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(2022 F-18 Group Build) Revell 1/48 Super Hornet


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Revell Super Hornets for the F-18 Group builds seem to be the thing, right? I don't know why Hasegawa, Meng or Hobby Boss even bothered 😉

 

This is going to be one of at least three projects for this GB. I hope to complete at least one of them.

 

When I started to complete my 1/48 scale Hornets collection I made it a point to get the alternativelly better kits - Italeri and Revell Super Hornets. I already built the Italeri EA-18 without killing myself, so the Revell kit should be actually a breeze, right? This kit, but in it's marvellous RoG boxing was my first 1/48 Hornet, after I restarted my hobby in like 2005 or 2006. When I saw that box I had to get it, it was huge, quite costly for me at that time, especially since I was waaaay under the budget. But whoooa, it seemed like it was a best kit ever! I've super fond memories of that build.

Unfortunatly, that boxing is no longer available, which is a shame. It contained the weapon sprue, as well as some awesome decal sheet for a VX-9 bird, and a couple of Lo-Vis Hornets (VFA-27 and VFA-143 among them!) https://www.scalemates.com/pl/kits/revell-04585-f-a-18e-super-hornet--103830

 

I got this boxing, as it was the cheapest I could get, by far. The Maverick boxing has the weapon sprues (with GBU-31 and mk-83) but I've no need for them. Besides I don't like the markings, and I already have one Top Gun Super Hornet from Cobi. I'm actually dying for a side by side review of these two... Hope my kids won't destroy it... too much.

 

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It was quite funny, as the box in my RoG model was really big - slightly smaller than the Hobby Boss Super Hornet boxes.

 

I've no interest in the kit markings, and initially, had two decal sheets with possible options - the VFA-143 or the VFA-115 jets. The -115 was pretty much it for me, as it was a scheme Super Hornet wore in combat - kind of my thing as it comes with markings I choose. But then the Meng kit came out, the Revell spine is just way off, and I can apply them to a better kit... And as I have an Echo in VFA-115 markings (from the first cruise) I guess I'd like something different. The -143 I got kind of cheap and I do like the blue tails. I prefer the earlier markings, but I guess these ones are ok too. AFAIK, they weren't from a combat cruise.

 

There are other options, say a VFA-105 or the VFA-195 options from the Hobby Boss Echo kit. Or the VFA-87 from the Meng kit. But then I'll have so many drab line jets.

 

I also happen to have two additional fuel tanks from my two previous Revell Super Hornets. Gotta say, RoG knows how to release a kit.

 

AM-JKLWmcCq-_5NVPn92uBppTJV_as85x4tSR_1b 

 

I'll get some extras, the ECS vents are probably going to have to be replaced and I contemplate getting a cheap Eduard PE fret. I remember the sidewalls are really needed in this kit.I mean, sidewalls that actually touch the cockpit tub...

 

I really can't wait to start building Hornets, just have to finish one build to tackle this one, and my other 1/48 project.

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Thadeus,

 

Gotta say good choice.  Anxious to see how you handle this kit.  Sounds like you have some experience with it.  Looking forward to your progress.

 

Geoff M

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19 hours ago, Geoff M said:

Thadeus,

 

Gotta say good choice.  Anxious to see how you handle this kit.  Sounds like you have some experience with it.  Looking forward to your progress.

 

Geoff M

 

I built the single and the double seaters way back. It was awesome, the models went together in less then a week. I remember I airbrushed only the lower colour. And I remember fighting the nose to fuselage joint. It's similar in 1/72 versions, which I in turn built 3. Or 4? Can't really remember. It would be a very nice model, if not for the too round spine.

 

I've not really started it yet, but I needed to sort out the Decal Duelings.

 

Well. My two choices were quite quickly limited. The VFA-105 option from HB kit is from 2005, when the -105 was ashore. So it's a no-go.

The VFA-192 has coloured spine, which I think will only accentuate that part.

So... the VFA-143 and VFA-81 are the options. Both are from "2009" as claimed by Superscale.

Checking the Go Navy site: http://www.gonavy.jp/SqnDeployment03f.html both squadrons were deployed, the -81 from november 2010 to june 2011  and the -143 from february 09 to july 09, and january 2010 to july 2010. These cruises included the Northern Arabian Sea, so I guesstimate that meant support of combat operations in the region.

 

Seaforces show period pictures that support these were combat cruises.

 

I'd love to build the -143 jet. Really. But Seaforces show, the AG100 was BuNo 166608 ("my" jet) but in the trimmed livery. And it seems it conducted the combat operations in this guise. I even checked the CAG and DCAG, and I've had no luck tracing, when the tails were painted all blue.

That is, untill I've stumbled upon this article: https://www.milavia.net/specials/cvn69-uss-eisenhower-2009/ It has one picture of an all blue CAG jet, but without the claw markings. Actually, it looks as if only the blue tails were changed from the previous scheme, along with the three stipes by the canopy. Interesting. So this probably means, the markings are from late 2009, after the cruise.

 

The VFA-81 is slightly different. I researched a 1/72 scale Authentic decals sheet, back in 2014 Hornet's Nest GB, and found out, that these markings were indeed from a combat cruise of 2010/2011. By mere coincidence, I used them on a 1/72 Revell F/A-18E back then. The Superscale decals are very similar. The BuNo is excactly the same, 166830.

Superscale modeled theirs as of 2009 version, which had some small variations. And this time, I see it seems their research was quite good. I mean, see:

 

https://www.airliners.net/photo/USA-Navy/Boeing-F-A-18E-Super-Hornet/1578645/L?qsp=eJwtjEEKwkAMRe%2BStQtLYZDu9AK68AJh8tFidYYkoEPp3Y2Du8d78FbK5eX4%2BLVV0EQG1nynHVVWfhpNKz3Q3kUlmIaUDuM%2BqhX1Uwsj7DjmjOqQvz%2BrQH8JlvvoFuMhAHrpTGMKL7PVhfsDzvNC2/YF8rwt0w%3D%3D

 

In 2011, this jet looked very similar, with the exception of the warning triangles under the canopy, warning markings, and perhaps the crew names, I've yet to research that part. See:

https://www.airliners.net/photo/USA-Navy/Boeing-F-A-18E-Super-Hornet/2040218/L?qsp=eJwtjEEKwkAMRe%2BStQtLYZDu9AK68AJh8tFidYYkoEPp3Y2Du8d78FbK5eX4%2BLVV0EQG1nynHVVWfhpNKz3Q3kUlmIaUDuM%2BqhX1Uwsj7DjmjOqQvz%2BrQH8JlvvoFuMhAHrpTGMKL7PVhfsDzvNC2/YF8rwt0w%3D%3D

 

So the VFA-81 it will be. There were some interesting loadouts during that cruise, which included only centerline tank, and pylons on stations 4 and 8 absent, with a symmetrical loadout of gbu-12 and gbu-38 on stations 2 and 10 and 3 and 9 respectivelly.

 

The only trouble is, Superscale version had the warning triangles and the markings by the canopy in gray. All red decals seemed to be quite hard to get, but luck have it, the Hobby Boss Echo happens to have both the red/white triangles as well as red warning markings. Trouble is, they are needed for two schemes - the VFA-31 anniversary scheme and the VFA-192 scheme. I've no need for the anniversary scheme, but the 192 I could still use. Luckilly, there seem to be similar decals in Hobby Boss F/A-18C kit, that I happen to have a decal sheet. So all might still be well.

 

TL:DR, I've decided on the VFA-81 option but I'll have to chime in some spare decals and chose a loadout of double GBU-12, GBU-38 and a single AIM-9X. Neat.

 

If You've some info on the -143 blue tailed jet, please let me know.

 

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I feel like this is a underrated kit. I'm building two of them at the same time and they're not that bad. Yeah the nose area needs a lot of work but some of the others have their issues as well. Here's my two that are primed right now.

 

 

271889126_2022-04-1113_50_49.jpg

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On 4/27/2022 at 12:00 AM, Wolfgun33 said:

I feel like this is a underrated kit. I'm building two of them at the same time and they're not that bad. Yeah the nose area needs a lot of work but some of the others have their issues as well. Here's my two that are primed right now.

 

 

271889126_2022-04-1113_50_49.jpg

 

Well it really depends imho. If You look at a kit (buildability, features and all) it's quite ok. There are a few issues but they're ok.

 

If You look at it's competition when it was released, the only other kit as far as I remember, was the Italeri kit. And that kit, while having quite a few disatvantages, did have some things going for it. Not really a horrible kit. But not soon after, the Hasegawa kit was released. Comparing either Italeri or Revell kit to Hasegawa, the latter clearly wins. And to be honest, I too consider Hasegawa a better (much better) kit.

 

And then we go into details, such as the overall Hornetness (ie. the "model" part). Revell is ok. Or passable really. You get a few errors that are quite glaring - the spine being the biggest one. It's a hard part to do right, I get it, but imo Revell botched it along with the canopy frame making it too high and too rounded. There are other issues, just not that glaring - the weird kinks on the nose (under the windscreen), and just under the tailplanes, the vertical stabilizer base is way off, the LERX begin too far aft, the centerline pylon and the "canal" under the fuselage is simply wrong. And the weird exhaust, which bolt on the aft fuselage - there should be a fairing between the exhaust rings.

Only after all that I rank the lack of flap down option and too short intakes as a con for Revell. Along with a weird Pizza Box which I think in Revell is an actual Pizza box. And the refueling probe door is off, wingtip launchers are too short. There's probably more, such as the laughable HUD.

There is a very nice three part article by John Chung on correcting some of that stuff.

For me there's also the weird feel of the nose to windscreen angle. But it's beggining to look to me, as if I'm really getting a**l about it.

All in all, I still don't consider it a bad model. The cockpit is rather nice, for the most part. The intakes are quite ok, albeit a bit short, and the overall kit can be turned into a nice rendition of a Super Hornet. Just not 100% accurate.

 

You can factor the price in. For me, in my neck of the woods, I got it for about 100 PLN. I could have gotten the Hasegawa Super Hornet for 150, and the Italeri for about a 100. Nowadays its more like 130 for Revell (160 for Top Gun boxing) 120 for Italeri and 200 for Hasegawa. For me, if considered half price to Hasegawa, it's a decent value.

 

Frankly, I'd rate both Italeri and Revell kits more or les similar. I'd say Italeri kit has a bit of more accurate overall shape. Revell has better panel lines - more accurate, and generally better detail. Actualy combining these two kits would probably render a pretty nice kit. I tried to add some parts from Revell to the Italeri kit and it came out quite nice actually.

 

So after the rather long start, shall we begin?

 

Work as it is customary begins by sorting out the stuff that I need to modify before I get fed up.

Intakes:

 

All these fine ejector pin marks are to be filled and sanded.

 

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I'll have to decide on using either Aires (left) or Eduard (right) ECS parts. The Aires is a little nicer, the opening is much deeper. The Eduard is much larger even if considering just the plate with the triangle shaped exhaust.

 

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I'll probably go with the Eduard piece, since I've two of these. I'll just cut it to add the piece on top of the fuselage.

 

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But the Aires one isn't lacking anything either.

 

AM-JKLWFsbh6rTSOyGq8fBBoCQSHa_62_uhuqzji

 

I generally prefer my Hornets with wings folded. This way they take up less space and I can usually squeeze one more per like three models. As pointed out, Revell doesn't come with a flap option, much less the wingfold option. Well, ok - the outer parts of wings are separate, so that saves me one cut per wing.

There is generally a problem, where to begin cutting the leading edge flaps - the panel lines are not that much helpfull unfortunatly.

For the upper wing part, I cut it along the straight line, the one marked more to the aft. But that doesn't correspond with any line on the lower part of the wing. I eventually, after a little bit of measuring and guesstimating chose to cut the lower part also by the second, more aft line. It'd probably be more accurate to cut at some 2/3 of leghths between the front and aft panel lines.

 

AM-JKLXu5UeFlfWmO9BI5n5dbSlXUnk8FcnDtZX8

 

 

after a few cuts I came upo with this. The lower part is loo long, but I hope that by sanding it it'll help me with the angle of the LEF.

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Trailing edge flaps were quite easy to do, and frankly I just forgot to take the picture.

 

The troublesome part is the outer wing piece. Usually, the LEF is canted downwards, with the trailing edge flaps in the straight (up) position. I've seen a some pictures with both LEF and TEF in the down position, and a few with LEF and TEF both in up. I was told the Super Hornet, opposed to baby Hornet can fold the wings with flaps up. And usually it's the deck crew that manually gets the TEF in the up position.

So whatever the case, my LEF are going to be in the down position, and TEF in up. And I'm going to do this with as many kit parts as I can. looks like a buthery, right?

 

The key is to separate the cover of folding mechanism from the leading edge flap, then cutting the LEF, and after that splitting the part horizontally so You can separate the cover and the little rectangular part that is to be attached to the lower wing... And not cut off Your finger (s) in the process. Not really too hard, it took around an hour to do this wing, along with figuring it out. I'm currently doing the other wing, this time a bit refined way.

 

AM-JKLWtsoXJHmbhFSQIR7RXmYUiL7J2e-BcbXHx

 

Of course, there was a Wolfpack wingfold, complete with outer wings, corrected wingtip pylons! and even had a nice centerline pylon.

 

 

I did a bit of comparison shots, taking advantage I already had a complete front section of Revell Super Hornet, along with a Hasegawa one. Here they are aligned by the radome panel line...

 

AM-JKLV34JrwE4js6mTqbtYkKOyJhXgau_0eAglo

 

... and here aligned by the tip of the nose. It looks as if the Revell radome was shorter by a bit than Hasegawa. Mind You, this doesn't make the Hasegawa radome correct 😉 Whatever the case, the IFF cover is simply wrong on the Revell kit, and I'll have to decide wheter to shorten it from the front, back or both. I'll have to add plastic to the sides too, probably.

 

 

AM-JKLX0cGV-S3KwExDeG6399vG1bBZ2RvCJme-3

 

 

I've since reconsidered the PE fret, instead using nice kit decals...  Revell gives You both screens on and off decals. Nice touch. The spare bomb stripes and markings are cool too. Even though they are redundant on my kit.

 

AM-JKLUs95HO8blIDCmYA-f6jdo-MADF_ci4KkuB

 

The only thing I'd really like is to replace the HUD. But I'll have to sort out if I have any spare, or some spare PE Hud for the F/A-18c or something. I hope no one notice 😉

 

 

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So, I tried the other wing, a little bit different aproach. In the beggining, I cut the LEF, with the crucial angled cut on the wingfold cover. I find the angled cuts most important when using kit parts for  wingfold.

 

AM-JKLUTY1GDA9sAt8D5kbwhvBOl3qi6sDwOuqHe

 

Generaly, once the angled cut meets the cut from the underside, the rest is pretty easy. There's still some sanding and cleaning required, but nothing major.

 

AM-JKLUfi_gcxXiU-WP3N2Kqa10251czRYLzNpYv

 

And the wing is done.

 

AM-JKLUjmta32KQi5c5Pxes9I7Z1jzrvHYtX2qrG

 

Fast forward a couple of days, and I'm left with this piece. Awaiting some final smoothing on the cutout. The wingfold "mechanism" is probably not the best I could, but it took about five minutes with a rounded sprue and a file. Hope that under the coat of paint it'll look ok.

AM-JKLXBeQQYWQ-zef8V5X5ilgiupRLgLUHXi1RB

 

Other cuts involved the lower parts of the flaps...

 

AM-JKLWz6PmoMHJ6GyvjEsiu2pNPrAAPCDN0Qq6i

 

And the upper part of the trailing edge flap. I cut the airfoil between the flap and the wing at a more forward line.

 

AM-JKLXR-9ZNNEwdYP2vouAnQSSU7dqDm_vzRUx6

 

Look- another angled cut. This one is the most important and also the most difficult, as it is the longest angled cut. Love these saws.

 

AM-JKLXqRk67K9CyXGI2rI_gDB1YRxaaBpR0I4H0

 

AM-JKLVny3HaQzlDTWWWYnf4YkiYf8dTpmWOfOxy

 

You know what... once I'm at it, lets cut the rudders. This is actually quite troublesome as the Revell moulded the underside of the rudder piece angled. This means I'll have to sand the underside in order to toe them inwards.

 

AM-JKLUOzRNGsDKeoDYcraTKDlHyfHxDY-mcqsrZ

 

Alongside the cuts I was making both the intakes and the cockpit. While the intakes were simply an excersise in puttying and sanding, the cockpit was pretty straightforward. I needed to add a bit of plastic to the sides of the cockpit tub, so it matched a little bit better to the sides of the fuselage.

I was considering getting the Eduard PE fret for the cockpit. I figured however I could use the nice decals for the instrument panel. Well... I got to say, that is really not bad! The decals match the individual raised instruments very well. And that is not the most modern of the decal sheets. Nice work Revell!

 

AM-JKLViLmyIhqA343yHvuNY9KCLsxybEhsKb_F1

 

After using some Micro Set, the decals got wrinkly and soft and they engulfed the detail very nicelly. Please note I cut the individual decals.

 

AM-JKLXsXPwt3INoAg773uzIabVmIqU3xAvMK36_

 

With the cockpit and the intakes out of the way, I closed the fuselage and added the nose. The latter part was of most interest to me... and well...........

That's really not bad! Really not what I remembered! A slight gap, with only minimal sanding on the joint. Much better than the joint on the underside of LERX. Awesome.

 

AM-JKLWfq2XIupQjGAjwHOUG7u-i0p35FKVUOLk5

 

Before I added the side inserts and the intakes I added a bit of plastic to the sides of the lower fuselage part. This way, the huge gap that is there is made smaller. I could've added more, but frankly I was scared that plastic would interfere with the side inserts. I did nothing to the "ridges" of the landing gear bay - they should extend to the side of the gear bay wall, obviously.

 

AM-JKLUtiLZHtjHMLgQf3I4OO1WkvYL_HW8GBz3H

 

Stay tuned for the next episode titled "the no-plan is the best plan!".

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Ever had a build that engulfed You completely? Well, I'm having a blast building this one.

 

In all honesty, I've done similar cuts so many times on Hasegawa 1/72 Hornets, both Legacy and Supers it's no longer something I have fear of. It's more like a mini-challenge to adapt the techniqe for that particular kit. I don't want to sound full of myself - the first time I folded wings on a Super Hornet it took me like 3 weeks between cutting the left and right wing up. The time it took me to gather courage to make the center airfoil I will not even mention.

 

Oh, hold on, today's episode is titled "the no plan is the best plan".

 

I was going through my box of 1/48 spares in search of weapons and spare engine nozzles for the Revell kit. And a HUD. I found everything, including an old PE fret with HUD parts, along with an acetate for that kit. What I also found was the refueling probe and its bay from Kinetic kit.

 

Not really thinking much I figured this will make a nice addidtion for my Revell Super Hornet. I guesstimate, the probe is similar or the same as in the legacy Hornet. And it will make my life easier by not having to rescribe the refueling door.

 

AM-JKLUof8wspHNBzfmdHTpopZC6Yv0zuSSIRbK8

 

So I quickly started chopping out the hole for the probe. The thing is, the only part unglued was the upper nose piece, because I figured it'd be easier handling when modifying the pizza box. This made the 'no-plan' part.

 

AM-JKLXxpLKzlSlgiGIQB1B0O6Y48sIaYVxsTsuO

 

After some really fun back and forth with the file and the Kinetic part, I was able to glue the bay in. All that was left was to support it from the underside to match the upper nose piece. First I used some blue tack from underside and then I dryfit to my heart's content. Only after that I added the sprue piece to support it more permanently. Five minute job expertly made into a 40 minute torture. I should become a politician.

 

AM-JKLUeD3jOc0t2WJZju_E_wPhLyhC0tLcwFoCF

 

Still a dryfit, but I feel it's nice! Oh. I made the opening a bit too long in the middle, wider section. Unfortunatly, for this budget, at this state of the project and with alloted funding this is the best anyone could've done. I want to thank every one involved in the project.

 

AM-JKLWZjIPuXNw1si2k_TeErg6lQ-uyATKN3eNX

 

My spares rummaging found me an AIM-9X from Hasegawa. I modified the Revell part slightly to make it more resembling the -9X by sanding the tip a bit.

 

From left to right, Revell, Revell mod, Hasegawa. I'm sticking with Hase this time. The GBU-12's are also from Hasegawa. The GBU-38's are going to be Kinetic.

 

AM-JKLX4TY2qiljNAkoGSaOg7p7bvH_AFEV_I-3r

 

Initially, I was going to put a Hasegawa fuel tank on this one. The Revell ones feel simply too fat. However, placing them both side by side made me stick with Revell part.

 

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Canopy got tint. Both the Windscreen and the Canopy, with the latter getting a lot less. I always struggle with this, and this time I succeeded on the second try.

 

AM-JKLUBiL0sGOPIOG1fAQZp4m8_4Hl8RMN9ECh-

 

One thing I really have to say, the clear parts really fit well. Here they are before tinting, simply put in place. I also made an effort to remove the bump on the nose. I have used a HUD from Hasegawa Super Hornet that was scrapped a long time ago. A bit foggy, but I'd like to keep the PE HUD for some better project.

 

AM-JKLUtWvwOv809aN01EyjGCXkqVxQQm5bY9fsb

 

So, the flap bussiness needs some closure. The last part, the one I really hate is making the front part of the trailing edge flaps. I usually, in 1/72, use just putty. But apparently I'm running out of putty, and I'd need like half a bottle for it. So plastic was used as a decent replacement. There is still some filling, but it's basicly like 98% done.

 

AM-JKLWUvbdTQ04X841ouW0qans4oEhRgXMjTAqE

 

So. The centerline pylon is next. According to John Chung, the Revell part is almost twice the height it should be. I've not taken mesurements, but it's really much too tall, and indeed a whole lot higher than, say, Hasegawa piece. So using this fine contraption I cut off a piece.

 

AM-JKLU0y35M21oIVgnOzWbJh03-xoyJTpN8jGFI

 

Unfortunatly, I feel the pylon is much too thin also. So after the cut was done, I also added these two strpis of plastic tot he sides. I'm currently trying to shape this into something I could call a pylon.

 

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As of yesterday, the entire model, save for that centerline pylon, is painted black. I'm sourcing out some Batman stickers and calling it done. Or not. I'll figure it out soon!

 

Vl1OaBj9G-7LPail8IYbkGxzxR_JYwOkz23zYrfE

 

Thanks for stopping by!

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5 hours ago, eraucubsfan said:

I commend you for building this kit, I built the F kit when they released the one with the PAX River Markings.  I ended up using parts from the Hasegawa kit, including pilots, seats, landing gear and wheels.   

 

zXS1SvGl.jpg

 

Nice one! Good choince on the replacement parts. Especially the seats, as the Revell ones are a bit 'meh'.

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 5/6/2022 at 12:38 AM, phantom said:

Good job on that refuelling probe.

 

Thanks! Some before planning would really help here, but it apparently wasn't impossible to add it at this stage.

 

 

Paint is oooon! For the most part.

 

I'm kind of in the middle of swapping my paint range. I used to work with Model Master Acrylics which I considered pretty good, both in colour range, how the colours looked when painted, drying time. The handling was ok-ish, as the paint often clogged the airbrush at the tip. It was very easilly scratched even when put in multiple light coats and sometimes despite prepping surface, masking tape lifted paint. I was in no hurry to change them, but MM line is apparently no more. So I tested a few brands, Gunze, Tamiya, Vallejo, Hataka. The paints that for me are the easiest to get, are relativelly cheap, offer pretty good spraying  properties and on top of that are pretty resilient turned out to be both Tamiya and Gunze lines. I was told the US grays are one of the best from Gunze.

Eeeeem. I kind of feel the Gunze Light Ghost Gray and Dark Ghost Gray are a bit(?) too blue. Add that on top of the black base, You get a very blueish grays. I kind of founf that out when I built a Hasegawa Super Hornet. The first one to get the black base, marbling and Gunze grays. On top of that the colour came out too dark for me. Lesson learned, or so I thought.

What I do have, is a few bottles of Pactra Ghost Grays. They are similar hue to MM Ghost Grays, but a tone or two lighter. Ideal for touch ups, or smaller scales. So I used Pactra, added a bit of white to them, since the black base would make it darker. I also used, for the first time, AK Interactive spot stencil. Instead of usual marbling technique, I used this on upper surfaces, with white paint, to contrast with black paint with different intensity of colour, this looks like a very interesting and quite easy technique. I wonder what the results will be.

 

 

AM-JKLUAPsVO_cqdBnjnCpUXkZ4qf_zcnq7ybScR

 

The lower sides first recieved the regular marbling with white colour, and in some places, such as elevators, a bit of spot stencil.

 

AM-JKLVzAqyf-zarBfsEf_qSmarlx1e5ON3I0naZ

 

The test pieces were the loose bits - the pylons got the lightest treatment, and the lightest coat. The flas got the hardest spot treatment and the medium coat of gray, and the wings got the medium spot treatment and the hardest gray coat. After that I added some gray coats to the flaps and wings, to make them more uniform. I also added a bit of light ghost gray touch ups to all the upper surfaces.

 

AM-JKLXKtZaW4dJ9bgwq69Ds4E9JmFCRYM9Qm6aq

 

The final coat looked something like this. Shooting at night, with bad lighting ( I really have to do something about it...) makes for a very flat picture. But the spots, and marbling shines through a bit.

 

AM-JKLW1MrHe-o2VYqt-odayg6EgEi_2WWqg29A1

 

And the lower surfaces. The entire lower aft part of the Hornet got a bit less of ghost gray. There is significant work ahead.

One funny thing. I forgot all about making masks for the wheel wells. So quickly I added large amounts of Vallejo masking fluid to the wheel wells. Boy what a stupid idea. I entirelly forgot the Revell wheel wells have huge gaps. Just after I poured it in the MLG bays and it started to sip out of the wing gap I reverted the model and let it sip down. Should have just made the plugs from foam. A 10 minute job at the most. Stiuuuuuupid.

 

AM-JKLXEhsxzBgrkzsK9dSjl1gDf3NV-HiXtBDhW

 

I didn't take a detailed shot of my new, shortened pylon. But really it looks quite ok. What is more important, it seems I will not be having any inteference with the Nose Landing Gear covers.

 

AM-JKLUM-QvEEGonkiydggSPM6DUTBmU_-yOl_p1

 

Here is a shot with fins painted. Super Scale would have You paint them black. Authentic Decals claimed it was a dark blue. Pictures show either black tails, with tiniest weird blueish tint,

https://www.airfighters.com/photo_9999_76588.jpg

or very dark blue

https://www.airfighters.com/photo_9999_115833.jpg.

I chose dark blue. Took out some gloss black paint, added it to first dark blue I could grab from my paint box, and voila! I didn't mask all the back area, so there is some overspray. To some, this is a mistake, to others, this is an additional weathering oportunity. I'm with the former.

 

AM-JKLUtYT-K8EPprDEjqLBvMbrclpbdwH4jiTzT

 

It's nice to have my Super Hornet finally painted. I'm not too happy with it, since it is a bit darker than I hoped for. It is also a bit more blueish, but that is ok.

What is left is to paint the darker tape areas on the wings and vertical stabilisers. There is also some spot work to be done on the lower, LGG paitned surfaces. Some paint on the weapons, perhaps? This time blueish Gunze? That's a neat idea for the next weekend.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

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  • 1 month later...

Whoooa. Next weekend my brush! Entire june I was so tired from work and other stuff I tried once to tackle anything modelling related. Instead when I had a while for myself I either watched some shows or played a game. Hell... I even didn't get myself any model for birthday, that I usually do. It's kind of fun, since I'm not really constrained with my usual budget for the ocasion. Instead bought my kids a Lego train to play (ok, I admit, I love Lego trains). But I'm slowly returning to normal.

 

The only thing I did was to remove as much of the Vallejo masking fluid from the landing gear bays ad I could. What a stupid idea that was to mask them with fluid. It took me 2.5 hours. Did I mention that it was the dumbest idea I did in at least entire 2022? Yea, I could have been worse off. Trying to remove the fluid with tweezers didn't work too well, so I tried rolling it with my fingers. I layed a thick coat of fluid in hopes of easilly removing it. Well... nope. The best thing I managed was to get some more fluid, apply it on some not too tacky surface, let it dry for a while and then make a ball out of it and try to tack this ball to the mask. I don't know if this makes sense to anyone, but it kind of worked. That new ball tacked and bonded with the mask and after a few quick tries it ususally lifted some mask, then more, and then even more.

 

AM-JKLW7xCUI2o1sWw5tOavcgKtke_RTBY_mCa73

 

Both wheel wells are getting a repaint. So all the effort is officially wasted. Yeeey! I hope I can learn something from it. BTW, these are probably the nicest OOB wells I've ever seen. Well done Revell!

 

AM-JKLUCA_ZexRikVja9n3gio_bfnYJE0GayccRh

 

And after a short while, I managed to spray some clear gloss on the entire model. After that, I painted the additional bits (bombs, an AIM-9X, targeting pod) with H308. And this time it came out like the Light Ghost Gray of my dreams. Tiniest bit of blue shade, quite light. So I did some tiny touch ups on the gloss surface (am I asking for trouble?)

 

AM-JKLW7Ed6-_wrAaFHhvhqV4rOvWnUQE_va4sWS

AM-JKLWkKYxQ0Mou-8prkqbsIgweXSIaxKYymzdq

 

The difference in shades is quite obvious, even in my pics! Another fun fact for me, as I still keep looking for my go-to paints, the Gunze H-30 with Tamiya thinner works way better for me than Tamiya x-22 with said thinner. Both get thinned about 50/50. And the Gunze paint dried quite quickly. Or perhaps I'm getting better at thinning down paints.

 

AM-JKLVfBhGvVqfL146CGOCNStI3Kww6W5H7sPG9

 

As I'm approaching decalling stage I keep looking at the pics of real 166830 for things I need to watch out for. Well. I found one. The stripe on the spine of all places. As I mentioned, I'm not building the exact scheme Superscale provided, but a little bit later iteration. The spine tripe seems to be the same in both variations. The thing is, none of the decals I've worked with got it right, as it would seem, since both the Authentic Decals and Superscale make it as a sort of a band around spine.

 

AM-JKLUZPLsQ30RdctS-4xAOwDNR0jpCuIEMzp6R

 

This one is from my 2014 Hornet GB thread. You can see the band has a tinies bit of kink in the middle, right?

 

cs053KQqpoxD6BQqwbz9i1NfmCI12B6FvlsEW3pB

 

 

First one is the scheme I'm going for....

https://www.airfighters.com/photo/151911/M/USA-Navy/Boeing-F-A-18E-Super-Hornet/166830/

... and the second is the scheme SS provided. Yup. Both sides of the band join at an angle.

https://www.airfighters.com/photo/46256/M/USA-Navy/Boeing-F-A-18E-Super-Hornet/166830/

 

I suppose I could cut up the decal and apply it in two pieces from the sides. Hopefully it's long enough. I'm gonna take some measurements and see how I could tackle it. Or I could leave it as is... but then I'd be left with something resembling this: (mind You, this is a 1/72 version with Authentic Decal)

WRjf87DYMDRQdbn-uS8V2-6Di-dElguBqJDj1r_U

ld3wa5zZBV5vh7VYTQzNU51nHkxow_wQJ7DOp6-U

 

Not the worst pespective, but You can clearly see the spine issue here. And for as long as I had this model, I always saw that off shape on the spine. So I'd try to hide it if I could. You don't see it too much with a plain gray scheme... Sorry this is the only decent shot of the pair.

 

W61MUwwPeXuUq7HEO09V5Jy08l3lcZbxOxNRLmat

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

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On 7/2/2022 at 3:46 PM, phantom said:

Turned out real nice.

 

 

Thanks!

 

So, the decaling proces is over, and so is the 40 work hours mark.

And I have to say, the Superscale decals, for all the small stuff they tend to have trouble with, are always a pleasure to work with. I'm expecting one area that is going to silver, but that is my own doing.

AM-JKLVQAhv4q_6ogyHYcGjh_oZDxOoyLUOSZ4HT

 

I eventually cut up the spine stripe in four sections. First cut right down the middle, and the second cut, done on the model, along the spine side panel lines. Then I swapped the left decal with right decal, so the bend would be in the center. I guess I could've cut once more - at the side panel line, where the upper decal overlaps the lower decal. Then I wouldn't have to do any touch ups, but I only figured it out after the decals were set. I hope I have some orange paint.

 

AM-JKLXGH_HCt8np6VuXqssjkWG-2-LQsvCQemY7

 

Well, I suppose this is pretty much it. The only decision left is wheter to add crew names. They are wrong for my variation of the scheme. So I either go with that, or forgo the names.

The bombs are probably going to be next after that.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 

 

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Hi there! How was Your weekend? Mine was filled with some pretty cool stuff.

 

Initially I decided on weapons loadout - single aim-9x, and two of each - gbu-12 and gbu-38. In the excact configuration as in this pic:

 

https://www.seaforces.org/usnair/VFA/VFA-81_DAT/VFA-81-squadron-photo-062.jpg

 

What I found interesting, the seeker assembly on the gbu-12 doesn't have the brown elements by the fins. Most of the -12's I've seen, either olive or gray, had a middle section, where the fins attach brown coloured. The all gray seekers I usually associated with gbu-49's. But the bombs on the jet in the picture are just plain old -12's.

So all gray it was then. I imitated the thermal coating with surfacer 500. Honestly, I liked it better done with thick MM or Pactra paint. But I've run out of MM acrylics, and my Pactra 36375's are all quite thinned. Besides, I've had a jar of surfacer bought pretty much just for that... In the end it wasn't bad. I did it three times, and the second one was probably the best. At least surfacer adds some tonal variation to the bomb. The aim-9x is from Hasegawa Super Hornet. Decals for the weapons are from Kinetic F-16.

 

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All that is left now is a wash and some weathering on the warhead.

 

Additionally, I finished touchups on the stripe. That orange colour was a pain to match. Again, the second try was probably the best... From afar it looks ok-ish.

 

AM-JKLWlo9z64b81X1IxRy3mfHfxpJft891DSiW8

 

The gear bays were touched up with white, and after that I picked some lines to paint dark gray, black, silver and yellow. Not much will be seen there, but I figured I could use some practice, as this skill is pretty much lost on me.

 

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AM-JKLXCTtsdOjKk0agMojo_h5BfHBwsaOt0e3Ih

 

Could use some wash. And indeed, after a glosscoat, that's excactly what is planned on the entire airframe. Wash, some boot marks, dirtying up the lower fuselage. And after that, perhaps some additional, fresh touch ups? We'll see.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Cleared for landing, case one approach. All that's left is the flat coat, some tidying work on the wheels, finishing the ejection seat, adding the antennae, painting the position lights. Oh... I might have to paint the cockpit area black... My mind wanders to the second "large" scale project I've planned. I'm glad I didn't leave weapons for later.

 

AM-JKLW8HDrbFOghBGNubjepJfqM6S8eFInmYpcG

 

So... untill next time! Thanks for stopping by!

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So, the hen is in the henhouse so to speak. It wasn't a 3rd wire landing, more like a first wire. The matt coat is still something I have to fight with. I either clog the aribrush or get it too thin to a point where no amount of clear will make my model as matt as i'd like. All is good now, this baby is now resting in the display case.

 

AM-JKLUk6YbthXy0DF1di6-ANPbL2DBOSAGreCNk

 

I keep making fun of Revell attempt at SH. The spine is pretty much the target. So when I thought of my project I always wanted to compare it to my previous 1/48 SH build - a Cobi brick Super Hornet. I even envisioned I'd give both models the same point for the spine. Ok, it wouldn't really be that much of a stretch, would it?

 

AM-JKLXas_8rMIJKdBPok2ynwpKektSttrRB7DPv

 

After building the Revell kit I have to say I really liked buidling it. It;s got some serious flaws, thats obvious - too short LEX, slightly off in curvature, the tails are slightly off, IFF Pizza box wrong shape, and don't get me started on the exhaust area.... and then on top of that there is indeed some serious flaw in the spine. These flaws along with the fact there is no provisions for wingfold and dropped flaps mean I'm probably never going to build this kit again. I'd rather build Hasegawa. But this kit has some redeeming qualities. It's honestly much easier to build than Hasegawa. That is unless You really have to have the wings folded and flaps in down position. The cockpit is pretty nice, with an average seat, the surface detail is ok, and the wheel wells, and gear legs are pretty nice.  Here's my Hasegawa SH I built a while ago. If I remember correctly, it took me 55 hours to build. The Revell one took 53 and 33 minutes 😉

AM-JKLWrC4OE8HgnvtSKyv-PiMpDLwdGybF-fHzx

 

And You know what? I really feel the Revell kit captured the spine better, than Hasegawa, although only by looking directly from the top. Hasegawa doesn't really have that kink in the spine outline that is present on the SH at around the LEX speedbrakes.

 

AM-JKLW5bDzyQNtfTu0ZihQTE-SoUQC33CDahWn5

 

I'm going to shoot some half decent photos in the coming days. Right now however my mind wanders more and more to the second project in 1/48. Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by! Any coments are welcome! Especially if You have a good way to matt coat the model with some acrylics.

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