wm_cheng Posted May 16, 2020 Share Posted May 16, 2020 Hi all, with this Pandemic, I decided to get back into modeling and I bit off a little more than I can chew. I cracked my main canopy while trying to remove it from the fuselage (perhaps it was a bad idea to use it as a mask for the cockpit - I have done this times before with no problems). Maybe it was my first time use of the Mr. Super Clear Matt rattle can spray, it did go one much thicker than an airbrushed matt coat and gummed up and sealed the canopy fuselage connection. I carefully sliced all around the canopy but it wouldn't budge, I kept slicing an carefully prying the canopy out (I just used a dab of white glue to secure it originally) until finally CRACK! it cracked down the length of the canopy before giving way. ARGH!!! To me the cockpit and canopy are the jewels that bullseye the eye to your model - and this just screams out. There's been some many things wrong with this build, trying to shoe-horn the F-18A resin wheel wells into this 18F kit (it did pay off in the end, but it was so much work!), so much sanding and re-sanding of the horrendously poor fit of the kit, the tail fin yellow decal melted disaster, the wing tank that fell 5 times and had to repainted from scratch each time.... the list goes on and after each hurdle and trying to repair it, I finally get to this final break that is irreparable - just stings so much!!! I'm pretty happy with the under-carriage especially after all that work trying to shoe horn the resin upgrades for the F-18A kit into this F-18F kit including completely re-cutting the forward well short and rebuild and shallowing up the cockpit tub to get them both to fit into this kit So the good stuff, 90% of it turned out pretty good... You can see the damage around the edge of the canopy to the paint trying to pry off the canopy So here's the cracked part...right down the middle... The problem its an old kit, if I have to I'll try to find it to buy again just for the canopy part and decals - I've invested too much sweat and tears to give up and throw it in the trash at this point. However if anyone has a partially built kit or parts lying around or decals I can also get again either this kit or aftermarket that belongs to this aircraft (I only need the canopy ones), I'd gladly buy them from you. I live in Canada, so I can't order the parts from Hasegawa. Is there an distributor in Canada that I can contact? Would older F-18B/D Hasegawa kits have canopies that would fit (so much cheaper)? I just wished I could walk into an old hobby store and look around for another kit I could buy right away, after so many hours and being so close, I just want to finish this puppy! At this point, any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks for your time looking at my sob story. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ESzczesniak Posted May 17, 2020 Share Posted May 17, 2020 I bet there are some aftermarket decal sheets for that bird. The Jolly Rogers are a very popular bird/scheme. As for the canopy, I am rather doubtful a legacy hornet is very close at all. But an boxing of the 1/72 F/A-18F should work. And Academy makes and F model as well that may be cheaper and that may be similar enough as far as the canopy is concerned. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DONG Posted May 17, 2020 Share Posted May 17, 2020 Lightspeed Global in Toronto is the distributor for Hasegawa in Canada you might try them. Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wm_cheng Posted May 17, 2020 Author Share Posted May 17, 2020 @ESzczesniak Thanks, I've researched a lot of Jolly Rogers aftermarket decals, most are actually black/grey pilots lettering on the body/fuselage of the plane than white lettering on the canopy rails but I might have a lead on some decals that are more appropriate. Yes, the more I look at the F-18D canopy the more I doubt they would fit the F-18F - all the model shots seem to indicate they taper more towards the rear - a more teardrop shape than the 18F. If anyone here has both kits, could they take a look in their stash and tell me if the two canopies are compatible? Yes I'm leaning towards the more expensive option of getting the 18F kit (I think I bought the original kit for $20 back 2003 and now I'm thinking of buying $50 kit +$20 decals to finish it off :O) @DONG Thanks I have already emailed them, but with this Pandemic, who knows if they are still operating or replying. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BillS Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 How ‘bout vacforming a new one. I’ve g ot a mattel vacuform. It might take several stabs and careful trimming but it’s doable Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wm_cheng Posted May 19, 2020 Author Share Posted May 19, 2020 Thanks, I've found this discontinued kit in the classified section of these forums and have paid to purchase the whole kit. Can't wait for the arrival to finish this up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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