RAF Harrier GR.3 diorama in 1/72
An 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 an 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).
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).
Work in progress Harrier GR.3 diorama
Next step was to create some trees, using wire and string. The wire was purchased from the local garden centre, and the string is that very coarse stuff. Having twisted these by hand, I have since purchased a small hand drill to help with this job!
Where to buy
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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)
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.
