Double F/A-18's

[Thadeus]

Hi there.

 

With my projects I got to a point where I have to paint the models. And frankly I kind of don't feel like doing some major work with airbrush currently. And I had this huge urge to start another larger scale project. For me larger scale is 1/48. I had a plan to do a 1/48 Tamiya Viper but for me it's a Hornet year. So a new Hornet.

Besides, I've been looking at my recently completed Hasegawa Hornet along with a Kinetic and Hobby Boss one. And I really couldn't tell which one of them I prefer - Hasegawa or Kinetic, or which one of them I feel is a better kit.

Besides, I got some sweet decals for an F/A-18A that I could apply, and I managed to get my hands on a nice used Hasegawa 1/48 F/A-18A. Without a PE fret, but otherwise complete and in good shape. And I had also recently got myself a new (for me) Kinetic F/A-18C so the idea to make another parallel build was infesting my mind and I finally succumbed to it.

 

So here's the mandatory box pic.

 

 

So here's the plan. For myself (or future self) I will try to decide which one of the kits I prefer, and if I manage, which kit is better one. There are of course a lot of experts out there that can tell me that, but I do believe in making my own mind. I'm not much of an expert on F/A-18's so I honestly can't tell if any of them are 100% accurate.

The Hasegawa F/A-18 will be built as F/A-18A of VMFA-314 from ODS deployment using this fine Flying Leathernecks decals.

The Kinetic F/A-18 will be built as F/A-18C of VFA-27 from 2003 deployment in OIF. So both will be from Iraq which I find quite interesting.

On both kits I plan on using aftermarket 3D printed details for the cockpit. Quita for the Hasegawa and Red Fox for the Kinetic one. This is a first for me. Interesting, Quinta set is decals while the Red Fox apparently is not. I will complement the Quinta set with the Eduard PE set, especially for the HUD that I'm missing.

This will also be my first try at the Maestro intakes. A short intake set that I managed to get very cheaply (half the price of Eduard set, and on par with resin wheels).

I will also replace Kinetic wheels with some Brengun ones. Again, I got them cheaply, and they look better than kit parts.

 

 

I also took some comparison shots.

 

First, the fuselage halves are similar. Funny thing, the wings are in more or less same spot on the halves, but the Kinetic LEX are a bit longer. I never seen that. Both halves are aligned by the lowest line on the cutting mat.

 

 

 

The wingspan seems almost the same too. but the cockpit feels a bit more forward on the Kinetic model. I'll take some total measurements of completed models and post them. Kinetic windscreen part is also a little bit larger so perhaps this is just the illusion.

 

For the wing pieces, they are at leading edge: Has 93,70mm, Kin 92,62. The chord at the tip (at the thinnest part by the slime lights) is Hase 19,20mm Kin 21,10 mm. At the thickest, by the Lex is: Hase 42,42mm, Kin 43,58 mm. Not that it is anything important, but I found it interesting.

 

 

Halves are even cut up a bit similar. The exhaust ring on the Kinetic kit is a bit thinner than the Hasegawa.

 

 

 

Surace detail on Hasegawa has less rivets and I feel Hasegawa detail is more delicate and more crisp. I never found out what are the additional holes by the Kinetic Hornet speedbrake. Now as I type it seems the spine curvature is a bit different on both kits. I'll check with my caliper at a later time.

 

 

Probably the easiest to spot differences are in the tail fins.

Hasegawa seems a bit taller and a bit longer.

So You may have trouble fitting decals sized for Hasegawa on the Kinetic Hornet and vice versa. BTW. Flying Leathernecks gives different decals for the fins of Hasegawa and Kinetic kits.

 

 

Hasegawa leading edge is 68,51mm long, top is 24,47mm and the height is about 54 mm (depends where You measure. Kinetic LE is 67,34, and the top is 23,10mm long. Height is about 51mm. I measured both just at the leading edge panel line.

 

What i found interesting, another major difference is in flap sizes. The solid part of the wing is similar across both kits, yet the flaps are slightly different in sizes, with Hasegawa trailing edge flaps being larger pieces. Lighter parts are from Hasegawa, darker are from Kinetic. Leading edge flaps with tiny squares are Hasegawa pieces.

 

 

But it seems most of the difference in TEF is in the front part. Hasegawa piece is also quite thicker.

 

 

This one I'm not so sure, but it would seem the Kinetic part is a bit larger. They were a bit difficult to place evenly.

 

 

Hasegawa fuel tanks are a little bit shorter than Kinetic but it seems to be located in the rear half of the fuel tank. There might be however some differences in placement of the locating pins of the weapon hardpoint. Hasegawa part is 97,38mm long (Kinetic 99,84mm) and about 16mm in diameter (Kin: 15,8mm).

 

 

As for some of the detail parts that I took interest in:

 

The cockpits are quite similar in size. Mind You, Kinetic part has separate front slanted consoles as well as separate aft bulkhead.

 

I really like Kinetic cockpit because of the separate sidewalls and what I feel is general better detail on the parts - rudder pedals, control stick actuators on the floor.

 

 

The turtledeck behind the pilot seat is much different on both kits. Also, note the difference in detail on the Kinetic vs Hasegawa canopy inserts (or what-do-they-call-them). The ones to the right parts. I like the Hasegawa turtledeck piece better, as it seems a better representation, but Kinetic attempt at replicating inner canopy railing is quite nice.

 

 

The IP's are totally different approaches. Hasegawa IP looks more like pictures, while the Kinetic piece seems too flat. Both parts sit so deep under the IP cover it will be quite hard to notice though.

 

 

Kinetic offers both the ECM bulges and the MLG bays as separate parts.

 

 

Kinetic splitter plates are a bit more delicate and probably more accurate in their representation.

 

 

 

Kinetic nozzles are a tiny bit longer (0,47 mm) and are wider at 18,20mm vs Hasegawas 17,64mm. Both parts have sink marks on the inside. But I kind of like the Kinetic part better.

 

 

So, that is pretty much it. I'll post a first update in a few days, as I've already started both kits.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

[ALF18]

Interesting comparisons, and lots of great aftermarket parts. I'll be following closely. I know things about Legacy Hornets, so if you have any questions you can PM me. I'll be following this topic.

ALF

[phantom]

Several years ago we had a group build on this subject. The Kenetic had many neat features but overall the Hasegawa won out as the preferred model. I shall wait to see if you come to the same conclusion or not.

[Thadeus]

On 5/22/2024 at 9:28 PM, ALF18 said:

Interesting comparisons, and lots of great aftermarket parts. I'll be following closely. I know things about Legacy Hornets, so if you have any questions you can PM me. I'll be following this topic.

ALF

 

Thanks! The only thing I'd consider right now would be exhaust nozzles. There is a lot of great stuff from aftermarket companies but what's in the box is at the very least passable to me. And thank You very much for the kind offer.

 

On 5/22/2024 at 10:20 PM, phantom said:

Several years ago we had a group build on this subject. The Kenetic had many neat features but overall the Hasegawa won out as the preferred model. I shall wait to see if you come to the same conclusion or not.

 

Thanks. I remember your builds quite well, as I've had similar idea back then. I went with three Vipers on that GB to keep things interesting.

There also was a great thread about CF-18's here on ARC.

 

Just in case anyone is interested. Lots of great stuff on the Kinetic Hornet:

 

 

[ALF18]

Nozzles are interesting. Are you planning to build yours with engines shut down? One important feature of legacy Hornets is that the nozzles are fully closed when engines are off, like in these photos. They were taken in 2011, in the Libya operation. Note the petals are slightly overlapping, like in the two examples (Hase and Kinetic) that you have. That is correct for the timeframe you're modelling. Very early Hornets (in the 80s and early 90s) had non-overlapping petals on the nozzles. Hopefully this photo also helps you with the colours of the interior of the nozzles. That's one detail that AM does well, including the slight gaps between interior and exterior at the back.

Of course, the snow was in Bagotville prior to the deployment, not in Italy! 🙂

ALF (all photos are DND Canada, from Bagotville Base Photo)

[Thadeus]

Thanks ALF for some nice pics.

I'm doing them both on the ground (or deck), both will be just after the walkaround on the first sortie of the day - weapons on, no rbf's perhaps the gun safety indicators (or what are they called) out.

As I'm doing one of the jets as a sort of early F/A-18A (I'll probably do the BuNo 162469 from 1991) there are quite a few things I'll have to consider. One of the first things will be all the structural updates - I'm fairly certain there need to be tail brackets at the base of the tail. I'm not so sure about the tail reinforcement plates.

On pics from dstorm.eu I can just about see the butterfly plates on the tail, so probably the larger ones are there too.

One thing that eludes me are the reinforcement strips at the edge of the gun bay door. Some F/A-18C as well as some F/A-18A have them. Not all C's have it, most A's have it and I've no idea when this mod started happening. And this is a modification, as  Pics from 1991 are not too detailed (but at least they exist) and I've pretty good idea "my" jet doesn't have it. Yet.

Third thing is the inside of the exhaust nozzle - I'm pretty certain my A will have darker burnt out colour, and not the ceramic cream type insides.

 

 

[Thadeus]

Here are the intake parts: top to bottom Maestro, Hasegawa, Kinetic.

For the parts alone, it's absolutelly Kinetic 1 vs Hasegawa 0. Heck, even if I count the resin parts towards Hasegawa score it's still the same.

 

 

Usually I add some tubing to the Hasegawa pieces. I've had some troubles fitting the Maestro intakes and contemplated using Hasegawa kit parts with Maestro intake fan parts. But since I bought them I figured I should use them.

 

 

The problem was only at the right intake piece. I've had to sand a lot of material from the side panel - almost paper thin. The resin piece got similar treatment. Eventually I was able to get some passable results.

 

 

The left intake was pretty good.

 

 

The intake tubing should go a bit to the centerline, not outboard. That's probably why I've had trouble fitting it.

 

There are some online builds of the Kinetic kit where people assembled it without much fuss - by adding intake lip part first, and only then by adding the intake duct parts. I first assemble the intake assembly and after that  I add the entire assembly to the fuselage part.

I just have to add 0.1mm plastic between the intake lip and intake splitter plate.

 

 

 

Again, minor problems at the right intake. It's my third Kinetic Hornet and I can't do this joint better. Heck, this one is actually worse than the last one.

 

 

This time I even attempted proper masking of the intake. Usually I just plug it with cut down 3m ear plug.

 

 

Kinetic parts are way better than Maestro fans, but I feel the Hasegawa exhaust parts are a little bit better. I find funny my current Hasegawa parts combo has both the smaller and larger diameter parts.

 

 

I've had to cut the resin pieces a bit to make them fit, since both the intakes are so close to the fuselage sides.

 

Shouldn't have plugged the intakes before adding these.

 

I hope the text finally shows. And I don't have another error message 😄 

 

 

Edited May 27 by Thadeus
Attempting to add text

[ALF18]

50 minutes ago, Thadeus said:

Thanks ALF for some nice pics.

I'm doing them both on the ground (or deck), both will be just after the walkaround on the first sortie of the day - weapons on, no rbf's perhaps the gun safety indicators (or what are they called) out.

As I'm doing one of the jets as a sort of early F/A-18A (I'll probably do the BuNo 162469 from 1991) there are quite a few things I'll have to consider. One of the first things will be all the structural updates - I'm fairly certain there need to be tail brackets at the base of the tail. I'm not so sure about the tail reinforcement plates.

On pics from dstorm.eu I can just about see the butterfly plates on the tail, so probably the larger ones are there too.

One thing that eludes me are the reinforcement strips at the edge of the gun bay door. Some F/A-18C as well as some F/A-18A have them. Not all C's have it, most A's have it and I've no idea when this mod started happening. And this is a modification, as  Pics from 1991 are not too detailed (but at least they exist) and I've pretty good idea "my" jet doesn't have it. Yet.

Third thing is the inside of the exhaust nozzle - I'm pretty certain my A will have darker burnt out colour, and not the ceramic cream type insides.

 

 

Is this what you mean by butterfly plates on the tail? The interior reinforcements? Or do you mean the vertical reinforcements just behind the formation lights on the outside of the tails? I know that later C models didn't have the three flanges at the interior bases of the tails - those were added as a result of fatigue testing done by Canada and Australia. McDonnell Douglas changed the design of the tail attachments to avoid the problems on early As. The thin vertical reinforcements are on most of our aircraft, some with 4 (inside/outside, both tails), and some with 2 or 3.

Sorry, I don't know what mods have been done to the gun bay door - unless you mean the underside? When I think of gun bay, I refer to door 6L, which is the one with the ID light on Canadian jets. It has the gun encoder/decoder and rounds limiter inside. I know that some mods were made to the belly, to the large doors that the gun pallet can be removed from, which might be what you are referring to (like the picture of the 2003 demo with its pilot). Another thing to look for is what kind of vent panels yours has (the ones just behind the pitot tubes in this picture). There were different kinds of screens on them over the years.

I agree that your nozzles should likely be the dark burnt out colour, since the ceramic cream type started appearing later on.

[Thadeus]

On 5/25/2024 at 10:23 PM, ALF18 said:

Is this what you mean by butterfly plates on the tail? The interior reinforcements? Or do you mean the vertical reinforcements just behind the formation lights on the outside of the tails? I know that later C models didn't have the three flanges at the interior bases of the tails - those were added as a result of fatigue testing done by Canada and Australia. McDonnell Douglas changed the design of the tail attachments to avoid the problems on early As. The thin vertical reinforcements are on most of our aircraft, some with 4 (inside/outside, both tails), and some with 2 or 3.

Sorry, I don't know what mods have been done to the gun bay door - unless you mean the underside? When I think of gun bay, I refer to door 6L, which is the one with the ID light on Canadian jets. It has the gun encoder/decoder and rounds limiter inside. I know that some mods were made to the belly, to the large doors that the gun pallet can be removed from, which might be what you are referring to (like the picture of the 2003 demo with its pilot). Another thing to look for is what kind of vent panels yours has (the ones just behind the pitot tubes in this picture). There were different kinds of screens on them over the years.

I agree that your nozzles should likely be the dark burnt out colour, since the ceramic cream type started appearing later on.

 

Wow. Lovelly shot of the 795. Love the weapons load too.

 

You are right. I didn't mean the gun door as in the 6l door - the one You load ammo, right? I meant the underside door with the gun gas vents. My F/A-18A will have the louvre type parts, while the C will have the mesh type vents. You get only the louvre type in the Hasegawa kits, while Kinetic gives You three options of the louvre type doors with one with the mesh type vents.

And I did mean the modification You show on the 720 - there is some sort of reinforcement stripe all around the door - it wasn't there on the early A's. it's there on most "early" C's - the ones with the louvre type gun gas vents - as well as A+, A++ (at least IIRC).

And I've seen that "my" C doesn't have it. At least in 2003 when the VFA-27 took part in OIF.

 

What I meant as the butterfly plates (i know, imagination runs wild 😉 ) are the reinforcement plates just above and to the aft of the slime light position, above the elongated sharp reinforcement plates. Most people just add the larger plate while leaving the butterfly shaped ones off. I wonder if they started to show up along these horizontal plates. I guesstimate they did.

 

Funny thing, Kinetic gives You the PE parts for the horizontal tabs, while not giving You the butterfly shaped ones. The only model I know of that has both is the 1/72 Academy kit. I'll try and replicate them for my jet.

 

Thanks for the help. And cool pics 🙂 

[ALF18]

Oh! Do you mean this plate, circled on the screen grab?

 

[ALF18]

Good to know that the Kinetic kit offers different screen options.

ALF

[Thadeus]

Yes, that's the exact plate I meant. I guesstimate it was added along the longer, horizontal-ish plates. My imagination might be running wild here, but I almost see that plate on this picture:

 

https://dstorm.eu/pictures/nose-arts/f-18/usa/162469_1.jpg

 

If You'd disregard everything else about Kinetic kit (detailing, accuracy, and ease of build - all of which can be questioned) it really does give You options. This is in direct oposition to the Hasegawa kit which basicly is an F/A-18A or early C. With Kinetic You could try to pull of upgraded F/A-18A's or later blocks of C's as far as single seaters go.

On top of that You get the option to pose the IFR open and fold the wings, and You get couple of opitons for the nose landing gear doors (with antenna, without antenna). And You get two types of circular vents (the ones by the left LEX fence).

 

The AN/APX-111 "bird slicers" are molded on, albeit I feel they're a bit smaller than they should (or I'm just seeing things).

You get later type UHF antennae as well as the rectangular earlier type.

You get upgraded double chaff/flare buckets too.

There is also a molded on GPS dome.

These last four options You also get with some F/A-18's from Hasegawa, as an additional "M" sprue.

 

Oh, and most Kinetic boxings offer You at least two weapon sprues - the weapons are considered so-so quality (or worse), but for me they are at the very least passable.

 

So, let's check some fit, ok?

I wanted to post these along my previous update, but it might be that my posts would be much too long. I try to post some observations, as I often re-read my threads when I build the same kit. And I've got 5 more Hasegawa Hornets, and 7 more Kinetic ones. Besides, my daily commute is quite long. So I've got time 😉

 

 

So, the intake fit, as You could see isn't stellar on Kinetic, but it isn't really stellar on Hasegawa parts.

A lot of the fit issues are caused by my method of attaching the intakes. I suppose You could attempt to add some plastic between the intake duct parts and the fuselage parts but I obviulsly didn't do it. It was easier for me to just go over everything with putty.

 

 

 

As You can see I also added some brackets to supposedly help with the fit. I've already closed the fuselage and I can say it really didn't go as well as I hoped.

 

 

With Hasegawa it isn't a walk in a part either. Frankly I must be doing something wrong, since in quite a few years of building Hasegawa models I've not yet encountered a "shake and bake" Hasegawa kit. Usually it's not bad, but rarelly perfect. 

 

 

I probably could've took more time and effort on these joints, but I got similar results last time.

 

 

I just remembered what I did to help with the fit of the right intake. I cut the resin part in two, just aft of the intake lip and assembled it at a slight angle inboard.

 

 

So I'd say it's Kinetic 1 vs Hasegawa 1. The fit isn't terrible, and could be done way better than I did. There is a nice video from Doogs on Kinetic kit and he assembled the intakes more or less as the instructions would have You. It's probably better, if You want to minimise the work on the outside of the intakes, to add the intake lip with splitter plate to the fuselage first and only then add the intake duct. This is not a tight fit. This way You can use the extra space to fiddle with the duct and try to blend it better with the opening in the intake lip part. I'm not making any sense, am I?

 

 

Very well.

So. In order to close the fuselage I had to assemble some cockpits. My favourite part. Remember all that lovelly detail? Well apparently, sanding all this stuff to flat surface isn't the easiest thing in the world.

 

 

OMG. These are amazing. Frankly I thik they're great even on my less than stellar picture.

 

 

And apparently I haven't taken a picture of both cockpits assembled and not glued to the upper fuselages. Great.

 

I still have to add parts to the IP cover (a HUD control panel? or something like that) just up from the UFC.

One thing I don't like about both of these kits is how deep the IP sits under the cover. I moved them as far to the aft of the a/c as I could (or to the front if You consider the face of the panel front).

 

 

Obviously, the detail on the Hasegawa IP cover is much nicer than on Kinetic. There are ventilation (or windscreen heating) holes on the Hasegawa part and the shape is a little bit more complex on the Hasegawa kit. The detailing on the stick is from Eduard PE - so are the rudder pedals You can not see.

 

 

So I'd say for the cockpit, I like the Hasegawa detail better - the IP with it's shape, the IP cover, which is quite visible, and the turtledeck. I don't feel Eduard PE parts add much to this part honestly.

OTOH, Kinetic kit has nicer cockpit tub and it actually comes with some sidewall. I had to make my own for the Hasegawa kit, which isn't the best of ideas. But it's better than nothing I guess. So I guess it's Kinetic 1 vs Hasegawa 1. With these lovelly 3D stuff in the pit I'd say the only downside of the Kinetic kit would be that IP cover, as the Red Fox set takes care of the Kinetic IP flatness.

 

I still have to add a few small pieces to both cockpits, but that will be in the final stage of build.

 

So far the total score is Kinetic 3 Hasegawa 2.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 

 

[ALF18]

I love your detailed analysis of the kit comparisons. Kinetic is looking good to me for the sheer adaptability to any evolution of the Legacy Hornet. Great job on the cockpit panels. I am a real fan of Quinta and Red Fox cockpits.

ALF

[Thadeus]

Thanks ALF. All the work here goes to both Quinta and Red Fox. All I need to do is not to fudge it up.

 

I need to go back a little to these intakes though.

 

Well, last time I built the Kinetic Hornet I really did it way better on the right intake. That's probably because I added some plastic to the bottom of the intake.

 

These are the shots from my VMFA(aw)-224 build I finished early this year.

 

Waaaaay better fit.

 

 

So that 1 vs 1 point for intake fit is justified. I just funked the job up quite a bit here. Apparently, this will the theme for my current Kinetic build judging for how much I need to use the filler this time.

 

Whatever the case though, I have one slight complaint about the Kinetic kit.

You see, my boxing is a pure F/A-18C single seater no option to do it as a family model. However Kinetic gives You very often two canopies - for a single seater and for a double seater. Frankly, my newest F/A-18C basic box (the Kinetic Gold one) also has both canopies. This is really nice.

There was a thread not too long ago about single seater canopies being too wide in the Kinetic kit. So I went in and checked my boxes - indeed in some cases this is true.

 

This is a shot I took during my comparison phase of the builds:

 

 

Canopy is just tiniest bit too wide - this is one of generally newer boxings.

Upon inspection I found that the single seater canopy in bag sits just a little bit on top of the double seater canopy, creating tiny scratches on the latter. It's at the front part of the canopy.

 

 

 

Double seater canopy is a pretty good if not perfect fit however. On my pic it moved a bit to the front.

 

 

And only after polishing the canopy and assembly of the fuselage I find the fit of the part to be much better. I did however try to bend it a little inwards. Generally not the best ideas but I do have at least one spare canopy and I did it after the plastic was rubbed on a cloth (and a little warm from the friction).

 

 

There is so much space in Kinetic box of the Hornet that it might be so the movement of the parts push the single seater canopy into the double seater canopy, thus creating some pressure and probably making the "top" single seater canopy a bit wider. My worst case was one of my oldest boxings (the Blue Angels one). You could probably heat the canopy a tiny bit with a hairdryer and squeeze it too. Just be super carefull. I'll make a note to try it next time I will build a Kinetic Hornet. 

 

Oh, since we're talking clear parts, of note is that Kinetic and Hasegawa parts are a little different in sizes with Hasegawa parts being generally shorter a little. Hasegawa canopy also flares out more to the rear. Hasegawa windscreen seems much shorter in this picture. The length of the top part (the actual windscreen profile "front" or "top") is 24,85mm for the Hasegawa vs 26,96mm for Kinetic from the base of the frame to the top frame.

 

The cockpit openings, as in the part that the ejection seat goes into is a little hard to measure, but the aft turtledeck is about 26mm for Hasegawa and 23,78mm for Kinetic. That might explain a little bit the discrepancy in canopy sizes.

 

 

I will not score the clear parts, since for me the most important part here is the angle of the nose in relation to the windscreen angle. If the angle is too narrow the windscreen looks too large - as in the Hobby Boss kits, or frankly the 1/72 Hasegawa kits. If the angle is too wide the windscreen looks too small as in Italeri 1/72 kits. For me, the finished model on the side of some boxes looks pretty much perfect.

 

Ok, so for some actual progress? I managed to close the fuselages. I did not take the similar picture of Kinetic kit - I don't really know why. But this time I needed a lot of clamps on both kits. It's either I did something while adding the tabs that were supposed to help with alignment but i really did get some trouble fitting both kits. I did glue them from front to back, waiting for the glue to bite a bit and only after that glueing the rest of the fuselage. 

 

 

Next stop? Fuselage fit. This one I'll rate. but frankly I didn't do a good job on the Kinetic kit. As in again, last time I did it better.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Thadeus]

So. I have to say, had I built both of these the first time I'd really be annoyed with Kinetic kit. And Hasegawa.

 

So. Long story short I had some trouble fitting the prepared fuselage halves together. I was assembling the front piece first, then the rear piece. And the rear would then spring. I had to use a lot of clamps to fit the entirety of the model. I did all of this while glue didn't fully set, so I needed to clamp the entire model basicly. Hornet kits aren't the best ones to clamp, especially on the LEX underside joint.

 

 

This operation however ended in quite the success. I managed a pretty stellar joint on the right side...

 

with only a slightly worse joint on the left side.

 

Nose also was a pretty good fit. I glued only the front half of the nose pieces leaving the rear part with some movement possibility.

 

 

Again. Great fit.

 

 

In total, that is a pretty good fit despite some significant trouble with actual fitting of the parts. I still have no idea what I did wrong. But You can solve most of You problems with a lot of clamps.

 

 

 

Soooo. Kinetic. Well. I don't know what happened. I've made a huge mess with the rear fuselage joint. It might be I've made some mistakes with my tabs that I fitted at the beginning of ghe build.

 

 

Huge mess. I kno.

 

The last time I did the Kinetic Hornet I managed to achieve pretty good fit. Here is my VMFA(aw)224 Hornet I finished early this year.

 

 

 

Nose to fuselage joint I did pretty well this time though. As usual I had some trouble fitting the IFR probe door. I've had some additional problems fitting the nose

 

This all is after sanding. I could've achieved even better fit here had I assembled the nose halves first to the fuselage. Only after then I could attach the lower insert. But I didn't so I'm left with a tiny misalignment here. I'm ok with that. Sometimes You can see a tiny misalignment there on the real jet too.

 

 

 

Heck, even on closeups it looks pretty good.

 

 

So... what about the fit? Well I'd say it would be Hasegawa 1 vs Kinetic 1. This particular Kinetic kit wasn't the best fit for me here. But I must have done something wrong as I've had much better fit on my previous build. Besides, there is a lot more join lines on the nose. The multipart nose isn't the easiest to pull off but You can achieve a pretty good fit if You are carefull.

It might also be so, that I got a faulty upper fuselage half. The step on the rear fuselage part was indeed quite strange. But I did not get anything like that on my other two Kinetic Hornets. So I kind of put all of the blame here on me.

 

Thanks for stopping by! Next stop - windscreen fit.

 

 

 

[AlienFrogModeller]

On 5/23/2024 at 4:54 PM, Thadeus said:

 

Thanks! The only thing I'd consider right now would be exhaust nozzles. There is a lot of great stuff from aftermarket companies but what's in the box is at the very least passable to me. And thank You very much for the kind offer.

 

 

Thanks. I remember your builds quite well, as I've had similar idea back then. I went with three Vipers on that GB to keep things interesting.

There also was a great thread about CF-18's here on ARC.

 

Just in case anyone is interested. Lots of great stuff on the Kinetic Hornet:

 

 

Thanks for the kind words!!

Cheers

[Thadeus]

Ok, so I've done some more progress here. Quite fun.

 

Both Hornets are now primed in black. I've found some areas to correct, so I'll go and do that before painting. Nowadays I don't cover my models entirelly with black. Afterall, I'm going to add some highlights and stuff like that to show under the final coat of paint. And I don't use any real primer. Just some black paint from Tamiya or Gunze.

 

So first: Hasegawa.

 

 

 

Join line on the Hasegawa Hornet looks good. I forgot all about the windscreen panel lines!

 

 

On the other side I'll have to correct some additional panel lines I did. And scribe the windscreen panel lines.

 

I'm not too happy with the rear fuselage panel lines here. I don't know if I'm going to do anything here though. Not great. Not terrible I guess.

The slime light reinforcement on the fuselage came out pretty nice.

 

On the other side I'll have to add a little bit of filler to the slime light reinforcement panels. As I made them from 0.1mm sheet they melted easilly.

I don't know however why the paint shows to be so grainy. Feels very smooht under the fingers. But I did have to spray severa very light coats, so perhaps some of them were too thinned.

 

 

Kinetic is looking a little more refined here. There are just a few small things here and there to correct.

 

 

Canopy frame being one of these things. I need to fill these two little dents from my poor work separating the canopy from its frame.

 

 

Rear fuselage is looking quite ok though.

 

 

So, this is pretty much all the work before painting. At least on the airframe.

 

I'm going to do another update with some minor detail I wanted to share, plus some weapon options. But the next major work on the fuselages will be painting.

 

I have to say I'm looking forward to that.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

[Mr.Happy]

Thadeus,

 

Thanks for the reply and in-depth evaluation of the Kinetic kit…very helpful and informative.  I’ve got one of the CF-18 boxings of their kit. I’ll be bookmarking your build as I can hopefully be a bit better prepared when I get around to tackling it.

 

You’ve certainly made some great progress on your build and it’s great to see your updates.

 

Lean into it!

 

Mr. Happy