Following the 1957 Defence White Paper, which advocated a policy shift from manned aircraft to missiles, the majority of aircraft program in Britain was cancelled. Hawker Aircraft Ltd however quickly move on to a new project stimulated by Air Staff Requirement 345, which sought a vertical/short take-off and landing (V/STOL) aircraft for the RAF. Designed Hawker P.1127 Kestrel, Hawker worked closely with Bristol Engine Company and used a vectoring thrust turbofan system, called Pegasus to achieve V/STOL capability. Hawker then developed a more advanced aircraft, the P.1154, but this was cancelled by the Labour Government in 1964. The RAF then considered a more austere upgrade to the Kestrel. An order for 60 of this aircraft, named Harrier GR.1 was received in 1967 and it entered service in April 1969.
At the same time, the Royal Navy also entered a period of austerity. In 1966, the Labour government cancelled the projected CVA-01 aircraft carrier, signalling the end of conventional fixed-wing aircraft operations by the Royal Navy (which finally ended in 1978 when the last conventional carrier, HMS
Ark Royal, was retired). However an alternative concept for British naval aviation emerged in the early 1970s when the so-called 'through-deck cruisers' were ordered. In reality small aircraft carriers, they were given the TDC designation to avoid hostile response from the government who was anti-aircraft carrier in those days. Named
Invincible-class, a 7° ski-jump (in
Invincible and
Illustrious, 12° in
Ark Royal) were added to allow the operation of V/STOL aircraft (a 12° ski-jump was also retrofitted to the commando carrier HMS
Hermes). Hawker Siddeley (later absorbed into British Aerospace) designed a navalised Harrier to serve on those ships. Named Sea Harrier FRS.1 (Fighter/Reconaissance/ Strike - the Sea Harrier or 'Shar' was expected to fulfil all three roles), it was based on the Harrier GR.3. Parts made from materials vulnerable to saltwater corrosion were substituted with corrosion resistant alloys or were protected. The cockpit was raised, with bubble-type canopy for better visibility. Radar was added in the shape of Ferranti Blue Fox multi-mode radar. The prototype was first flown on 20 August 1978 and was operational with No.800 Squadron on board HMS
Invincible (later transferred to HMS
Hermes in March 1980)
When the British decided to respond to the Argentinian invasion of the Falklands Islands, the 20 Sea Harriers (later augmented by 8 more Shars and 14 RAF Harrier GR.3) on board HMS
Hermes and HMS
Invincible were the only carrier-borne fixed wing combat aircraft available. Outnumbered, and operating in adverse conditions, the Sea Harriers performed fleet defence and also offensive actions against ground targets on the islands. They also had to operate without the benefit of airborne early warning aircraft, resulting in less than complete air superiority. The British however enjoyed better training for their pilots and employed the all-aspect AIM-9L Sidewinder, which was nicknamed 'Nine-Lima'. The Sea Harrier, although slower than the Argentinian Mirage IIIs and Daggers, was more maneuverable. 20 Argentinian aircraft were shot down for the loss of zero Sea Harriers. However two were shot down by ground fire and another four in accidents. The Argentinian pilots colloquially called the Sea Harriers
La Muerta Negra or 'The Black Death'.
The Sea Harrier was given an update in 1984 as FRS.2 (later redesignated FA.2). First flown in September 1988, 31 FRS.1 aircraft were upgraded to FA.2 standard and 18 were built from scratch. The FA.2 standard includes a new radar, the Ferranti Blue Vixen, Pegasus Mk106 engine, increased range, increased weapons load (including the ability to fire AIM-120 AMRAAM) and improved cockpit displays. The Sea Harrier continued to serve during Operations Deny Flight, Deliberate Force and Allied Force over the Balkans. The Sea Harrier was finally retired in 2006. India, the only export operator of the Sea Harrier (as Sea Harrier FRS.51), still operates them, at least until 2015.
The Kit
Italeri's 1/72 Sea Harrier FRS.1 is actually a reboxed ESCI kit (originally released in 1983). The kit was laid out in four sprues. Sprue 1 is the forward fuselage plus some smaller parts, sprues 2 to 3 contains the rest of the plane and sprue 4 consists of the clear parts. The panel lines are very fine, in fact, even light sanding can erase them off! The cockpit is lightly detailed and the ejection seat really need to be substituted. Like many 1/72 planes, the instrument panel simply consists of decals with flat plastic part. The kit suffered from various ejector pin marks; the worst are at the landing gear legs. External stores consists of two Sidewinders, two ADEN 30mm gun pods and two drop tanks (modelers who wished to build an Indian Navy Shar have to search elsewhere for Matra R.550 Magics used by Indian Shars). Decals were provided for three aircraft: No.801 Squadron, HMS
Invincible 1982 (post-Falklands markings); No.700A Squadron, NAS Yeovilton 1979 and No.300 Squadron, INS
Vikrant 1982.
Construction
The highly simplistic cockpit, which consist of the (plain) tub, control column, instrument panel and seat got the first attention. There were just two lumps on the cockpit floor pretending to be rudder pedals. The side consoles and the instrument panel came the form of decals. Not that bad really but there should be at least some raised details to represent the dials and instruments. The cockpit tub and the dashboard was painted Light Ghost Grey (FS36375) using Gunze Aqueous, with the 'rudder pedals' painted Silver. The side console and instrument panel decals were then applied once the paint is dry. The hideous Martin Baker Mk10 ejection seat was then painted according to instructions and then sticked to its place (I intend to replace it with resin seat, so I dab just enough glue for it to remain in place, yet can still be easily pulled out for replacement). The cockpit was then sandwiched between the front fuselage halves.
The next step was concerned with the main fuselage. The main landing gear (less the wheels) was painted and stuck to one side of the fuselage. The engine consists of just one flat plastic part with a rather respectable compressor blades detail. The detail was painted silver and the rest of that part was painted white. The speed brake housing was also installed and the fuselage can be closed up. Afterwards, the front fuselage, vertical tail, horizontal stabilisers, intakes and the tailcone were attched to the fuselage. Italeri had the auxiliary intake doors moulded in the shut position whereas the real thing are open whenever the engine is shut off or during vertical hover. At the same time, I glued the speed brake shut - the real deal is open whenever the landing gears are down! I leave off fitting the exhaust nozzles but fit the rear exhaust heat shields.
Next, the wings which consisted of one-piece upper and two-piece lower. No problems here except I opted to fit the outrigger wheels and the pylons at a later time. For the lower fuselage, Italeri provided an option whether to fit Aden 30mm cannon pods or underfuselage strakes. I opted for the cannon pods. At this point I paused the assembling process and jumped to the painting stage.
Painting and Decaling
I decided earlier on to finish my model in the first option - a No. 801 Squadron machine off HMS Invincible in 1982. Admittedly, this was a rather boring colour scheme, in overall Dark Sea Grey with monocolour markings, but, hey, it was easy! The DSG was painted using Tamiya XF54 Dark Sea Grey and the radome was painted XF1 Flat Black. The still unattached parts were also painted at this time. The forward exhausts (known as 'cold' exhausts) were originally painted Gunze 61 Burnt Iron but later I decided to paint them Dark Sea Grey. Next, the decaling. There aren't any issues here - Italeri decals are thin, opaque and respond well to Mr Mark Softer. This stage went smoothly plus there aren't that many stencil decals. The very sharp but shallow engraved panel lines somewhat deterred my usual sludge wash technique so I resorted to 2B pencil. The sludge wash was only done on the flaps and ailerons.
Finishing
The remaining parts can now be attached to the model. The exhaust nozzles were first, attached in the vertical position. Next were the wing pylons. Italeri however provided minimal option for weapons load - just two drop tanks and two Sidewinders. I intended for this model to have the twin Sidewinder rails and I do have the the twin rail launchers but they were not of the same type used on Sea Harriers. So I dropped off the idea and just use the kit's single rail. I however used AIM-9Ls from Hasegawa's weapon set as the kit Sidewinders look more like the earlier AIM-9B. I laso found a BL755 cluster bomb in my stash and I placed it at the underfuselage pylon in-between the cannon pods. The wheels were then attached to the landing gears fllowed by the forward landing gear doors. Italeri's instructions had the doors in the open poistion but photos show that they are closed once the landing gears were down, so I glued them in the closed position. Finally, the most vulnerable parts were glued on, but the yaw vane became the victim of the Carpet Monster. A spray of Tamiya TS-79 Semi-Gloss Clear finished the build.
Conclusion
Italeri's 1/72 Sea Harrier is a beautiful, little (rough-ish) gem. The parts fit beautifully, the engraving beautifully done and the decals behave correctly. The cockpit however needs more work (or a resin replacement) and there should at least be a wider selection of weapons. I haven't seen Hasegawa and Airfix Sea Harrier FRS.1 but for me at least, this is the best 1/72 Sea Harrier in the market.
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