hi there guys was wondering if anyone knew of any harrier jump jet (british markings) models in 1/48th scale. and which is the best model for detail.

ive seen plenty in 1/72 but id like a 1/48 to go with my tornado IDS from italeri =] quick question what is the colour of the landing gear for tornado is it white?

hope this can be understood.
cheers for all help in advance.!

Tony

Depends what you want. Airfix have both the Harrier GR.Mk.3 and the Sea Harriers (FRS.Mk.1 and FA.Mk.2) in 1/48. They're all essentially the same airframe with different noses and details, much like the real thing. Their reputation isn't great but I gather it's possible to produce a presentable result, and they're good Christmas trees to hang aftermarket gubbins off. I can't remember off-hand if there was also a GR.Mk.1 in the range; if there was, Airfix's policy has traditionally been to convert moulds rather than develop replacement sections, so it will be out of production if it exists at all, and unlikely to come back. The same may apply to the FRS.Mk.1. I believe Heller may have boxed some of these as well.

Tamiya do a Sea Harrier FRS.Mk.1 in 1/48, although it's rather elderly. Monogram had an AV-8A in 1/48 but it was fairly old-tech and, I think, is long out of production. With enough careful attention to references it might be possible to make an AV-8C or a Matador out of it, and of course the AV-8A isn't all that far off a GR.Mk.1 if you fancy a different conversion.

Then there's the Hobbycraft Harriers: a GR.Mk.1 and an FRS.Mk.1. Few people have anything good to say about Hobbycraft but some of their stuff isn't that bad. It's tricky to get hold of, though, and the consensus seems to be that Airfix's are the less bad option.

Turning to the Harrier II, Hasegawa have cornered the market in 1/48. They put out an AV-8B a few years ago and have followed it up with the GR.Mk.7/9. They take the usual modular approach so the different bits are separate and, often, need a bit of work to make them blend in to the basic airframe. Better experts than I will know whether the current kit is representative of the latest airframe standard, or has errors or falls between the 7 and the 9; but it's the usual cracking Hasegawa quality. Not sure whether there was also a GR.Mk.5. As is often the case, this kit can also be found in a Revell box - Hannants currently lists only Revell's for the British versions.

Monogram had an AV-8B in 1/48 but never did the British variants. There must , though, be scope for the brave modeller (possibly with more money than sense) to make it into at least a GR.Mk.5.

Tornado undercarriage: mostly white, I think, although there are some grey ones, I'm sure. Check your references!

Here's some Tornado shots that may be helpful that I took in Bermuda in the early 90s.:

http://s20.photobucket.com/albums/b229/DDonSS3/Tornado/

This one seems to show that at least the nose gear was white:



Some of these F.3 shots seem to show the same:

http://s20.photobucket.com/albums/b229/DDonSS3/Tornado%20F3/

As for the Harrier, IMHO, for a 1st generation Harrier (GR.1 or AV-8A/C) I'd go with Monogram's kit and for the 2nd generation Harrier, I'd go for the Hasegawa/Revell kit. Fujimi's kits (GR.1/Sea Harrier FRS.1) are quite old, coming out around 1972 or so IIRC. I can't really comment on the Airfix kits as I haven't seen one in person.