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1/72 Italeri/ESCI Harrier GR3 XZ989 I’ve wanted to do a Falklands Harrier for ages but could never decide on what one. XZ989 caught my eye after reading the account of the crash in which Wg Cdr Pete Squire decided to ‘get out and walk’ after an engine failure at Port San Carlos Forward Operating Base. Quote “As a result of the rate of descent and the fact that I am pointing directly at a Rapier FU, I elect not to eject and the aircraft hits the ground very hard”. The kit’s been knocking around for years, but I still feel it’s one of the better 1/72 Harriers. It does have a few silly faults such as the vents on the outer wings being slightly out, the bulges underneath where the outer pylons attach, dodgy looking pitot etc. However it was a fairly fuss free build, with only the fit of the front canopy giving me a bit of a palaver. As seems to be my current habit, I’ve detailed up the cockpit a bit, and then stuck the bleeding pilot in hiding all my work! Reworked the oversized lower air brake ‘hole’. Opened up the blow in doors on the intake, stuck some fine mesh in the upper wing and made a new pitot and various aerials, stretched the undercarriage a bit to suggest it’s not under load. Homebrew wash of watercolour/artists gouache. Worms! Dirty boy! I’ve forgotten to fit the wind vane in front of the canopy, and the rocket pods I’ve fitted are the wrong ones (and I’m dubious about the attached pylons). They should be RN 2” types not RAF ones. I fitted them with PVA more as place holders until I get the correct ones (as well as being a good excuse for getting the new Airfix Phantom). I’ve also cocked up on the camouflage demarcation lines. Plenty of photos are knocking about of this airframe, and I followed a mix of the kits and Xtradecals instructions rather than the actual aircraft. Doh! A few other mistakes, but in all honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever made a 100% perfect kit. Not entirely happy with the base either (3mm MDF and static grass), which looks a bit too ‘manicured lawn’ rather than Port San Carlos Airstrip. Decals are from Xtradecals Falklands Harrier sheet, which allows you to build any aircraft from the conflict. It too has a couple of minor faults despite being produced with the aid of the Harrier SIG, i.e. the ‘0’ on the ‘07’ stencil on the tail should be split top/bottom rather than left/right, and the ‘Danger Ejection Seat’ markings are worded wrong. Easily fixed if you’re that worried about it, but still an outstanding decal sheet. C&C more than welcome. Mart