RAF Harrier GR.3 diorama in 1/72

A RAF Harrier GR.3 diorama in 1/72 has been one of those ideas that are bubbling away in the back of my mind for quite some time.

The story

Somewhere in West Germany, circa 1980. A RAF Harrier GR.3 pilot is getting his new orders from a British Army officer for his next exercise sortie. Also in the scene is a NATO umpire watching the exchange of orders, a couple of RAF Regiment figures, one having a brew, plus an erk trying to keep out of the way by looking busy. It’s early days of the exercise, as they are not yet in an NBC state.

So when I finally had all the components in my stash, I decided to give it a go. These included:

Italeria 1/72 Harrier GR.3

Picked this kit up at Taunton Hobbycraft. It was the Falklands War edition, but luckily for me, I had some spare decals from an old Airfix Harrier to fit better for a Harrier based in West Germany during the Cold War. I’ll post a link at the end of the blog if you want to purchase a Italeria Harrier.

Airfix 1/76 LWB Land Rover

I always try to keep a stash of useful vehicle kits, including the Airfix (originally JB Models) and 1/76 Land Rovers. I’m not too worried about mixing 1/76 with 1/72 for dioramas (see my Oxford diecast blog post). I’ll post a link at the end of the blog to the Airix site to purchase the LWB Landy.

Airfix 1/72 NATO Ground Crew

Picked up the Airfix NATO Ground Crew many years ago. It would be nice for Airfix to re-release them at some point. But they are ideal for this diorama.

Elhiem 1/72 British Army figures

Getting British Cold War figures in 1/72 scale is quite a challenge. Lucky for us Cold War builders, Elhiem do a nice range of war gaming figures from the Cold War era.

Building the RAF Harrier GR.3 diorama in 1/72 (pictures).

Where to buy

Stuart Fowle is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk. This means that when you click on links to various products on this site/post and make a purchase, this can result in a commission that is credited to Stuart Fowle. This does not impact the price you pay.

Italeri 1/72 Harrier GR.3 (Falklands)

Amazon currently (September 2025) have the Harrier from Italeri for sale. It’s not a bad kit and looks like a Harrier when built. As I said above, I didn’t use the decals from the kit, but an old set of Airfix decals.

The link to buy the –>> Italeri Harrier Gr.3 Falklands (from Amazon)

Stuart Fowle is a participant in the Airfix Affiliates programme , an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Airfix. This means that when you click on links to various products on this site/post and make a purchase, this can result in a commission that is credited to Stuart Fowle. This does not impact the price you pay.

Airfix 1/76 LWB Land Rover

Quite a nice little kit, which was previously a JB Models product, and really as far as I know, one of the only plastic model kits in this scale of a Land Rover.

I’ve built a couple of these; they are a bit fiddly, but with time and care, they will build into a nice little model. Plus, they lend themselves to all sorts of conversion potential.

Link to buy the –>> Airfix LWB Land Rover (From Airfix)