Hasegawa 1/48 Harriers getting a bad press

[jonbryon]

I notice that there was a rather nice build of Hasegawa's 1/48 AV-8B on ARC yesterday, but the review was less than complimentary about the fit. I've just built two of these kits, an AV-8B+ and a Desert Storm AV-8B, with two more RAF versions in the stash. My experience of building these kits was rather different. Now, I'm not here to knock the nice build, nor am I denying the experience of the builder, but I've read a lot of reviews of this kit since it was released and some have been most uncomplimentary about its fit and engineering. I think a lot of these criticisms are unfair and want to redress the balance slightly. Note that this my personal opinion based on building two of these models, your opinion may differ. But I really believe that people shouldn't be frightened off this kit by horror stories of bad fit and terrible engineering - in my opinion the engineering is outstanding and the fit easily better than some other Hasegawa 1/48 jets (such as their Tomcats - I've built 2 - and their Hornets - again, built 2), equal to others (e.g. their A-4s - built 5 - and F-8s - built 2) and not quite as good as their F-104s (built 2).

The main problem with the Harrier kits (and, IMO, it is a serious problem) is the instructions. If you follow the construction sequence suggested by Hasegawa you will have a much higher chance of hitting a serious problem (mainly because they tell you to fit part B3 at a stupid part of the sequence). Lateral thinking and lots of dry fitting will alleviate almost all fit problems. Let's look at the issues identified in the article:

Nose to fuselage fit

I presume this means the fit of the entire nose section to the rear fuselage, rather than the nose cone to the fuselage (which is a truly perfect join). I don't really know what can be the problem here. I found the fit at the underside of the fuselage to be very good, requiring a small amount of sanding and rescribing, but competely normal for any kit in my experience. There isn't much of a joint on the upper surface since I attached B3 to the front fuselage, then the whole lot to the rear and got a very 'normal' joint, with everything level and no gaps.

Intake to fuselage fit

Again, I simply had no real problems here. The fit is not as good as the intakes on Hasegawa's A-4s or F-104s, but I really wouldn't have expected it to be any different. The joins inside the intake are difficult to elimate, but then they are on nearly all models with highly visible jet intakes (like A-7s, F-8s, S-3s, etc.)

Gun and ammo pod to fuselage fit

Agreed, this is not good. Hasegawa often slip up on the fit of external ordnance/pods (witness the fit of the pod pylons on their Hornets!). Didn't take long to deal with, but I can't deny that this was a problem area. The strakes fit much better (I have used both). The refuelling probe is also a poor fit in my experience.

Incredibly nasty seam between upper wing and fuselage on underside of LERXs

There is a seam here, and I don't really see how Hasegawa could have avoided one if you wanted to have a small and big LERX options. In my experience (and I did not follow the construction sequence; I added the lower LERX to the fuselage before the upper wings and LERX) the seam is small; the problem is access for removing it competely. Where there is a problem is a mismatch between panel lines on the underside of the LERX and the wing. This problem is also common on other Hasegawa kits (e.g. the rear fuselage inserts on the A-4s).

Unsightly gaps between intake trunking and forward fuselage

Not sure what part of the intake trunking this refers to. The intakes fit fine, but the rear 'trunking'/engine fan has some strange cut-outs (which I chose not to deal with) and does look odd. The gaps are clearly there by design (although I've no idea why!).

The nasty seam on the canopy which required an hour’s worth of fine sanding, polishing, more polishing and more polishing and finally a hairline fracture in the embrittled clear plastic just added to the frustration.

I can understand why this would be frustrating, but it only seems to be partly the kit's fault. Again, I just don't understand why the Harriers get such flak for having a seam down the canopy when it's par for the course on a modern jet. I see very few complaints about seams on the canopies of F-14s, F-15s, F/A-18s, Su-27s - if you build modern jets (as I do) it's just a thing we have to live with!

The Harrier kits do have problems, but so do all of Hasegawa's modern jets (except, possibly, the Starfighters, but then people complain about the ejector pin marks (which are annoying) and the over-emphasised rivet detail). I just don't think they need to be labelled as a 'horror' or 'nasty'. I started building these kits with some trepidation following all that I had read, but actually finished them with nothing but admiration for the quality of the fit and engineering.

So if you have some of these kits in your stash, don't be put off building them! Take your time (I'm not denying they are complex), dry-fit several times, and enjoy them! I'm not making any comments on their accuracy (since I'm not qualified to do that), nor am I saying my modelling skills are anything exceptional - I class myself as a solidly average 'model assembler'. If you are interested in how I built mine, you can find out at www.thebryons.com/av8bplus.html and www.thebryons.com/av8b.html. And just to prove that I have built them, here are a couple of pics:

Cheers

Jon

[PBoilermaker]

Really nice builds there...very clean!

[BjornB17]

First of all, awesome build! I'd have to agree with you on all the points you have made. The only place i really had a problem with is the intake, but thats a problem with most jet models anyway. Other than that, its a great kit!

[is it windy yet?]

Yep, you're right the kits can be build into nice models.

Ron

[Impatient Pete]

Excellent re-review!

What Dave said about ten modellers and ten kits is so true.

The key seems to be the dry fitting and lateral thinking. I read (I think it was on HyperScale yesterday) that someone was asking about a problem area on a kit he was building and several modelers responded that they had no problems with it at all.

Thanks. Now that Harrier in the stash is looking a little more attractive.

Pete

[PlasticWeapons]

Excellent re-review!

What Dave said about ten modellers and ten kits is so true.

The key seems to be the dry fitting and lateral thinking. I read (I think it was on HyperScale yesterday) that someone was asking about a problem area on a kit he was building and several modelers responded that they had no problems with it at all.

Thanks. Now that Harrier in the stash is looking a little more attractive.

Pete

Yes, and of those 10 modelers, how many will have finished a kit given a specific time frame? :lol:

Nice Harriers!!!!! Nice pics especially. I have one in construction that's on and off again but my efforts are being focused on the Monogram Harrier for the Desert Storm GB and an upcoming contest in two weeks. The fit of the wings to fuselage took a while to fix this time around (I've built four prior to this one) but correcting the intakes to my liking also was a struggle but that goes with any kit. Build problems aside, I'm just really happy to see a previously new tooled Harrier kit in 1/48. And as always, where's the TA-4J?!?!?!?

Happy modeling!!!!!!! :)

[Icehound]

Nice Harriers! Yeah as Dave said everyone will have a different build,on my Hase Harrier I had a bit of a job joining the nose section to the rest of the plane.

Thanks for posting your pics

Mark

[Will2K65]

I've only built one of the Hasegawa harriers, but I really liked the kit - would agree that they get too much bad press. Its not the worlds best, sure, but perspective seems to get lost a little - try airfix's 1/48 tornado or many old ESCI kits if you want to see a real struggle to build. To my mind these Harriers aren't in the same league of difficulty!

Here's my GR7 - no masterpiece for sure, not in the scheme of things, but no disaster/nightmare of a kit either...

[merlin101]

Be ok if I could get hold of one! Seems lack of GR7 kits in the UK lately!!

[Will2K65]

Be ok if I could get hold of one! Seems lack of GR7 kits in the UK lately!!

Tell me about it I want another to build into an 800 NAS GR9A (medium sea grey with 100% LERX, Sniper pod...I've got nice plans for it) and also another one to use as basis for a T10 conversion at some point!

With any luck though Hasegawa will do a GR9 release (it'd be the same plastic but it'd be nice to get the 100% LERX to do a later serialled one) and the twin sticks so I'm going to hold fire for a while.

I had a look yesterday by the way and there were two GR7s going for sensible money on ebay, if you're really keen get one soon...

:)

[Bobski]

I think the GR.7 has been discontinued - Hannants don't have it listed on their site at all.

I've built 3 of these kits, 2 GR.7s and a GR.5, and the fit of the LERX behind the cockpit has been universally terrible. The parts simply don't fit, you have to remove about 3 or 4 mm of plastic just to get the panel between the cockpit and the LERX to fit. I also had problems fitting the front fuselage to the main body of the aircraft. In all cases these issues were enough to make me scream and stop building for a few days just to calm down.

Overall its a good kit though, and it looks cracking when its finished.

[Starbuck]

While my modelling experience is quite limited, I too had almost all the fit problems described by the OP. I was begining to think I was misreading the instructions or maybe the level of difficulty was to great for me.

With much help from members on here, all the kit's shortcomings( which in truth, are really my shortcomings as a modeller!) were rather easy to overcome with some patience and a little elbow grease.

Since some have posted pics their Harriers, I'll post a progress shot of mine as well.

[pingu1]

The thing about the Hasegawa 1/48 Harrier II series is that it has clearly been over-engineered for the convenience of the manufacturer, at the expense of ease of build for the punter. If you're paying Hasegawa prices, you're entitled to expect better than this. You're also entitled to decent decals, more than the bare mnimum of underwing stores, and the right ejector seat for the RAF versions.

BTW, Hannants list the GR.7 as being in stock for £18.99:

http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/?FULL=HAPT036

Cheers,

Chris.

[BjornB17]

I haven't had the above mentioned problems with the LERX. The fit is REALLY tight, but i never had to trim or sand anything off to get it in place. The only problem is that the panel lines dont match up for some reason, so some minor filling and rescribing is necessary.

[Emvar]

I'm working on mine, I think at the time it was a tad above my league but Dave you are right it is a matter of perspective and degree of experiance of the modeller. Mind you I am getting a little lazy so the kit is still sitting around looking at me to finish it. I will.... I guess. :lol:

I think the wrong thing I did was go out and buy all the resin and other goodies which have blown this project into the I'm getting bored cause it's taking too long to finish thing. It's just an attention disorder I have. I am getting myself back to the basics with maybe just the aftermarket seat in my other builds. Mind you SWMBO wants me to do the reno on the bathroom first so the Harrier must wait.

:)

Emil

[jonbryon]

Interesting feedback. FWIW I do agree with Dave Roof entirely - I cannot deny any other modeller's experience with this kit; what happened, happened - but as my original title said, I just wanted to redress the balance. You can build this kit and have a great experience - it will not 'fight' you if you think carefully about the construction sequence and ignore the instructions. Having said all that, if you have to take 3-4mm of the section behind the canopy you need to rethink your construction sequence because it's entirely unnecessary - if you attach the wing/LERX to the rear fuselage, with B3 installed temporarily to get the correct width, then attach B3 and then attach the nose assembly you will have no gaps around that panel and everything will line up beautifully. The mistake is too follow the instructions and fit the engine fan and front fuselage too soon, and panel B3 too late (in a hole that will be too big or small since you probably installed the nose at the wrong angle).

As for value for money, I paid £18.99 for three kits (and £10 for one in Hong Kong) and think I got a bargain. There is an awful lot of plastic in the box, I had no more fit problems than any other modern kit (so couldn't really expect more) and it costs a lot less than some other Hasegawa plastic (i.e. F-4s, F/A-18s. F-14s and F-8s) which also have no ordnance.

And Emil - don't make the mistake of getting an Aires seat for this kit! It doesn't fit in the Hasegawa cockpit!

Cheers

Jon

[Viperguy]

At my last weeks model meeting our resident rivet counter said the Hasegawa wing is all wrong. He said Monogram got it right but Hasegawa really screwed it up. Any truth because I'm getting a couple of Harriers in trades.

[LanceB]

At my last weeks model meeting our resident rivet counter said the Hasegawa wing is all wrong. He said Monogram got it right but Hasegawa really screwed it up. Any truth because I'm getting a couple of Harriers in trades.

I personally would generally agree with that. My issue with the Hasegawa wing are: while it has the change in anhedral about right, it does seem a touch too sharp, as others have said before a small amount of putty on the wing upper surface to smooth out the "crease" and make the transition just a little more gradual. A bigger issue for me is that the Harrier wing also has a change in incidence that goes with the change in anhedral. There is a "twist" or "wash out" in the wing outer panel. The outer wing angles slightly down at the LE as compared to the inner section. The TE does not appear to show this. The Mono wing captures the "twist", Hasegawa's does not.

FWIW, when the Monogram kit came out I was working on Harriers. Guys at the squadron thought the kit wing was "wrong", but comparison to the real thing parked outside showed it was "right". The changes are subtle, I knew a lot of guys who worked on the planes or flew them that knew about the "kink" but not the "twist". It can be difficult to notice unless you are looking at the wing from just the right distance and height. Up close at ground level, it is hard to see if you aren't looking for it.

Edited April 7, 2007 by LanceB

[Bobski]

BTW, Hannants list the GR.7 as being in stock for £18.99:

Ah, its back in stock! Its been absent for a couple of weeks. I'll have a to pick a couple more up.

Having said all that, if you have to take 3-4mm of the section behind the canopy you need to rethink your construction sequence because it's entirely unnecessary - if you attach the wing/LERX to the rear fuselage, with B3 installed temporarily to get the correct width, then attach B3 and then attach the nose assembly you will have no gaps around that panel and everything will line up beautifully. The mistake is too follow the instructions and fit the engine fan and front fuselage too soon, and panel B3 too late (in a hole that will be too big or small since you probably installed the nose at the wrong angle).

Thanks for the feedback Jon, although I still feel the complaint stands. If you have to rethink the sequence of construction and ignore the instructions in order to get the kit to fit properly then there's something seriously wrong with it. Its good that we have this forum to discuss these issues, but there are quite a few people who don't and thus get severely pi**ed with the fit of this kit (I'm one of them - I built 3 before I found this site). Good advice though and I'll definitely take it on board next time I build one of these. I love Harriers too much to let a few bad fits get in the way of me building them

[jonbryon]

...Its good that we have this forum to discuss these issues, but there are quite a few people who don't and thus get severely pi**ed with the fit of this kit (I'm one of them - I built 3 before I found this site). Good advice though and I'll definitely take it on board next time I build one of these...

Indeed it is good to have a forum to share experiences! I did make a comment in my original post that the instructions in the Hasegawa kit are a serious problem. I guess I should have clarified that the *plastic* in the box is well-engineered, but the overall package is let down (IMO) by the instructions. And, to be fair, if I had not read about other people's problems, I would have not progressed so cautiously with construction.

Now, off to continue building a couple of Eduard Mirages - considerably more troublesome than the Harriers!

Cheers

Jon

[Scooby]

Take into consideration the following when you read build reviews.

1. Every modeler approaches their builds in different ways.

2. The skill level among all modelers is wide and varied.

3. If you give 10 modelers the same kit, it will be assembled 10 different ways.

4. Some will have problems with certain aspects of the build.

5. Some will have problems with different aspects of the build and won't have the same problems as the modelers noted in point 4.

6. Some will have the same problems.

7. Some won't have any problems at all.

Bottom line, don't take every build review as the gospel. It is one modelers experience with one particular build. Use them as the guidelines they are.

Your post provided some very useful information to those building the kit. However, there is no doubt that his build helped numerous modelers that may have run into the same problems he did.

Dave

Bang-on Dave,

I hear of people using filler on kits that I have built and in all honesty I don't think I have used putty in 20 years. A small amount of super glue on seams, but I haven't used filler in many years.

So we all build different.