ALF18 Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 I've had this kit in my stash for a while now, and this is the perfect opportunity to build it. This was a collaboration between David Winter (Canuck Models) and Academy/Kinetic. The boxing is for the Canadian Demo to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, in 2015. I have a personal connection to this model. Note that the box cover is bilingual English/French. David asked me to do the French translations for the cover, and some of the instructions. For once, the French text is not terrible, as many made-in-Asia translations are in both English and French. I wrote the colours that were suggested on the box cover. This helps my organisation skills, and my failing memory, to make sure I get it right. I said I would compare the Hasegawa and the Academy kits in this scale. First impression is that the Academy is superior in terms of surface detail. Look at those external tanks; more similar to real life than the Hasegawa ones. The kit seat is fairly good for this scale as well, as is Hasegawa. The cockpit is easier for Hasegawa, with the decals for panels and main instrument panel. This one (top of the photo) demands some fine detail painting, but I did it quickly since it will be closed up and hardly visible. The forward fuselage sections have all the bumps for an F/A-18C model. It is necessary to chop two of them off, as at the right side (left side is the original kit bumps). The left front, unlike Hasegawa, comes with a place to be scored out for the ID light. Score one (pun intended) for this kit. Another nice thing about this kit is the CIT, which are moulded into the upper fuselage. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted July 26, 2017 Author Share Posted July 26, 2017 The forward fuselage is overly complicated, but rich in detail. This has 4 parts, and it is possible to fit things together and be misaligned for the remainder of the kit. I did extensive dry-fitting to ensure everything was the right angle. When I installed the ID light transparency, I covered it with Tamiya masking tape and glued it in place afterward. When all is done, I will chop off the tape from the outside, revealing the ID light transparency. I painted the interior of it silver. The main wheel wells and lower fuselage are higher quality than Hasegawa as well. Main fuselage going together. This reminds me of the 1/32 scale Academy kit, only WAY smaller. The underside of the LEX. I glued the front portions; when they are dry, I will clamp the rear portions down. The parts need some slight bending to conform to the openings. More soon. Thanks for stopping by! ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grandboof Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 Another great Hornet Will be watching Martin H Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted August 3, 2017 Author Share Posted August 3, 2017 On 27/07/2017 at 3:37 PM, Grandboof said: Another great Hornet Will be watching Martin H Thanks Martin. I am loving this kit. Much nicer than the Hasegawa in this scale. Besides the CITs moulded into the upper nose section, it comes with really nice details like the tail braces on the insides of the V-Stabs. Also, look carefully on the vertical portions of the stabs, and you'll see the stiffeners that have been moulded right into the surfaces of the tails! Really great attention to detail, based on years of knowledge of these aircraft and great research by the kit maker. Kudos! The bottom detail is really nice as well. The hinges under the wings are nice. The only gripe I have is the inability to droop control surfaces, but I guess that would be asking too much in 1/72. Some minor filling required around the air intakes. Usually a problematic area on Hornet kits; this one is no exception. At least it's underneath and doesn't show. Another plus for this kit is the ALE-39 dispensers (chaff/flare/jammers). Nice touch. It also has the external antennae for the jammer (ALQ-126B) moulded right into the lower fuselage aft of the intakes. This area needs filling; the little ECM bumps that exist on the C and D Hornets are not to be installed for this version. I snapped the pic quickly as I splooged filler onto one of them. Primed overall with Tamiya light grey, then I hand-painted the false canopy area. I then hand-painted white into the wheel wells, and onto the gear struts. Some touchups required after this picture. Gear doors primed (outside grey, inside white), and false canopy colour painted. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted August 3, 2017 Author Share Posted August 3, 2017 For fun, just a little side-by-side comparison of the two kits (Hasegawa in red). More painting. After priming, touched up the cockpit area and remasked it. Colour testing. The green says in the instructions to use XF-61 Black Green, and add some black to it. Doesn't look necessary to me; this looks plenty dark enough right out of the jar, according to my test here. For the brown, I did add a bit (says 5%, I used the TLAR method) of red, to give the result on the left of the green on the sprue. The right-hand light brown is XF-59 right out of the jar, which does look a bit yellowy and pale. The box comes with excellent pics to complement the painting instructions. A clear advantage of a special boxing, where you can show more detail on the single scheme. Masked and ready for overall brown. After the brown dried, applied masking for the green. More soon. Thanks for looking! ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted August 3, 2017 Share Posted August 3, 2017 they are both looking great ALF, can I ask what are you using to mask the demarcation in the camo before you lay the standard masking tape over it? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted August 4, 2017 Share Posted August 4, 2017 Looking good, debating starting this same one up....in 1/32. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted August 4, 2017 Author Share Posted August 4, 2017 23 hours ago, Trojan Thunder said: they are both looking great ALF, can I ask what are you using to mask the demarcation in the camo before you lay the standard masking tape over it? Sure. It's a technique that my good friend AX_365 turned me on to. He uses medical tape. It comes in a roll. It's rather wide; I cut a length off (say about 10 to 15 cm long, by about 5 cm wide). Then I slice it lengthwise, to make thin strips. This tape is very flexible, and creates really nice fluid curves for camo. Here's a link to an Australian site that carries it. http://www.nexcare.com.au/wps/portal/3M/en_AU/APACNexcare/Nexcare/ProductCat/~/Nexcare-Absolute-Waterproof-Tape?N=4326+3294529197+3294631805&rt=rud Sometimes it may be necessary to stick it quickly to a pair of pants to remove some of the adhesive, to make sure it doesn't pick up the paint from the primer that you are masking over. If you want, I can post a few pics of the masking process. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted August 5, 2017 Author Share Posted August 5, 2017 23 hours ago, phantom said: Looking good, debating starting this same one up....in 1/32. Go big or go home! Decals from Canuck Models? ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted August 5, 2017 Share Posted August 5, 2017 Yep, thats the one......Actually have about 20 I could do for this GB....Voodoo, a couple 48 Hornets, Challenger.......... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted August 6, 2017 Share Posted August 6, 2017 On 05/08/2017 at 9:57 AM, ALF18 said: Sure. It's a technique that my good friend AX_365 turned me on to. He uses medical tape. It comes in a roll. It's rather wide; I cut a length off (say about 10 to 15 cm long, by about 5 cm wide). Then I slice it lengthwise, to make thin strips. This tape is very flexible, and creates really nice fluid curves for camo. Here's a link to an Australian site that carries it. http://www.nexcare.com.au/wps/portal/3M/en_AU/APACNexcare/Nexcare/ProductCat/~/Nexcare-Absolute-Waterproof-Tape?N=4326+3294529197+3294631805&rt=rud Sometimes it may be necessary to stick it quickly to a pair of pants to remove some of the adhesive, to make sure it doesn't pick up the paint from the primer that you are masking over. If you want, I can post a few pics of the masking process. ALF Thanks, ALF, some pictures would be good. Masking curves like that is always a pain for me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted August 6, 2017 Share Posted August 6, 2017 Looking good buddy. Looking forward to more progress. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted August 11, 2017 Author Share Posted August 11, 2017 The instructions on this kit are far superior to many others I have built. For painting, Dave Winter has provided excellent drawings, and the box art has great colour photos that show what goes where. As I said earlier, no black was added to the Tamiya green. I did a pretty decent job on this paint; the coats are nice and thin, and no running (as I found out after peeling off the tape later). Nice clean lines. Very few touchups needed. Its brother, the Canada 150 jet, shares the spotlight here. More soon. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Emvar Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 Nice..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted August 14, 2017 Author Share Posted August 14, 2017 4 hours ago, Emvar said: Nice..... Yup. Fairly happy with this one, for a change... I made some final touchups, prior to affixing the decals. As Emvar said, the paint job was pretty decent on this one. Disaster struck as I was applying the decals. This one folded over on itself, and shredded. After swearing a blue streak, and what seemed like hours of untangling, dipping in water, manipulating with tweezers and my exacto knife, it finally went on like this. See the gap? I painted it over with the bottom light grey, and from a couple feet away it doesn't show (much). While I was at it, I fixed the left horizontal stab; it was hanging at a weird angle. Now I'm calling it done. Repaired decal isn't too obvious. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RCAFFAN Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 (edited) Looks good! Thanks for the warning as to the tail decal. I guess I was really lucky as my box included two copies of the decal sheet so I guess I have some insurance.....I've got to get into my packed kits and find the kit I said I would build..... Edited August 14, 2017 by RCAFFAN Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 Another nice one ALF, I have spied the Hasegawa version in the LHS. Might have to get around there and pick it up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted August 15, 2017 Author Share Posted August 15, 2017 23 hours ago, RCAFFAN said: Looks good! Thanks for the warning as to the tail decal. I guess I was really lucky as my box included two copies of the decal sheet so I guess I have some insurance.....I've got to get into my packed kits and find the kit I said I would build..... Nice to have insurance. I considered sending a note off to David Winter asking for another sheet; I was lucky it didn't get more messed up than it did, and that the light grey was a good match for the Model Master Acryl 36375. Thanks for the encouragement, and get working on those kits! 22 hours ago, Trojan Thunder said: Another nice one ALF, I have spied the Hasegawa version in the LHS. Might have to get around there and pick it up. Thanks Ray. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 That sucks regarding the tail decal but you pulled off a nice save and repair. She looks really nice ALF. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grandboof Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 Great looking Hornet Well done Martin H Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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