Sea Harrier FRS-1
Intakes and Exhausts; Control Surfaces for Italeri / ESCI kits

Pavla, 1/72 scale

As far as I can work out, the Sea Harrier FRS-1, and indeed the later Sea Harriers, had the same wings, intakes and exhausts as the earlier GR-1 and -3. This means, these sets can be used for any of those versions and possibly those from other manufacturer as well.

The big advantage of the Inlet and Exhaust set is the auxiliary intake door are drooped open. No 1/72nd scale kit of these aircraft have these intake doors drooped open yet in all photos of them shut down on the ground they are visible. I can't see any advantage in the exhausts except that they may be a better shape and of course they are one-piece. The intakes didn't seem to be a perfect fit in the Esci kit fuselage that I have but I think a little trimming of the plastic will fix the problem.

The other set, Control Surfaces, is a bit more of a challenge. None of the aileron/flaps/rudder on the Italeri/Esci kits are separate and therefore will have to be cut out. This is not a problem by its self but very few photos show the flaps drooped and I don't know if the ailerons drooped with them or if they would only be in the normal straight position or one up and one down. There are two hinges, or maybe they are actuators, on the upper surface of the ailerons but in the Pavla kits these are separate parts with two bent down (aileron drooped) and the other two straight, not bent up. It would not be hard to separate the two straight ones and mount them on the ailerons in the up position but if that's what Pavla intended, why didn't they mould them that way? This is where instructions would be a big help to show just what Pavla intended. Pavla also supply a set of tailplanes in this set but they look identical to the kit parts and neither can be positioned up or down without altering the mounting lugs.

As is usual from Pavla, the resin is faultless with no distortion or air bubbles and plenty of detail.

 

There will be people around who know more about the Harriers than I do and I'm sure they will be able and willing to answer the questions that I have raised so don't be put off by these queries as these sets will undoubtedly improve any of the Italeri/Esci kit you may want to use them on.

Recommended.