A tale of six bugs

[Thadeus]

I did not have enough time during the weekend to post some pics, but both the VFA-27 and VFA-192 CAGs are 99,9% done :)

So let's get this started with the Royal Maces ;)

This is the Hasegawa decal sheet that I've used. Ok, actually this is another sheet since I bought two of those kits and did not think of taking a picture of the sheet before I started to cut off decals. It was a VFA-27 history combo with both the F/A-18 C and E in the box. Decals were much much better quality than in the old VFA-27 CAG boxing. As I wrote earlier initially I wanted to apply the large black and yellow decals, but they would not conform easily so I've abandoned this idea.

Still it came out pretty nice :) It was airbrushed with Model Master gloss black and Pactra Light and Dark Ghost Gray, and the radome tip is actually Light Gull Gray that I very carefully brushed on :) on my ref pics I did not see the colour variation between the ecm bumps and antennae and the rest of the airframe, so I've painted them all Dark Ghost Gray except for the ones on the spine. The exhaust area was brushed using Model Master Metalizers - Burned Iron and Magnesium. Inside of the exhaust was painted with Model Master Camouflage Gray although I'm not sure if this aircraft had the upgraded engines.

Entire model was weathered with dark gray wash using watercolors, and some smudge effects were made using pastels.

Here's one without the flash.

For the weapons I've used the Academy GBU-12's, an LMav from the Hasegawa Weapon Set, two kit Sidewinders and a single Sparrow that was in the box as well :)

I did not use the Aires seats because I think they are SJU-5. Instead I've put Pavla SJU-17 :) Camera's flash really highlited my drybrushing of the ejection seat. It doesn't stand out that much. I know that the seats usually aren't that weathered, but otherwise it looked unrealistic. And we wouldn't want our models to look like models, eh ;)

I really don't like photo etched parts. Small, fragile, these had to be super glued to the clear parts :blink: Luckily it ended up quite well.

Unfortunatly the slime lights on wings did not want to conform in place. During weathering they tore off :( the same happened on the Golden Dragons bird. Ok, ok... it usually happens to me. I mean what's the big deal ;) I cut them to shape since they are too large, and yet it always happens.

Seriously though before I'll call it 100% done I'm going to fix it. Somehow. :blink: While I'm at it I'll add the flap that goes just aft of the wingfold.

This is the first time I've photographed any of my models to such detail, and I've noticed some minor mistakes that I did not notice with bare eyes. Guess I'll have to do some fixing before I'll post it in the completed model thread ;)

Edited August 18, 2014 by Thadeus

[Thadeus]

And here is the Golden Dragons 2007 CAG.

The spine and tails were painted with a mix of Model Master Blue Angel Blue and Cobalt Blue, the antennae and ecm bumps were painted using white primer and a few drops of MM Camouflage Gray :)

I did not take the picture of the decal sheet. It was from Hasegawa boxing of VFA-192 CAG from 2007. Decals were exceptionally good.

For the weapons I've used the GBU-31 from Revell F/A-18E, AIM-9's from Revell F-4F and single AIM-120 from Hasegawa Super Hornet. Unfortunatly my camera is unable to capture the rough coating of the bombs, both on this model and the previous one. What I do is I paint the bomb normally, and after paint dries I add the second coat of thick paint and tap it with a brush in order to create an uneven texture. Simple, effective :)

One thing that I take notice in Hornets is how high the seat is installed.

Snould I install the seat as per Aires instruction it will sit too low compared to the canopy. Same applies to the Pavla seat. In order to rectify this I cut the seat with a piece of resin block that is just under it, and add some plastic to mount it higher.

And this is the result:

Oh, I've since fixed the canopy frame :)

Well this one is still at 99,9% :) Next one already has some decals on - this time a 2 stick :)

[lyn]

ex work well done

wot was the mix you used for the blue on the golden dragons

lyn

[tosouthern66]

Looking good, Dont let the little things discourage you. Keep on going, practice makes perfict!

[Thadeus]

ex work well done

wot was the mix you used for the blue on the golden dragons

lyn

Hey Iyn! I don't know the exact proportions, but I mixed Model Master Acrylics: # 4687 Blue Angel Blue with #4612 Cobalt Blue until I got something that resembled my reference pics and decals. Still it came a little too light.

Looking good, Dont let the little things discourage you. Keep on going, practice makes perfict!

Oh buddy I'm a sloooow slooooooooooow learner ;) such little things don't bother me though :) However, if masking tape lifted half of my paint job...

Hell I just noticed that those little dots on the yellow decal under the canopy on a VFA-192 jet are actually letters... damn...

[Thadeus]

And so the work goes on. CAF double seater is decaled, weathered and dullcoated. Of course I've had some trouble along the way :D When I painted my model I could not find the picture that motivated me to do this particular example. I did not download that picture and had some connection trouble and could not enter the site I've found it on. I wanted to build #188940 from 416th squadron in 1995 that carried training LMavs on the outboard pylons with the inboard removed. During that time the camouflage extended on the radome. I've had some pictures that showed this aircraft with radome overall Light Ghost Gray and I painted it this way. One of those pictures was from 2000 and so my model was just sent from year 1995 to 2000 ;) I've had to adjust the loadout for this, instead of two LMavs and a single tank on the centerline, it'll have just the two wing tanks :) Good thing I had painted a few more of those ;)

So here are the decals that I've been using. Most of them were from Academy F/A-18A boxing. I only took serial number, 416th sq. emblem on the tails and lex fence legend 'Lynx Squadron' from Leading Edge sheet that I'm saving for another projects, and the false canopy is from HDL decal sheet. I've had some silvering on the Academy decals, the HDL sheet was an older one, and the decals were quite thick. Suprisingly they conformed quite well with minimal help of Micro Sol. The Leading Edge decals were just awesome! One thing I've noticed is that Academy decals are little too dark, from what I understand the darker decals should be fs 35237 and the lighter ones fs 36375. Still the difference is small.

I've gone a little too far on the weathering, though I like the effect :)

I don't really know how this had happened... I forgot to install the searchlight!

well, as i wrote in previous post, such things will not bother me ;) so i broke out my mini drills and started to work. For the light I've used a piece of clear sprue cut off and polished.

And the final effect :) Guess my camera can't do it justice... I'm really happy how this turned out :)

Next stop will be the cockpit details, hopefully this weekend :)

[Thadeus]

And so the cockpit is finished :) And so is the rest of this beast ;)

All I did was adding the bulkheads in the aft parts of front and back cockpit and glueing some pieces of plastic so they don't look empty.

After that I added decals and small detail so the instrument panel doesn't look so flat. I added seats from Aires cockpits used in my other builds :) with straps made from masking tape. Of course they were too small for the cockpit - they sit too low. I also added throttle and modified the rear IP coaming. I just don't like how it looked like oob :)

And here it is done :) I've added some plastic under the seat (aobout 1,5 mm was enough). From this angle it looks really well :)

and one shot of the beast completed :)

I've addressed the wing slime light issue by painting them in yellowish colour. It looks suprisingly well ;)

[Thadeus]

So another Hornet is done! Of course not without some dramatic moments ;)

I've used kit aim-9's and aim-7 and AGM-88's from Revell F-16C together with adapter racks from Hasegawa Super Hornet. You know - the ones they wanted You to hang -120's from ;)

Decals:

Model:

Some decals cracked during application. They were quite old so I guess I should've expected as much. It was most visible on the tail decals, luckily some yellow paint was enough to repair the damage :) What I did not see, was that the right "VFA-151" decal, right nose modex and left fuselage national insignia also cracked :blink: when I applied the wash and later was trying to wipe it off these decals shredded I've managed to put together the VFA-151 decal and stars and bars from the pieces, but the modex was beyond repair. I've looked through my spare decals and only other slanted "300" was from academy F/A-18 C which was gray... and without the yellow shadow... Looks good to me ;) from one side

I like how the intakes came out, at least compared to what Hasegawa gave in the box ;)

You can also see the wash that got under the decal:

This is the only progress I've made during my week off from work Ok... that wasn't so funny :blink:

I might have drooled some time over the package that came on Friday with some goodies from Hobbyeasy:

Ok... I may go and drool some more

[Thadeus]

There seems to be one more Hornet DONE!!! :D/>:D:D:D

This time it's the VFA-192 NF300 from 1998, I used the second scheme from the same Eagle Strike sheet as the VFA-151 CAG.

Luckily there was no drama during decal application :)/> ok... almost ;)/> The only issues i found were with the alignment of the large decals on the tails and some cracking. Strangely this was limited to right fin only, the left one did not crack. Rest of the decals went on perfectly :)/>

and after touch ups

I was going to hang two fuel tanks under the wings but eventually - that is during the final assembly - I changed my mind and went with only one fuel tank on the centerline :)/> Weapons came from the kit with the SLAM's coming from Hasegawa Weapon Set.

I like this shot :)/> Whenever I drop the flaps on my Hornets I check whether there's clearence with the aim-7 on stations 4 & 6 :)/> This is how it's supposed to look :D/>

Noticed there's no ladder? ;)/>

Edited September 6, 2014 by Thadeus

[Tomcat97]

Excellent looking hornets!

[Thadeus]

Yup! That's it! The TUDM F/A-18D is DONE!

I've used the excellent decal sheet from F4Dable Models. Cartograf printed they were a pleasure to apply :) What I liked the most was the placement instruction complete with the nuances of this particular version.

I added the gps dome and did some mods to the cockpit. I took the rear ip coaming from Hasegawa Super Hornet and streched it by 1 mm. I modified the kit instrument panel to fit the new coaming and cut up the decal to represent the Missionised Cockpit of the Malaysian Hornets similar to the USMC birds.

I also modified the seat headrests so they look more like the SJU-17 NACES :) I wanted to put pilots in the cockpit, so I took two from other built Hornets and modified their helmets to represent more modern HGU-55's :) Normally I would have used the Humbrol ClearFix to make the visors, but I ran out and had to use the CA glue. It doesn't look bad but I won't do it this way anymore :D

And here it is :) Good to go!

(they have no idea that there's no fuel )

[Thadeus]

Guys, many thanks for Your support on my very first online build! It's been fun and I want MORE :D:D:D:D

Here is my dirty half-a-dozen

They look awesome together :)

Next stop - SuperHornets!!!!!

Edited September 9, 2014 by Thadeus

[ChernayaAkula]

<...>

They look awesome together :)

They do!