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72nd Hasegawa F/A-18 with LED tiger stripe decals


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Just reserving a slot for my hornet build. I've not got much/any progress yet but I've pulled some parts off, cleaned them up, glued a few LEX pieces on, had to rip them off because I had to drill out the holes for the LEX strakes/fences/whatever-they're-called.

Plastic is brittle and hard, but I've worked with stuff like this before, I'll manage.

Disclaimer: I'm not sure I'll get this one done in time. I'm focusing on my Viper, really, but while waiting for my digital camera I've paused the Viper build. When I do get something done (for the hornet) you'll see it here.

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  • 3 weeks later...

This is what I've done so far.

intakes3a.jpg

I found it a most cumbersome layout for a set of intakes. It's horrible because there's no reference points for which angle the intake should be at other than the lip of the intake itself. So, you've got to slide the intake lip around, assemble IT first, while dry-fitting the side piece in place to make sure it's lined up right, wait for that to thoroughly dry, come back and then work on the side walls.

Now, I found it best to dry fit the side, and glue in the intake dummy wall inside it. This helps line it up and keep it flush with the rest of the fuselage when done right.

intakes2a.jpg

When doing the side walls glue just the side by the gear well and the front by the intake lip. Get it as even as possible. Don't forget to cement under the wedge that fits the AIM-7 fins, as this will probably be most of the strength in this assembly. Only glue back to the end of the gear well. Let this thoroughly dry and then come back and glue the rest. I did step 3 in 2 parts, the seam from the wells to the turn, and then the 90 degree vertical seam separately. You'll note I cut off my stabilizers. I did this to 1) allow me to drop them later and 2) allow me to work on the funky installation of the intakes without them getting in my way. For sheer handling purposes I recommend it to all.

Also, the dummy intake walls are pretty small. You can see around them. So I chopped some plastic card and popped it in there. Just a quick thing, clippers and plastic. Dryfit, clip, repeat, until it was good enough to glue. I don't know if it will help, but better safe than sorry.

intakes1a.jpg

I've got a bit of painting done in the cockpit, too. Nothing noteworthy.

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Oh, and I forgot to say I thinned out the intake mouths by a about half. They looked cartoonish, so I just swiped a sharp x-acto blade around the inside to shave off plastic, then 300-grit sandpaper rolled up, followed with different shapes of iron file. It looks respectable now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Cockpit tub in, fuselage halves (top/bottom) joined, nose cone on. The seams after the wing trailing edge were tough. I would have been better off precisely measuring a spacer and pushing the lower half's sides out to the right width. They wanted to spring inwards. I would also have been better off creating a few pins on the top and bottom to better align the parts in the same area.

In the end I had to use CA to fill the gap(s) and to make sure the joint was fully glued.

No photos til I sand the horrid CA leftovers!

P.S. I am SO glad I took the stabilizers off first. I would NOT recommend building this kit with them "on" to anybody!

EDIT: Typo fix

Edited by Mark M.
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I'll upload a few photos tonight. I have a question, though.

The Hasegawa kit came with both -A and -C vertical fins. The -Cs fit better into the fuselage, so I used those and took off the middle sensor.

However, both sets of fins sit a little "inward" on the fuselage. Shouldn't they be flush with the side of the fuselage? Is it worth it to try and putty this?

On my last hornet (Revell of Germany) this wasn't an issue.

12.jpg

Aside from the gap, they sit on the edge. On the Hasegawa kit, they sit inside the edge. Looking at photos in the gallery of other builds, almost none of them seem to look like mine in this area. Did I screw up, or totally miss something obvious? Does everybody but me know about this, and thus automatically corrects for it?

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Here's what I mean:

fuselage1a.jpg

You can also see how far I've come. Wings on, joints sanded. I will, however, need to know precisely where the pivot is for the stabilizers, otherwise when I tilt them it will be wrong (depending on where I tilt 'em!)

Edited by Mark M.
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  • 2 weeks later...

I've gotten a bit past this, but wanted to post the spray booth photo:

spraybooth2a.jpg

EDIT: It's darker than it looks. The flash washed out the color.

Edited by Mark M.
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There ARE a lot. I'm beginning to realize that. They should go on a little better when I put a coat of Future on the plane. I didn't do that on the DTs but it's not a problem for them. Before I can put the Future on I need to finish some painting and touchups.

I'm a little worried that bits won't line up where the spine meets the wings and so forth. This is a big first for me! I've never even tried any markings like this before!

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Future is on and drying. I put some future on the drop tanks, too, in order to see if the decal film disappears. It does for the most part, but there are still some minor wrinkles in the decals that stand out all the more. I'll need some more solvaset applications (lots of them) in just a few minor areas. Specifically the complex curves of the front of the tanks.

Clear parts dipped in Future too. I need to paint the canopy frame because there are decals that go over it and I want it in place. I guess I should have done that when I airbrushed the entire frame previously.

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I think the solvaset was eating away at the paint (or thinning the paint) on my drop tanks. I know they were coated very thoroughly, but I didn't use Future on them, then used a LOT of solvaset on their decals. Now there are very thin spots in the paint, on the bottom. I need to touch them up but I don't know if you'll see the touchups or not.

Anyways, so solvaset eats through acryllic. I've since coated the rest of the model with Future. The drop tanks were more of a decal test, so I didn't on them. Will Solvaset eat through/thin away the Future as well? Do I need to be careful with my quantities of solvaset? I ask because if the drop tanks are any indicator I'll use the entire bottle on this one kit!!

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Much pain and anguish, but I've got some pics!

First 2 decals in place, 1 for spine 1 for nose:

decals_step1.jpg

Wings in place. Tricky alignment! There's only 1 right way and it all hinges on the vents on the LEX.

decals_step2.jpg

More on, including lower fuselage nose and one inside fin. Decal over airbrake cut away (separate decal supplied for deployed brake).

decals_step3.jpg

Almost done with all the camo. Only a little bit on each side of cockpit left, but clear part isn't painted yet so I left it off.

decals_step4.jpg

I have to put the last stripe decals on with the canopy closed, then cut at the join and open the canopy again.

Overall they are thick in some places and thin in others, even on the same decal! Ill-fitting and tricky, perhaps not best for the Hasegawa kit (?). I need many little touch-ups, including the vertical fins' top edge and other solvaset-related melting points.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Lots of progress. What these don't show is the canopy, the forward windscreen, the HUD, all being installed.

One problem is that the Hase kit doesn't come with the 2 pitot tubes for either side of the nose! I'm a bit let down by that.

I haven't done any weathering because I had to apply more Future first. It's hardening.

I'm not 100% happy with the decal quality. I've heard their other sheets are good, but these 1992 TMOTA sheets seem to be the "rejects" I guess. Just going by their own decal instruction sheets, the maple leafs were too large, certain decals were a little off, and the false cockpit shadow was complete but mis-proportioned. If you put them all together, they'd fit, but they don't line up to the gear doors beneath them. I picked up one of the stabilators and a chunk of decal came off on my thumb!!! After shrieking and holding my wrist as if my entire hand had been cut off, I managed to get the chunk more or less back into place and cemented with solvaset and later Future. A similar thing happened in 2 other places. These have ALL had massive doses of microsol. They've had so much solvaset applied that the PAINT started to thin away!! There's no way in Hades they should just lift off like a peanut skin!!

:thumbsup:

Anyways, photos as the Future dries!

almostdone_frontleft.jpg

almostdone_right.jpg

almostdone_bottom.jpg

almostdone_topleft.jpg

Edited by Mark M.
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Well....

I spent last night running a sludge wash, like I've done on some other models.

Only I wasn't happy with it. It didn't want to stay where I wanted it, and I couldn't leave it all messy because it was everywhere. The problem is that most of the panel lines didn't catch much of the paint. Cleaning off the areas around them took the sludge from the panels.

I use acryl paints for sludge because I mix it with water and dawn (dish detergent). I had a fully cured coat of Future under this so I was safe, but it just didn't work like I wanted.

I may have to try tracing the panel lines with a charcoal pencil or something. The #2 kind don't work so well and have a tendency to smear or run when dullcoated.

I got all the decals on, the clear parts painted, etc, but while trying to add gun muzzle stains I noticed that the "439" and slime light on the port side are 3-4 mm too far forward. These both came off on my finger (one of those shrieking moments, mentioned previously) and I put them back.

I KNOW I put them back PERFECTLY placed. I can only guess that the puddle of solvaset I put on them to snug them down shifted them over as it evaporated.

I don't know if I can risk trying to move them again. They have Future over them now. I know it's a really minor point but this model is PERFECT (in my eyes) except for that!

I added some stains and such aft of the main gear doors, but

question:

Are those triangular vents supposed to be steel or titanium or anything? Or are they painted? I weathered around them (and aft of them) in general from some other pics I've seen, but I didn't know about the vent itself.

I'm 1-2 steps away from the final dull coat, but I want to try and get the panel lines to show up better, if I can.

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My kit was second hand, missing a seat. I happen to have a Gripen PE seat (Gripen long since hacked up for a defunct kit bash) which looks an awful lot like a hornet seat. However it sits very low. I need to but a spacer beneath the seat but I don't know how high the seat should sit.

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