BAe Sea Harrier FRS.1 & Douglas A-4P Skyhawk 'Dogfight Double'

[Paul A H]

BAe Sea Harrier FRS.1 & Douglas A-4P Skyhawk 'Dogfight Double'

1:72 Airfix

On 2 April 1982, Argentine forces landed on the Falkland Islands, a British Overseas Territory located some 290 miles east of the South American coast. Within a short time, Argentine troops had taken control of the islands. When word of the invasion reached Britain, an emergency session of the House of Commons was called in order to approve the deployment of a large task force to retake the islands. The Falklands War had begun.

By early May, the Sea Harriers of 800, 801 and 809 Naval Air Squadrons, flying from Royal Navy aircraft carriers HMS Hermes and HMS Invincible, were fully engaged in an air war with Argentine air forces, flying French-built Dassault Mirage IIIs, Israeli IAI Daggers, British English Electric Canberras and US-built Douglas A-4 Skyhawks. By the end of the conflict, 11 Daggers, 20 Skyhawks, 2 Mirages and 2 Canberras had been shot down, either by Sea Harriers of ground fire deployed by British forces. 2 Sea Harriers FRS.1s and 3 Harrier GR.Mk.3s were shot down by Argentine ground fire. Further aircraft were lost on both sides, either to hostile actions or accidents.

When Airfix announced their new kits for 2012, a great many people were very happy to see an all new Skyhawk listed amongst them. Now, just in time to mark the 30th anniversary of the Falklands conflict, a Dogfight Double featuring the new kit as well as the (still quite new) Sea Harrier FRS.Mk.1 has been released. Unlike most new released from Airfix, this set arrives packed into an end-opening box. Haters of this type of packaging can rest easy though, as inside is a sturdy cardboard tray which gives the whole thing plenty of strength. This is just as well as when our review sample arrived it looked as though it had been sat on by the courier!

The new Skyhawk is comprised of 75 parts spread over 3 sprues of pale grey plastic and a single, small clear sprue. Surface detail is comprised of fine, engraved panel lines and the plastic has a slightly matt finish. It has become something of a cliché when reviewing Airfix products to state that the panel lines are finer on this release than the last. Nevertheless, this certainly appears to be the case with this kit. In my view the panel lines should be fine enough to keep all but the most critical of modellers happy. The only weak point is the fact that the lines around the top and bottom edges of the fuselage seem to fade away to almost nothing as they approach the vertical split. Some re-scribing will therefore be the order of the day to maintain the overall look. Other than that (and some rather clunky sprue attachment points) everything looks very promising.

As has been the case with most recent Airfix kits, the Skyhawk is a good compromise between detail and ease of assembly. Beginning with the interior, the ejection seat is comprised of four parts and it should look pretty good once assembled. The cockpit is comprised of a tub to which the rear bulkhead and instrument panel have to be added. There is no raised detail on the side consoles or instrument panel. Decals are provided to represent fine detail instead. The nose gear bay is moulded onto the bottom of the cockpit tub. It looks pretty good too, as it sports some convincing structural detail and fine hydraulic lines. Other interior details include a full length engine air intake and tail pipe. The wings are moulded with a single lower span and separate upper halves. The leading edge slats are separate pieces and are designed to be posed in the deployed position – a nice touch. The level of detail on parts such as the undercarriage is good enough to pass muster, and in places – such as the landing gear doors and airbrakes – is really very good indeed.

A generous selection of ordnance is provided, including a single 1000lb bomb and three drop tanks. Four Mk.82 bombs are also included, two of which are fitted with retarded tails. These aren’t used for the Argentine aircraft depicted, however, so they can go straight in the spares box. The canopy is moulded in two parts, so it can be posed in the open position if desired.

Overall, this is a very pleasing model. Yes, there are one or two niggles, but it looks as though it should be straightforward to build and, once finished, will result in a pleasing little model.

Seeing as this is a ‘Dogfight Double’ boxing, we ought to take a look at the other half of the contents of the box. Airfix’s SHAR has been around for a couple of years now. The kit is comprised of three sprues of light grey plastic which hold a total of 112 parts. Although there is only a gap of a couple of years between the two kits, the Skyhawk is a step ahead in terms of refined surface detail. Surface detail on the Harrier looks less convincing next to the newer kit, although to be fair this kit is no slouch and I certainly enjoyed building mine the first time around.

The cockpit is similar, in terms of the breakdown of parts, to the Skyhawk, right down to the decals which are used to depict instrument and control detail. Other internal components such as the landing gear bays are pretty respectable in terms of detail. Airfix also deserve praise for the way in which they have engineered the distinctive engine intakes. Two sets of blow-in doors are provided, which means the kit can be built in the correct configuration whether depicted on the ground or in the air. The engine exhausts are a slightly different proposition as they are moulded in vertical halves, which will make clean up quite tricky. This isn’t Airfix’s fault, as it’s hard to see how else they could have designed this aspect of the kit, but nevertheless a set of Pavla replacements should be tempting.

The rest of the kit is quite nicely detailed, although as with the Skyhawk, the nosewheel is moulded in one piece with the landing gear leg. I suppose this will make it stronger once complete, but it isn’t my preferred way of doing things as it complicates the build process. The canopy is moulded in two parts and so it can be posed in the open position. A good set of ordnance is provided, although this kit only requires the drop tanks, Aden gun pods and AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles. This will leave you with a pair of Sidewinders and a pair of Sea Eagles for the spares box.

One option for each kit is provided on the unique decal sheet:

BAe Sea Harrier FRS.1 ZA177 of 809 Naval Air Squadron, HMS Hermes, as flown by Flight Lieutenant David Morgan (author of ‘Hostile Skies’) in June 1982; and

Douglas A-4B (A-4P) Skyhawk C-228 as flown by Alferez Alfredo Jorge Alberto Vazquez, of Gruppo 5 de Casa, Fuerza Aerea Argentina, Rio Gallegos, June 1982. This was the aircraft flown by Vazquez on 8 June 1982 when his was the second of two Skyhawks engaged and shot down by Morgan flying ZA177. Vazquez was killed.

The decals are printed by Cartograf, which is modelling parlance for ‘very nice indeed’.

Conclusion

This exciting release builds on recent successes from Airfix. The engineering and moulding of both kits is great, as is decal sheet. The Harrier is nice enough, but if the Skyhawk is any indication of Airfix’s direction of travel, then we have some very nice kits to look forward to in the near future.

Review sample courtesy of

[woody37]

That Skyhawk does look nice.

[Iain Ogilvie]

That really does look a nice set - and the Skyhawk a gazzillion times better than the one I remember from my yoof.

I *may* just have to get one to build with my son.

Iain

[John]

That really does look a nice set - and the Skyhawk a gazzillion times better than the one I remember from my yoof.

I *may* just have to get one to build with my son.

Iain

*My* son has already spied this set and put it on his birthday list for a couple of weeks from now!

The Skyhawk looks superb.

John

[Arachnid]

I got mine on Saturday, very nice indeed, any chance of a Super Etend,and a Pucarra?

[Colin @ Freightdog Models]

Its nice to see the first Airfix boxing of the Skyhawk hit the shops, Freightdog have sets for the A-4B weapons and Falklands avionics fit (with the correct weapons fit for C-228 when it was shot down by ZA177) and an A-4C Falklands fit conversion and to follow. I hope to do further sets to depict other variants based on the C airframe. Apologies for the blatant plug, the first two sets will be on sale in a couple of weeks.

Thanks, Colin

[Julien]

The Skyhawk does look nice.

Julien

[luis pacheco]

The Skyhawk looks very nice but the shape of the radomo is not right.

[Giorgio N]

The Skyhawk looks very nice but the shape of the radomo is not right.

Luis, do you mean the main radome or the one on the fuselage specific for the A-4P version ?

[nirvanagr]

Nice review! Thanks for it, Paul.

Is the upcoming A-4B new mould the same with the one in the set?

Edited June 5, 2012 by nirvanagr

[PanzerPaulo]

I'm gonna get me one of this...

[luis pacheco]

Luis, do you mean the main radome or the one on the fuselage specific for the A-4P version ?

The dorsal radome.

[topgear29]

I am sure I will be proved wrong but on the decals for the sea harrier is the cockpit decal correct to have the TV screen on the right hand side?

[nirvanagr]

I got mine on Saturday, very nice indeed, any chance of a Super Etend,and a Pucarra?

Take a look at this:

http://www.academy.co.kr/eng/6q/frmBoardVi...&pCode=4786

Should be out soon.

[Julien]

I am sure I will be proved wrong but on the decals for the sea harrier is the cockpit decal correct to have the TV screen on the right hand side?

Nopt sure what that screen is but for a SHAR1 its on the right.

Julien

[JMChladek]

Now I am in a quandry... do I get this, or do I wait a few weeks for the A-4B by itself and purchase some of those? I could think of worse debates to have as I like what I see here, a lot! As for the dorsal radome... Milliput to the rescue I guess. To me, it is not a show stopper by any means.

BTW, Mk 82 Snakeeyes are correct for Argentinean Navy A-4s (this particular bird is an Air Force one), although they typically had three mounted on the centerline on a TER. So that means one will need to be scrounged (a perfect excuse for me to get at least two of these I guess).

[f4h1phantom]

BTW, Mk 82 Snakeeyes are correct for Argentinean Navy A-4s (this particular bird is an Air Force one), although they typically had three mounted on the centerline on a TER. So that means one will need to be scrounged (a perfect excuse for me to get at least two of these I guess).

JM,

the Navy did not use TERs. They used MERs on the centerlline station with 4 Mk.82 Snakeyes.

Only the Air Force Bs used TERs, with three EXPAL 250 kg. bombs on them. The slick bombs on the kit appear to represent those.

HTH,

Jorge.

EDIT: Many thanks for the excellent review, Paul!

Edited June 25, 2012 by f4h1phantom

[Antoine]

Thanks for the review, Paul

Its nice to see the first Airfix boxing of the Skyhawk hit the shops, Freightdog have sets for the A-4B weapons and Falklands avionics fit (with the correct weapons fit for C-228 when it was shot down by ZA177) and an A-4C Falklands fit conversion and to follow. I hope to do further sets to depict other variants based on the C airframe. Apologies for the blatant plug, the first two sets will be on sale in a couple of weeks.

that's some pieces of great news.

[JMChladek]

Thanks for the correction Jorge.

As for the standard A-4B, it looks like Wonderland is expecting them around July 5th. So I guess the wait won't be much longer. I also need to get some of that Freightdog stuff myself when it pops up as I plan to do at least a couple A-4Cs (one as a Nam era bird that killed a Mig air to air with unguided rocket fire).

[John]

I'm wondering about the undercarriage doors and speed brakes on Argentinian aircraft in this finish - were they still edged in red?

John