THANKS VERY MUCH to our friends at Eduard for sending IPMS USA another of your huge line of resin aftermarket kit improvements, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it on to me to review….

This is a specialized iteration of the Sniper targeting pod as carried by the Harrier Mk 9. Included in the set are the pod body, forward sensor section, three clear resin parts ( three protective glass fairing covers), and a photoetch set with four brackets and two different end plates. Also included are two separate resin sets of delicate but strong sway braces, and a separate block resin bracket for a different lot number of pod. There is also a decal sheet to finish off!

Detail is fantastic; the avionics cooling scoop is hollow, and the pod fore/aft section mounting bolt recesses are very well done. Eduard have listened and included excellent instructions on all their most recent releases with color and assembly details.

I carefully removed the pod mounting cradle from its resin pour block, and sanded it to fit over the correct location on the strake mounting beam area on the lower part of the harrier’s belly. I did this by holding some 240 grade wet/dry over the fuselage area, and then gently sanding the mount until it fit flush. Superglue in place, then add the sway braces and (if able) the PE brackets to the sway braces. My tweezers worked ok; half the brackets plinked off into the wilderness, and I was able to coax the other two into place.

At this point I primer painted the model; beforehand I used a bit of Vallejo filler on the mounting seam, then finish-painted the lower color for the intended scheme.

The pod itself was simple; remove the seeker head from the pour stub, figure out if you want it deployed or stowed (rotated up or down), then decide if you need the pod endplate with the additional resin part and tab bracket, or the simple circular plate. I drilled a 1/32” small hole in the upper pod mounting longeron, to hold the pod for painting, then attached to my patented (no!) clothes-hangar pant tube… (To make one, read below).

(How to make a cardboard Pant-tube part-holding painting porcupine stick: drill through one of the tube ends at random intervals with a 1/16” bit, then insert toothpicks through it to hold parts for painting. Keep the other end clean to hold with! If the tooends are too small, clip with a sprue cutter. Carefully insert the part with the hole in it on the end of the pick. Paint the parts, then insert into a weighted box, etc., to hold the part off the work surface until dry)

As to the Pod color; most sniper pods appear to be painted FS Gunship Gray 36118; I say “paint based on your photo sources”. Some appear light gray, some dark. I painted mine with Tamiya primer then Spray Luftwaffe Gray, which dried to a nice decal-friendly medium semi-gloss. The decals took 10 minutes to apply; when dry, gloss coat, satin/flat coat, then install the clear lenses. The seeker head interior was painted flat black, and the seeker itself clear gloss. The edges of the clear protective lenses were edge-painted red per instructions (sealant on the real aircraft) then installed with gator-grip polyurethane clear glue.

Final installation involves cementing the pod into place; the sway braces should be steel colored, and you are done!

Once more Eduard earns a “10” rating, thanks again Eduard for taking care of this modeling niche and IPMS USA for the forum to review these items…