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Aussie F-18A Op. Falconer


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Hi mates,this my entry for the GB.

It is the beautiful Academy 1/72 model.

Some shot,first the box

FMCKR4.jpg[/url][/img]

The ref books

Mug1kM.jpg[/url][/img]

Now the decals,from Australian' Hawkeye Models

LcuGkU.jpg[/url][/img]

The other goodies,Pavla bang seat,Eduard PE and Wolfpack Design Flap down set.

uUv3JQ.jpg[/url][/img]

Yesterday I've bought from Steve Belanger a pair of Dr. Pepper seamless intake sets to rctify the only real flaw of the kit and now I've to wait for their arrival.

For now thx and stey tuned for news.

Gianni

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That's a nice scheme You've chosen:) I've been wanting to have a crack at another Aussie Hornet for some time now. And those Hawkeye Models decals seem very nice. Although the shipment to Europe is quite pricey :(

Good luck on this one :)

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Thx mate!

Still unsure about the definitive markings,probably a low-vis one...

The decals are great and maybe with a little expensive shipping,but I search the sheet for long time and after a help request here in the ARC and thanks to a fellow ARCers ( unfortunately now I don't remember the name) I was able to contact directely Peter Mahoney of Hawkeye Models Australia that PRINT FOR ME the sheet. You can understand that I was determined to pay any shipping cost to have it and anyway the total cost if I remember well was aroun AUS$ 25.

The build: 'cause I'm waiting for the resin intakes I've started work on the "hell hole" to add some details,new pics ASAP.

Cheers,

Gianni.

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I will be following this one. I find it interesting that you will be adding the Wolfpack flap down set. To me, that is the major flaw in many F/A-18 kits (1/72 scale: all, and 1/48 scale: Academy, Testors, Revell). You almost never see a Hornet with flaps up. Even in flight, the leading edge flaps (LEF) and trailing edge flaps (TEF) droop at cruise speeds. Typically the LEF will be about 2 degrees down, and the TEF at about 4 degrees down in flight, so the models with straight flaps are not correct.

Anytime the aircraft sits on ground, even if flaps were selected up by the pilot when shutting down, the TEF droop to fully down within an hour or so (the LEF will stay at zero in that case). We used to set our flaps to half or full when shutting down, so that the LEF would not lock up when we reset them after start (they sometimes do that if they are at zero when reset, and hydraulic fluid is cold).

If I were an F/A-18 model manufacturer in 1/72, I would make the wings have fully-drooped flaps as the default configuration.

I'm curious to see how easy it is to modify the kit with the resin flap set. Will you be showing details of how you do that?

ALF

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ALF,

I've used that WP set and it's pretty much a drop fit..... Wings direct replacement of the kit parts. The wings do have a bit of an unusual bend that can be fixed by heating the part in boiling water. But worth it for the 1/72nd bug.

Gianni,

Nice choice, will be watching this too.

Emil

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Thanks guys,I've almost finished to add detail to the avionic bay behind the pit,some pics as soon as possible.

ALF,as Emvar said,the kit wings will be replaced completely by the WP;anyway i will post pics of this step.

Thx again,

Gianni

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Good day all,

as previous said,here the pics of the progress I've made,very little indeed...

I've scratched the avionic bay.

ei4Ujm.jpg[/url][/img]

The various black boxes.

CeSmcF.jpg[/url][/img]

The hell hole with its details.

FYytKb.jpg[/url][/img]

I've opened the bay for the built-in ladder.

yrsL3Q.jpg[/url][/img]

I've changed area focusing on the pit,The first step was the stick;you can see the kit' one ah the left and the modified on the right.

sZVWjB.jpg[/url][/img]

One more shot.I've replaced the inferior part,bending the superior' and added small detail like the trigger switcg,ecc...

gZpbJ0.jpg[/url][/img]

That's all for now,I hope to show more progress soon, thx for watching,

Gianni.

P.S. Someone have detailed pics of the IFR probe bay?

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Good day all,

as previous said,here the pics of the progress I've made,very little indeed...

I've scratched the avionic bay.

I've changed area focusing on the pit,The first step was the stick;you can see the kit' one ah the left and the modified on the right.

That's all for now,I hope to show more progress soon, thx for watching,

Gianni.

P.S. Someone have detailed pics of the IFR probe bay?

Gianni

If you send me a PM with your e-mail address, I will send you some pics of the IFR probe bay. Much of what I have might be copyrighted, so I don't want to post them here or in the reference thread.

You are doing an amazing job on the details in this tiny scale.

ALF

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Thx ALF,PM inbound! This is one of the many reason to love the ARC!

Small update;teking advantage of some minute before the job,and as I see in the Melampy book,I've reworked a little the IP cover recribing a line and adding the four ribs and the bolt.

uL4uRV.jpg[/url][/img]

Thx again!

Gianni

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Hi all my friend,some free time in this week-end help me to continue the build.

The progress;

I've glued the cockpit PE part that were painted and also take the opportunity to add some other detail like the radiator of the heating system.

GwVxYF.jpg[/url][/img]

P4b24O.jpg[/url][/img]

I admit that the rudder pedals look quite nice.

egvCm2.jpg[/url][/img]

Changing area,I added the APU exhaust using a brass tube of 2,5 mm diameter.

a3Jb5t.jpg[/url][/img]

Returning to the nose area,I've opened,scratched and detailed at my best the IFR bay.

On the left the retraction strut.

I've also started work on the probe ,but honestly I'm not quite convinced.

A great thank to ALF for the pics that sent me:first hand reference guys!!!

AC2dra.jpg[/url][/img]

This morning I've sprayed some primer and ,after consulting for the umpteenth time the Daco and Melampy books,I've adde some other detaile to the sidewalls.

1J251A.jpg[/url][/img]

U9m0oM.jpg[/url][/img]

finally,the base color to the bathtube and the avionic bay that highlights the quilted parts.

bpCe5o.jpg[/url][/img]

That's all, next step finish the pit and the seat.

Thx all,

Gianni :cheers:

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Gianni

It's worth taking the effort to send you reference pics, when I see how much work you are putting into scratch-building detail on this! I am very impressed, and you are welcome for the pics.

:thumbsup:

ALF

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Good all my friends,

today progress.

I've finished the work on the pit and avioniv bay areas.

The IP:I choose to replace the Eduard MFD screens with some out of clear plastic sheet painted with Tamiya clear green and blue and retained the frames.

bHeiJU.jpg[/url][/img]

The control stick.

HuDYee.jpg[/url][/img]

The pit itself:here is clear coated in preparation to some weathering.As a note I don't like too much the prepainted PE for basically two reasons: first you are forced to match the PE color the ,anyway,is wrong in many cases and two,I lost the fun to paint all these part...

I don't resist and scratched the cockpit light,the throttle ( I confess you that add the button and switch is a little eye-expensive but this is how I interpret the hobby),and some other small things here and there.

gxFfPF.jpg[/url][/img]

0UOqlt.jpg[/url][/img]

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And the whole assemble painted,matt coated and weathered.

63PR1W.jpg[/url][/img]

n1wxRz.jpg[/url][/img]

70mZO5.jpg[/url][/img]

Dyd5lS.jpg[/url][/img]

End of Part 1.

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Part 2.

Here the sedewalls.

wt0CKl.jpg[/url][/img]

IqZFZM.jpg[/url][/img]

The ejection seat;is a Pavla resin with some PE of the Eduard set added to improve the final aspect.

I've sprayed the whole seat with Tamiya German grey and refined all the daetail with Vallejo and Andrea Color acrilic and Citadel' one for the metallic parts.

Finally an old RBF decal completed the job.

lTZhjL.jpg[/url][/img]

6QvrFB.jpg[/url][/img]

xDpZrI.jpg[/url][/img]

I've mentioned in one of the orevious post that I wasn't happy about the IFR probe result,here my second attempt,no perfect but I can leave with it...

d8KYy5.jpg[/url][/img]

I'm still waiting for the Dr.Pepper intakes and yesterday I've ordered the Aires exhaust nozzle for all my three Hornet,so i start work other detail and specifically to replace the various kit "grill" with the PE part.

I noted that are mounted flush with the fuselage so i've cut away the original and carved a little the plastic to accomodate the replacement PE,here the result.

n6L5uE.jpg[/url][/img]

UmfLBE.jpg[/url][/img]

And that's all for now.

I choose to arm my Hornet with GBU-10s and started to modify the Hase' ones.

Question: at the time of Op. Falconer,the Aussie bird was already upgraded with JHMCS?

I think no,but I'm not a Hornet expert,so any imput are more than welcomed!

ALF,thanks for your words,I'm happy you like my build!

THX for watching,

Gianni :cheers:/>

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Great work as usual Gianni. I am sorry I was in hospital, I will only be able to cast some intakes next week. If you are still interested let me know! As you know they are not as easy to use as the Dr Pepper parts but they are much cheaper and I am happy to trade them too :)

Arnaudt

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Thx for all Arnaud!

Yes I'm still interested to your intakes,and anyway,I bought only two of the three needed set of intakes ( plus one for a Super Bug ).

I've just revisited your topic on the Centennial of Naval Aviation GB to take any tips of your Hornet build! ;)

Gianni :cheers:

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So yu need one Legacy and one Rhino or just one Legacy set?

One Legacy and one Rhino,if possible!

And talking of unfished build,do you remember my Israeli Mirage in NMF?

Well,after finished to paint it,i've decided that it need to be stripped of the Alclad and improved...

And now sit on my desk in bare plastic!

Gianni

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Good day all guys,

in the past days I've go forward adding detail in some areas and was able to glue the upper and lower forward fuselage.

I've some minor fit issue,in particular a little step on starboard side in the IFR bay-LERX area,but some melt plastic followed by sanding and rescribing solve the probem.

Here before the sanding.

6ubD8m.jpg[/url][/img]

And with the panel rescribed.

mZCh67.jpg[/url][/img]

At the same way,I've found some minor fit problem with the nose cone,but with the same process aforementioned here the result.

IUGocb.jpg[/url][/img]

And the assembled cockpit/avionic bay. I continued add small detail like the small lever(?) on the right console ( red arrow ),the HUD camera,ecc...Naturally,I still have to add the canopy sill and other detail.

H5ETjR.jpg[/url][/img]

The NLG:I've detailed both the leg and the bay with the Eduard PE,replacing the plumbing,too flat,with new in copper,lead and plastic.

Also,I've cut the launching bar and replaced with a square-section plastirod to simulate the Aussie' dummy bar.Not perfect but I'm happy!

KlCONe.jpg[/url][/img]

1VUDSO.jpg[/url][/img]

Now the Wolfpack wings: apart a bending of the wings, resolved with boiling water,the main problem I've riscontred was a misalignment of the flap actuator fairings.

JD75Tz.jpg[/url][/img]

The solution: cut the Wolfpack two inner' ones,sand smooth and rescribe the lines...

oMs5jK.jpg[/url][/img]

...and replace with those of the kit itself.

wReyT9.jpg[/url][/img]

Speak of the fairings,I've cut the longer forward part and replaced with new in red and green clear platic,shaped like the original;in this way during the paint process two small tape mask and Ta-Daann,tranparent nav light!

iD0Wiy.jpg[/url][/img]

End of part one.

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Part two.

The LERX light received the same treatment;I've carved the housings and made the clear parts.

Please note the small gap on the upper part;this will be filled by the clear glue in the final assemly.

ftSpuU.jpg[/url][/img]

And finally for today,the work on the arresting hook ...

MOKmjN.jpg[/url][/img]

...and the detail on the ladder housing.

vZK4bR.jpg[/url][/img]

I'm still waiting for the Dr.Pepper seamless intakes (!),but in the meantime Ive ordered and received the Aires exhaust nozzle,and a quick dry fit show me some fit issue,a standard for the Aires part...

So probably next I start to detail the MLG legs.

Sorry for the long post and thanks for watching and feel free of any criticism guys!

Gianni :cheers:/>

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Gianni, very nice work! I love all the details You've added to every step, especially the IFR Bay.

But what I like the most, is that You've used the bluetack to align Your flaps. I always use the masking tape to do this. I'm going to have to try this approach on my Bugs.

Oh... and I have absolutely no idea how You make such tiny detail, and why they look so good! :jaw-dropping:

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Thanks a lot Thadeus!

Today I've received the seamless intakes;to be honest I'm lightly disappointed 'cause I need some sanding in the internal face of the trunks and this very moment the dry fit show some issue...

Yesterday I've worked on the MLG legs details and are almost finished,so stay tuned for some progress.

Gianni :cheers:

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Brilliant detail! The small touches you add to your models are fantastic. And you make it look relatively easy.

Easy that is, until I try to emulate what you have done, and end up with nothing but a mess of plastic and wire. You must have the patience of a saint (or engineer) ! :)/>

Edited by RKic
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