Exhaust Nozzles for GR.3/FRS.1 Harriers

Published: November 17, 2013
Company: Aires Hobby Models

These resin parts are designed to replace the exhaust nozzles in any of the first-generation Harrier kits from a number of manufacturers. They are advertised to fit the Italeri and Hasegawa Sea Harrier FRS.1 and the Italeri and Hasegawa Harrier GR.3. Since the Italeri kits are reissues of the ESCI AV-8A/GR.3 and FRS.1 kits, these parts will fit those kits as well. They will also work on the Fujimi AV-8A kit, as that is a copy (not a reissue) of the ESCI kit. These are first after market nozzles available for the first-generation Harriers, although similar items have been available for the second-generation Harriers (AV-8B, AV-8B+, GR.5/7/9) for some time by a variety of manufacturers. They are not the same.

Since I am working on a collection of Harriers, I just happened to have… more

Mk. 23 MTVR Cargo Truck

Published: October 13, 2013
Company: Trumpeter

Background

The Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) cargo truck was adapted by the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy as a replacement for the M939 series of trucks that had been in use since the early 80s. It offers improved off-road capability and greater capacity than the earlier models. It is the prime mover for the USMC M777 Howitzer and is used to carry troops, cargo, fuel, and water to every corner of the battlefield.

The MTVR was first fielded in 1998 and is built by Oshkosh Industries. Deliveries are continuing, and so far some 11,000 in 12 different variants have been delivered to the US Marines, the Navy Seabees, as well as the Iraqi and Egyptian armies. The variants include 4x4 and 8x8 versions, along with the standard 6x6 configuration.

Kit… more

M1083 FMTV Standard Cargo Truck

Published: February 10, 2013
Company: Trumpeter

Background

The US Army has attempted to standardize its fleet of vehicles ever since General Pershing pushed his squadron of 1916 Dodge touring cars into Mexico, chasing Pancho Villa. During WWI, the Army designed the “Standard B Liberty Truck”, of which some 9500 were manufactured by 15 different companies. The Army continued to design and update its truck requirements, and during WWII the GMC- and Studebaker-built 2 ½ ton trucks were representative of those basic designs. Other trucks were used, however, as vehicles from every manufacturer made their way into the military. After WWII, the M34 and M35 2 ½ ton and the M54 5 tons were updated into the M813 and M939 series. They served as the basis for a number of body styles, but the Army was still searching for a way to… more

BAE Harrier GR.7A/GR.9A

Published: March 2, 2012
Company: Airfix

For some reason, I decided a few years ago to build a collection of 1/72 Harriers. At that time I counted 24 separate and distinct sub-varieties and markings/nationalities. There would be more if I wanted to include all the two-seaters. So far, I have completed about 18 of them, from the first P.1127 prototype through the Kestrel and first- and second-generation Harriers. The kits range from the awful (Matchbox GR.1, which I could not bring myself to build) to the barely acceptable (Hasegawa GR.1/AV-8A) into the pretty good (Airfix/Heller AV-8B, Italeri AV-8B) to the really nice (ESCI AV-8A, Hasegawa AV-8B/GR.5 and AV-8B+). When I started the collection, there was no such airplane as the GR.9, so when it entered service I resigned myself to modifying a Hasegawa kit. With the release of… more