BAE Harrier GR7 'Snow Falcon'
1/72 No.1 Squadron RAF, Norway Excercises 2002



The BAE Systems/Boeing Harrier II (GR5, GR7, and GR9 series) is a second generation vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) jet aircraft used by the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and, since 2006, the Royal Navy. It was developed from the earlier Hawker Siddeley Harrier and is closely related to the U.S.-built AV-8B Harrier II. Both are primarily used for light attack or multi-role tasks, and are often operated from small aircraft carriers.

The kit I used was the 1/72 scale Airfix A94039. The Harrier is an oft modelled plane... but I was very taken by the unusual 'Snow Falcon' colour scheme. The kit was very basic with a lot of excess plastic on the sprued parts that needed removing.






The assembly was straightforward. The snow / rock camouflage was a little tricky but I managed it in the end. I next made all the armaments and fuel tanks. For a small plane like the Harrier, it sure has a lot under its wings! While modelling, I made a little 'research' trip to the RAF Museum Hendon (London) to have a look at the Harrier on display .









The canopy proved very tricky as it just wasn't the right shape! Wish Airfix was as good as Hasewaga or Tamaiya in quality! I had to go through 2 further kits to get a canopy that just about managed to fit right.


Finally, I mounted the Harrier on a stand I found in a box of spares to end up with a very pleasing looking model indeed!

F/A-18 'Diamondbacks' Hornet
1/72 scale


The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet is a modern all-weather carrier-capable strike fighter jet, designed to attack both ground and aerial targets. Designed in the 1970s for service with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, the Hornet is also used by the air forces of several other nations. It has been the aerial demonstration aircraft for the Blue Angels since 1986. Its primary missions are fighter escort, fleet air defense, suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD), interdiction, close air support and reconnaissance.

I used the rare 'Diamondbacks' Tamaiya 1/72 kit for this Hornet. The Diamondback version of the Hornet is a special 50th anniversary scheme. The kit was well-detailed and the instructions easy to follow.




The parts were glued together using Loctite super glue. The model was then painted in a slightly different colour scheme than that given in the instructions - I used actual pictures of a Hornet as reference. The red used was Revell #34 Ferrari Red. The decals were a piece of cake (I know, thankyou!). The canopy was a bummer though and had to be treated with Johnsons Klear several times as well as being coaxed into shape.


The undercarriage was actually quite fun to put together!


All in all, one of my most enjoyable models to date. The results were (without being immodest) very pleasing to the eye indeed! A lovely model to have in your collection.

Eurocopter SA365 Dauphin 2
1/72 US Coastguard


The Eurocopter Dauphin (Dolphin) is a medium-weight multipurpose twin-engine helicopter manufactured by Eurocopter (originally by Aérospatiale). Developed from the single-engined Aérospatiale Dauphin variant, the Dauphin is one of Eurocopter's most successful designs and is widely used as a corporate transport, police, news media, emergency medical services and search & rescue helicopter. One of the distinctive features of the Dauphin is its fenestron tail rotor.

The kit used was the Revell kit# 04467. This was my first attempt at a helicopter, being more of a fighter man myself ;-) I'd been put off my the nightmarish stories I'd heard about getting the multiple canopy parts right! And were they right... I had to buy an extra kit to redo some of the canopies...

The kit quality was so-so. I'm currently working on a Revell Heinkel Bomber with very high definition parts, so cannot understand this disparity in quality! Anyway, I did my best putting it all together. The decals lacked very many cockpit instrument panels, so I had to paint in my own.



Conclusion: A nice little model that could've benefited from better detail and decals. The end result looks good though :-)