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F/A-18C - Early vs Late?


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I'm building Kinetic's 1/48 F/A-18C using Two Bobs Werewolves of Beaufort.  The planned bird is BuNo 164271 in Sept. 2008.  How to I figure out if I should follow the instructions for "early" or "late" parts in Kinetics instructions?  This primarily seems to affect the antennas under the nose in front of the nose gear bay.  Thank you for any help!

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I have asked the same question on this and two other forums and have yet to see a definitive answer. Apparently the vents on the nose under side changed from louvered to mesh at some point during C/D production, and based on the options that Kinetic offers, the array of 5 antennas (?) appeared at some point before the change from louvered to mesh vents. What nobody seems to know (or want to tell) is even roughly in which production blocks these changes occurred. I'd also like to know what those 5 bullet-shaped protrusions are.

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3 hours ago, GW8345 said:

164217 (C207) is a Lot 13 Charlie and depending on the time frame you are doing would determine the "lumps & bumps" it has, for 2008, I would go with the late parts.

 

hth

GW

Good to know for that particular plane, but where can we look to find what to use for other BuNos? For example, I'm going to be doing two -Cs in the near future, and the short list of BuNos I'm considering includes 163464, 163467, 164252 and 164703. I presume the two 164XXX's would have the late configuration, but what about the 163XXX's?

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1 hour ago, jmel said:

 

The Modern Hornet Guide

https://www.reidairpublishing.com/product-p/rap011.htm

 

I think the info may also be available in the DACO Hornet book. 

Thanks for the reference. Being primarily a prop guy, I'm unlikely to be spending $40 on a book for one or two projects. I don't suppose anybody with access to either the Modern Hornet Guide or the Daco book would be willing to take a look and let us know what they find?

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7 hours ago, seawinder said:

Thanks for the reference. Being primarily a prop guy, I'm unlikely to be spending $40 on a book for one or two projects. I don't suppose anybody with access to either the Modern Hornet Guide or the Daco book would be willing to take a look and let us know what they find?

 

I don't have the MHG but can confirm the DACO guide, excellent though it certainly is, doesn't provide a specific BuNo for the changeover on the nose vents.  In the section covering those details, the text simply says the change from louvered to mesh was made "halfway through production run of the C/D models."

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24 minutes ago, Quixote74 said:

 

I don't have the MHG but can confirm the DACO guide, excellent though it certainly is, doesn't provide a specific BuNo for the changeover on the nose vents.  In the section covering those details, the text simply says the change from louvered to mesh was made "halfway through production run of the C/D models."

Well, that's certainly helpful. I think I'll just find the median BuNo of the C/D production run and declare it the turning point. Apparently few if any will be able to say I'm wrong!

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25 minutes ago, seawinder said:

Well, that's certainly helpful. I think I'll just find the median BuNo of the C/D production run and declare it the turning point. Apparently few if any will be able to say I'm wrong!

 

With the Zone Five info as a reference point I did a search on the BuNos indicated as early vs. late.  The photos that turned up aren't super clear but it does appear the louver vs. vent change corresponds to this break point.

 

(For ease of confirming the grille type without closeups, note only the early louvered type have diagonal cross members). F/A-18C 163782 (last of the "early" C/D airframes):

 

http://www.airfighters.com/photo/65887/M/USA-Marines/McDonnell-Douglas-F-A-18C-Hornet/163782/

 

F/A-18D 163986 (2nd of the "late" C/D blocks):

 

http://www.airfighters.com/photo/219731/M/USA-Navy/McDonnell-Douglas-F-A-18D-Hornet/163986/

 

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21 hours ago, seawinder said:

Good to know for that particular plane, but where can we look to find what to use for other BuNos? For example, I'm going to be doing two -Cs in the near future, and the short list of BuNos I'm considering includes 163464, 163467, 164252 and 164703. I presume the two 164XXX's would have the late configuration, but what about the 163XXX's?

163464 - Lot 10 F-18D

163467 - Lot 10 F-18C lost on 6/21/94 while assigned to VFA-82

164252 - Lot 13 F-18C

164703 - Lot 15 F-18C

 

The F-18C/D production spanned from 1986, starting with 163427 (Lot 10 F-18C) , and ended in 1997 with 165687 (Lot 21 F-18D). Lot 15 and below are considered low lot F-18's IIRC.

 

If you google "F-18" and the BUNO you should be able to find pictures of the aircraft and that will show you why type of vents are on door 3 along with all the lumps and bumps for that aircraft.

 

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Thank you Quixote74 and GW8345! That clarifies things greatly. Do you know what the array of 5 bullet shaped things forward of the ventral blade antenna is for? If the Kinetic parts options are to be believed, they were present on some planes with the louvered vents and all of those with the mesh vents.

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11 hours ago, seawinder said:

Do you know what the array of 5 bullet shaped things forward of the ventral blade antenna is for? If the Kinetic parts options are to be believed, they were present on some planes with the louvered vents and all of those with the mesh vents.

 

Per the DACO book the '5-point' antenna is part of the ALR-167 radar warning system.  Based on the references I have this seems to have been added at the same time as the other "late" C/D features, but also retrofitted to some earlier airframes.

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