REVIEW:- AIRFIX 1/72 Hawker Siddeley Harrier,GR.1

[Deleted]

Well,I did say I would try and review the contents of this new release from Airfix



Right,as per the norm i'll give you the main sprue shots,of which there are 4 in the now normal grey,and one clear sprue with the canopy etc


Sprue A,comprising the main cockpit tub,SNEB rocket pods,and the tail feathers,and nicely weighted wheels..


Sprue B,Half of the nicely detailed fuselage,fuel drop tanks,nose cone and a choice of open or closed engine airflow deflectors,and the 2 gun pods.


Sprue C,Main wing assembly,rest of the bang seat,and the IP and sundry parts


Sprue D,Starboard fuselage,weapons hardpoints,jet intake and exhaust nozzles,and the main undercarriage olios,and outrigger legs.


Clear sprue,as if you needed telling.

[Deleted]

Ok now you've seen the HUGE parts count(89),lets have a quick look at some of the detail on the parts....


THe engraved panels lines on the upper wing are,in my opinion, nicely defined,and as you can see,there appears to bevery little,or no flash on any of the sprues.

If anyone remembers the old kits from Airfix,with the 'blobs' to put in the pilot seat,this is what you get now.....

Not bad for 1/72,eh?
This kit can be displayed in flight,or on the ground,but it appears not in the hover,unless you want to extend the undercarriage,as this comes in the kit 'loaded',as far as I can discern.
There are 7 pages of instuctions,comprising 45 stages,2 pages of colour showing the 2 different schemes available in this kit,One is from No1(F) Squadron,RAF Wittering,September 1970,


And 20(R) Squadron,RAF Wildenrath,West Germany,June 1971

there is also a page showing all of the common stencil data....Alot of decals!

And talking of decals,here they are...Printed by Cartograf,so we know we should be getting quality decals


Detail inside the cockpit is a bit soft,but an 'opportunity' for a super detailer,if you so desire.I removed the 2 fuselage fron the sprue for a test fit,as I usually do....Not too bad eh?


Should require minimal clean up,with the possibility of NO correction fluid whatsoever,which is no bad thing in this scale.

I'm no REAL expert when it comes to it,but if this builds up as nice as it looks,it will be a lovely little addition to anyones shelf.
Airfix have really upped their game in recent years,and I read somewhere that they were ACTUALLY thinking of bringing production back to the UK!

Anyway,enough of me waffling,and if I didn't have SO much on the bench,I would crack straight into this kit.If anyone has any questions comments I'll be more than happy to try and answer them,and I hope you found this informative.

[AverageJoe]

We've got some of these at work. I might give one a try Good start on the review Im in!

[venom1]

Cracker of a kit CB!

Will definitely try and get my grubby hands on one here!

Cheers,

Sam

[Mence]

Doesn't look too bad CB, thanks for sharing.

[Deleted]

Looks to be a very nice kit Cee Bee, I might buy me one   That and the Gnat remind me of the hay-day of air shows in the 70's when you'd see over 20 different types flying. Not so anymore 

Only disappointment for me is that I hoped the fuselage would be on its own runners as that might have indicated  a T4 to follow, but no 

[bbd468]

Splendid review CeeBee! The kit looks really nice with crisp details. Thanks and well done my good man!

[TRM]

Great job on the review CB!!! Concise, informative and clear pics!! Well done!! How many of these decs go on this??? It braille....

[Deleted]

Well,thank you kindly gentlemen!!!It is nice to get feedback from discerning modellers,whether they build wingies or not! ..Yesterday morning,I did what i promised to do on the Mod forum,and managed to throw this together in about 4.5 hours.Pics will follow tomorrow,of how I faired,and,I hope,an honest opinion of what I found in my travails!
On the whole a really nice kit to build,but can be tidied up,if you REALLY feel the need to! (I didn't,cos I'm a lazy beggar! )

Ohhhh!! Sheepdip!! I forgot to lay the primer down!!!! (Glad I didn't agree to finish the build....ALL them DECALS!!! )

[robbo]

Looks a very nice little kit CB, one to invest in I think

[Deleted]

If you build it.... I'll watch.

[Deleted]

Sorry DF,she's already built!!!


I'll post up how I got to that happy stage this evening.

[macmcconnell.]

Nice build mate looks a nice little kit.

Mac

[bbd468]

Aug 24, 2013 4:10:20 GMT -5 @chrisb said:

Sorry DF,she's already built!!!


I'll post up how I got to that happy stage this evening.

WOW CeeBee, that was lightning fast fella!!!   More my good man.....MORE!!!!

[deafpanzer]

CeeBee built it? Or he invited Dicky over to help in exchange for a meal or beer? Great build! I think this is what we want to see how it looks like built. I even like it but I am really looking forward to that #2. LOL

[Deleted]

Cheers guys,for the feedback on my first 'Proper' review.Much appreciated!...Oh,and ANDY....this WAS thrown together by my own not so dainty fingers,as on this occasion it was never going to get painted.

Anyway,reason I'm here??....to try and let you know how the build went,as far as I was concerned,so first up is the cockpit assembly..


With minimal clean up,the 7 parts of the CP were thrown together,and to this would be added 6 decals,to detail out the CP a bit.4 for the instrument panel and controls,and 2 placards on the 'Bang seat'...When closed up,not a lot will be seen,but it will spread the build a bit,eh?

The next few stages deal with the engine intakes either side of the aircraft.these were assembled,and fitted in each half of the fuselage,and the turbine blade,speed brake/rear undercarriage housing would be fitted before closing up the 2 fuselage halves.Shown completed here...





I have to admit though,with hindsight,I maybe should have tried the 2 halves of the intake together,and THEN mounted the whole assembly in the fuselage,this may well have accounted for the gap I had here....

My fault possibly,so I can't blame Airfix!

Next you put the main wings together,3 parts,done.....again not a bad fit at all..


Elevator and tailplane came next,simple but effective,one piece elevators,which are poseable,and a 1 piece tailplane,again nicely detailed,and a good fit.
BTW,if any of you fellas start measuring,and saying this isn't accurate....go do you're own reviews,cos to me,this looks like a Harrier,and it looks just about right!! (May have to edit that,Boss!! )
And NOW it's starting to look like a wingy,eh?



After that,I did get a bit carried away,and forgot to take some of the piccies,but I hope you'll get the drift..Another image before the undercarriage,hardpoints,and underslung tanks,ordnance were fitted.


Next up were the intake deflectors,undercarriage,and the 4 hard points for this version....you may also see one of the 30mm Cannon pods dryfitted.Minimal seam clean up,if you are careful..

And finally,the fuel drop tanks,and the SNEB rocket pods.....



The canopy,and front screen are tacked on with some PVA for the images,but they also fitted very well,and overall,I think this is a kit worth a relatively small investment,to have a bit of fun with,which,after all is what this fine Hobby SHOULD be all about.
Minor fit issues at the wingroots,and inside the front U/C well,as I've shown..but that may have been down to me!

Couple more shots of the 'finished' article,and thank you for looking in.....






Forgot to mention,this sells on the Airfix site for the princely sum of £10.99.

[Deleted]

I thinki I might have to buy me one of these Cee Bee, Harriers, and their short wings, don't need much room to display 

[Deleted]

Good lookin Bird!

[wbill76]

Nice build-up CB, always love the look of the Harrier!

[venom1]

Nice job on the review CB, looks like a lovely little kit!

Cheers,

Sam