For the first of our FAQs Stu Fone has put together a list for those wishing to make a GR.7 from an AV-8B kit; a standard one that is, not an (NA) or II+.  Our GR.7 walkaround pages will help as an initial reference point.

AV-8B to GR.7 by Stu Fone

Nose cone  the GR.7 nose is longer and has a more gentle curve to it.

ECM antennas  two 'horns', containing Zeus ECM receivers are located either side and just below the ARBS window.

FLIR housing  a UK-designed FLIR housing is located atop the nose cone.  This is a different design to the US AV-8B(NA) one, with the UK equipment packed differently, hence the different profile.

Cockpit  the UK has two CRT displays, rather than the US one (the extra UK one is for the moving map display); the seat is a Martin Baker Mk 12 instead of the STENCIL seat fitted to USMC/Spanish/Italian AV-8Bs.

Wings  although you can't tell from the outside, the UK has a metal leading edge to the wing. All RAF aircraft have a strip along the leading edge painted an off-green, this covers the metal leading edge.

Wingtips  due to having an internal ECM system (the only Harrier II to have such a thing), the RAF mounted antennas on the extremities. Each wingtip has two lumpy antennas for the ECM gear as well as the normal lights.  The 'slime lights' on RAF aircraft only have three fingers as opposed to 5 on other nationalities’ machines.  There may also be some of each finger painted black - check references.

Pylons  the RAF a/c have an extra pylon fitted to the outrigger housing for a single AIM-9L sidewinder.  One point to note on this is that the trailing edge of the pylon is flat, not aerodynamically profiled.

Gun Pods  thanks to the belief that 'British is best' the Harrier GR.5/7 have never had a functioning gunpod.  Aircraft commonly carry a weighted gun pod housing on each shoulder hardpoint to act as part of the Lift Improvement Device system (LIDS).  Rumour is that on deployments these are used for carrying personal kit…

Centre Pylon  this is a genuine weapons carrying pylon on RAF machines, and as the RAF aircraft do not have an ammunition tunnel between the gun pods, it is a deeper pylon than fitted to other nations’ a/c.  Normally it can carry a single BL/RBL755 cluster bomb or a single 1000lb retarded or free fall bomb.

Flare dispenser  probably the most maligned addition to the aircraft from a model point of view, the only company to have got it right so far is Airfix.  This replaces the twin ALE-40 dispensers in US/Italian/Spanish machines.  It is a triangular housing with two 15-round rectangular dispensers on the forward facing bit.

Ventral fin ECM blisters  another horror story on model kits, no-one has yet got it right.  Airfix are the nearest with the lower housing, however it is grossly oversized.  The upper housing can be best described as being the same as the lower with a rounded off cylinder stuck on to it - again, the best thing to do is look at some reference material to make sure you have the right shape.

Slime Lights  the low-voltage light strips, commonly referred to as slime lights often have half of their width painted black.  Again you will have to check your references to determine which aircraft have this feature.

LERXs  most AV-8Bs in USMC, Spanish and Italian service have been upgraded and fitted with the improved Pegasus, which necessitated a re-org of the internals and also the fitting of the 100% versus the 65% LERX.  One consequence of this is that the fire-access vents are relocated to the top of the wing.  In UK service a small number of aircraft received the LERX Mod, but not an improved engine - check references!  The uprated/improved engine will only come in to UK service with the GR9a, and these aircraft will probably equip the RN units due to the need for hot-and-high hover performance on a CVS.  (Note:  a/c in the ZD serial range have 65% LERX whilst those in the ZG serial range have 100% LERX.)

T.10  all of these changes also apply to converting a TAV-8B into a T.10.  T.10s have 100% LERX.