Airfix 1/72 Hawker Siddley Harrier GR.1

Picture this, I am at the hobby store, I have my next models under my arm, the Airfix Beaufighter/Focke Wolfe 190 double set, ready to go to the counter when I walk past a display table with a sample of their finished models on it. Staring at me were some F18,s Harriers, Sabre's, Tomcats, etc so I stopped to have a gaze.
That motivational wave of WW2 fighters suddenly drained and the beaufighter/fw190 went back on the shelf in favour of a Harrier, Skyhawk and an F/18. Yep that's right, I'm moving onto jets. Maybe the WW2 streak will return because I still want to do those two, but for now we'll have a wave of 1/72 jets and the Harrier was always a personal favourite of mine.

Box Art

If you want to follow the build, go here.

Finished Model

Comments
Great build of this famous British VTOL jet. All parts went together very well, only exception being the bottom of the engine cowlings where they meet the fuselage but a bit of PVA glue filler was all that was required and the gap was filled nicely. The decals are a completely different story. There are a LOT of decals and they are very small so set aside lots of patience and time and don't do it all in one sitting or you will go mental.

Rating:
Instructions - 3 - very easy to understand

Assembly Complexity - 3 - very easy to assemble

Quality of Molding - 3 - Very good - New airfix tooling has been consistently excellent so far

Part Fit - 2.5 - all went together very well but lost marks because of the engine cowling not quite fitting right. Hopefully it wasn't me, but you never know..

Overall Score 11.5/12

Paints Used
Fuselage - Tamiya AS-31 - Ocean Gray 2 (RAF), Tamiya AS-9 - Dark Green (RAF)
Underside - Tamiya AS-16 - Light Grey (USAF)
Cockpit- Tamiya XF-53 Neutral Grey
Wheel wells - Mr Color 332 Light Aircraft Gray <-- found out I have to use special Mr color thinners to clean brushes, never buying these again.
Jet Exhaust - Tamiya X-10 - Gun Metal