Hasegawa 1/72 BAE/McDD AV-8B Harrier II

HASEGAWA 1:72 BAE/MCDD AV-8B HARRIER II
'INBOX Review'

Reviewer: John Lacey (rec.models.scale)

72nd Scale Hasegawa AV-8B Harrier II

Background

This is the first of Hasegawa's new AV-8B based kits and represents the initial AV-8B Harrier II without the later Night Attack or Plus avionics. The type achieved a degree of fame during Desert Storm before being replaced by -8B(NA) or -8B Plus machines.

The Sprues

Ahh, the 'uberkit'. (Luckily for this reviewer, this kit was picked up at a bargain price). The kit is, as expected, a tribute to the mould maker's art and puts Italeri's product to shame. I can almost guarantee that once the sprues are released from their bag, the kit will fall out completed upon my desk. Voila! But seriously, we're talking very nice here. A somewhat sparse cockpit, with decaled instrument panel & sidewalls, a control stick and two raised lumps for rudder pedals, pretty much as expected for the scale. The Harrier's rotating nozzles for the Pegasus turbofan are very nicely done and there are four vinyl 'polycaps' that allow these to move. As one would expect, the 'bicycle' type landing gear has boxed in wells, the outriggers being much simpler representations. The small air dam forward of the gun pod/strake area is also a separate piece, designed to be posed open. Clear parts consist of canopy, windscreen, HUD Pane and ARBS window, a note must be made that the canopy has the correct bulge to it. (I can almost hear the 'rivet counters' out their fainting in ecstasy).

The Options.

The canopy and exhaust nozzles have been previously mentioned and their is also an IFR probe, lateral strakes or gun pod system. There would seem to be no option for 'wheels up'. Stores are few (surprise, surprise) and consist of two AIM-9Ls and two drop tanks.

The Instructions

These consist of a bi-lingual aircraft history, twelve construction steps, a stores guide, a parts map, paint callout in Gunze Sangyo Aqueous and Mr Hobby colours and a painting and decaling guide for two aircraft.

Colours and Markings

Two machines are catered for, both sporting the later AV-8B TPS, one from VMA-223 'Bulldogs' and the other from VMA-542 'Flying Tigers'. The decals are beautifully printed, in perfect register and include a plethora of stencils and 'slime lights' and as an extra surprise, the canopy's MDC (micro detonation cord) is supplied as two fine decals.

Conclusions

With a kit like this, one could almost justify the 'uberkits' standard price tag and lack of stores. At a song from K-Mart, I can only say more please!! Seeing this kit alongside their twenty plus year old MiG-25 is an insult to the buying public. I'm insulted that something of such obvious quality is being marketed along with these other 'dinosaurs' and I wonder how such disparate kits can be offered at the same price. Personally, however, I'll take their stacking kits like this together any day if it means picking up a gem like this. Recommended for the canny shopper or those with deep pockets.

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