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1/72 Sea Harrier FRS.1 x 2 - Airfix vs Italeri comparative assembly


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It may be strange, but in my "Falklands War model collection" Sea Harrier is still missing! That's why I decided to make two at once. To make it more interesting, they will be models from two different manufacturers - Airfix and Italeri.

 

They are most popular kits of SHAR in 1/72 scale on the market (so far) and are well known, but I`ll try to compare them on this occasion.

 

Airfix kit is from 2011, meanwhile, the Italeri is a rebox of the old ESCI kit, which comes from 1983! It would be logical if Airfix was better, but as you know - it is not. So let`s see both kits.

 

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As you can see - my Italeri`s SHAR is from anniversary combo box (with Wessex HU.5), but it`s the same as in standard box, except for decals.

 

AIRFIX SPRUES:

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ITALERI SPRUES:

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Airfix has more parts and seems to be better detailed.

 

Let`s take a closer look...

 

AIRFIX PANEL LINES:

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ITALERI PANEL LINES:

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COMPARISION (ITALERI OVER AIRFIX):

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As you can see the old Italeri/ESCI kit is MUCH MUCH better in this regard. I will have to work on Airfix` lines...

 

AIRFIX ENGINE EXHAUSTS:

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ITALERI ENGINE EXHAUSTS:

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Both are craps - Airfix exhausts will be very difficult to process (sanding required in the middle) and Italeri are too shallow. I will replace them in both kits with Pavla`s resins.

 

AIRFIX SIDEWINDERS:

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ITALERI SIDEWINDERS:

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1 point for Airfix here, but I think I will look for substitutes for both kits.

 

CLEAR PARTS COMPARISION (ITALERI ON LEFT):

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Italeri is much better in shape and details.

 

AIRFIX DECALS:

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ITALERI DECALS:

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Another point for Airfix. I have spare SHAR decals from DP Casper, Xtradecal and Condor Decals, so main decals are not a problem for me, but I have to use stencils from kits.

 

To make "the match" even I will use almost the same additions for both kits:

- Eduard`s PE sets (73384 for Airfix and 73457 for Italeri),

- Pavla`s resin air intakes and exhausts (72-118 for Airfix and 72-082 for Italeri),

- Pavla`s resin MB Mk.10H ejection seats (72-060 for both kits),

- Pavla`s resin gun pods (72-117 for both kits),

- Master`s Pitot tubes and angle of attack probes (AM-72-052 for both kits).

 

ADDITIONS FOR AIRFIX KIT:

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ADDITIONS FOR ITALERI KIT:

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I know that there are some shape issues in Airfix kit and I will try to do something with that. I hope it will be fun. 🤪

 

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36 minutes ago, Dave Fleming said:

The Airfix SHARs were a massive disappointment, I wouldn't even give them points for that Sidewinder, those rings are so over scale. ESCI/Italeri is still my go to in 1/72

Yes, it`s a shame that the best 1/72 Sea Harrier is almost 40 years old now and is... Italian! 🇮🇹 Hope that Airfix will make new tool someday, because I don`t see a real chance for new Tamiya, Hasegawa or Eduard... 😣

 

I have Kinetic`s 1/48 SHAR kit in a stash, which is not perfect, but something like that I would like to see in 1/72.

 

Current Airfix kit looks as a toy after assembly. I`ll see what I can do with it. Last year I tried to improve Airfix` 1/72 Skyhawks (which also sucks and Fujimi`s A-4s from `80s are still much better), so I have some experience. 😉

 

In the worst case I'll put the Airfix model behind the Italeri on the shelf and I won`t have to look at it. 😎

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2 hours ago, Dave Fleming said:

The Airfix SHARs were a massive disappointment, I wouldn't even give them points for that Sidewinder, those rings are so over scale. ESCI/Italeri is still my go to in 1/72

 A Rub of a sanding stick would cure that, 2 mins work surely.

 

Man Alive I built the Airfix Shar and the Skyhawk and was quite happy with them too. I brought them into a show and tell and guess what nobody cared about the sidewinders rings, the panel lines, The 'Toy' look. They just liked the model for what it is plus I did not waste more money on aftermarket either.

 

Not  having a go I don't know why you even bothered starting a kit with that mindset TBH. Just enjoy it.

 

 

Edited by George Norman
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4 hours ago, George Norman said:

Not  having a go I don't know why you even bothered starting a kit with that mindset TBH. Just enjoy it.

Why? I like challenges like that, so be sure I will enjoy it! :wink:  

 

So let`s start.

 

I cut main parts of both kits from frames. I filled shrinkage pits and assembled wings.

 

Italeri first - no bigger problems, some putty was needed under cockpit area. Parts of the wings matched each other perfectly.

 

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Airfix took a little more work on wings, but after some sanding everything also fit. Some putty was needed at the bottom of fuselage halves.

 

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I decided to get on the panel lines now. My "patent" for too wide "trenches" is very easy. I've already use it on the old OEZ Letohrad 1/48 Su-25 model and I think it worked:

 

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We'll see if I remember how to do it after all these years... :think:

 

First thing I do is deepening (!!!) the lines with engraver. 

 

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After that I cover the deepened panel lines with Mr. Surfacer 500 (quite thick, dense coat).

 

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When Surfacer will be dry I sand it from the lines. They should be much thinner and shallower after that. Soon we will see if this operation was successful...  :waiting:

 

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OK, it`s dry, so I could start sanding. I use normal sandpaper on flat surfaces and sanding sticks around the details.

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When this was done, I started cleaning the lines. I used a toothbrush.

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The next step was to cover the sanded parts with a layer of primer.

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As you can see the panel lines on Airfix model look much better now. They are narrower and more delicate.

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Of course, corrections will be needed in some places, but I will do them later (before painting).

 

Now let's move on to the Italeri model. Here we have a completely opposite problem - the panel lines are a bit too delicate and disappear in some places. I decided to gently deepen all lines with a sharp scalpel and modeling razor.

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In this way I prepared both models for further assembly. However, before I took care of the cockpits, I noticed the difference in size of under fuselage fin between the two models. After checking the photos and plans, it turned out that the fin in the Airfix model is too small (Airfix on the left, Italeri on the right).

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About 1.5-2.0 mm in height is missing, which is clearly visible in this scale. So the next step will be cutting off the fin from the fuselage of Airfix kit and insert the filling, which should give it the right height.

 

TBC

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  • 6 months later...

OK, end of the break.

 

Here's an enlarged fin for Airfix. I will stick it later, when fuselage is assembled.

 

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Time to compare of horizontal stabilizers. First I checked if drawings that I have are correct and it seems that they are. Then I compared the elements of both models with these drawings (Italeri on left, Airfix on right).

 

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It looks like they are incorrect in both kits. In Italeri they are little too long and the tips are in wrong angle. In Airfix the break of the leading edge angle starts too close to the tip. I`ll try to correct all of them.

 

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Meanwhile I've started work on the cockpits. They are very simplified in both kits, so I will use Eduard's PE sets to make them look a little better. Ejection seats will be replaced with resin from Pavla, but I`ll put them in at the end of assembly.

 

ITALERI:

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AIRFIX:

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As you can see - cockpits of both kits differ from each other. I will have to  work a bit to make them more correct.

 

Next step is the assembly of other elements of the fuselage interiors.

 

In Italeri kit there are not gear bays, so you have to make them yourself. Only one part from Eduard's set will help with front gear bay. Front of the engine is simple, but quite nice.

 

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In Airfix kit there are more details, but part fit could be little better. See how airbrake bay differs from that of Italeri!

 

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After mounting everything I could finally put the fuselages together.

 

In Italeri there was a problem with fit of nose section near front gear bay. I had to put pieces of plastic on both sides of it.

 

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In Airfix I had a problem with fit of air intake section. Putty will be needed.

 

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But I'm happy with progress.

 

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TBC.

 

Edited by alex_stela
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With regard to the tail planes, done forget that you are compairing the part against a plan drawing which shows them when viewed from directly above and that they are in fact at an angle, not flat when in plan view. The check the length of them check them against either a head or tail on view. Most people make this mistake or simmilar ones so don't beat yourself up over it if the difference is noticable.

 

Gondor

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Good point! I use blueprints mainly to spot the differences between the two kits. When there is a noticeable difference, I compare parts with photos taken from different angles. The most important thing for me is that the individual elements maintain proportions in relation to the entire airframe, but I'm glad if I manage to improve something else. An assembled kit just should resemble a real airplane as possible, but not only at first glance. 😉

 

Meanwhile, I installed the wings. Fitting in both models rather average, a little better in Italeri.

 

ITALERI:

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AIRFIX:

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As you can see the vertical stabilizer in Italeri has also arrived. I also installed a fin under fuselage and radar cover in Airfix.

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I've grinded a nose a bit in Airfix to give him a little better shape.

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I've also improved the radar detector covers on the vertical stabilizers (in Italeri it was too thick, while in Airfix too narrow and too short).

 

BEFORE:

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AFTER:

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The next step was to adjust the air intakes. I decided to replace them with Pavla resin, which unfortunately are not of the best quality.

While in the case of ITALERI this exchange makes sense... (kit parts on top, resin below)

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...in the case of Airfix I do not see this sense and I regret that I did not use the air intakes from the kit.

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Yes, Airfix is in this case better not only than Italeri, but also Pavla...

Anyway, I glued the air intakes to the fuselage on both models and completed work on the main airframe solids.

 

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Now I am faced with tedious grinding, correcting and recreating some panel lines. This is not my favorite stage of working on the model, but I hope to get through it somehow.

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G'day Alex,

 

Some lovely work going on and an extremely useful thread for those that want to know which kit to buy based on its merits. I also like the fact that you are offering a solution for each shortcoming, all too often people will pick apart a kit but not offer a remedy.

 

I am not sure if this was already mentioned but my biggest issue with the Italeri kit are the strange 'humps' moulded into the wing underside at the outboard stations. I have been told these represent aerodynamic fairings used in lieu of the pylon but if you want to install the outer wing pylons this feature should not be there and will require some sanding to remove. Apart from this feature I think the Esci kit outshines Airfix's offering in most areas

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

Edited by Pappy
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On 21/11/2020 at 08:52, Pappy said:

I am not sure if this was already mentioned but my biggest issue with the Italeri kit are the strange 'humps' moulded into the wing underside at the outboard stations. I have been told these represent aerodynamic fairings used in lieu of the pylon but if you want to install the outer wing pylons this feature should not be there and will require some sanding to remove.

 

Thank you very much for this comment, because I did not pay attention to these details before! They wasn't easy to remove, but I did somehow.

 

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In the meantime I started working on AIM-9Ls and ejection seats. Sidewinders are from Airfix kit (slightly improved), seats are Pavla`s resins.

 

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For the airframes I added all the small air intakes that were missing in both (!) kits and drilled some holes. I also installed the elevators in tilted position, which turned out to be quite difficult, especially with the Italeri.

The airframes still require minor corrections and final grinding.

 

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Besides that, I will try to correct the shape of the fuselage around the cockpit in Airfix, which will take some time.

 

TBC.

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Thanks, guys!

 

I`ve raised sides of the cockpit in Airfix a little and corrected the angle of windscreen attachment:

 

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I think it looks better now:

 

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After mounting a HUDs in cockpits I could to attach a windscreens to the fuselages finally. I managed to fit everything well 😉

 

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I am still making corrections to the airframe finish, but slowly I come to the point where I will be happy with the effect.

 

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I suppose I will spend quite a lot of time fitting the resin cannon pods to the fuselages (Pavla resin in the front, Italeri back left, Airfix back right).

 

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Unfortunately, they fit poorly with Italeri, and even worse with Airfix. But they look nice and I hope the effect will reward the work.

 

TBC.

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A little update. I finally got those gunpods fitted.

 

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And I got to the point where I could start painting. First - black radar covers and a little preshading. Airfix model will be all Extra Dark Sea Grey "14", while Italeri Medium Sea Grey / Barley Grey "77", both from Operation Corporate of course.

 

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In the meantime I`ve started working on the pylons. Main pylons are quite good in both models, but Sidewinder launchers in Airfix are much too short, too low and very simplistic (Italeri on left, Airfix on right):

 

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So I decided to make new ones from scratch:

 

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Painting jobs are waiting for me now. I hope there will be no surprises...

 

TBC.

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On 11/30/2020 at 8:16 PM, alex_stela said:

Thanks, guys!

 

I`ve raised sides of the cockpit in Airfix a little and corrected the angle of windscreen attachment:

 

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I think it looks better now:

 

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After mounting a HUDs in cockpits I could to attach a windscreens to the fuselages finally. I managed to fit everything well 😉

 

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I am still making corrections to the airframe finish, but slowly I come to the point where I will be happy with the effect.

 

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I suppose I will spend quite a lot of time fitting the resin cannon pods to the fuselages (Pavla resin in the front, Italeri back left, Airfix back right).

 

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Unfortunately, they fit poorly with Italeri, and even worse with Airfix. But they look nice and I hope the effect will reward the work.

 

TBC.

G'day Alex,

 

Brilliant stuff. I actually think the Esci gun pods are the nicest as the various bulges are more subtle and really only llack the gun vents. The Pavla vents look a little too big and some of the side bulges are too pronounced (IMO) but they are better than the Airfix effort which look to fat and rounded, especially in the middle,

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

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9 hours ago, Pappy said:

The Pavla vents look a little too big and some of the side bulges are too pronounced (IMO) but they are better than the Airfix effort which look to fat and rounded, especially in the middle,

 

In fact all Pavla resins for these kits are very poor... 😒 The only consolation for me is that they were quite cheap. As for the Airfix model, it is even worse than I thought! 🤬 And I still have an Airfix SHAR FA.2 model to build, but I don't know if I'll ever want to start it, because it's based on the same parts as this FRS.1. 

 

But I am finishing whining now, because I wanted to show the progress in painting.

 

Airfix first.

It will be XZ457 black "14" of HMS Hermes Air Group. While sailing to Falklands all white undersides were manually overpainted with Extra Dark Sea Grey. New painted areas were very slightly lighter than original EDSG on top. I tried to delicately mark this difference by slightly brightening the lower surfaces.

 

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Apart from this detail, the painting scheme is quite monotonous. I tried to diversify the surface a bit by spraying spots in different shades of EDSG, usualy brighter. The places on the fin, where the 899 NAS emblem and the inscription "ROYAL NAVY" were overpainted, were covered with slightly darker paint. Unfortunately, all those effects are not clearly visible in the photo below. 🙄

 

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Italeri will become ZA177 black "77" of HMS Hermes Air Group. This plane during the Falklands War was in Medium Sea Grey / Barley Grey scheme with low-vis roundels. After "absorption" of 809 NAS by 800 and 801 squadrons on 18th May 1982, emblems and "ROYAL NAVY" inscriptions on the fin were overpainted with MSG. First, I drilled a hole for the headlight at the root of the port wing, because this plane had one. Then I painted the lower surfaces with Barley Grey:

 

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After the paint was dry and masked, I painted the rest with Medium Sea Grey. 

 

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Now both models are waiting for decals and sticking smaller elements.

 

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TBC.

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On 28/11/2020 at 23:55, Ad-4N said:

The way the ESCI Harrier was designed, I have always wondered if they planned two-seaters, but went out of business before they issued them.  

It was so they could do the GR3 and use most of the same moulds.

 

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A busy Sunday is behind me. I've painted various small elements, "shined" the models with gloss clear and placed the decals. There was not much work with the ZA177, but much more with the XZ457. Airfix decals responded very well to the softener. In general, decals are the best element of the Airfix kit. ;-)

 

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TBC.

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On 12/5/2020 at 1:54 PM, John_W said:

It was so they could do the GR3 and use most of the same moulds.

 

I agree it was to do the GR3.  My point was they could have extended the first generation Harrier family by making two-seaters in addition to the single seaters.

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I had to correct the shape of outter pylons in Italeri, because after removing "bubbles" under the wings they don`t fit.

 

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After installing the pylons and engine nozzles, I was able to start "washing".

 

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Then I covered both models with a satin clear varnish. Minor corrections will be needed, especially in the areas of vortex generators.

 

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Next step will be landing gear, what is not easy in Harrier models.

 

TBC.

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Now is the time to assemble the landing gears.

 

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Take a look at the Airfix side wheels (on the right) - this does not seem like a funny joke... 😒

 

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And that's even less funny...

 

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The problem of too short side wheel struts is also in Italeri, but there it was enough to saw off the tires of the main gear. It turned out that in the Airfix, the main and front landing gear legs are little too long, and the side legs are little too short (and their wheels are too small). I tried to fix the problem by lengthening the side wheels struts and shortening the main leg, but the effect still does not satisfy me - the plane looks as if it is standing on stilts. 

 

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For this reason, I decided to stop working on the Airfix, buy side wheels for the FA.2 from Aires and make the whole landing gear again. Now I will focus on completing Italeri.

 

TBC.

 

Edited by alex_stela
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 Great work Alex and very valuable for those wanting a real world comparison. It looks like the Airfix outriggers are in a weight off wheels state i.e. uncompressed as in a hover despite having the flat spots moulded into the tyre.

 

The outriggers would probably not looked so bad until they were compared directly to the Esci offering.It will be interesting to see the improvement afforded by the resin,

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

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