ESCI – 9034 – Laser Harrier GR 3

Description:

Unassembled plastic model kit in 1/72 scale of a British Hawker Siddeley Harrier V/STOL ground-attack aircraft introduced in the late 60s. The GR.3, developed for the British RAF, featured advanced sensors, including a laser tracker in the extended nose and a radar warning receiver on the fin and tail boom, as well as an upgraded Pegasus 11 (Pegasus Mk 103) engine with a thrust of 21,500 lbf (95.9 kN). A total of 40 new units were built, with the last one delivered in December 1986, and approximately 62 units were converted from GR.1/GR.1As.

Having released the ESCI – 9030 – Sea Harrier FRS MK1 in 1983, in 1984 ESCI exploited their well engineered Harrier kit with 3 new releases, including this GR 3. The forward fuselage part, with the very distinctive nose, including cockpit and canopy was changed in this kit, as well as new weapons payload options, tail fin and other minor elements that were particular of the FRS MK1 are not present in this kit.

This kit included decal sheet with 3 R.A.F. markings.

In difference to the other Harrier ESCI kits, the GR 3 was not reissued again in the late 80s or early 90s but Italeri did years later several times as Italeri – 1278 – HARRIER GR.3 in 2008 and Italeri – 1401 – HARRIER GR.3 in 2017. The mistake of Italeri was to sell this kit as a Falklands Harrier GR 3, while the kit in fact depicts an earlier pre-Falklands GR 3 and it’s a correct set for it.

The odds of the kit are same that all the ESCI Harrier line, very basic cockpit and wrong shaped seat and an improvable payload, but retains all the good characteristics of the line starting by correct size and shape, pleasant assembly and some really nicely represented parts, that still makes the ESCI line some of the best (for many still the best) early Harriers kits. In the specific payload options of this variant, seems ESCI depicted somehow BL755 cluster bombs and two 1,000lb bombs and fuel tanks, the kit still include parts for the AIM-9 Sidewinder not for use in this variant, but you may want to replace this payload by some aftermarket option, as well as the seat at least, if you plan to display with an open canopy.

All together remains as a kit that worth it to build, and still easy to find, either second hand platforms or the Italeri reissues.