Fit
A dry fit of the key components shows that there should be no need for filler and that this is a kit that will be suitable for all types of modeller. I would say that it’s probably a great starter kit for modellers stepping up to this scale. This said Trumpeter have a habit of leaving little pins on the mating faces of major components but these are easy if tedious to remove.
Quality
This is a good quality kit the plastic is good and will paint and glue well and will with a light sanding and polish will make a good base for your chosen colour scheme. It’s no Tamiya kit, for me the benchmark, but it’s very good nevertheless.
Decals
The kit comes with two decal sheets. One for the aircraft and one for the weapons stencils. Aircraft covered are both USMC for VMA 231 Black Aces and VMA 223 Bulldogs. Now I have seen the VMA 231 markings on a Gulf War Harrier II but the VMA 223 aircraft markings I have seen only on a Harrier II Plus but I’ve not completed my research yet. The decals are adequate but barely they will work ok but the quality is poor as the stencils are poorly defined and few in number. The cockpit decals are best ignored and you should use paint instead on the engraved detailing the cockpit.
Conclusion
This is a nice kit of a popular aircraft type. It’s accurate, well fitting and full of quality parts. The decal sheets are poor but useable but no doubt after market sets will arrive by force very soon. I am looking forwards to building this model and you can watch this exclusively as it happens in scalemeodellingnow.com. It’s expensive but given the part count and quality is just about good value.
Verdict
Recommended
