Has anyone bought or built this kit yet? My main concern is if the cockpit has raised detail or is decal? Thanks!
The cocpit has some engraved, raised detail, but it comes with decals for the side consoles & IP.
Regards, Rick
Thanks Rick! Do you know if Eduard has released a PE set for this kit yet?
I haven’t seen one listed yet. They make one for the old Tamiya kit, but it wouldn’t be correct (or fit) the Hasegawa kit.
Regards, Rick
BEWARE OF FIT PROBLEMS GALORE!!! This is NOT the best-fitting kit Hasegawa has produced. The LERX-to-wing fit needs putty & sanding, PLUS, the LERX-to-fuselage fit has about a 1mm gap on each side, requiring putty & sanding. The rest of the kit (so far) fits pretty well. I’m almost to the point of needing to spray some paint before I can go any further. The gun & ammo pods need a little gap-filling where they meet the fuselage as well. Overall, the kit isn’t impossible, but it’s not up to Hasegawa standards either, in my opinion.
Thanks for the update! Is it me or has Hasegawa been slipping in kit quality on their new releases?
This is the first new release from Hasegawa that I’ve bought in a long while, and, needless to say, I’m kinda disappointed in it. I was looking forward to this release, as I used to work on the Harriers, and I wanted something other than Monogram’s kit to build in 1/48th. Oh well. The problems with it are fixable (is that a real word - fixable??), but disappointing.
Other problems are:
The air scoops just behind the canopy, on each side, prevent the canopy from being displayed open, IF you glue them where the instructions say to. Of course, I find this out AFTER I had superglued the scoops on and puttied-&-sanded them to fit. Test fit them BEFORE the final gluing, just to make sure that there isn’t any canopy interference.
The outrigger wheels are molded to the struts, which makes the tires on them extremely hard to paint.
The pylons don’t have a good strut-to-wing fit, although it’s not very noticable with the wing droop.
The canopy and windscreen have a seam down the middle of each.
The cockpit could use a resin or photoetch set.
Just my observations so far. Anyone else want to add to this?
Gary,
Maybe I’ll hold off until AM updates become available.[:D] I have a Monogram Day Attack sitting in my closet with the AMRAAM resin update, so I may go that route.
I found a good site that has 1/48 Harrier decals for all the squadrons based out of Yuma (used to be stationed in Yuma and supported Harriers). The link is: http://flightdecs.ca/decal.html and they have a fairly large selection.
Semper Fi!
Carl
Forgot to mention, the company that makes the decals is Superscale.
Dragonfire,
SEMPER FI, Fellow Devil-Dog!!!
You’ve probably noticed, then, that the Hasegawa instructions say that the chaff blocks are a color other than black. Also, the decal sheet has decals for the chaff blocks, and they’re shown in white with black holes!!! For any of you who are building this kit, the CHAFF BLOCKS ARE BLACK!!! GLOSS BLACK!!! There are two on the bottom, just behind the air brake, and four on top, divided in to two on each side of the RAM Air intake on the base of the horizontal stabilizer. Paint them black!![soapbox] Sorry, I’ll now get off of my ranting & raving. [:D]
So, what squadron where you with at Yuma? I was at Cherry Point, and was attached to H&MS-32, then MALS-32, then MALS-14.
I was with MALS-13 (Supply). Went on deployment (WESTPAC) with HMM-163 (REIN) and VMA-311 was our Harrier Det.
Superscale and TwoBobs also have decals for VMA-231, 223, 542, 331, and VMAT-203.
For everyone else building USMC Harriers; Gary is right, chaff blocks are BLACK!!! The chaff/flares are either silver or blue (I forgot which was what) once in the chaff block. If no chaff buckets are installed then a plate is put in place and that is gray (light or dark ghost gray depending on ALD dispenser location on the aircraft). That also applies for ALL USMC aircraft…KC-130s, CH-46Es, CH-53Es, F/A-18s, UH-1Ns, and AH-1Ws.
That should have read “ALE dispenser”…my typo…[:D]
Yep, and if you REALLY wanna get picky, the corner holes in the chaff blocks can be silver, but only around the edges of the hole. The reason for this is: The chaff blocks are made from a type of plastic (I forgot what the exact type of plastic was, but phenoelic resin comes to mind) that was very thin on the corner holes. So, when the O level guys were doing maintenance on the chaff dispenser system, the chaff blocks would get dropped… A LOT!! And usually right on the corners, making them cave in, not just crack. So, to alleviate this problem, steel cylinders were inserted into the corner holes to reinforce them. Also, the explosive charges for the chaff and flare cartridges would, over time, cause cracking in the holes, so the steel sleeves (or cylinders) would be used to repair the cracked holes. So, you might see a chaff block with more than the four corner holes with steel liners in them. These blocks were part of the AN/ALE-29/39 Chaff/Flare Dispensing System. A very simple system that did a VERY effective job.
Dragonfire,
i saw an add for eduard PE set for Hasegawa AV-8B in british model mag. Looked complete. I’m building the kit now and have run into some fit problems but way better than having to scribe panel lines on Monagram’s version. Seems to build-up quickly,
V/r, bw
Hey Dragon:
I was with H&MS 13 at Cherry point loading them Harriers at the point back in the 80’s.
I am currently working on the PLUS version and to answer your AM question. Yes there is a complete set out there and yes the Chaff buckets are Black. The chaff tubes themselves were White with either Blue or Red plastic end caps.
Eduard has put a set out but the only place I could find it was on Eduard’s site itself( link below)
The set comes with two full frets of parts, From the cockpit all the way back to vents all the way back through to to the tail. the set is kinda steep $22.95+S&H. But with what you get is is worth it IMHO.
I went to my LHS and asked the guy if he could order one. In 5 days he had it and only charged me for the price of the set… So I saved on the shipping and handling.
Hope this helps and thanks everyone else for all the info about the kit.
Paul
P.S I also have the other two versions in the to do pile as well… Yeah I am addicted to these Aerodynamic Wonders
Warlock:
Thanks for the awesome gouge![:)] I had tried the Eduard site yesterday but no luck with the servers connecting. Today it worked fine. Looks like I’ll be ordering the kit and that PE next week. [:D] Thanks again!
Semper Fi!
Carl
Either of you Leathernecks ever open up a full chaff tube? I’ve never seen so much aluminum foil in all my life!!!
Yep. Aluminum EVERYWHERE!
:::rolling eyes:::: nuttin but a bunch of jar heads in here… haha kidding…
I was a doc (HM2) attached to 2nd Mar Div for two MEU (SOC) deployments… We had the Harrier Plus’s with us and they were AWESOME!!! I’d be 8 decks down from the flight deck on the USS Guam and one taking off would rattle my glass off the table…
Only flying I did was on the CH-46’s and CH-53’s (except for a brief hop on an AH-1W) but I always looked at those Harriers in awe. Especially when we would do an op. To see those things coming in low over us and dropping ordinance was awesome. I have a set of pics of one coming in on an island near Turkey, then the next shot is a black cloud… the next shot is half an island… TOO COOL! (Secretly I always hoped one of those pilots would get the clap like the Cobra pilot did, so I could get a ride in one, after I took care of it quietly)
By the way, my time with the Corps was the best I served in the Navy… you guys took care of us docs… I am 5th generation military, 1st generation Navy, previous 4 were Marines… Grandpa almost disowned me he found out I went Navy… till he found out I went Corpsman, he told me if I didn’t go FMF I was a [censored]…
It’s always good to have a “Doc” around![:D] I’m Marine but my Dad was Navy (EM1) and my Granddad was Marine (WWI, yes One, not a typo). We took care of our docs and they always took care of us. [8D]
Semper Fi!