Revell/Airfix-Jaguar GR.1A and GR.3A 1:48 – build review

Feature article with Tim Haynes

Just before we get started, here’s a look at how both models turned out – see below for the full story on this one…

Background

Digging around in the stash, my eye settled on the Revell boxing of the SEPECAT Jaguar GR.1A. This was promptly retrieved and after a short time perusing the box contents and the various extras that I had obtained, a plan was hatched. This involved a further rummage through the kit backlog and the liberation of the Airfix GR.3A from their Frontline Fighters set. A little on-line research established the many special schemes worn by the Jaguar in RAF service, and cross referencing against the decals I had gave me the subjects.

The Plan

The first build was to be GR.1A XZ398 of 41 Squadron in the scheme it wore for their 75th anniversary during 1991. It wore this scheme for quite a while as it can be seen across quite a timeline and gets rather scruffy. whilst the second was GR.3A XZ104 also of 41 Squadron in the 2005 display aircraft scheme.

I wanted to depict one aircraft in flight and the other in a parked-up configuration. I also needed to determine what load-out, if any, to apply to the airframes (as they both would have been operational on a day to day basis).

References

I was fortunate enough to view a range of photos of these airframes (amongst others) posted by a member on one of the Facebook groups I look at (Thanks Colin C).

In addition, I used the following:

• Jaguar, Bench Buddy No.3 – by Geoff Coughlin (whoever he is?)[LOL Ed]
• SEPECAT Jaguar, Endangered Species – by Peter Foster
• On Target Profile 10, SEPECAT Jaguar in Worldwide Service by Glenn Sands, Illustrated by Jon Freeman (The Aviation Workshop Publications Ltd)

Extras

• Eduard 48136 Jaguar GR Mk.1A (for Airfix Kits)
• Eduard EX397 Canopy Masks (for Heller kit)
• Master AM-48-057 SEPECAT Jaguar GR1/GR3 Pitot Tube & AOA Probe
• Quickboost QB 48 566 SEPECAT Jaguar A Antennas Note: Items 1, 3 & 4
• Flightpath CBLS-100 Practice Bomb Carrier Set
• Xtradecal X012-48 Jaguar GR1
• Model Alliance MAS48017 Jaguar GR3 RAF Special Schemes 2005 (Part 2)
• Reskit RS48-0163 Jaguar Wheels Set

Kitty Cats

The original tooling for these kits was made by ESCI back in 1980 according to the Scalemates website. On looking at the parts this heritage was apparent with a mixture of soft panel lines, varying amounts of flash and some interesting alignment issues. Basically, this was not going to fall together, so I took my time understanding the various foibles to try and avoid any disasters later on. I will let you just how successful I was in achieving this.

I did pretty much build the one airframe up to the painting stage before starting on the second, but I will cover any differences between the various stages in parallel to avoid duplication.

Read on…