Juan R-S Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 Hello all, I was wondering which 1/72 kit of the FRS -1 Sea Harrier is currently considered the most accurate. Working hard on a fujimi 1/72 GR3 and it is a major pain. Almost all joints needed fill and the canopy will not sit properly. I am going to finish it as a "what if" to justify its lack of detail. I really do not want to experience this much hassle with a FRS-1. TIA, Juan R-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 Best in scale is Esci, today reboxed in the last few years by Italeri. Cockpit could be better but in terms of shape it's still the best and fit should be a bit better than the Fujimi kit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 I would say Kinetic, even though the scale is 1/48! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieGolf2009 Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 Definitely ESCI/Italeri, if you can get one. Airfix, Hasegawa and Fujimi SHARs all have issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Fleming Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 ESCI/Italeri - actually designed by the same person/people as the Fujimi one, but they obviously learnt from their mistakes or had a bigger budget! Not perfect. as Giorgio says the cockpit is a bit basic and it definitely needs a new seat for the FRS1 (Pavla do one that is underscale but fits the cockpit without too much modification) and I've never been entirely happy with it's sit (It always looks a bit flat). The main fit issue is around the intakes and there are one or two tricks to avoiding these (basically join the intakes to the fuselage BEFORE adding the nose, then you can remove material from the inside faces of the intake parts rather than trying to sand flush the outers). Other things to watch are the wing/fuselage joint on the underside - never yet built one that didn't need a little filler along there. But it's still the best Sea Harrier in 1/72 even after almost 40 years 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted March 12, 2021 Share Posted March 12, 2021 They speak the truth! Esci GR1, GR3, and FRS1 kits are still the best in scale overall, with the addition of aftermarket cockpit, seat, and exhaust nozzles, and if you're not so inclined as to doing your own, a set of intakes with the blow-in doors already correctly positioned for a shut-down engine. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theplasticsurgeon Posted March 12, 2021 Share Posted March 12, 2021 Esci 809NAS Fleet Air Arm. ignore the boxart it's parked on. Fujimi 899NAS Fleet Air Arm. And recommending an honourable swerve if you can find either of the above, for Matchbox. 700A Flight. 800NAS, Post Falklands. 800NAS Pre Falklands. 801NAS post Falklands. I did learn - after a few completions. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted March 12, 2021 Share Posted March 12, 2021 1 hour ago, 72modeler said: They speak the truth! Esci GR1, GR3, and FRS1 kits are still the best in scale overall, with the addition of aftermarket cockpit, seat, and exhaust nozzles, and if you're not so inclined as to doing your own, a set of intakes with the blow-in doors already correctly positioned for a shut-down engine. Mike Good point, the Esci kit features closed auxiliary intakes and it's worth replacing them with those from Pavla, that also include the exhausts. Personally I feel that the Esci exhausts are decent enough though. Of course the auxiliary intakes can be opened by the modeller but the Pavla ones make the job much quicker. Dave said well about the cockpit, the seat is nothing like the MB Mk.10 of the Sea Harrier. Replacing the cockpit would be more difficult.. Pavla has a set but it's for the Airfix kit and it needs a lot of work to fit in the narrower Esci front fuselage. Alternatively Eduard offers a PE set specifically for this kit, that however does not sort the seat. Eduard actually offered both a Zoom set, for the cockpit only, and a more complete set including parts for the exterior too (that also included a cockpit access ladder). One problem common to all Esci Harriers is that the wings feature a bulge under the outer pylons. These were only in place when the pylon was not installed, so to build a model with all 4 wing pylons ideally the bulge should be sanded flat and then the relevant area in the pylon itself should be filled. I'm sure there may be another few things to sort but IIRC these are the main ones. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 If you're up for a bit of fun you can always kitbash the Fujimi and Hasegawa kits and add a bunch of aftermarket bits designed for ESCI and Airfix: I only chose this path because I already had all these pieces in my stash! Cheers, Bill 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelldoc Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 The oldest is here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/21603181@N08/16403581540/in/photolist-qZwDio-oifUYD-97qSkX/ from MATCHBOX and a special issue from the Airfix Club is here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/21603181@N08/5323605165/in/photolist-qZwDio-oifUYD-97qSkX/ modelldoc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now