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Hasegawa 1/72 F/A-18F VFA-103 Jolly Rogers


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G'Day all from Down Under! I'd like to share my latest build with you all.

Ever since I finished building my Academy F-14 Jolly Rogers a while ago, I have always wanted to build a Super Hornet version of it. One that I can mount right next to the F-14 in in-flight pose. After searching for quite some time, I finally found the Jolly Rogers decals made by Jasmine Decals on eBay. The biggest problem with Jasmine Decals is that their so-called "instruction sheet" only shows the placement of the larger and more visible decals. I had to refer back to the Hasegawa instruction sheet for placement of the majority of the small stencils.

I built this in parallel to Revell's Jolly Rogers Super Hornet as part of ARCforums The Hornet's Nest Group Build. Here's the link to the WIP thread for this build.

This was the 3rd Hasegawa "F" Super Hornet that I built. I think because of experience, I found that I needed a bit less putty, especially for the wings.

One disappointment that I have with this build was the frosting on the windscreen that I only discovered after unmasking. Oh well... Not much I can do about it. To be honest, I can't remember when was the last time this happened to me.

The AIM-9X came with the kit. Although the kit also came with AIM-120A/B, I decided to use the ones from Hasegawa Aircraft Weapons V that I already painted and decaled a few years ago (when I built my very first "F" Super Hornet). The AGM-84E also came from Hasegawa Aircraft Weapons V, also painted and decaled a few years ago. The GBU-12's came from Academy "A" Hornet Blue Angels boxing.

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I took these pics before I realised that I forgot to install the fin antenna on the spine :bandhead2:/>/>

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Continued....

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For this build, I used predominantly LifeColor paint for a change. The following is the list of paint that I used for this build. I thinned the LifeColor with distilled water mixed with Windex (@ 50:50).

- LifeColor FS36375

- LifeColor FS36320

- Mr Metal Color Dark Iron

- Mr Metal Color Iron

- Mr Metal Color Aluminum

- Tamiya semi-gloss black (X-18)

- Tamiya Smoke (X-19)

- Tamiya gloss clear (X-22)

- Gunze flat clear

- Oil wash

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Thanks for looking!

Edited by Mike C
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I like the stand...can you give me some info on it?

It's Academy Aero Display Stand. You can display up to 3 aircrafts. It came with 3 mounts of differing height. You can also join multiple displays at the base. Bought it from my LHS for $8, while the cheapest listing on eBay is for $16, which is really unusual since eBay is normally much cheaper.

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Really nice build, Mike! :thumbsup2:/>

Love the in flight display too.

You must have quite the Hornet collection now.

-Gregg

Thanks. :cheers: Yes, I do have quite a collection of Hornets (both Legacy and Super). Growing up, I actually didn't find Hornets anywhere near as appealing as F-15s. But since I started building models, I found myself getting more drawn towards them. I guess it's probably because of the wide variety of schemes and air forces flying them making them much more interesting modelling subjects. I'm pretty fond of them now. :woot.gif:

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Looks great. I love the asymmetrical loadout as well as the stance. Thanks for the close up pics, they are very helpful. I have been flirting with 72nd scale lately, and have not completely given up on it. Now that you have experience with both Hasegawa and Revell, which one do you recommend (for an super bug - F) if the criteria are: crispness of surface detail, shape accuracy, and overall fit (minimum putty)? I read mixed reviews so your opinion would be very valuable.

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Looks great. I love the asymmetrical loadout as well as the stance. Thanks for the close up pics, they are very helpful. I have been flirting with 72nd scale lately, and have not completely given up on it. Now that you have experience with both Hasegawa and Revell, which one do you recommend (for an super bug - F) if the criteria are: crispness of surface detail, shape accuracy, and overall fit (minimum putty)? I read mixed reviews so your opinion would be very valuable.

Which one is "better" is not really that clear cut. I'll try to list them out as best I could:

- Crispness of surface detail: Hasegawa is crisper, but this crispness comes at a cost. It's much easier to obliterate while sanding

- Overall fit: Revell needed less putty, in general. BUT, their plastic is very soft, which can be both good and bad. Also, Revell has some bad sink mark problems

- Wings: Revell molded the wings together with the upper fuselage, so you don't have to deal with the gap between wing and fuselage join. BUT, Revell supplied different part for the outer wings. *MIGHT* make it a bit easier to build folded wings, but a real hassle for straight wing builds (joins are quite tricky to fill).

- Shape accuracy: ask me again once I finish the Revell one.... :whistle::woot.gif:

- Horizontal stabilizers: Hasegawa's are much better. Will stay in whatever position you want them to be. Revell's are annoying. They're too.... loose.

Now, if you're a strickler on shape and surface details, I think Hasegawa is a safer bet. But for easier build, I think Revell's is much easier.

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