? Resin pits? Eduard PE? There isn't a tweak list for the kit. And my experience with Revell decals is they'll fall apart when dipped in the water after all this time, so where can one replace them?

[Kagemusha]

The best Revell Harrier build I've seen is this one http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=13518 for the Trumpeter Harrier http://s362974870.onlinehome.us/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=247172 & http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=234907677&hl=harrier & http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=68019&hl=harrier

 

There has been no AM for the Revell Harrier, save the Sea Harrier FRS.1 and T.2 conversions, available from Tigger

[Bill Cross]

Those are some sweet builds, K, thanks!

 

I don't mind tackling some resin, but would not want to scratch things like ejection seats, etc. If the Revell kit is that horrible, then I would either ****-can the Harrier and focus on the Phantom or perhaps switch to a Trumpeter kit and do something Jarhead.

[Derek B]

Bill,

 

Given the amount of work currently required to bring the Revell Harrier up to scratch, I would go for a Phantom kit Bill - there are more AM accessories and decals for it.

 

Derek

[LSP_Ray]

*Ahem* Don't forget the 1/24 Airfix Harrier! Needs work, but I think less than the Revell kit; at least it doesn't need re-scribing! Not much AM for it either, which can be a blessing sometimes. It is available in the original GR.1, GR.3, and I think a SHAR version. At least the first two if not all three can be in the grey-blue and green camo.