Hasegawa 1/72 AV-8B Harrier II

HASEGAWA 1:72 BAe/McDD AV-8B HARRIER II
'INBOX Review'

Reviewer: Simon Skinner (rec.models.scale)

At last it seems we have an accurate AV-8B in 72nd! Or at least one that is well within the acceptable limits of such a statement. Forget about the Italeri disaster, use this kit instead!

When I saw this on the shelves of the local model store it was one that was not going to stay there very long at all! Off to home it went where I eagerly pulled apart the shrink-wrap to provide you with a quick look under the lid.

Inside the box are 8 or 9 sprues of light grey parts with one-piece canopy as the only clear part in the kit plus caps for the nozzles. The canopy looks well done and is accurate from what I can see, but does have a seam line along the whole part which will need removing, although not massively noticeable unless you are looking closely at it (competition judges will see it!).

The instructions are standard Hasegawa with Gunze Sangyo paint range call outs et al, one which is wrong for the external scheme, see below. No need to run through them all here since you would have seen it all before.

Surface detail is excellent and panel lines engraved with plenty of vents and ducts shown on the model exterior. There are optional intakes in the kit and enough weapon stores to keep most modellers happy (although not sure if they are fully correct depictions? Again see below). The cockpit is typically Hasegawa sparse, with basic detail provided such as seat, stick and instrument panel (decal provided) so nothing new here to get excited about.

The engine doors are separate while the auxiliary inlet covers are molded in the open position but the speed brakes are not separate and are thus molded closed - in otherwords you have one option for wheels down modellers and the other for wheels-up so make your choice here on which to correct! The LERX and nose cone sections are also separate suggesting other versions (which I assume are probably already out by now) are in the mix. Ventral strakes and gun pods are provided, and other stores includes drop tanks and sidewinder missiles.

I wasn't going to bother with test fitting the parts because it is Hasegawa after all, but the what the hell.... and checking fuselage halves, wings, tailplanes and other major components reveals no problems whatsoever so I suspect this kit will probably just about fall out already made if you shake the box hard enough!

Not much choice as far as versions are concerned with two overall three-tone grey examples from USMC VMA-223 VMA-542. FS numbers are 36375/32320/35237. That last FS number is incorrect and it should be 36118 in my book and is an obvious mistake. The decal sheet is again standard Hasegawa with plenty of stencilling, crisp colour register but decals a bit on the thick and glossy side. Should otherwise conform without any problems.

In the accuracy stakes I think you can only really go overly crook at the rear nozzles, which are very hard to reproduce in this scale anyway, they just do not match any reference shots I have in the way they are depicted. For minor concerns, I'm not convinced the stores options are all correct either so some research here will be necessary, the reason why I say this is that GR.5 Harriers have sidewinders in the outrigger fairings, not on the USMC AV-8B aircraft - there are holes there for the pylon attachment. A few small probes and antennae may need double checking against reference photos as well as I am not convinced all are represented accurately.

Overall this is highly recommended from my point of view and I look forward to making the kit in the near future. It is certainly leaps and bounds over the old Airfix offering (reboxed by Heller) and the recent Italeri shocker (or so I have heard!) but it is not perfect as there are a few minor flaws in the kit, but as close as you can get unless you really are a stickler for rivet counting. Go out and buy one!

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