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1/48 Harrier and Tornado kit suggestions


Dunc2610

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So far I've only made WW2 aircraft which is pretty simple to get good quality kits (Eduard/Tamiya), but when it comes to modern aircraft, what kits should I be looking at for good fit etc.

 

Suggestions welcome, thanks.

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I have made the Kinetic Harrier T.4 and really enjoyed it; the Airfix Tornado F-3 ended up in the bin.

 

It partly depends on your expectations, budget and modelling skill; I'm thinking, for example,  that the old Airfix Harriers make up into a decent model with a bit of work and can be had cheap on auction sites

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11 minutes ago, iainpeden said:

I have made the Kinetic Harrier T.4 and really enjoyed it; the Airfix Tornado F-3 ended up in the bin.

 

It partly depends on your expectations, budget and modelling skill; I'm thinking, for example,  that the old Airfix Harriers make up into a decent model with a bit of work and can be had cheap on auction sites

I think my expectations are set by the quality of the latest Eduard and Tamiya kits, I wouldn't say my skill level is up there, as such I wouldn't want to be doing too much erm, faffing! 

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Agreed on Kinetic for the Harrier - it is MUCH better than the others (Airfix, Monogram, (old) Tamiya).  But it does need a fair bit of careful assembly and some fettling of the parts to get a good fit, before you add glue... 

Regards

Tim  

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4 hours ago, TimB said:

Agreed on Kinetic for the Harrier - it is MUCH better than the others (Airfix, Monogram, (old) Tamiya).  But it does need a fair bit of careful assembly and some fettling of the parts to get a good fit, before you add glue... 

Regards

Tim  

The same can be said of the Revell Tornado, which can end up virtually unbuildable if certain parts aren't correctly placed. IMHO there are better choices for someone wanting to break into the modern jet genre. I'd personally start with one of the Tamiya F-16s or F-14s. The F-14s especially are not cheap, but they're fabulous builds.

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The Kinetic kits are a good choice for first generation Harriers, another option may be the Hasegawa Harrier GR Mk. 7/9 or AV-8B kits - Revell also produced a reboxed version of the RAF Harrier.

 

Hope this helps. 

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I'd respectfully advise reading some build reviews of the Hasegawa Harriers before putting any money down. I've just read a couple: sounds like the same mediocre execution of overly complex engineering design that plagued their F-14.

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It is rather simple:

The best and most detailed Harrier is from Kinetic, for a Harrier II it is Hasegawa ( reboxed by Revell and Eduard in its RAF GR.7 version)

For the Tornado it is also simple:

Revell all the way. ( IDS, F3, GR.4 ) were boxed until know, Eduard did a ECR  and a GR 1 with the same plastic.

 

As others stated, those kits are a but over complicated to build... yes.   but .. the others are only alternatives if you have them already in your stash ;)

( I built Monograms early Harrier, Airfix GR.3, Hasegawa GR.7, Italeri Tornado F.3, Airfix F.3, Revell F3 and Revell IDS....

 

 

 

 

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33 minutes ago, Dunc2610 said:

If I'm looking at 1/48 scale, does that influence the options more one way or another? 

All comments above are refering to 1/48 only as far as I can see...

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@Dunc2610 If you have questions about what kits are available, Scalemates is a good reference site that will show you what kits are available in different scales and has links to reviews, completed builds and accessories for each kit.  One of the best features are the charts that show the release history of kits.  A lot of manufacturers will rebox kits from other manufacturers over time.  Sometimes it's just a one off deal other times the molds change hands as companies go out of business and their assets are put to use by other companies.

 

This boxing of the Harrier GR.7/9 originates from Hasegawa

 

111442-10000-pristine.jpg

 

While this one originates from a Monogram mold from the early '80s:

 

spacer.png

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1 minute ago, Steve McArthur said:

@Dunc2610 If you have questions about what kits are available, Scalemates is a good reference site that will show you what kits are available in different scales and has links to reviews, completed builds and accessories for each kit.  One of the best features are the charts that show the release history of kits.  A lot of manufacturers will rebox kits from other manufacturers over time.  Sometimes it's just a one off deal other times the molds change hands as companies go out of business and their assets are put to use by other companies.

 

This boxing of the Harrier GR.7/9 originates from Hasegawa

 

111442-10000-pristine.jpg

 

While this one originates from a Monogram mold from the early '80s:

 

spacer.png

I use scale mates quite a bit, but it doesn't give much of an idea as to the quality of the kits, hence asking here. 

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The 1/48 Kinetic Harrier GR1/GR3 is superb in my opinion. Airfix not so much.

 

Revell Tornado is very good, and with a few bits of aftermarket looks amazing.

 

 

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So I've been having a hunt around, can find the Kinetic Gr1/3 for around £50 and the Hasegawa Gr7/8/9 (on ebay 'used') for between £40-50, are those prices fair, more specifically the Hasegawa one as its via ebay as everywhere else has no stock?

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36 minutes ago, Dunc2610 said:

So I've been having a hunt around, can find the Kinetic Gr1/3 for around £50 and the Hasegawa Gr7/8/9 (on ebay 'used') for between £40-50, are those prices fair, more specifically the Hasegawa one as its via ebay as everywhere else has no stock?

Depends how soon you want a GR7/9... Jadlam are taking pre-orders for a Hobby2000 kit of this, which I would assume is a re-box of the Hasegawa kit.

 

Link

 

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22 minutes ago, Mike N said:

Depends how soon you want a GR7/9... Jadlam are taking pre-orders for a Hobby2000 kit of this, which I would assume is a re-box of the Hasegawa kit.

 

Link

 

I'm in no rush, so I'll keep an eye out for the hobby2000 version. A much nicer price tag! Thank you

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2 hours ago, Dunc2610 said:

So I've been having a hunt around, can find the Kinetic Gr1/3 for around £50 and the Hasegawa Gr7/8/9 (on ebay 'used') for between £40-50, are those prices fair, more specifically the Hasegawa one as its via ebay as everywhere else has no stock?

Yes and no.

 

The Kinetic kit tends to come in about £50. Its nice though, and much nicer than the Airfix GR.3. But Airfix might be good to practice on. (Kinetic is more expensive as there is no traditional supply chain for them)

 

The Hasegawa kit isnt in production, or at least what with supply chain issues its not easy to find at the minute. When it was in stock it was about £25, but the fact its hard to find have put the prices up and modellers fleece each other.

With that in mind I would wait for the Hobby2000 release as that should have a knock on effect to those holding the Hasegawa/Revell boxings of the kit and bring the prices back down.

Jadlam will take £30 off you for it, only the desperate would pay £50 for that kit.

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You can with a little effort end up with a very nice model from the Airfix Harrier GR3 kit. Eduard do the big ed set, with seatbelts and cockpit and some RBF tags which are only of use if you really try, and masks if you spray it up. 
But all that is for the cockpit.

The outside needs some good weathering work to make it pop. But as you can make a hide for it with some PSP from flightpath then the airfix kit can make a model you couldnt tell apart from a Kinetic kit that was just put together and weathered for about the same price inc shipping...
Maybe £10-15 more depending on what dio supplies you already have.

 

Dont dismiss the Airfix kit.

 

People are to quick to dismiss kits... Kitty Hawk is a prime example.

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On 5/20/2022 at 7:40 PM, Dunc2610 said:

I think my expectations are set by the quality of the latest Eduard and Tamiya kits, I wouldn't say my skill level is up there, as such I wouldn't want to be doing too much erm, faffing! 

 

G'day Duncan,

 

If you are expecting to find the same engineering finesse that you have been accustomed to in the Harrier/Torndo kits currently available, prepare to be dissappointed.

 

This is not to say that there are not good kits avilable, the advice you have been given is very sound. The Kinetic Harrier kit family is the best for early generation Harriers but the instructions need close study and you will need to test fit and adjust (i.e. 'faff')  some parts carefully. They do feature superior detail over the Airfix kits which also have poor fit in places in addition to lacking detail. The Kinetic kits also have excellent decals being printed by Cartograph which are as good as it gets.  You will also have a plethora of weapons included, some of them may even be appropriate! 

 

For later variant Harriers the Hasegawa (and their Revell/Edxuard reboxings) are the best choice. For the most part the fit and detail is excellent however as Hasegawa tried to get the most out of its moulds, the kits comprise a common fuselage and include different sprues for the wing LEX and forward fuselage for the GR.7/9 and AV-8A versions. As already mentioned, research some other people's builds before tackling this as the forward/aft fuselage joint is not great and the area where the wing LEX meets is also poorly executed. Also, typical for Hasegawa, you will not get much in the way of stores included. so be prepared to buy aftermarket weapons and pods if you want a fully tooled up jet.

 

Again, as suggested, for the Tonka, Revell is your guy. The detail is nice but the fuselage assembly is somethiong of a jigsaw puzzle. The construction sequence outlined in the instructions can work but there are several on-line vids where some builders suggest alternate sequences which may work better. The bottom line is that the fuselage assembly is not your dad's Tamiya kit.

 

There are other alternatives in 1/48, some are cheaper but the options discussed would seem to fit your requirements best. Although I have stated that these kits have problematic areas, they also have excellent fit overall and feature nice detail. You will just need to work harder and  face  a few frustrating areas. 

 

Or you could wait for Tamiya to tool these kits instead... 

 

p.s. Tamiya did tool an FRS.1 which is still available but I would not reccommend it

 

Pappy

 

 

 

Edited by Pappy
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On 5/25/2022 at 9:41 PM, ElectroSoldier said:

You can with a little effort end up with a very nice model from the Airfix Harrier GR3 kit. Eduard do the big ed set, with seatbelts and cockpit and some RBF tags which are only of use if you really try, and masks if you spray it up. 
But all that is for the cockpit.

The outside needs some good weathering work to make it pop. But as you can make a hide for it with some PSP from flightpath then the airfix kit can make a model you couldnt tell apart from a Kinetic kit that was just put together and weathered for about the same price inc shipping...
Maybe £10-15 more depending on what dio supplies you already have.

 

Dont dismiss the Airfix kit.

 

People are to quick to dismiss kits... Kitty Hawk is a prime example.

 

The problem, as often in these cases, is that each of us gives a different meaning to the term "little effort"... as owner of a Airfix 1/48 Sea Harrier, that is closely related to their GR.3, I would consider the work needed to bring this kit to the level of the Kinetic one as quite involved since the kit has very little in terms of detail and the mould is not particularly refined. Even when this kit was new it was considered second best to the Monogram GR.1 as a basis for a good model and while I've seen very good models built from it they were all from very skilled modellers who had put a lot of work in it (and spent quite a lot of money in aftermarket parts).

My Sea Harrier only costed me £12, less than many 1/72 kits, but after having considered a cross kit with the Monogram GR.1 in the end I put both on sale (the Monogram kit is gone while nobody is interested in the Airfix one) as even if I consider myself a decently experienced modellers I came to the conclusion that there was no way I could turn that kit into something as good as even the 1/72 Esci kit, not to mention the Kinetic one. Of course modellers with better skills than mine may see the matter differently.

 

Similar comments IMHO apply to other 1/48 Tornado kits when compared to the Revell one. The Italeri kit was example can be found easily and cheap but is it worth working hard to bring this to the level of the Revell one ? IMHO not really, although here there's the added advantage that the Revell kit is not particularly expensive or hard to find.

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7 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

 

The problem, as often in these cases, is that each of us gives a different meaning to the term "little effort"... as owner of a Airfix 1/48 Sea Harrier, that is closely related to their GR.3, I would consider the work needed to bring this kit to the level of the Kinetic one as quite involved since the kit has very little in terms of detail and the mould is not particularly refined. Even when this kit was new it was considered second best to the Monogram GR.1 as a basis for a good model and while I've seen very good models built from it they were all from very skilled modellers who had put a lot of work in it (and spent quite a lot of money in aftermarket parts).

My Sea Harrier only costed me £12, less than many 1/72 kits, but after having considered a cross kit with the Monogram GR.1 in the end I put both on sale (the Monogram kit is gone while nobody is interested in the Airfix one) as even if I consider myself a decently experienced modellers I came to the conclusion that there was no way I could turn that kit into something as good as even the 1/72 Esci kit, not to mention the Kinetic one. Of course modellers with better skills than mine may see the matter differently.

 

Similar comments IMHO apply to other 1/48 Tornado kits when compared to the Revell one. The Italeri kit was example can be found easily and cheap but is it worth working hard to bring this to the level of the Revell one ? IMHO not really, although here there's the added advantage that the Revell kit is not particularly expensive or hard to find.

I couldnt agree more, the Kinetic kit will make up into a much nicer model over all but the price is higher over all too, which might be a problem for some.

 

Once you have kitbashed the Monogram GR.1 and Arifix GR.3 you might as well buy the Kinetic kit.

 

I neither said nor implied the Airfix kit is as good as the Kinetic kit is, I said it should be dismissed as a none starter especially considering its very low cost. Its full retail price is pence over £20.

 

I think the Airfix Harrier GR.3 is a good case in point of how you look at modelling. Is it about the destination or the journey.
For me it used to be about the destination, now I much prefer the journey there.

 

I still say the Airfix kit shouldnt be dismissed, as you yourself have said, it can be built up into a nice model.

On 5/22/2022 at 7:48 AM, ElectroSoldier said:

Revell for the Tornado but it can have some problems if you dont build it exactly right.


Revell/Hasegawa for the Harrier Gr5/7/9, Hobby 2000 will release the same kit soon too.

Kinetic for the early Harriers and the FA2

 

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  • 3 months later...
On 5/22/2022 at 4:48 PM, ElectroSoldier said:

Revell for the Tornado but it can have some problems if you dont build it exactly right.

If you go down this path, have a look at some of the builds that have been done on this forum over the last few years. I found other builders' notes very useful when building mine but I still made a few errors.

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