Dynamic Duo

[Thadeus]

Since I like Hornets a lot and my six-pack is complete there is nothing to stop me from starting some more Bugs. This time SUPER BUGS! Some builds here made me want to make a Revell Super Hornet and I happen to have one in my stash :) Since one is not enough I will build a Hasegawa Super Hornet - just so I don't get bored ;)

As usual it's 1/72:

There is a writing on the box that says that assembled model may differ from what is on the boxart ;)

Revell one will be the block II F/A-18 E of VFA-81 CAG, Authentic Decals. I'll post some pictures of what is left of that sheet, since I've already built a Lo-Vis bird some time ago. It will be in flight - You can see the stand next to the box :) I'll have a pilot from the spares box man this neat machine ;) Just one thing remains to decide... JHMCS or not?

Hasegawa is one of the earlier boxings. I want to make it as a block I F/A-18 E of VFA-14 using Hasegawa decals from the basic boxing. Wings folded, war loaded. Both black tailed, both OOB :)

These decals essentially come from the spares box. I may use some more decals since they may be somewhat incomplete, but I'll manage ;)

[ and if not, I shall just pretend that it was meant like this from the start ]

[Neo]

I dont know but these two box art dont look like hornets to me... more like a tomcat and a robot thingny...

[Thadeus]

Yup Neo :)/> That's apparently my thing. I have limited storege space, so I don't keep every model in its own box :)/> These two boxes were empty at the moment, so I put them to good use :)/>

I have started the Revell kit :)/>

I begun with cutting the horizontal tails in two in order to make sanding of the seams in these areas easier :)/> I also added some 0,5 mm plastic in which I will drill a hole to accept the tails. This way they will not have to be glued (hopefully) ;)/>

First major work was done in the cockpit. I used Pactra FS36320 for the cockpit color since I feel it looks better in scale :)/> I also added sidewalls.

Since it will be in-flight I did not fold the wings. I just could not live with myself if I didn't do something with the control surfaces, so I bent them a little, leaving the ailerons in neutral position. The idea was that the aircraft is slowly gaining altitude in order to get to the tanker. I wanted to build the refueling probe but it would involve significant plastic thinning.

I've cut off the lower portions of the flaps in order to better fit them at a small angle. Since I was going to close the fuselage first, I added some tabs to hold these parts in place :)/>

What I don't like about the Revell model is the pizza box. It is either too slim or too long. I have seen that someone somewhere was adding plastic to its sides to make it look properly. I chose the other option. I removed some plastic from its front and sanded it to an angle. Some putty had to be used, since I was careless with the file ;)/>

and after:

Fuselage closed up and puttied :)/> I temporarily attached the tails with a drop of super glue.

I had some fit problems in the nose area but nothing major :)/>

[Thadeus]

Pilot comes from Revell F-16 kit. I cut off his left arm and replaced it with one from Fujimi F-14 pilot. The right one came from some other figure too.

I felt I needed to change the helmet to the JHMCS type, so I used some putty and shaped it while it cured. To smooth it out and give it strength I covered it with thin super glue.

I seem to be having an height issue ;)/> Again I added 0,5 mm under the ejection seat so it would sit higher. And since this pilot is too short - I added 1,5 mm worth of plastic under his bottom. Let's just pretend he sits on the books, shall we? ;)

I also assembled the stand along with the central fuel tank that will be the attachment point.

Some of You may think that it will not hold without some strengthening, but I have done it once this way and it works.

Wingman is done... He awaits the leader ;)

Damn... He got so dirty waiting

[Thadeus]

I've made some progress on the Hasegawa Super Hornet.

The first order of business was folding the wings. I cut them up and puttied, as on my Legacy Hornet builds.

I've also puttied the detail on the inner intake parts. There are decals provided for it, and I prefer to use them instead of painting.

Some modification to the instrument panel coaming was done. Looks better now :)

Some subassemblies were done. Nothing major or worth taking pics :)

[Thadeus]

After long and not so painfull assembly, the Revell SuperBug is almost ready to paint :) All I need now, is to make plugs for the intakes and mask the canopy. The fins, and exhaust are temporarily attached with a drop of super glue, and the horizontal stabilizers are just plugged in, they are movable :) There was some seam filling involved, but nothing major. This is not the way I remembered, so it was a pleasant surprise :)

except for the underside of the flaps, this is the place where I had to put most putty to make it smooth :)

Here is the photo of The Legless Dude ;) Hate those close ups, in person the helmet looks more tidy...

The Hasegawa Hornet is slowly gaining it's shape. I've assembled the fuselage, and applied putty where needed - that'd be most of the fuselage halves joints ;) So far, the nose assembly required only small amounts of putty. Even now, the Hasegawa's F/A-18 E looks to me more correct in shape than Revell's.

I guess that's it for this week :)

[Thadeus]

Well, there's no real progress on the Revell one, but there's some on the Hasegawa Super Bugger ;)

I've cut the flap actuators and attached them in their locations. I did not take separate pics of the process, but I did it excactly the same way as on my other build.

I hope to make some more progress during the weekend :) Maybe even paint them :)

[Thadeus]

Yeeeeeeey... I've painted them Buggers

It was not a trouble free task, but nothing major :) some paint was lifted by the masking tape as it is customary ;)

The Revell one was pretty much trouble free. It took some time to mix the appropriate blue so it would look almost black :)

I was somewhat afraid that I would break off the arresting hook, but nothing like that happened :)

Some very minor tochups are required, but the gloss is already on. All that is left is to decal them, weather them and finish them :D I might even make it by the end of the month :)

[Thadeus]

Yeeeeey! I've finished one more!

Heres the decal sheet I've used. They went on without too much drama. The spine stripe broke during aplication, but I've managed to put it togethet. It doesn't fit well to the Revell spine. The only big problem were the red warnind decals on the canopy and under it. They just did not want to sit on the model. I've replaced them with pieces of red painted decals. Originally, I've wanted to arm this bird to the teeth, but changed my mind. Two gbu-12s one aim-120 and -9x and that's it :) I really like this configuration.

Oh, and all those small decals with writings and such, should always be treated with some liquid decal film. They are really fragile!

This pic probably shows the most of the weathering, which I've tried to keep to minimum.

Flash hides most of it :(

Here's the damage to the spine stripe, that I sadly could not fix.

I have to say I'm generaly happy with this one :)

[Thadeus]

I was hoping Hasegawa SuperBug would be finished without a problem. Well I was wrong. After all the decals were on, and after the gloss coat before wash some white coating apeared.

This were the decals I've used.

I've tried to remove it somehow, but it seems it was the gloss layer fault. I use water based floor wax, something like Future as a gloss coat and never had any problems. Also, there was no such thing on the rest of the model. Maaan... was I p***ed... Luckily, I've had another set of decals for complete vertical stabs. And so I've stripped them of paint.

Reapplied the paint.

Decals...

and the problem was no more

Ok, ok... it happened again, just to smaller extent. I've brushed some gloss black, cursing at the paint, decals, model, airbrush, compressor, local officials, my boss... I guess You get the picture ;)

[Thadeus]

After I've cooled down I was able to finish this beast :)

I really don't like the details of Hasegawa's cockpit. While I can live with decals for the instrument panels, the deck behind the ejection seat really bothers me. There's absolutly no detal so I've attempted to add some. Heres "before" pic:

Here's the not too good picture "after". There's really not much to show, as it did not came out as planned. Still better than nothing though ;)

Here it is finally finished!

Intake covers were made with kitchen foil (again) ;)

Thanks for looking!