Hi all,

Would I be right in thinking that the Heller 1/48 Jaguar GR1/GR3 is a repop of the airfix kit?

If not does anyone have any experience in building it or the airfix version or possibly the Revell one?

Trying to figure out which would be the best option for the first gulf war.

I also that Kitty Hawk produce one as well but is double the price!

All thoughts opinions and suggestions welcome

Not quite. It's a Heller / Airfix kit: their arrangement was that Heller designed it and sold the French version, while Airfix sold the RAF version with the chisel nose. The Revell kit is the same plastic as Airfix's, in another box with slightly better decals.

Overall it has pretty coarse surface detail, inadequate undercarriage bays, and a very plain cockpit, but if you get the Airfix version you'll get the right stores options for the Gulf. The shape is right, but the moulding is sometimes wayward, yet a lot of modellers have got good results out of it.

The Kitty Hawk kit is much more modern, so better finish and detail, and better fit. One obvious mistake is an odd knuckle on the wing leading edge where the curved bit meets the straight bit. It can be disguised if you build it with the slats open, but not completely. There are some other compromised areas, but the RAF kit was improved over the original French one. I'd recommend a quick poke around Britmodeller if you want the full story.

Which one? Depends on your budget, and on your tolerance for error on the one hand and roughness on the other. Personally I was happy enough with the Airfix kit and wasn't distraught when the other one came out. But then, there were nearly twenty years between those events. I don't think I'd pay full price for any pressing of the Heller kit, though.

You can build a decent Jag from the Airfix/Heller kit however it does take a bit of work, as Sean has pointed out a few issues. Plus the aux inlets on the sides of the main engine intakes should be closed unless the engines are running as these are spring loaded. Although they are also closed when in flight as enough air is going through the front. Slight issue I've been having with one of mine is the wings keep popping off the fuselage on their trailing edge, may need to go the MEK route as Tamiya extra thin is just not doing it.

The cockpit can be improved with the cheap Airwaves pe set and a resin bang seat. Doesn't need the more expensive Eduard set IMO.

The Kittyhawk kit has another major flaw in that the weapons supplied are all wrong for a RAF Jag, Kittyhawk supply you with French weapons! There is also an issue I've heard that the panels don't fit correctly if you want to display them closed.

Phase Hanger do corrected intakes for the Airfix/Heller kit (just ordered a set), they also do seamless intake trunking for the Kittyhawk kit (a set of these also coming in the order)

I did a review of the Kittyhawk RAF kit here when it first came out, check the reviews section.

If you want to do a French bird L'Arsenal do several French weapon/pod sets. Hay I'm a Jag nut so I'll do any Jag in any airforce markings and any scale, just waiting for the Trumpeter 1/32 Jag they announced a couple of years ago.

All that said I have several Airfix and Heller kits as well as a couple of the Kittyhawk kits including the T2/4 and enough decal sets to do several squadrons. Also own a bit of a real Gulf war vet XZ367 Debbie/White rose.

Well hope that is of some help.

Many thanks guys for all that info, I guess the old airfix kit is the way to go.