habu2 Posted August 9, 2019 Share Posted August 9, 2019 7 hours ago, KursadA said: Does anyone have a close-up photo of the badge that appeared on the tail of 160780 during the test/eval program? https://www.airfighters.com/photo/58978/M/USA-Navy/McDonnell-Douglas-YF-18A-Hornet/160780/ I didn’t find any in my rerences but found similar but different artwork on the right vstab of #7 and on both sides of the fuselage below the rear seat canopy rail on T1. Unfortunately the resolution is no better than the linked image above. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KursadA Posted August 9, 2019 Share Posted August 9, 2019 1 minute ago, habu2 said: I didn’t find any in my rerences but found similar but different artwork on the right vstab of #7 and on both sides of the fuselage below the rear seat canopy rail on T1. Unfortunately the resolution is no better than the linked image above. My next question would be the art on the T1 - it most definitely is something with two stylized hornet caricatures. I asked the same questions to Mr. Downey, who runs the Aviation Archives blog and has a treasure trove of McDonnell Douglas historic material. I can't believe the details of these markings are lost to time - there must have been some photos published in the early 1980s. Any help would be much appreciated - this is the highest priority research problem right now and I will keep this thread at the top until it is resolved. Please help me out by leafing through your early 1980s books and magazines about the F-18. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted August 9, 2019 Share Posted August 9, 2019 emails sent... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KursadA Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 I have gotten several excellent leads and would like to thank everyone for their help - we still need better photos, though. The marking on No. 6 (160780) is most definitely associated with the spin / high AOA (angle of attack) testing and the one on 160781 is definitely a twin Hornet caricature of some sort. There are better photos of these somewhere - maybe in that dusty 1982 issue of Aviation Week that has been sitting in your basement, or that 1985 Hornet book you bought at a contest but forgot about. Let us find these! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
skyhawk174 Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 Hey Kursad I have many old books from that era. Let me have a look Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tomcat Trebor Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 Hi Kursad here is a picture of No6 that l found Regards Robert Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KursadA Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 Hi Robert, Thanks for the photo - while this is the clearest one we have, I still need a larger one to make out the details of the marking. Keeping the thread at the top - I still hope some of you will help sole this mystery. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
danny59 Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 Kursad, Here is what I found in my files Daniel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KursadA Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 (edited) Thanks, Daniel! I think we are almost there - I can see that it is the same Hornet character (with "18" on his belly) used on the artwork on the carrier trials jet. I still can't make out everything but I think I can design something pretty close which will work for 48th and 72nd scales. Now if only we could find something similar for the marking on the twin seater T1. Edited August 12, 2019 by KursadA Quote Link to post Share on other sites
eraucubsfan Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 Have you contacted the museum here at PAX River? I think they have a huge archive, they maybe able to help you or put you in touch with someone who can. I assume most of those Hornets came through PAX at sometime. http://www.paxmuseum.com/contactus.php Quote Link to post Share on other sites
skyhawk174 Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 Kursad I had a look at my old book on the F-18. There were many pictures of the prototypes in it. I did see something interesting though. It seems that no. 6 had two different schemes. There is one with no logo on the tail and the caption mentioned it was for the high AOA tests. I will try and scan tomorrow. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KursadA Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 (edited) Thanks, Chris - I am looking forward to the photos. I know that the high AoA program logo was painted on the tail of No. 6 at some point during the testing program, so it is possible to depict the aircraft without the badge. However, I would like to include the marking for the sake of completeness - including it will also allow the modeler to build this aircraft during the first few months of its later career as the NASA F-18 HARV; during which it wore an interesting, hodge-podge scheme with both NASA markings and remnants of its prototype past; as well as a few mismatched panels and parts from other prototypes for good measure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SViiqylV0lA With the latest information I received, I think I will be able to draw the marking on No.6. This leaves the "twin Hornet" marking on TF1 - I contacted the Pax River Museum per Brent's suggestion; and hope to hear back from them as well. Edited August 13, 2019 by KursadA Quote Link to post Share on other sites
skyhawk174 Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 This is the book I got the info from Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tomcat Trebor Posted August 14, 2019 Share Posted August 14, 2019 On the T1 check out the cameras on the wing tip Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted August 20, 2019 Share Posted August 20, 2019 I have Koku Fans going back to the mid-late 70s and I’m not finding anything that adds to the search.... 😞 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KursadA Posted August 20, 2019 Share Posted August 20, 2019 59 minutes ago, habu2 said: I have Koku Fans going back to the mid-late 70s and I’m not finding anything that adds to the search.... 😞 Thanks for all the help you provided so far - with the exception of the elusive "twin Hornet" artwork on the T1, I have almost everything I need and will finish the sheet shortly. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
skyhawk174 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 On 8/19/2019 at 8:35 PM, habu2 said: I have Koku Fans going back to the mid-late 70s and I’m not finding anything that adds to the search.... 😞 Yeah I also have Koku Fan going back to the same era as yours. Looking through them only found one picture of a prototype Hornet and it was printed in another book anyway. I wonder why is that? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KursadA Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 (edited) This sheet will be part of the next batch, and the 1/72 version will follow in the next batch. There are markings for the first seven jets, so pretty much all prototype schemes are covered. Enough photo-calibration markings to allow the reproduction of most test airframes, spin test markings, weapons test "kill" markings, JFK-Ike-Carl Vinson carrier qual markings etc. I am still tweaking the layout and colors of some elements - but this is pretty much the final version. There will be a second sheet with blue/gold markings for the first prototype to minimize masking - all sized to fit the Kinetic kit. Edited September 7, 2019 by KursadA Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 On 8/21/2019 at 11:57 AM, skyhawk174 said: I wonder why is that? Probably because all the pics were supplied to KF and many other publications by McAir’s PR office. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike J. Idacavage Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 Kursad The "almost final" decal sheet you posted looks fantastic! I REALLY appreciate you including the NASA markings on this sheet. This will be one of the few times where I will buy both the 1/48 and 1/72 sheets rather than my usual 1/72 version! Have fun modeling Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ben Brown Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 I'm a little late to this thread, but has anyone searched "f/a-18" on Ron Downey's blog? I know he's got a couple of pics of the spin test aircraft. There might be more pics buried in the blog. Some of the files about the engines and radar have pics of the test Hornets. One might have a shot of the logo you're looking for. Ben Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KursadA Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 (edited) 11 minutes ago, Ben Brown said: I'm a little late to this thread, but has anyone searched "f/a-18" on Ron Downey's blog? I know he's got a couple of pics of the spin test aircraft. There might be more pics buried in the blog. Some of the files about the engines and radar have pics of the test Hornets. One might have a shot of the logo you're looking for. Ben That was the first place I looked a few months ago - I went through every Hornet related document ever posted on that site. Mr Downey has not responded to my plea for help on the project. Edited September 7, 2019 by KursadA Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ben Brown Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 1 hour ago, KursadA said: That was the first place I looked a few months ago - I went through every Hornet related document ever posted on that site. Mr Downey has not responded to my plea for help on the project. Bummer. I figured you had already checked but I thought I’d mention it, just in case.... 😁 Ben Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KursadA Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 1 hour ago, Ben Brown said: Bummer. I figured you had already checked but I thought I’d mention it, just in case.... 😁 Ben Not that the site was not extremely helpful : the spin-test markings on the nose, some dimensional and color data for the prototype schemes and markings, and many other details were only made possible thanks to the photos & documents posted on that site. But I can't help thinking that he probably has a lot more on early F-18 testing and evaluation. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John B Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 (edited) On 9/6/2019 at 7:57 PM, KursadA said: This sheet will be part of the next batch, and the 1/72 version will follow in the next batch. There are markings for the first seven jets, so pretty much all prototype schemes are covered. Enough photo-calibration markings to allow the reproduction of most test airframes, spin test markings, weapons test "kill" markings, JFK-Ike-Carl Vinson carrier qual markings etc. I am still tweaking the layout and colors of some elements - but this is pretty much the final version. There will be a second sheet with blue/gold markings for the first prototype to minimize masking - all sized to fit the Kinetic kit. I noticed the BuNo for TF-18A #1 on this sheet. Will the "T1" titles for the tails be included on the second sheet that you've mentioned? (I regret that I wasn't able to contribute any resources to this decal project.) Edited September 15, 2019 by John B Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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