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I'm late to the party, but joining up anyways. Going to be building Italieri's F/A-18C in 1/72 with CF-188A markings. I'm hoping to use a set of Leading Edge markings, but the fit on the kit looks rough, so I'll use the kit decals if the build doesn't work out well.

Welcome to the GB!

I have done that scheme (airshow CF-18 in 433 Squadron colours) in 1/48 before - if you are looking for some ref pics of the real aircraft, I have some. Shoot me a PM if you want them, and I'll e-mail them to you.

Also, if you want to do that airshow bird orange/black scheme, you should probably make some changes to the C-model from the kit to make it an appropriately older CF-18.

Pipe up if you have any questions - there are several of us here that can/will help!

ALF

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  • 2 weeks later...

And an actual update

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Italieri F-18C by mawz_models, on Flickr

You can't really see it, but the searchlight has been added and I've cut off the extra antennae of the C. The fit at the forward/main fuselage join is horrid though, that's going to make for a lot of work. This kit reminds me all too much of the Testors F/A-18 in 1/48 (in fact it looks like the same kit scaled down).

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  • 4 weeks later...

Gotta thank ALF for the reference pics, they've been a help.

The build has been a little challenging though, in fact I've decided to simply replace the Italieri kit with a Academy F-18A kit (the Australian/Canadian/Spanish boxing) and I'll finish the Italieri sometime when I feel like I need some frustration, I'm not about to waste those LEM decals on the Italieri kit. Should get started on the Academy Hornet this weekend and will post pics as soon as I can.

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  • 4 weeks later...

And things are coming along steadily, on both the Academy and the Italieri, the latter of which I think I'm going to use the rather nice Academy sheet on.

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2 Hornets by mawz_models, on Flickr

There's no comparison in the quality of the two models, the Academy not only goes together much better but the detail is FAR superior.

Query for the Hornet experts, I'm going to use the Academy weapons on the Italieri bird, in a strike configuration. AIM-9's on the wingtips for sure, but I'm not sure about the rest. Are the twin racks OK for the LGB's? Both targeting pods? fuel tank config? I'm thinking either 3 tanks, 2x2 LGB's and both targeting pods or 4 LGB's on the wings, the centreline tank and a pod/sparrow config on the conformal pylons.

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And tails are on the Italieri, I'm going to hold off on the tails for the Academy due to the paintwork.

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Italieri F/A-18C 1/72 by mawz_models, on Flickr

The Academy got the hinges and actuators for the wings after filling in the pylon holes since it will be clean.

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Academy F/A-18A 1/72 by mawz_models, on Flickr

Next up for the Italieri is finishing the cockpit. I'm going to use the spare Academy seat in there with the rest of the Italieri bits. This one will be posed with a closed canopy so I'm planning on getting the cockpit complete and closed up before any painting.

On the Academy, I'm going to hit it with primer and then paint the gear bays & gear I think. I'm going to pose the Canopy open for this one, so the cockpit will get finished last, especially since the spine will be black along with the cockpit coamings.

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And paint is on the Italieri bird, which has been going much better than I had expected. I'm using the Academy pylons, tanks and weapons as they're much nicer and the Academy build will be clean anyways. Note sure which set of targeting pods I'll use, may mix them.

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Italieri F/A-18C 1/72 by mawz_models, on Flickr

Edited by mawz
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  • 1 month later...

The Italieri's all but done now. Need to finish up the gear doors, wheels and exhaust, attach the antennae and paint the weapons. It'll be done today or tomorrow. I used most of the Academy sheet on it, so it's done up as 776 with Balkan Rats markings. I did leave off many of the minor markings, the Academy sheet's as complex as your typical 1/48 sheet but most of the small bits are near-invisible and way too fiddly to bother with on a build with as many compromises as this one already has. I am using the Academy weapons, tanks and pylons with the Italieri targeting pods. Loadout is fictional, I'm hanging everything (3 tanks, 4 LGB's and 2 sidewinders + 2 targeting pods)

The Academy bird isn't likely to make the deadline. I've got the basic scheme down aside from the tails, but the decaling's gonna take too long, the sheet's pretty darn complex and I don't want to screw it up.

Edited by mawz
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Well after the last post I headed back to the desk to get just a bit more done before calling it quits for the night and ended up finishing off the Academy kit as well

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Academy F/A-18A 1/72 by mawz_models, on Flickr

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Academy F/A-18A 1/72 by mawz_models, on Flickr

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Academy F/A-18A 1/72 by mawz_models, on Flickr

And one shot with both.

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Academy F/A-18A 1/72 by mawz_models, on Flickr

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It looks good to me for the same scheme I've completed, my only wonder is how is the build on the Academy kit? Was it relatively easier compared to a Hasegawa kit?

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It looks good to me for the same scheme I've completed, my only wonder is how is the build on the Academy kit? Was it relatively easier compared to a Hasegawa kit?

I can't comment on the Hasegawa kit as I've never built it but the Academy builds up very nicely. The only issues are a slight case of over-engineering, the nose assembly in particular is more complex than it really needs to be and you can get some minor alignment issues due to that. MUCH nicer than the Italieri kit (that Revell also reboxes). The detail is gorgeous though and no mods needed, the A boxing comes with everything needed to build an A or C (two sets of tails) and a marked hole for the spotlight complete with a clear part to fill it.

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