Jump to content

Hasegawa 1/72 F/A-18D VMFA(AW)-224


Recommended Posts

Hi there!

 

I've finally found a moment to begin my build. This is the last Hasegawa 1/72 Delta I have in my stash.

 

 

D3kv_cIlrqumHOLfm_How0INjxxq-yQ78itIomSG

 

 

I'm going to use Hasegawa 1/72 USMC F/A-18D combo decals, or at least what's left of them. I've misplaced decal placement guide, so I'll have to manage with what I found online.

 

CUA1FxPj3-Z3JXy42W0foEaTlzWyHcAytzUWSAsa

 

I've already begun by puttying all the sink marks and cutting the elevators. Next I'll cut the flaps. Don't really know if I'm going to fold the wings.

Edited by Thadeus
swapped pics, yet again :)
Link to post
Share on other sites
On 10/30/2017 at 7:09 PM, Thadeus said:

I'm going to use Hasegawa 1/72 USMC F/A-18D combo decals, or at least what's left of them. I've misplaced decal placement guide, so I'll have to manage with what I found online.

 

If that's kit D9, I can scan and send you the missing instructions by email.

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the kind offer Lancer. I'm actually missing this kit's instructions (Hasegawa 1/72 F/A-18D Marine Corps Combo 00982) but I can work with what I have on this website :)

 

I've changed pics again, so they should be visible. I don't really use photobucket, never did - was always a google photos kind of guy ;)

Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, Thadeus said:

Thanks Tony, but I guess I'll manage :) Frankly, I really should have this instruction somewhere in my stash. It's weird. Probably will find it as soon as I finish the model :D

I have a bad habit of removing the instructions to make my plans for building the kit then place the instructions aside to look again later. When time comes to start the kit guess what? I got to looking for the instructions. This morning I must have spent 45 minutes putting instructions back where they belong, in the kit boxes.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I usually end up separating kit instructions, throwing away the ones I have more than two of. I place them with kit decals in a zip bag and store them with other decals. This way I can store my models with less restrictions - higher humidity, lower average temperatures. However Hornet decals and instructions are a bit piled up and in a bit of a mess. Still, this is the first time I actually have a problem. Not that it's such a big issue :)

 

One thing that's been bugging me... I can't, for the life of me, find my side cutters. I've checked everywhere, it's like they vanished. Wierd ;)

 

Whatever the case with decals and such, I'm moving forward with the build.

 

n78oaZNzczejaBnptKKxOOpnJOUO2jialGZJa5JO

 

Both wings are cut up. This time I'll try a slightly different approach. I usually cut off the hinge area with the outboard wing on Hasegawa Hornets - it's slightly easier this way since I've only one straight line to cut, instead of what You see in the pic. However this time I took my approach from all the Academy Hornet wings I cut up. Why the difference in approach I've no idea.

 

 

Here's the upper and lower fuselage halves prepared for assembly. I've not done it yet, since I've had some plans on fitting spare Fujimi Hornet intakes. I've added the usual spreaders to reinforce key areas where I usually encounter fit problems.

 

b6Wf3syeEkM95E8XuhpRYAmMZaKPdEeJX_i-V-zW

 

The tissue is just there to soak the glue in. In the end, Fujimi intakes do not fit easilly. To fit them, significant sanding would be required, and there's very good chance I would not be able to fit two intakes in. So... I'll have to either forfeit the idea, or make my own intakes from scratch. I'll figure this out hopefully :)

 

Exhaust pipes are easy. I've a spare pair from Academy Hornet that are nice, deep and fit almost like a glove. I'll just have to remove some plastic from under the speedbrake.

 

MV4MxT1CFZ6y2oyQQO2bvh34-zX6W9LPdK15SlJ2

 

Now... my favourite Hornets are dual seaters. Unfortunatly, Hasegawa clear parts, while nice, do not capture its proper shape (ie. nose to windscreen angle, canopy curve).

 

I've stumbled upon a very nice article on Hyperscale by John Chung. He used Hasegawa Super Hornet clear parts. Since I've one Hasegawa Super Hornet that's damaged beyond repair, I figured I'll see what can be done. He also modified the nose part, and it looks significantly better. I'll have to try this out.

 

Here's Hasegawa: Ok, I admit, the nose to windscreen angle doesn't look that bad on this picture.

 

pT7Ukq9pfXscaRuBYBJM0T7nowcR-iETIFdjr2tL

 

Here's Hasegawa Super Hornet: Fit is pretty nice, albeit the canopy is a bit too wide, but not by much.

 

Hm3IufIomcySmcG-iokCRg30sBzgPUtws5X8bY2L

 

I once again tried to fit Rob Taurus canopy to the Hasegawa kit, but it's just too different. My lack of skills cutting vacuformed canopies doesn't help either. Of course I didn't take any pictures ;)

 

Funny thing, this is first model I've started since my son was born, a little more than year and half ago. I still have some to finish though.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

I've tried to do some more work on my model during weekend. I've left the canopy issue to tackle it some other time, but pursued the intake issue.

 

First, I've tried to find a tube of proper diameter, but with no luck. Even if I managed to find a tube of proper diameter It was too thick on the outside and did not fit easilly.

 

So I begun to improvise and I've tried three different ideas. First one was just to create short intake with no curvature, with zero angle towards intake mouth. Similar to what Aires did to their 1/72 Hornet intakes. They don't look bad, but they're expensive and troublesome (if, like me, You plan on doing this on every Hornet built, and I plan a lot of them). I took a strip of 0,25 mm styrene and inserted it to the side of the intake to form a sort of "C". All that remained was to close it from the inside. Sort of splitter plate extension to the inside of my intake. Hope this makes sense, even though in the end I forfeited this idea as too troublesome and the end product was too delicate.

 

My other attempt was to form a trapezee from thin styrene sheet and fit it at an angle. It can be seen in the following picture (to the right). Of course I shoud've thought of some way to close the intake from the upside. Again, no easy way to do this as fitted. I was almost set on this way. After all stock intakes look worse. But...

 

qbsgZgow_T7h0-kHxh7l2S-ny7BGdhIgD_SmsJLD

 

...I've thought of making a tube. I've been doing this very late in the night, so this idea didn't come to me quickly, but I think it's best. So... I've formed sort of "D" shaped tube, cut and sanded one side to make it attach to intake lip at an angle. Ok, this does nothing to imitate elegant curvature of Hornet intakes, but it's much better than nothing.

My first attempt proved too long. When I build the second one they were interfering with eachother. So I had to shorten it a bit. Of course, prior to fitting this tubes, I've had to scrape off my previous attempts... You know, I glued them... and even filled the gaps on the right one... Well... the important thing is I have a quick, easy and cheap way of recreating something that resembles intakes.

 

Here they are both dry fitted.

 

hBaEYztCov0Sd7TX-ajepQmwqskJOkhOv9j5bsLH

 

I tried to add some sort of fan faces to the end of my intakes but I failed. I didn't take any pics of my failures. Right now I might still have some spare fan faces from Fujimi Tomcats, so they'll  have to do.

 

I've also added some minor sidewall details, and modified Hasegawa Super Hornet aft coaming to resemble something that Deltas have in there.

 

3rlfDx-RiTDZF5TSZFSFX30rGfplhwJBJd1RGCrD

 

MbYkUkvKFC0qwrHBFbOOYWG-HEWhJwFlvYMLh1dH

 

Since I've added sidewall details, I needed to make the aft IP coaming thinner.

 

I tried something very similar on my Malaysian Hornet that I did for the Hornet's Nest GB in 2014 and it didn't look bad. Still I guess I should've made this part a little thinner. So this time instead of adding 1mm strip of plastic I added 0,5 mm. Not a lot of difference, but hopefully it will look better.

 

Here are the pics of that builds cockpit.

 

iK7ZLYW4cpn3URJ4oa0YjwZatEwgGfOeBLju1zEf

 

rM58_KEffTAm9cIHyVwUHX06HRR48mu6_edId3sf

 

It's a little too wide so I hope this time It'll look better.

 

If You have any ideas, tips, tricks, criticism or some let me have it :) I can't promise I'll apply everything, but I will try.

 

Cheers!

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...

Hope You had a blast. Always wanted to go into R/C cars and aircraft. Perhaps when my son is older ;)

 

Right now however I have made some progress on my Hornet. A major one - fuselage is closed, fins are attached and I've filled all the joints that needed attention.

 

AbdixM8Z9N2L3LrUm5V5QdyOVc2el6e3gMqE91dn

 

Here's the nose. I've added 0,25 mm piece of styrene to the underside to change the angle of the nose and sharpened the tip. I'm not 100% convinced on the angle of the nose but I'm leaving it as it is.

 

mY0_k6b8v0ImPrW4PuN-gEDgQdIZvgxXg89_1qWa

 

The fit is pretty good. The other side doesn't fit that smoothly. Nothing a a little bit of carefull sandind won't fix :)

 

mXCa0w8VloiQbVaUXBdE3RrCznyUpOzTWZE4SMmS

 

Aaaaand the intakes. Please excuse the dust inside. Yup, I'm definatly sold on this idea. Turbine faces come from Fujimi F/A-18.

 

SCyZZO9pT91eMz5InZEvfXe6XkXFpr64zBChc0fH

 

I did have to use some putty... before sanding...

g4Ewgw-wgjpbHaPaZn6tBjD9w86ZwqWLEFVbzQwn

ENRtNdgySkKeDM2pKdMc22s2dXEonkj2m5c1egu5

jxPXlwqPuSqnxxJMgTIkmc6iIPjfZiuwfaME5j20

 

 

and after sanding. Most of it is my fault. I did not separate elevators smoothly enough. The gap between vertical stabilizer and aft fuselage is really noticable on finished models. Therefore I attach them to the outboard of their slot. This leaves a small gap between the upper aft fuselage and stabilizers. To achieve a more accurate look, stabilizers should be even more pushed to the outbuard.

 

d-p8XeUJ-i1HrUQYXTfSGxmkWNOIc3ECiGV_5F-K

LAoRazXdI4d4iWyrJcVB2ATcGHw5YFwK7LVe3ub4

PQdzg94zxz_df2l-85qGOsbR2KmAqRRhYi59H44M

 

Nose needed only minor sanding to be flush with fuselage. You can also see effects of my sharpening of the nosecone. During sanding I accidentally slipped my hand which resulted in the rwr bulge flattening. I'll have to repair it later.

0HeCX5osDXpFAfMeNrPYZgrMTivpFQbuvbz4kwLQ

 

So... right now there is a lot of small stuff to add - additional bumps for a "D" Hornet, antennae, fix some mistakes I've made during sanding, add iff bird slicers to the nose and clear parts. Hopefully I'll have my Hornet ready for painting by the end of the week.

 

I'm even starting to think about making one more Hornet... Maybe a Charlie?

 

Thanks for stopping by, and if You have any thoughts, please let me know!

 

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

No worries buddy! I just like to add a lot of putty. It often saves me from adding another layer later. If I did proper job on cutting of elevators I wouldn't have to add so much putty.

 

You really need to tell me how did You assemble that nose of Your Hornet. I botched rescribing that squareish panel on the side of the nose.

 

However, I did manage to put some paint on my jet.

 

pYffo31wlr8sH5fDmTrITHDUYuG29Nz-W3NhLoot

2pll4GYGa6YjLFyoFzHBcUuL6APR3klSPdPdL0EB

 

And with black tails and gloss coat on:

 

6qEfE5yeYcYcN02SgYfn-El8ckdJ1lperX0CVeX4

 

Eventually I decided on using front canopy piece from Rob Taurus. It was a bit too skinny for the opening, but vacuformed canopies are easy to spread wide. I also did a little trick on the movable piece of stock canopy - i sanded off the middle bar and put it in a slightly different position. Once all the painting is done and I remove all the masking I hope it'll show. I referenced position of the middle bar on the Rob Taurus canopy. Should the result be unsatisfactory I can always change the canopy for that vacuformed one.

 

Thanks for looking!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thad

On my Hornet I got lucky with the nose. The kit must have been one of the earlier batches made. The fit wasn't perfect but was a lot closer than the later kits out of those old molds. However I am having issues with my paint adhesion. Paint is pulling off with tape! I guess I didn't get all the mold release agent off the plastic. Trying to decide which avenue to take to correct it. Keep up the good work on your D Hornet!!!! 

Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm enjoying your build!  Are you using the Wolfpack folded wing set?  I've been quite pleased with their products in the past.  I used their dropped flaps set on my Academy Hornet earlier this year and I'm using their folded wings set on my 1/48 Revell Super Hornet now.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...
On 29.11.2017 at 1:01 AM, tosouthern66 said:

Thad

On my Hornet I got lucky with the nose. The kit must have been one of the earlier batches made. The fit wasn't perfect but was a lot closer than the later kits out of those old molds. However I am having issues with my paint adhesion. Paint is pulling off with tape! I guess I didn't get all the mold release agent off the plastic. Trying to decide which avenue to take to correct it. Keep up the good work on your D Hornet!!!! 

 

Model Master acrylics always seem to pull on me at some point...

 

jIq9opeDdzZ3shsNsCD4ECpxFe4QjZh43S1jsO8c

 

oooooops.... Generally it used to happen all the time, even after primer. Almost exclusively on shiny plastic - same as the one Hasegawa uses. So I give my models a good sanding with 1500 or 2000 grade paper just enough to dull the shine of the plastic down. I don't use primer anymore but my tape doesn't lift the paint as often. This is the biggest batch of paint lifted since I begun to use this method. Sanding also removes the mold release agents.

Still, this particular fup is probably caused by the fact that I handled my Hornet without gloves - some grease from hands might have been transfered on it when I bent the rudder.

 

On 29.11.2017 at 5:29 PM, picknpluck said:

I'm enjoying your build!  Are you using the Wolfpack folded wing set?  I've been quite pleased with their products in the past.  I used their dropped flaps set on my Academy Hornet earlier this year and I'm using their folded wings set on my 1/48 Revell Super Hornet now.

 

Thanks! I'm keeping my finger crossed for the recovery of Your Hornet. I did use Wolfpack wingfold in the future and was quite pleased with them. I've used 1/72 E-2C wingfold,  1/72 legacy Hornet and Super Hornet wingfolds. Hornet sets are pretty much drop fit and with great detail - highly recommended. Still, I don't really use them any more because in the grand scheme of things they get quite expensive. I've planned for about 60 - 80 more Hornets, most of which will have folded wings. Yup... expensive! Besides cutting up wings and making my own wingfolds isn't such a big deal anymore.

 

As I already shown, my model is decaled and got a final coat. All that is left is to finish the cockpit, seats, landing gear and put everything together.

 

There were two hickups along the way, biggest being that tiger stripes decal, and the other one was during wash. I accidently removed part of the stars and bars. Had to replace them with some other ones. Not the worst of things... Kit decals were a bit too large.

z-ueppMgjvOdRoloX2fFlq0oLP2U9TaerV6YzqBy

 

I removed all the national insignia decals and replaced them with some from my spare decals.

 

w7fX2yamtlTfYGqGXVHeZNKe8jUy9iDZGnEDD8pV

 

I also printed some mesh decals for the nose gun vents and splitter plate mesh. The latter came out pretty good if I do say so myself. The nose ones are passable. From a distance ;)

 

The tiger stripe decal fix needs a bit more distance. When viewed from afar and not in the direct light it looks passable.

 

740QEaepbbue9PEuxwYA7Jg0beHoOZdFz9qOdCnc

 

With flash....

FL6Zrn1CaqAwLVRGzUBI61E4Q_6BQ0hYnuOS2MSB

 

I'll have to fix it a bit more. It doesn't really look THAT bad with naked eye.

 

Hopefully by the end of the year I''ll have it finished.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 months later...

Finally the day has come that I managed to take some pics of my build.

 

So here they are: I've experimented with my phone camera and different background. If it wasn't for all the black on the model...

 

XFvrjOUMMwW8BopzX16YiC7daKKk-TuW-YbDCx13

 

sIIWskP5r37gqrP1Zg1wNqtTbb9G7CbdJ7LZmDHl

 

kGbnfGM4C9kVWZvjGoOvX2DXtmrU8y_CpqE-tE2D

 

TGYtD8ntDk8twcIKP9iPXq-WGwZOdTqF0JFDLlPi

 

jdz-hI3HcSdsSClIzboecNjVEZEyLiKWCfwYt2ep

 

Here's a comparison shot of one of my previous built Hornets. Notice the nose tip, nose angle and windscreen difference? Yeah... Should've shot that pic with white background...

 

8_BRTEGHbs7HOPolbrnn9igoXql2QMSPtXSqJlSO

 

OCAl9ZyDY3tpGYN5ln_U-athXDzcaLZV8CrH_445

 

AC6EcKtnBLYwDxAuE4Bc9cHZQCnkia67_Mu4O-Ay

 

mRqfQnoFvgUPXaDup1v34MJZYOA5L4_7zJbkK0Ql

 

-WJnB45NRWjXtlhMUNChHsOydXlCFpJxUJpWI1bH

 

-Y7bQknFruKXuWm7LLbLvwN_LfSkN-OactDNMueJ

 

All that hard work on the intake payed off with this picture.

 

ncIawnpkrbc7z4F_uoNmgQkRmlsm43YRiS0iUzpE

 

jAGVjvjxDJNNNqH3ViQwSzn2Od_CJIS6aToseuU2

 

Great thanks for stopping by, hope You like my Hornet :)

 

Cheers!

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
23 hours ago, tosouthern66 said:

Nice job Thad! Thanks for joining our GB

Thanks buddy! Thanks for hosting it. It was a pleasure!

 

20 hours ago, spejic said:

That is a fine looking model. Your work on the intake and cockpit is really impressive.

 

Thanks!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...