Kinetic 1/48 Sea Harrier FA.2 in-box review

[Stephen]

Mine arrived today from Luckymodel.com

The following pictures are mine and observations are also mine.

Moulded in grey plastic with recessed panel lines.

The instructions are in the standard Kinetic format of a booklet, paint details are called out during building and most paints are cross referenced to Humbrol/GSI Mr colour/ Italeri Acrylic/Tamiya Vallejo Model colour and Model Air. One small flaw I have noticed is that the addition of the fan blade part to the intake is missed out in the instructions.

Building options in the kit include

Open canopy

Open/closed airbrake

Raised/lowered flaps

Positionable rudder

Refuelling probe

Positionable nozzles

The blow in doors on the intakes can be fully closed or the upper doors open

Stores include

2 x ADEN cannon pods

6 x AIM-9L/M Sidewinders with dual rail option

4 x AIM-120B AMRAAM

2 x Sea Eagle

2 x 100gal drop tanks

2 x 190gal drop tanks

Decal options are

1. ZD613 "Satan 1" 800Sqn FAA

2. ZH809 "Admiral's Barge"

3. ZH801/ZE696/ZD610/ZH806/ZD579 800Sqn at disbandment March 2004

4. ZH813/ZH796/XZ440/ZE690/ZH803/ZH812 801Sqn last HMS Illustrious Nov 2005

5. ZH796/ZH811/ZH804/ZH803/ZH812/ZE690 801Sqn disbandment March 2006

6. ZH802/ZH796/ZE690/ZE693/ZH812/XZ440/ZE692/ZH800 899Sqn Oct 2004

7. ZH802/ZE692/ZH800/ZD579/ZH812/XZ440/ZE690 899sqn decommissioning March 2005

The sheet is printed by Cartograf and designed by Crossdelta.

There is a full set of stencilling included.

Now the pictures

Instruction sheet

PE set

Decal sheet

Clear Sprue

Stores sprue (There are two of these)

Undercarriage/flaps

Other side of above sprue

Airbrake interior

Pylons/radome/cannon pods

Fuselage halves

Fuselage halves interior

Tail detail

Wing parts

Close up of upper wing

Cockpit parts

Forward landing gear bay interior shots

Horizontal stabilisers/intakes and seat parts

Other side

As has already been pointed out there are two instrument panels and the instructions give you a choice however one of the panels C18 is for the FRS.1 cockpit

[Tomcat Trebor]

Thanks Stephen very useful for my decision making.

Interesting that they have put cut lines in for the FRS1 when it comes out.

Robert

[nicholassagan]

Good timing. I was just thinking about what is a good Harrier in 1/48. How would you say this compares to the Airfix or Tamiya kits?

[Stephen]

Good timing. I was just thinking about what is a good Harrier in 1/48. How would you say this compares to the Airfix or Tamiya kits?

Much better at first glance. The proof will be in the building but it does have better detail and the wing upper halves are moulded in one piece thus avoiding seam filling.

[IrishGreek]

Did I see right, was there a short shot on your vertical tail? Otherwise looks pretty nice to me.

[Big Texan]

Excellent! Can't wait till Sprue Brothers gets them in! Gotta have one! Can't hardly wait for the FRS.1 as well! :thumbsup:/>

Edited September 5, 2014 by Big Texan

[Vince Maddux]

Did I see right, was there a short shot on your vertical tail? Otherwise looks pretty nice to me.

Its not a short shot, the vertical fin only goes up to the fin cap on the right half , the fin cap is molded completely on the left half.

[IrishGreek]

OK Thanks! I missed that. Thanks Vince.

[Dmanton300]

I don't know what the recessed lines internally are for, they match the F/A.2 stretch, but the nose is also different, the larger radome on the F/A.2 means the profile change happens well before the radome itself, so you can't chop the stretch out, join the fuselage and simply add a shorter radome (to say nothing of the vertical tail with it's pitot) . Seem like the cut lines were an idea that got left behind when it was realised turning an F/A.2 fuselage into an FRS.1 wasn't that simple.

The fuselage and wings are also on their own sprues, which ties in with Kinetic having recently said that they were going to start doing whole new parts for new variants rather than adopt a heavily broken down modular approach. This is born out by the wings being F/A.2 specific too - they have to tool ones for any other tin wing Harrier. I believe they have also said the F-16XL will be tooled with two complete upper fuselages for single and twin seat variants, rather than drop in sections or modular noses as per their F-16A/B/C/D/E/F/I kits or the Tamiya Vipers.

My F/A.2 arrived yesterday too, and I'm massively impressed overall - Kinetic are really upping their game.

[Vince Maddux]

I don't know what the recessed lines internally are for, they match the F/A.2 stretch, but the nose is also different, the larger radome on the F/A.2 means the profile change happens well before the radome itself, so you can't chop the stretch out, join the fuselage and simply add a shorter radome (to say nothing of the vertical tail with it's pitot) . Seem like the cut lines were an idea that got left behind when it was realised turning an F/A.2 fuselage into an FRS.1 wasn't that simple.

The fuselage and wings are also on their own sprues, which ties in with Kinetic having recently said that they were going to start doing whole new parts for new variants rather than adopt a heavily broken down modular approach. This is born out by the wings being F/A.2 specific too - they have to tool ones for any other tin wing Harrier. I believe they have also said the F-16XL will be tooled with two complete upper fuselages for single and twin seat variants, rather than drop in sections or modular noses as per their F-16A/B/C/D/E/F/I kits or the Tamiya Vipers.

My F/A.2 arrived yesterday too, and I'm massively impressed overall - Kinetic are really upping their game.

I looked at the pictures of the F-16XL test shots and I could see a seam running across the wings and over the fuselage behind the cockpit. As much as I would like a whole fuselage for single seat or two seat, I think it going to just be a simple inset.

[Dmanton300]

I looked at the pictures of the F-16XL test shots and I could see a seam running across the wings and over the fuselage behind the cockpit. As much as I would like a whole fuselage for single seat or two seat, I think it going to just be a simple inset.

They weren't test shots, the were SLI resin proofs, breakdown on them is no indication of the model's breakdown- the canopy wasn't separate on that either.They are shape checkers only.

[Jennings]

You need to put [/img] at the end of every image link if you want them to appear in your posting.

[Vince Maddux]

They weren't test shots, the were SLI resin proofs, breakdown on them is no indication of the model's breakdown- the canopy wasn't separate on that either.They are shape checkers only.

Oh OK, thats good to know

[Scooby]

Oh OK, thats good to know

Looks like you copied the direct link and chopped the end off.

You can edit jut by copying the direct link and pasting it in your text,

[ChippyWho]

Many thanks for this helpful review. Encouraging enough to make the FRS1 look like a good prospect!

[pookie]

it looks like Photobucket or this forum is not letting the img tag work.

Edited September 7, 2014 by pookie

[Mfezi]

I hope you don't mind, but I quoted you with the tags changed slightly so the images show up:

Now the pictures

Instruction sheet

PE set

Decal sheet

Clear Sprue

Stores sprue (There are two of these)

Undercarriage/flaps

Other side of above sprue

Airbrake interior

Pylons/radome/cannon pods

[Mfezi]

Continuing, as only a limited number of pictures are allowed per post:

Fuselage halves

Fuselage halves interior

Tail detail

Wing parts

Close up of upper wing

Cockpit parts

Forward landing gear bay interior shots

Horizontal stabilisers/intakes and seat parts

Other side

As has already been pointed out there are two instrument panels and the instructions give you a choice however one of the panels C18 is for the FRS.1 cockpit

[pookie]

The score lines inside the rear fuselage seem to be a the right place and the right size of the actual fuselage modifications of the FRS1.

If you remove that section, use the FRS1 nose, remove the leading edge dynamic pressure sensor, the wing leading edge notch, and relocate the pilot tube to the nose, you got an FRS1 on the outside.

Edited September 7, 2014 by pookie

[fulcrum1]

I like it, nice decal sheet too. Thanks for the pics.

[Petarvu]

Got mine today. Looks crisp ,excellent value for the money. Unlike KH.

I hope their Mirage family will follow the same trend and we won't have to wait for more Harrier versions long.. Well done Kinetic

P

[Dmanton300]

The score lines inside the rear fuselage seem to be a the right place and the right size of the actual fuselage modifications of the FRS1.

If you remove that section, use the FRS1 nose, remove the leading edge dynamic pressure sensor, the wing leading edge notch, and relocate the pilot tube to the nose, you got an FRS1 on the outside.

But you'd have to add an entirely new nose because of the contour change leading up the F/A.2 radome, and there's no cut lines on the nose of the part to facilitate this. I think this is a just amn artefact from the time when Kinetic *THOUGHT* that they could account for FRS.1 this way before realising that an all new fuselage was the only way without multiple cut and shuts, something they have said they will actively steer away from in future. Unless of course you just mean a way for the impatient modeller to get to an FRS.1 without waiting for a Kinetic release!

[pookie]

But you'd have to add an entirely new nose because of the contour change leading up the F/A.2 radome, and there's no cut lines on the nose of the part to facilitate this. I think this is a just amn artefact from the time when Kinetic *THOUGHT* that they could account for FRS.1 this way before realising that an all new fuselage was the only way without multiple cut and shuts, something they have said they will actively steer away from in future. Unless of course you just mean a way for the impatient modeller to get to an FRS.1 without waiting for a Kinetic release!

That's not really the case. I have the summer 2000 World air power book that covered the sea harrier. They have a picture there showing the mods needed to convert the FRS1 to FA2. You can clearly see the original nose was used. They added a plug between the radar fairing and the fuselage to make the transition. The modifications were painted primer yellow over the regular paint job. I am refering to the early FA2 which were converted FRS1, not freshly built FA2. Going from FA2 to FRS1 is a simple as gluing the FRS1 radar fairing to the FA2 and sanding the joint smooth. Going from FRS1 to FA2 would be more complicated.

EDIT:

I just re read the whole article and according to the info back in 2000 when that book was written, the new built FA2 (aka FA.Mk2) used the FRS1 forward fuselage with the FA2 radar fairing and plug.

Edited September 8, 2014 by pookie