Xtrakit's new offering features recessed exterior panel lines and raised panel and console detail in the cockpit. My sample had flash on some parts and big sink marks on the right intake.
The instructions specify only Xtracolor or Xtracrylic paints without placing the colors (except for the camouflage). I used a light gray for the gear, wheel wells, speed-brake well, and intake interior. Likewise, with no color callouts for the very basic ejection seat, I painted it according to photo references, enhancing it a little with masking-tape seat belts.
The four-part fuselage is joined at the engine intakes, while the engine face is part of the intake bell mouth and is attached to the forward fuselage and the intake lips. The inside of the intake should be a nice smooth area, but after everything went together there were gaps "down the throat" which were difficult to access and smooth out. The intake lips also needed putty and lots of sanding to fair them into the fuselage exterior. Open blow-in doors on the intakes' upper surfaces are a nice touch.
The separate speed brake can be posed open, but there's no actuator for it, though there are mounting spots for one. There are no pins or reference marks for locating the four wing pylons, so you'll need to look at the scale views in the instructions (or your reference materials) to position these correctly. A pair of drop tanks is supplied for the inner pylons. The jet nozzles are separate moldings that needed lots of cleaning up, and the flow vanes inside them are separate parts that needed trimming and were somewhat tedious to install correctly. The landing gear outriggers didn't touch the surface, so some filing and finagling of the gear was needed to get the model into its four-point stance.
The clear parts are nice and thin, but mine were too wide for the fuselage; I used a hair dryer and light pressure to "heat-squeeze" them down to the right width. The windshield fit poorly to the forward fuselage, so I glued it in place and puttied around its base before painting the model.
Three markings options are provided by the Aviprint decals; they're very thin and need a little care in handling, but settle and conform very well. However, all my reference photos show Sea Harriers' no-walk/no-step areas, warning stripes, and warning triangles to be red - but the decal sheet's are a light peach.
The fit problems I encountered with the intakes, clear parts, and landing gear - plus the work needed to build up the exhaust nozzles - took a lot of time. I spent 30 hours on this Sea Harrier. A set of intake covers over all those open holes would eliminate having to do a lot of the inside work I did, and it could put the kit into the intermediate modeler's category. But a complete build leads me to recommend this kit only to more-experienced builders.
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