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F/A-18D Hornet // Hobby Boss // 1:48


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Have just started new model, after a long, long time.
This time it will be legacy Hornet, with camouflage as below:

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This is a commisional build, so I didn't choice the kit - Hobby Boss one, so I am not so happy about it. Obviously I have no choice and must use that HB.
I am going to add some Eduard's PEs, ejection seats and Aires nozzles. There will be also resin ordnance.
I have bought set of proper Two Bobs decals.

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First are the ejection seats.
I know those are for F-14D Tomcat, but also those seats are very similar to newer Hornets seats, so I hope it is not so big mistake.
Anyway, painted that and are ready to use.

 

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Then the cockpit. I am not the biggest fan of colored Eduard PE, but this time I decided to use it. To avoid really ugly MFDs, I added few decals with screens and clocks. Hope it looks not so bad.

 

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Brak dostępnego opisu zdjęcia.

 

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Neat project. Love the scheme. Very nice work for the seats. Before You go, please, check the height of the canopy vs how tall the aft ejection seat will sit. Or at least the height of the seat vs the height of kit seats.

Regarding the seat type, it's actually the newer SJU-17 seat, and I don't think it was put in the F/A-18B You are modeling. You'd be better off with SJU-5/6 from, say, Quickboost or Aires. They differ the most in headrest. SJU-17's for the Hornet should have similar canopy breakers, front and rear seat, other than that I don't think there are any differences from a modeller standpoint.

If I may offer a tiny bit of advice, take the location of ecs bumps on the nose with a grain of salt, HB kind of dropped the ball on this one. As they did on the location of the outermost trailing edge flap acutators.

I can't wait for some progress. There can never be too many Hornet builds 😉

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There will be no problem with seats height, because canopy will be opened, and I also sanded down 1-2 mm od seats base. So I think it will be fair enought.
Regarding ejection seats: I know those SJU-17 are for later F/A-18Ds, not B. But I have got kit of D, so I am making D, not B. I also know that this particulr aggressor was B, but... I can live with that.
I don't want to complicate it too much, and just finish that model as soon as possible.

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Next step is wheel bays. Hobby Boss delivered nicely detailed ones, but I always try to improve it a little bit. Nose bay I have just painted, because I mus glue it before assembing into fuselage. The main wheel bays will be painted at the end, just after camouflage painting.

 

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The fuselage is ready for primer. I have also cut off rudders and made them a little bit leaned, as in real vertical fins.
Both exhaust nozzles plus engine tubes are painted and ready to asseblem. Hope there will be painting process soon.

 

 

 

 

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9 hours ago, Janissary said:

Looking very good. HB looks quite alright. Not sure why it's never been a top contender. Are there shape issues? Details look pretty nice. 

The HB is pretty much a rip off of the hasegawa Hornet, it's an alright kit but soft in details. The Kinetic being a crisp and modern plastic kit after they fixed the top of the fins it is THE to go Hornet.

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11 hours ago, Janissary said:

Are there shape issues? Details look pretty nice. 


Details are not so bad, regarding the time that kit has been developed.
Shape issues - I do not have sufficient knowledge about Hornets, so I know only something about details, like wrong shape antennas or something like that. For me it looks just like Hornet.

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That aft IP cover looks nice. Is it the Eduard PE part?

 

Regarding the Hobby Boss kit, it's very similar to the Hasegawa kit, to the poinf of being a copy. The 10-20% difference is in the cockpit area. The windscreen is a bit too fat - ie too wide and too high, giving slightly wrong angle in the nose to windscreen transition (quite similar to the 1/72 scale Hasegawa windscreen IMHO). The canopy is a bit too long, but really on the double seater it doesn't show that much, especially with open canopy. And the fuselage insert behind the canopy clear part has too short fairing. All of this is really only slightly visible, unless You are aware of the flaws or have a more accurate kit next to it (either Hasegawa or Kinetic).

Also, don't expect overall detail on par with Hasegawa or Kinetic, especially on the main landing gear as they are slightly simplified.

It's not really terrible once painted and weathered.

Oh, and HB forgot to copy the nav lights on the LEX and tails. The latter ones are slightly more problematic.

Keeping my fingers crossed for Your Hornet Solo. Can't wait to see it finished.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Small steps ahead.
I cracked up first canopy, so I had to buy new kit and work over new canopy.
This time without any accidents. 🙂

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First I used very nice and handy scriber to remove the canopy seam.

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Next I used my Micro Mesh polishing pads, last 5 gradations.

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Then I polished using abrasive cloths 8000 and 12000.

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So after that there was no need to use Tamiya coarse compound. First used Fine one.

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And then for the final stage: Final compound. The canopy is now ready and shining.

 

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  • 4 months later...

I have designed and cut out set of masks for canopy and few other things.
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Hobby Boss kit has not chaff annd flare dispensers. There is not a shape on the fuselage bottoms nor PE's, or even decals.
So I have no choice and designed and printed my own decals. Think it looks not so bad.

 

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Next there is canopy frame. Very poor and simplified. I added some wires and other stuff. It was very difficult to find good pictures of that places, so I hope I did it well.

 

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There was also needed to add some small adds-on, like vertical stabiliser reinforcement plates, GPS antenna and AOA sensors, not available in HB version of that kit.

 

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Now my plane is almost ready for surfacer.

 

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And one more thing. I decided to cut off kits stabiliser pins and added new ones, drawn out of brass wire.

 

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And Maverick exhaust nozzle as well.

 

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Following this with some interest. That kit is an odd mix of early D model. The V/UHF antenna just ahead of your GPS sensor is the old-style straight one, while almost all D models have the later whip-style antenna. You've done a good job of the canopy rail details. You're right that it's hard to find reference pics. Here's one I took 35 years ago, of two of my friends strapping into a Canadian dual. You can see some of the detail in this one.

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Let me know if you have any questions about the aircraft. I know a lot about it (flew them for 10 years), and I have lots of reference pics.

ALF

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39 minutes ago, ALF18 said:

Let me know if you have any questions about the aircraft. I know a lot about it (flew them for 10 years), and I have lots of reference pics.

ALF

Thanks a lot.
I tried to use Jake Melampy's "The Modern Hornet Guide", but there are still some things unknown for me.
The most challenged was to find good pictures of that place just under the end of canopy, right after second pilot ejection seat. In the mentioned book there is one or two pictures of that place, I hope it be enought.
Second thing hard to find is good pictures of all that stuff attached to canopy frame. Some things, especialy that stuff at the very end, I just made from my imagination. I know there are some boxes and wiring, but what exactly? I wish to know that.

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9 minutes ago, Solo said:

Thanks a lot.
I tried to use Jake Melampy's "The Modern Hornet Guide", but there are still some things unknown for me.
The most challenged was to find good pictures of that place just under the end of canopy, right after second pilot ejection seat. In the mentioned book there is one or two pictures of that place, I hope it be enought.
Second thing hard to find is good pictures of all that stuff attached to canopy frame. Some things, especialy that stuff at the very end, I just made from my imagination. I know there are some boxes and wiring, but what exactly? I wish to know that.

Here's a blurry picture of the area behind the back seat. I took it on a dull, rainy day in Cold Lake. Sorry for the poor quality, but it gives an idea of what's there. For the sides of the canopy frame, it depends on the timeframe and modifications to the aircraft. Early on, the most common things were just wire bundles, and of course some sort of tubing for the canopy jettison system. In the outdoor picture, it's taken from the front seat, looking back - you can see some sort of triangular box with wiring. I have no clue what it's for. Hope this helps.

ALF

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