ijozic

AFAIK, Hasegawa makes pretty much the only Harrier II (i.e. AV-8B/+, Gr.5/7/9) kit worth considering in 1:48 (also reboxed by e.g. Revell), while Kinetic makes the original Harrier (I) kits (Gr. 1/3, FRS.1, AV-8A, etc.). Don't think it was announced yet, but I would be surprised if Kinetic doesn't follow up these with a line of Harrier II kits soon enough.

Perhaps you could post an image from a side perspective, showing fuselages in a nose to nose perspective. If I understand correctly, the issue is that the GWH nose doesn't point downwards enough? That would be quite an error for the price it goes for.

I didn't hear anything about YF-23, but I'd rather wager on e.g. Amusing Hobby to tackle that (supposedly they might be working on a Yak-41 in 1:48) or perhaps ModelCollect (who will release their A-12 soon in 1:48). Since I already have the HB kit, I'd prefer an F-23 (like a fictional in-service edition), though. Always hated how it lost to seemingly inferior F-22 (in non-economic parameters).

Yes, that would be awesome! I would really like to make a what-if Soviet Air Force Su-27M model. The only way to do that now is to find a Sol Su-35/37 conversion kit for the Academy Su-27, bit it's usually expensive as it's OOP and requires cutting up the model to fit which is not really my cup of tea, presumably.

Well, there's also the upcoming Trumpeter one as an alternative. I have an OEZ Su-17M3 somewhere, but kind of doubt I'll bother with it when newer alternatives are available.

JDAM was also supported on the F-14B after the OFP 321 upgrade (late 2001).

Not an expert, but that's what I'm planning to do, as well. You also need to use the supplied Pave Tack pod. Regarding the cockpit, it would be the 'early' F-111F kit. 'Late' one is post Desert Storm with a bunch of MFDs added.

Yeah, such a kit certainly has a spot in the market since AMK turned out to be a bust.

These are some options I've found with a quick search: http://metdetails.com/catalog/metalic-details/aircraft/148/mdr4805-lau-128adu-552-launcher-set-f-15 https://www.scalemates.com/kits/wolfpack-wp48014-lau-128-adu-552-launcher-and-adaptor-set--237758 There are some options which come with the pylons as well, but are more expensive.

IMHO, for a 1:48 Su-27 kit, the best option would be GWH, followed by Kitty Hawk (which is OOP), I guess. Then it's the HobbyBoss kit which should be the easiest build of the three due to a lower part count. The last option to consider would be the Academy kit, but it's from an older age than the other three so could be an option if found for dirt cheap, but it will probably need some aftermarket parts (weapons, cockpit, etc.). There are also some crude copies of it (MHM), but best avoided.

I have an Encore Su-27 1/72 kit somewhere. IIRC, it was a reboxed Nakotne kit. At the time, pretty much the only options were it and Airfix, but have since been superseded by much better kits so I would avoid it like plague. Though, if your friend just wants to glue something together and practice painting it over and then throw it away, I guess it can do, but if he plans on doing a semi-decent job with it, I'd go for something newer and better as you don't want to scare him off with these crude kits from the 80s.

Yeah, the VP should be for the SM3 upgrade, though I can't find an image of what it looks like.

IIRC, the MiG-23 couldn't really support the Exocet missile, the image shown was just a mounting demonstration. Also, the Iranian F-14 with Hawk missiles or R-27 also didn't work out. They still use the old, but presumably locally refurbished, Sidewinders and Sparrows.

The raised rivets certainly look nice, it might be worth giving it a shot. The thing I dislike is how they handled the cockpit side panel detail - it's molded in the cockpit tub which makes it more difficult to paint or remove since the provided decals are not of transparent type so you could try to blend them over the raised detail. Though, at least the panel detail looks more substantial than on their F-4 kits where it's pretty low making it quite difficult to paint well, which made me give up after a while and go for the Eduard F-4J set which is another story (IIRC,

The bottom one is N001, the top one should be N001VP for Su-27SM3, though it looks similar to Irbis.