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Hunter 200 Colors (F/A-18A+ VFA-201)


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I'm stepping out of my 1/72 comfort zone to build a 1/48 Hornet using the Hasegawa Kit (a CF-18A boxing). I picked up the TwoBobs Patriot Hornet sheet from FlightDecs and getting things together (references, weapons, etc). I have a copy of Tony Holmes US Navy Hornet Units of Iraqi Freedom Part Two which has good photos and a color profile of 162904/AJ-200 as it appeared on their OIF cruise. Strangely enough the text and captions do not mention that the darker gray wraps under the LEX in the same manner as the early TPS scheme, very unusual for a current Hornet. This wrap got me thinking - was the color combination 36320/36375 light and dark ghost gray, or was it 36375/36495 light ghost gray and gray? Pictures of this bird on Prime Portal taken after the cruise with the AF code back on show the normal scheme of two ghost grays, but the paint looks pretty fresh, so the jet was repainted before those were taken. The decal instructions show the old-school pattern as in the book, but in dark and light ghost grays. This seems strange to me. Mr. Holmes' books shows 200 and several of her squadron mates, it appears that both old and new patterns were used on this cruise. Page 88 shows Hunter 205 clearly in the current ghost grays scheme, p. 89 shows both 200 and 213 in the old pattern. The photos of the old pattern jets look lighter in tone than the rest of the jets in the book, but this may be a matter of lighting, exposure etc.

Does anyone have any conclusive evidence as to which colors Hunter 200 wore on this cruise? I'm really leaning towards the old colors, as I think this gives a nice retro look to the plane, but in this case I'll bend to accuracy. Any help is appreciated.

Edited by bdt13
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I'm stepping out of my 1/72 comfort zone to build a 1/48 Hornet using the Hasegawa Kit (a CF-18A boxing). I picked up the TwoBobs Patriot Hornet sheet from FlightDecs and getting things together (references, weapons, etc). I have a copy of Tony Holmes US Navy Hornet Units of Iraqi Freedom Part Two which has good photos and a color profile of 162904/AJ-200 as it appeared on their OIF cruise. Strangely enough the text and captions do not mention that the darker gray wraps under the LEX in the same manner as the early TPS scheme, very unusual for a current Hornet. This wrap got me thinking - was the color combination 36320/36375 light and dark ghost gray, or was it 36375/36495 light ghost gray and gray? Pictures of this bird on Prime Portal taken after the cruise with the AF code back on show the normal scheme of two ghost grays, but the paint looks pretty fresh, so the jet was repainted before those were taken. The decal instructions show the old-school pattern as in the book, but in dark and light ghost grays. This seems strange to me. Mr. Holmes' books shows 200 and several of her squadron mates, it appears that both old and new patterns were used on this cruise. Page 88 shows Hunter 205 clearly in the current ghost grays scheme, p. 89 shows both 200 and 213 in the old pattern. The photos of the old pattern jets look lighter in tone than the rest of the jets in the book, but this may be a matter of lighting, exposure etc.

Does anyone have any conclusive evidence as to which colors Hunter 200 wore on this cruise? I'm really leaning towards the old colors, as I think this gives a nice retro look to the plane, but in this case I'll bend to accuracy. Any help is appreciated.

hi while i DONT have any conclusive evidence re the colours,i reckon you would be safe enough with either the old or later scheme,from what i read in your post both are technally "correct" as you say the bird wore both schemes...as your heart seems set on the old scheme go for that one....after all,its your model and you can put what ever scheme you want on it..,cheers

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fouga-

Thanks for the vote for the old colors, that's probably how I'll go. I probably wasn't clear on how I stated my question, though. The demarcation between the lighter and darker grays is clear in the photos as an unusual pattern similar to the first TPS scheme. It's just not absolutely clear which grays were used.

If my guess on the lighter grays was wrong I'll just tell everyone that I was trying to lighten the colors for scale effect and it got out of hand!

Thanks again. If anyone who was there on the boat or back at the base in TX knows the answer, please let me know.

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