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I would guess, "Yes", mostly due to these photos I found of a CF-18B (188916) taken in 1994. You can barely see it, but the stiffener is there....

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Canada---Ai...37c13f6bc5a6533

Also in 1994, CF-18A, 188762...

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Canada---Ai...37c13f6bc5a6533

Good start to the build, BTW.

Cheers,

Chuck

Edited by chuck540z3
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Thanks for the info guys! And Alf, thanks for looking through your photos for them.

After a little bit more looking I've found a few photos of aircraft in Balkan Rats markings with the stiffener plates. I may just glue them on my model with white glue or something. That way if later I find out 795 didn't have them I can just peel them off.

edit: Thanks for the photos chuck540z3! Sorry, I didn't see your post before I posted. Really enjoying following your CF-18B topic btw.

Edited by Spit1A
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edit: Thanks for the photos chuck540z3! Sorry, I didn't see your post before I posted. Really enjoying following your CF-18B topic btw.

No problem. If it wasn't for feedback from Scooby, Finn, ALF18 and many others, my build would have all sorts of errors, so I'm more than happy to pay back in a small way. FYI, the 1/32 Academy front windscreen barely clears the HUD as well- and I really wish in hindsight that I'd done what you have with the HUD glass. Excellent!

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Nice work, Spit. I like your remedy for the HUD. I built a Hasegawa CF-18 a few years ago and I think I just lopped off part of the clear piece of the HUD to make the windscreen fit. Your solution is much more realistic. I'll remember that for the next one I build.Look forward to more progress.

Mike

Edited by AX 365
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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for all the nice comments guys!

I've made a little more progress now.

Landing gear bays are all painted.

CF-1837.jpg

CF-1838.jpg

Landing gear painted. Has anyone had problems with the alignment of the main gear on this kit? I had to do a bit of bending and shimming to get the airplane to sit close to level.

CF-1839.jpg

CF-1840.jpg

CF-1841.jpg

CF-1842.jpg

Landing gear doors.

CF-1843.jpg

Stiffening plates on the vertical stabilizers

CF-1844.jpg

Preshaded and awaiting paint!

CF-1845.jpg

Thanks for looking!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Looking really god right now - you've done great recovery of windshield, and actually I especially like HUD as it is now - more thin than it was!

Gun muzzle also looks fine painted...

Can't wait to see finished model, photographed in dark with nose light on! :)

Cheers,

Srdjan

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[snip]

Landing gear painted. Has anyone had problems with the alignment of the main gear on this kit? I had to do a bit of bending and shimming to get the airplane to sit close to level.

CF-1839.jpg

[snip]

Thanks for looking!

Hey there.

Just noticed that you have the correct Canadian style shocks on there. Are those the kit parts that you modified or is someone finally making after market landing gear with the proper style of shocks? I used the G-Factor brass shocks on my 1:32 hornet and had a heck of a time removing and replacing the brass to correct them.

thanks

David

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Hey there.

Just noticed that you have the correct Canadian style shocks on there. Are those the kit parts that you modified or is someone finally making after market landing gear with the proper style of shocks? I used the G-Factor brass shocks on my 1:32 hornet and had a heck of a time removing and replacing the brass to correct them.

thanks

David

David,

This is the nice thing of the 1/48th Hasegawa kit.... it does come with the Canadian shocks.

:D

Emil

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Hey there.

Just noticed that you have the correct Canadian style shocks on there. Are those the kit parts that you modified or is someone finally making after market landing gear with the proper style of shocks? I used the G-Factor brass shocks on my 1:32 hornet and had a heck of a time removing and replacing the brass to correct them.

thanks

David

Hi David,

Yep, as Emil has said, luckily the 1/48 Hasegawa kit comes with the correct shocks. I don't know if there are any 1/32 after market LG with the Canadian shocks.

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Hi David,

Yep, as Emil has said, luckily the 1/48 Hasegawa kit comes with the correct shocks. I don't know if there are any 1/32 after market LG with the Canadian shocks.

There are none that I'm aware of. Probably a nice little niche market for a new product :banana: Hmmmmm

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CF-1852.jpg

Would someone be able to explain the 'probe kill' markings? How do the refueling probes get damaged?

Thanks for looking!

Sure - although I can't speak from personal experience (having never damaged a probe)... :)

The refuelling basket bobs and weaves in turbulence. Even in smooth air, it's hard to connect cleanly. When the probe is not exactly centred on the basket as it hits the basket, it will push the side of the basket and the whole hose and basket assembly 'tips off' - sometimes swinging wildly back and forth or up and down.

If the Hornet is closing relatively rapidly, or bobbing up and down itself, the basket can smack into the aircraft nose, probe, or even canopy.

The type of tanker aircraft can made a difference as well - because of the characteristics of the basket itself (hard or soft) and the length of hose and the way it waves in the breeze behind the tanker.

The worst tanker for probe and drogue systems is the KC-135, because it has a hard basket (300 lbs of solid metal), and a short hose that must be pushed into a semi-rigid wave by the Hornet to receive fuel. Here's what that looks like from the tanker aircraft:

cf-18aarkc135.jpg

Here is an American Hornet that argued and lost with a tanker:

403Basket.jpg

Here's what it looks like when a CF-18 is in contact with a 707 tanker (hard basket, but long hose and easier to avoid damage).

BNA-076.jpg

DND Photo above

The probe door is not terribly solid. A 300-lb basket that bounces and smacks into it can easily damage it or rip it right off. I've also seen the little actuator that holds the probe open get damaged, and the probe hangs partly-extended, unable to be retracted.

aarprobe.jpg

I've seen some very scary tip-offs, some from inside the tanker, some from the observation position (flying beside the wing of the tanker). In one case, a CF-5 came home with the 707's basket and part of the hose wrapped around under the probe and around the canopy.

During the Balkans conflict (and the first Gulf War among other operations), CF-18s refuelled a lot from the KC-135 tanker. That's why damage to the probe was relatively frequent.

Air refuelling is very challenging with a probe and drogue system. On my first Atlantic crossing (Gander to Lahr Germany), I was number 4 in the formation. By the time my lead (3) and I got on the hoses, it was dark, and very turbulent. Number 3 took forever to connect, and had some spectacular tip-offs that I saw in the gloom from my position 10 feet astern of my hose on the right wingtip of the 707. He finally connected, just as my BINGO warning went off - I had just barely enough fuel to divert to Greenland if I missed the tanker. In other words, it had better work in the next 2 minutes, or I had to leave the formation and fly to Thule.

I looked at the basket as it moved in a large circle, about 10 feet in diameter. I approached it slowly, and saw that when I got just behind it, the basket was going to smack into the side of the probe if I went any further (i.e. at a 2 to 3 knot closure rate). So I backed off a few feet, and stabilized where my probe was aimed at a spot on the left side of the circle that the basket was making (it took about 10 to 15 seconds for it to move around that circle). Taking a deep breath, I slammed the throttles forward to full military power at what I thought was the right moment, and my aircraft surged forward. My probe arrived at the spot where the basket was by some pure magic/luck/judgement?... and I was connected.

Talk about racing heart rate!

ALF

Edited by ALF18
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Thanks for the nice comments everyone!

Alf, thanks a lot for the explanation and the pictures! I didn't know about the different hose/basket combinations and that the basket can weigh up to 300lbs! I can see how that could do a lot of damage!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello everyone!

It's finally done! I learned a lot during this build and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Thanks to everyone who commented and answered my questions! I really appreciate it!

CF-1853.jpg

CF-1854.jpg

CF-1856.jpg

CF-1857.jpg

CF-1858.jpg

CF-1859.jpg

And finally to show off the gimmick for this build, the spotlight!

CF-1860.jpg

I sacrificed this figures eyesight so he would cast a shadow...

CF-1861.jpg

CF-1862.jpg

Thanks for looking!

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Thanks guys!

what's this green landscaping in the background! Not fair this time of year!

I guess I should stop complaining about it being a little bit chilly in the mornings... My Dad and brother played a round of golf this morning. :thumbsup:

The shade of the vegetation in the background is too green though, photoshop?

I did use the 'vivid' colour setting on my camera, so I guess the green looks a little greener than reality...

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Very nicely done! The weathering looks great, and the spotlight is kinda cool...

I resent you for showing how advanced spring is there... we just got another 30 cm dump of snow on Saturday and it will be at least another month or more before we see pavement, let alone grass!

Having said that though, my grandparents lived in Nanaimo and Vancouver for many years. Grandmother always said the grass was greener at Christmas than it was in July when I would visit them each summer. So I can certify that you haven't exaggerated anything in your backyard pics - you've only made some of us jealous!

ALF

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