Airfix 1/48 Sea Harrier FA.2

AIRFIX 1:48 FA.2 SEA HARRIER
'In The Box Review'

Reviewer: Paul Wherran (rec.models.scale)

The Airfix FA.2 Sea Harrier II is essentially a reissued update of their old FRS.1 kit, featuring a new sprue for the fuselage and nose changes. Other additions include a new pair of AMRAAM missiles, extra wing fence and refuelling probe.

The kit comes with finely engraved panel lines but you can tell the difference in the parts between the updated FA.2 molds and the old FRS.1 components, with some ejector pin and sink marks on the older areas of the kit.

The instructions are typical Airfix with all the thickly sketched assembly steps and call outs for Humbrol paint numbers only, so a cross reference chart is needed for those who use other brands, as no generic names are given.

Breakdown of the kit is logical and no different from other main Harrier kits. The Intake areas will need a little work to fix correctly. Stores options are the AMRAAMs as already mentioned, which have been molded reasonably well. The nose cone is molded in one piece and can obviously be painted separately. Inside the cockpit is essentially the same old basic stuff supplied in the FRS.1 kit, being seat, stick and panel.

The decal sheet is typical of Airfix and is in quite decent register with markings for five 899 NAS aircraft all sporting the medium sea grey overall colour scheme. There is also a decent amount of stencilling provided and I would suspect the decals will go on quite well with setting solution.

On the sprue the kit looks quite decent and should build up into a fairly accurate FA.2 Sea Harrier. The only real gripe of course is that it is not a new tooling, but rather just some updated sprues added onto the old FRS.1 kit. Still, that's better than not having a FA.2 at all. Recommended.

Related Reviews:-

Airfix 1/72 Harrier GR.7

Related INBOX Reviews:-

web hosting • domain names
web design • online games