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1/72 F/A-18D ATARS Hornet


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Hello ARC,

This is my 1/72 Hornet, made from the Academy kit with the Wolfpack-d resin conversion for the ATARS nose and bits from an Eduard photo-etch set. I added some details to the cockpit, canopy, wheel wells, and burner cans. I also dropped the leading and trailing edge flaps and cut up/rebuilt the main landing gear to make them sit at more realistic angles. I used Model Master enamels and the decals are from Wolfpack (the other one...). The stores are from Hasegawa weapon sets with some details added here and there. The launcher for the AGM-65 is scratchbuilt. Hope you like it!

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Edited by TBP1538
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I've done that same conversion with the Academy/Wolfpack sets. I have a couple more of the F/A-18D kits. Just out of interest how did you get on with cutting the flaps? Do you have any photos showing which lines you cut and how you got them to fit without showing any gaps in the wing?

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I've done that same conversion with the Academy/Wolfpack sets. I have a couple more of the F/A-18D kits. Just out of interest how did you get on with cutting the flaps? Do you have any photos showing which lines you cut and how you got them to fit without showing any gaps in the wing?

Sorry, but I don't have any WIP photos. I'll attempt to explain how I dropped the flaps, but you might be better off checking some reference photos... The LE was straight forward; separated the flap from the wing along the center panel line, then beveled the flap slightly so that it could be reattached in the dropped position. The TE was a little more complex; I cut along the most forward line to remove the flap from the wing, then separated the inboard and outboard pieces. I filled/sanded away the remaining panel line on the upper surfaces of the flaps and then rounded the LEs to make them look like an airfoil. I cut up the hinge pieces of the model to fit the dropped flaps, then I attached the flaps to the wing with segments of wire to add strength. I made the remaining piece (which hinges at the TE of the wing to cover the gap in the flaps when they are deployed) out of thin styrene, bent and sanded it to match the contour of the wing, then attached it to the TE of the wing. I'm not a Hornet guy, so forgive me for not knowing the right terms for these components :) Hope this helps...

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Nicely done, looks great! Could you show us some pics of the main landing gear? Would be nice to see the difference compared to the kit origin. :)/>

Thanks Najk! I'm not a great photographer, but hopefully this conveys the idea... The biggest issue I had with the kit main landing gear is that they did not angle outward as they do on the real jet.

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Beautiful job mate!

I've the same kit,conversion/AM sets,decals plus the Wolfpack flap down conversion,and I'm very interested to know how the nose conversion fit to the fuselage.In my other Academy Hornet I discovered some issue with the Wolfpack flap down set and I'm worried for the nose one...

You're right about the decals,I think that we 1/72 guys really need some OIF ATARS bird.

Again great build! :thumbsup:

Gianni

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Beautiful job mate!

I've the same kit,conversion/AM sets,decals plus the Wolfpack flap down conversion,and I'm very interested to know how the nose conversion fit to the fuselage.In my other Academy Hornet I discovered some issue with the Wolfpack flap down set and I'm worried for the nose one...

You're right about the decals,I think that we 1/72 guys really need some OIF ATARS bird.

Again great build! :thumbsup:/>/>

Gianni

Gianni, thanks for the compliments! Your Hornet really turned out great, and so much detail! I also had the WP flap-down set and had the same problems you encountered so I elected not to use it. I figured it would be just as much work to cut up the kit parts to drop the flaps as it would be to fix the resin. The ATARS kit suffers from the same shrinkage problem as the flaps, however the camera bay piece fit pretty well for me; you'll have to fiddle with it for a perfect fit, but overall not bad. The resin radome however was a little too small, so I modified the kit nose instead. I also had to add a styrene shim to the NLG doors to make them the correct length. Hope this helps!

TBP

Edited by TBP1538
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Stunning. Beautiful.

 

I'm curious though... Why wouldn't you use the stores that came with the Academy set rather than from Hasegawa's weapons set? I personally prefer the weapons that came with the Academy kit itself.

 

EDIT: Unless you meant the Maverick came from Hase, while others OOB?

 

Edited by Mike C
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