Nice exterior and interior details,
superdetailed engine
Cons
Nothing noted
Skill Level
Intermediate
MSRP (USD)
$169.95
Background
The AV-8B series was the second generation of US Marine Corps
VSTOL close air support attack aircraft. Where the first generation
of Harriers were developed by Hawker Siddeley, this second
generation was led by McDonnell Douglas to apply improvements
in engine performance and aerodynamic advances to create
an more versatile airframe. Still powered by the Rolls
Royce Pegasus engine, the Harrier II's engine produces more
than 4000 pounds of additional thrust over the engines of the
first generation Harriers.
You'll recall that while much ado was made over the advanced
thrust-to-weight ratios of the F-15 and F-16, by definition
the Harrier had a greater than 1:1 thrust-to-weight ratio a
decade before the F-15. While the Harrier and Harrier II are
not designed for supersonic operations, their unique ability
to vector their thrust via four exit nozzles below the wings
give them the ability to vertically take-off and land (VTOL)
or perform short take-offs and vertical land (STOVL) to carry
greater payloads.
The first AV-8Bs entered service in the mid-1980s to replace
the AV-8A and slightly improved AV-8C airframes. These aircraft
saw combat in Operation Desert Storm as well as other combat
operations in support of US Marines on the ground. The first
AV-8Bs were equipped with the Angle Rate Bomb System (ARBS)
that was first introduced on late-model USMC A-4 Skyhawks which
made them ideal for daytime operations. These AV-8Bs were replaced
by the AV-8B+ Night Attack Harriers starting in 1993 and these
AV-8B+ aircraft remain in service until (hopefully) replaced
by the F-35 Lightning II.
The Kit
The Hawker Siddeley Harrier and McDonnell Douglas Harrier
II (and even the Sea Harriers) have been available in scales
from 1/24th to 1/72nd. There have been a wide variety of kits
from Airfix, Monogram, Revell, Tamiya, Hasegawa, and others,
so which one is the best? Up until now, my vote went to the
Airfix 1/24 Harrier GR.3 kit. This kit not only updated the
original AV-8A/Harrier GR.1 release, but it also updated several
shortfals in the kit that were previously left to the aftermarket
to correct. While I haven't had the pleasure of seeing the
1/24th Sea Harrier kit, I assume that Airfix advanced the kit
even further.
As I recall, the only kit of the Harrier produced in 1/32nd
scale was the Revell and being an older tooling, this was of
course a model of the AV-8A. This new release from Trumpeter
is the first offering of the Harrier II in this scale and according
to the release schedule, definitely will not be the last. This
release is to be followed by the AV-8B+ Night Attack variant
and a Harrier GR.7.
The kit is molded in the usual Trumpeter light gray styrene
and presented on
19 parts trees plus one tree of clear parts, a small fret
of photo-etched details, and a set of rubber tires. This kit
consists of 432 parts and you can see from the images that
there are lots of details in there.
The kit has the following features and options:
Nicely detailed SJU-4 ejection seat
Nice cockpit with most of the glass cockpit features rendered
as decals
Photo-etched HUD frame
Beautiful detailing on the Pegasus engine if you leave
the wing loose to display the engine. If you're going to
permanently attach the wing, you can skip many of the details
on the engine and engine bay
Detailed main landing gear and outriggers
Detailed wheel wells
Positionable auxiliary inlet doors
Positionable ailerons
Positionable stabilators
Positionable rudder
Positionable flaps
Postionable speed brake
Positionable forward air dam
Choice of gun pods or longitudinal air dams/strakes
Postionable engine nozzles
Air refueling probe is not positionable - stowed only
Of course the kit doesn't stop here. This release also has
a nice array of external stores options. These include:
2 x external tanks
2 x AGM-65E Laser Mavericks
2 x AIM-9L Sidewinders
4 x Mk.82 Snakeyes
4 x Mk.82 Slicks
2 x Mk.117
6 x GBU-12
2 x TERs
The kit goes together in classic fashion starting with the
Stencil ejection seat and cockpit followed by the other complete
kit in this box, the Rolls Royce Pegasus engine. Check your
references on the seat cushion details on the Stencil seat
as the ribbed rear cushion will be easy to replicate with a
hobby knife. The seatbelts and shoulder harness are provided
as photo-etched parts. The rear deck behind the ejection seat
is also a photo-etched part. The HUD frame mentioned above
as well as a pair of canopy frame mirrors round out the extent
of the photo-etched parts which will make this kit an easier
build.
The fuselage is separated at the intake with the nose section
provided separately. This makes the rendering of the other
Harrier variants a simple swap of trees.
With that beautifully rendered engine it would be a shame
not to be able to show that off. The inlet duct is molded integral
to the compressor face, so the engine won't be convenient to
display on its own without a little surgery, but you need the
engine in the fuselage in any case to mount the nozzles. I
don't know how this will work out in execution, but it looks
like the Trumpeter engineers provided enough 'bite' on the
wing/fuselage joint to safely pose the aircraft on its gear
withot glueing the wing in place. You may have to tweak the
strut lengths to keep the wing from riding high or with one
outrigger off the ground. We'll see how that works out...
Markings
The kit provides markings for two examples:
AV-8B, BuNo 162972, VMA-231, CG/01, USMC
AV-8B, BuNo 162962, VMA-223, WP/17, USMC
There are two sheets of decals in this release, one for the
two airframe options and the other for the stenciling and weapons
color bands for all of the stores options in this release.
Conclusion
This is another impressive release from Trumpeter and if this
kit builds as nicely as it looks, I think we have a new candidate
for best Harrier in any scale. Nice work Trumpeter!
