Kinetic 1/48 scale
Hawker Harrier T.4 / T.8

by Steve Pritchard

Hawker Harrier T.4 / T.8

Kit

Kinetic 1/48 Harrier Two Seat Trainer. Kit No: K48040

Accessories Used

Eduard Harrier T.4/T.8 sets for interior, exterior, seatbelts and masks (BIG49192)

Paints Used

Mr. Color C330 Dark Green, C331 Dark Sea Gray and C332 Light Aircraft Gray for the main camouflage, various Tamiya Acrylics for the detail painting (XF-63 for the cockpit), with finishing coats of Mr. Color GX100 Gloss prior to decaling and a topcoat of GX114 Flat

Construction was complicated by having to pre-paint the intake interiors and parts of the fuselage that would be difficult to paint once the intakes were fitted. Fortunately, the intakes were a good fit, and careful masking prevented any overspray on already painted areas once these were fitted.

I used most of the Eduard interior detail set, but found I had to lightly overpaint the instrument panels to more closely match my chosen interior colour. The ejection seat belts looked good once attached and given a wash with oil paint to tone down the bright colours. I made the yellow/black handles from single strands of needlework thread, twisted and covered with a thin layer of Kristal Klear to hold them together.

The wing to fuselage joint has been identified in some reviews as a problem area, but I was pleased how it went together for me with little filler required. I did make the attachment point for the rear join a little larger so as to get more glue into the joint.

I didn’t bother with the internal mechanism that supposedly allows the nozzles to rotate – the nozzles fit nicely into the holes provided and can be added after painting is complete.

The inner pylons holding the fuel tanks were modified to more closely resemble those fitted to this mark of Harrier – that is, with an unkinked leading edge. Easily achieved with a sharp blade and a bit of sanding to shape.

Some of the instructions are a little vague, as are some of the location points for actual parts – gun pods, refuelling probe, assorted aerials and the canopy were some of the problem areas.

I was disappointed in the clarity of the clear parts in my kit, they didn’t improve much even with polishing – also, the miniature detonating cords were poorly defined and I couldn’t see a way to improve their appearance.

As usual, I gave the kit a preshading and mottling to break up the top coats and add interest to the finish.

The Mr. Color paints were thinned with their Levelling Thinner which gives a nice smooth finish.

A bit of post shading with very thin mix of Tamiya XF-64 and XF-69, again using Levelling Thinner, was applied fairly randomly.

The gloss varnish went on next, again a lovely smooth finish in preparation for the decals.

I was a little disappointed with the amount of silvering that was present once these were applied.

Multiple applications of Tamiya Mark Fit Super Strong helped a little, but I did have to touch up a lot of decals with the underlying colour.

The decals also seemed to take a lot longer to separate from the backing sheet, so perhaps these were just a bad batch?

I then gave the panel lines a light wash with oil paints prior to the finish coat.

Overall, an enjoyable build and the end result is a kit that captures the rather ungainly appearance of the two seat Harrier well. Minor quibbles aside, I would certainly consider building the other kits in the Kinetic Harrier family.

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Steve Pritchard

Christchurch

New Zealand

Model, Images and Text Copyright © 2022 by Steve Pritchard
Page Created 5 December, 2022
Last Updated 5 December, 2022

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