Does anyone have a good list (or know where to find one) of the various types of Harrier kits in 1/48 scale and of the relative merits of each kit?

Hasegawa has come out with all three versions of the Harrier in 1/48 scale.

AV-8B Desert Harrier ( actually the original B mod)
AV-8B Harrier II Plus
Av-8B Harrier II night attack

There is also one put out by Revell with a referance book as well or you can go for the original Monogram kit if you prefer, but it is a little hard to find in an LHS.

For the money though the Hasegawa one is the best one out there. It also depends on which one you are going for as well.

two of the three Hasagawa kits in 1/48 can be seen here: the 1/72 kit on the list is the Desert Harrier in 1/48

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/plamo/

Hope this helps

Paul

Airfix do a GR3 and a Sea Harrier FA 2, both are reasonable kits to build, but I can't vouch for their accuracy. Also Tamiya do/did a Sea Harrier FR1 in 1:48 scale. I believe that Hasegawa are going to do a GR7 in 1:48 scale as well.

HTH
Pete

Here are some:

AIRFIX also has a 1/24 kit...around $150.00

AIRFIX 5101 Sea Harrier 1/48

HASEGAWA 3 kits

HASEGAWA 2800 AV-8B Harrier 1/48 (best one)

Tamiya 61026 1/48 Hawker Sea Harrier

REVELL AV-8B Harrier 1/48 w/ OIF aircraft and weapons book. The book alone is worth the $10.00. I bought it just for the book. LOL ...also has a resin nose to build the Night Attack version.

REVELL 6296 Night Attack Harrier. 1:48

HOBBYCRAFT HC1572 1/48 RAF Harrier GR Mk.1

Rob the HASEGAWA kit is the beat on the market, soft plastic, engraved panels lines. Decals( crisp and flat) are some of the best I've seen. Fitting is pretty good, but you have to pay attention to the intakes which has a small square hole and a seam line. There are aftermarket resin and photo etch kits out that will help dress this kit up. The kit cockpit in not that bad, it can be used. There are also decal for the cockpit. As with all two-piece fuselage kit you will need to putty, and as I stated with this kit it's soft, so you'll need to scribe in some lines. Molded in lt. gray.

The REVELL kit has raised panel lines and is molded in a slat gray. Plastic is much harder than the HASEGAWA kit. Weapons are limited, cockpit is bad, again you can get after market sets to dress it up. Also it's much easier to build. It comes with a resin nose, you have to cut of the kit nose. Thats if you want to make the Night Attack version. The best thing with this kit is that it come with a really nice OIF aircraft and weapons book. It talks about the areas of operations w/ maps. All branchs of the militay aircrafts and numbers deployed and aerial weapons. The book alone is worth getting the kit. 48 pages w/ color photos.

There are many build articles on this aircraft. I never built the AIRFIX or the HOBBYCRAFT kits, but I'm sure the HOBBYCRAFT is not bad at all. In the past they did put out some nice aircraft kits. I hope this helps out some.

Thanks for the input. I picked up the Revell-Monogram AV-8B Harrier with book at a local arts & crafts store for $15, I also bought it mainly for the book inside. When I was sorting through my aircraft kits, I ran across the old Airfix SHAR with Falklands War markings.

I was wondering if the kits were worth keeping or if I should get rid of them (keeping the R-M book though).

Actually, I was looking to fill in the holes in the Harrier progression. I know there used to be a version of the AV-8A that the US used as well.