Frog Gloster Javelin

1/72

Injection moulded plastic

Price £50 (second hand)

Released 1958

Quite the rarity these days, this is not a good kit and better off as a collectible. A mere 17 parts go together to make more or less a caricature of the Javelin prototype. It's truly a kit of its time with no gear bays or cockpit - just some lumps to represent crew heads, fictional raised panel lines and rivets abound, landing gear is moulded as one part with the doors, etc. It might - might - be a good basis for a model of a prototype, but frankly I think you're better off not bothering or treating it as a bit of retro antique and not a model kit.

Hawk Gloster F.A.W.1. Javelin

1/72

Injection moulded plastic

Price £20 (second hand)

Released 1967

Well, it's got a lovely box. That's about where the positives end - this is a truly ancient and awfully basic kit. Surface detail is raised panel lines and rivets (none of which appear on the real thing), and the roundels are also represented by raised lines - eek! No undercarriage bays - they are moulded closed and you stick the gear legs into holes on top! No cockpit at all, instead a single green monster sits on a plank that is described as the seat. Generic missiles that look nothing like Firestreaks are fit only for the bin (and the FAW.1 didn't carry missiles anyway!). Overall shape is vaguely Javelin-like, and indeed the upper and lower fuselage show the gentle curve of the real thing that isn't correctly represented by other 1/72 kits. However, the nose is too short and blunt and only has a single seat cockpit (closer to a prototype than an FAW.1) and the rear fuselage 'pen knib' fairing is entirely wrong, lacking the upward/rearward curve. The cranked wing leading edge is almost entirely absent. Very basic decals provided for WT830 of 23 Sqn; WT830 was indeed the 4th prototype, not an FAW.1. Potentially useful as the basis for a model of one of the prototypes, but really this one's only a collectible these days.

Heller/Airfix Gloster Javelin T.3

1/72

Injection moulded plastic

Price £20 (second hand)

Released 1981

A decent effort for its time, Heller, for some reason, chose to model the relatively rare T.3 trainer version of the Javelin - perhaps as part of the range of other jet trainers they produced at the time. Surface detail is raised panel lines for the most part, though many panels are slightly off in size or location and varios lines are missing. At least that makes sanding it all off and rescribing less work! Overall shape is pretty good - the fuselage is perhaps a little too fat and maybe too flat on top and bottom; the upper wing root area doesn't meet the fuselage in quite the right curve as a result. The cockpit isn't too bad, with a basic tub and seats and instrument panels with some attempt at instrument detail. Undercarriage bays have some basic rib detail too. The wheels and undercarriage doors all have annoying ejector pin marks on them, but the only sink marks to be found are on the rear 'pen nib' jet pipe fairing. Basic decals are provided for two identically painted jets, one each for 60 Sqn and 72 Sqn. The kit has been reboxed by Heller/Humbrol and then Airfix and is still fairly readily available despite the moulds being permanently altered to produce the FAW.9 version.

Airfix Gloster Javelin FAW 9/9R

1/72

Injection moulded plastic

Price £20 (second hand)

Released 1983

Airfix, having reboxed Heller's T.3, later made the decision to alter the moulds on the kit to produce an attempt at the FAW.9/9R. This was a minimal effort, retaining almost every part of the existing T.3 kit unaltered. The changes made were basically to shorten the nose and add another line of vortex generators to the upper wing, remove the raised instrument detail from the pilot's panel and cockpit tub (replaced with decals), and include a new canopy and a new sprue with parts for the missile pylons, missiles, belly tanks, navigator's coaming and panel, refuelling probe and rear fuselage fairing and jetpipes. Unfortunately this means the rather inaccurate fuselage contours are retained, and the aft end of the fuselage is very undersized for an FAW.9. Decals are provided for two camouflage examples from 60 Sqn and 64 Sqn. Broadly similar in quality to the T.3, but that skinny rear end lets it down.

Frog/Novo Javelin FAW.9/9R

1/72

Injection moulded plastic

Price £10 (second hand)

Released 1975

A typical Frog effort from the time, this a chunky monkey of a kit with basic raised panel lines, featureless cockpit tub, non-existent undercarriage bays and fairly dreadful attempts at undercarriage, missiles and drop tanks. Compared to the later Heller/Airfix kits, the wingspan is a little undersized and the fuselage contours are a little less bloated - but still exhibit incorrect upper wing root contours, and the top and bottom are both too flat. The radome is a bit undersized and too blunt. Novo reboxed the kit a few years later, and this is more commonly available than the original Frog issue - but is usually smothered in flash and lacks the display stand found in the Frog boxing. Fit is so-so; the wings in particular leave a lot of gaps along the wing root join, needing some serious filler. Very poor decals are provided for two camouflage examples from 5 Sqn and 64 Sqn. The only real positive of this kit over the Airfix FAW.9 is that the rear fuselage isn't too skinny - some have been known to cut the end off this one and use it to correct the Airfix kit. Basically, though, this is a historical curio.

ZTS Plastyk Javelin FAW.Mk7/FAW.Mk9

1/72

Injection moulded plastic

Price £10 (second hand)

Released 1990s

Written off by many as yet another Frog/Novo rebox, this is simply not the case. While there is some clear commonality in parts breakdown, close examination shows that just about every single part is different in some way. The most dramatic difference is in the surface detailing; this is the only 1/72 kit of the Javelin that has recessed panel lines, though again they aren't very accurate and many of them are little inconsistent in depth. The overall plastic quality is low, with surface imperfections and horrendous sink marks just about anywhere there is any additional thickness (e.g. buklheads in the fuselage). Wheels, undercarriage, cockpit etc. are all very basic indeed. The FAW.7 rear fuselage is provided as seperate part to be glued on once you cut off the existing FAW.9 rear end; sadly it's inaccurate though. Decals are provided for three camouflaged jets - FAW.9s of 23 Sqn and 64 Sqn and an FAW.7 from 64 Sqn. These are very glossy, wholly inaccurate and basically unuseable. As a kit to build it's a pretty nasty effort outclassed by the Heller/Airfix ones, but the recessed panel lines save a rescribing job I suppose. The kit has been reboxed by a bewildering array of other companies including Chematic, Mistercraft, Mirage Hobby, and BigModel.

Dynavector Gloster Javelin FAW.9

1/48

Vacuum formed plastic and white metal

Price ~£30 (second hand)

Released 2002

Dynavector vacforms generally have a good reputation, but this is not one of their better efforts. The parts breakdown can result in vague location of the wing to fuselage joints, and much care and filler will be needed to put the airframe together in a satisfactory manner. Surface detail is shallow recessed panel lines, some of which are inconsistent in depth. The white metal parts are generally a little lacking in detail, with the ejector seats in particular being pretty basic. The intake trunks are poorly done and may be better replaced with rolled up plastic card (or even paper!). The many tiny vortex generators on the wings are provided as etched brass - this is very fiddly, and better off replaced with plastic card. Overall accuracy isn't too bad, though as with many of the 1/72 kits, the upper wing root to fuselage joint does not follow the correct contours. Decals are printed very thinly so camouflage shows through on the roundels for instance, but it hardly matters as they've been printed overscale and are too large. Budget for some Xtradecals or other third party decals. However, if you're spending money on resin ejector seats and decals, you might as well just buy the Airfix kit instead, which is far superior.

Airfix Gloster Javelin FAW 9/9R

1/48

Injection moulded plastic

Price ~£50 (RRP)

Released 2013

This is, quite simply, an absolutely fantastic kit. The most exquisitely fine recessed panel line detail appears to capture just about every panel on the real thing, down to the varying corners you find on several of them. It's very clear from the detail packed into this kit that somebody with a real passion for the aircraft did the research, including crawling on and under a real airframe at the Jet Age Museum. The cockpit is about as good as you'll get in injection moulded plastic, with no fewer than 27 parts going together to make up the tub, panels and seats (more parts than some complete 1/72 Javelin kits!). Full length intakes and jetpipes are provided, and a potentially awkward clean-up job on the intake lips is avoided by the use of complete lip parts. Undercarriage bays are nicely done, rivalling the cockpit tub. All control surfaces are seperate and the airbrakes and flaps can be posed deployed or closed. Underwing stores comprise 4 beautifully done Firestreak missiles plus 4 big drop tanks - for any combination you can think of. The big belly tanks are also provided. The canopies are moulded in sections so you can pose them open or closed. As a finishing touch, not only are there optional intake and exhaust blanks but there is also a very finely done boarding ladder. Comprehensive decals are provided for an FAW.9 of 228 OCU in overall silver and a pair of camouflaged FAW.9Rs of 33 and 64 Sqns. Complete stencil data - expect several evenings work just applying those! All the superlatives in the world wouldn't be enough for this kit - truly the absolutely greatest Javelin kit of all time, and surely one of Airfix's best ever releases - I just wish they'd scale it down to 1/72! Highly, highly recommended!