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Guys, so I'm thinking of modelling one of these bad boys (in the title) and was wondering if anyone could give me some help on the best 1/72 scale kits for the aforementioned. I really love these American jets and having modelled Mig-21's Mig-25s' Su-27's and the T-50 I was looking for a bit of a change. Thanks in advance P.S. I'm looking for readily available kits and if you include a link, please could it be to a website that uses GBP. Thank you very much for your time! P.P.S I love this forum!!

Kit : F-18B Brand : Hasegawa Scale : 1/72 Decals : Home Made Decals This is my F-18B Hasegawa 1/72. The kit was released in 1991, so I'm not sure if that is classed as old, but the decals did look old and yellow, I fixed the yellowing, but they were all cracked. So, I went with plan 'B' Irish Air Corps. I had already printed the low vis Irish roundels a couple of years ago. I just had to find some numbers and I used some of the smaller kit decals. Ken

CF-188 Hornet | 1/72 | Hasegawa Canada Armed Forces | Pilot Capt. W.W. Niemi | 410 Squadron Finished this on July 20th, 2019. WIP is here. I built this concurrently with my F/A-18 Hornet of VFA-25. That Hornet is the same scheme as one I did in High School. The Testors kit I did in High School, had 3 decal options and one was Canadian. That scheme fascinated me because of the slightly different colors they used and the false canopy on the bottom. But in the end the VFA-25 scheme won out because the lightning bolt and fist were just too dramatic to pass up. So, I decided to buy the Hasagawa kit and some aftermarket decals to finally do that CF-188! Unfortunately, the decals I got had incorrect roundels and flags (the old "Silver leaf"), so I had to buy new ones, but they were worth it because they were excellent decals! This particular plane had a sad history, according to http://www.rwrwalker.ca/CF18_detailed_part1.html, it was taken on strength 3 august 1983 and "With 410 Squadron when it crashed at Seibert Lake near CFB Cold Lake, Alberta on 11 January 1989, during an airlift support mission. Pilot Capt. W.W. Niemi killed." I'm not sure why the microscale decal set (with the incorrect maple leaf) chose this one, but I stuck with it when I got the Canuck decals (which allow you to choose any S/N you want). Finishing: Seams filled with CA (superglue) Paints: Mr. Surfacer 1500 black primer > MRP FS35237 (Top) > Mr. Color C308 (bottom) > various shades of Alclad (detailed in my WIP) Decals: Canuck Decals 002-72 Weathering/Wear: Panel lines were pin washed with black tube watercolor and some were drawn on with 0.3 mm pencil > oil staining and dirt streaks with Black and Burnt Umber watercolor Paints > Tamiya weathering pastels (black) And here it is next to it's sister build, the Testors F/A-18 of VFA-25: Build notes: The Canuck decals were supurb! The Hasagawa kit had excellent surface detail, but had a sparse cockpit. The seam between the top and bottom halves of the fuselage is terrible, however, requiring sanding to remove a step between the two, and rescribing the surface detail. Thanks for looking! Comments, questions, and constructive criticism always welcome!

Hobby Boss is to re-release in late September 2018 its Hornet kit as 1/48th McDD F/A-18C Hornet RAAF kit - ref. 85809 Source: http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=article&a=show&id=119&l=en V.P.

Anyone have any ideas on how to scratch build/make the soft F.O.D. Covers on an F-18C hornet ? I know there is A/M options, but little $ in the budget to go that route ? I was thinking the PVA/water mix for tarps used in armor builds ? Curious to know what opinions are for that method ? Any answers are graciously appreciated in advance. Dennis

With your indulgence...another 'golden oldie' dredged up from old Photobucket files. This is the simplified 'easy build' Hobby Boss F/A-18A Hornet, from the 'Blue Angels' boxing...dressed up with the excellent Leading Edge Canadian Hornet 2006 Demo markings. I spruced-up the very basic kit with added LEX fences on the wing roots, and a tail hook and assorted sensors and antennae from rod & strip stock. As a Canadian bird of that era, it also needed the characteristic nose-mounted searchlight, so I drilled a shallow hole and added a disc from clear acetate. The featureless interior tub needed the most help. I reduced a color internet photo of a Hornet instrument panel to size, printed several copies and used them as “layers” to make a semi-relief panel, attaching it in place with craft glue. Bits of styrene worked for seat features, and painted tissue for harnesses and chute pack. Another bit of clear acetate made up the the HUD. The kit came with three drop tanks and pylons...as well as some additional weapons pylons and racks...but no ordnance whatsoever. Since in my mind a Hornet looks 'nekkid' without something on the wingtip rails, I snagged a pair of Sidewinders from an old Testors F-5E, and painted them as inert practice rounds. A nice bit of color for ordinarily-drab grey birds.

Chaps, Excellent photography database, with a focus on Spanish subjects. As an example, beautifully weathered F-18s ! http://www.aviationcorner.net http://www.aviationcorner.net/show_photo_en.asp?id=422174 http://www.aviationcorner.net/show_photo_en.asp?id=227515 http://www.aviationcorner.net/show_photo_en.asp?id=464798 http://www.aviationcorner.net/show_photo_en.asp?id=464289 Cheers,

Hi Folks, this time I introduce you my F/A-18C Hasegawa 1/72. I read several reviews of this kit and were all positive, at least the in-box reviews. When I started it was a very promising kit, althought I saw the assembly problems on the fuselage joints and the vertical fins. There was a gap of about 1 mm all along the lower join in one of the wings, the intakes had terrible fit and the quality of the main undercarraige is very poor. I actually don´t mind this too much as long as I can build it with some pleasure, but there was none... When I wet the eagle decals, these cracked in microscopic pieces.... I´ve should choose the Marines version... Anyway, this is the finished model. I used Eduard PE for the canopy and made the intake covers. The HARM missile comes from the Academy F-16C. The pre and post-shading almost went gone when matt varnished. I hope you like it and every critics/comments are welcomed. Best regards. Ignacio from Uruguay

Hey All Keeping with the theme from by CF-14 Tomcat, I present the Revell 1/72 F/A-18F finished as a what-could-be CF-18 Super Hornet Here in Canada there has been a lot of controversy with regards to replacing our thirty plus year old fleet of F/A-18 "Legacy" Hornets. A similar problem faced by many other air forces around the world. With blatant disregard for established procedure, the Government and the Department of Defence announced that Canada would be acquiring the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to replace the Hornets. This was done without tendering a formal competition, i.e, without doing a little browsing first, they just decided to buy the first thing they saw. In their infinite wisdom, they have since gone back on the decision. For more information I will direct you to check out "Gripen 4 Canada" or "Best Fighter for Canada" http://gripen4canada.blogspot.ca/ bestfighter4canada.blogspot.ca Personally, I am in favour of either the Saab Gripen or the Super Hornet. The F-35 is proof of concept of the old saying "Jack of all trades, Master of none" Anyway... on with the model . . . . . What can I say, the Revell /72 Super Hornet is a fantastic little gem. The fit is superb, the panel lines may be a little heavy for some, but I found them just right. The cockpit is a little sparse on detail with most coming from decals, however this didn't bother me as I shut the lid on all my canopies anyway. The only aftermarket additions were a set of True Details resin seats and of course the decals once again being the wonderful Canuck Models product. The weapons are a mixed bag of those from the kit, some from a Hasegawa weapons set, and an Academy F-18. The model was painted with Vallejo Light Ghost Grey Primer as a general primer and as the lighter camouflage colour; the darker colour being Model Master Medium Grey. This particular aircraft is finished with the markings of 433 "Porcupine" Squadron in honour of their recent reactivation. For those of you wondering, I did the twin seater because I've always found that the twin seat cockpit and canopy fill out the long nose of the Hornet and looks more balanced than the single seaters. However, I may yet do one, only time will tell. Thanks for looking Regards, ANS

Hello one and all, There will be 3 builds in this thread. My logic being that all of the aircraft are near-enough the same (same moulds anyhow), so I am hoping to get them all done in a production line style... it'll probably fail epically tho. lol Right the EA-18G will be from VAQ-141 "Shadowhawks", the F-18 E will be VFA-31 (not the Revell version), and last but not least the F-18 F will be VFA-32 Swordsmen. On to the pictures. The Shadowhawks plane you can see in the background, I will be using the other airframe for the Swordsmen example. Here is the Tomcatters example, see what I mean about it being different from the Revell version? Also can someone clear up something for me? Is that missile closest to the "1+1" logo a Sparrow or a HARM? It really looks like a HARM to me for some reason... weird... Love the Dragon drawings The Shadowhawks is the top version. I am not too sure the difference between the two sets of markings, I am assuming one is for a CAG and the other isn't?? Onto the sprues... If you look closely you can see that there is two sets of nose wheels, one up and one down for the catapult. Why am I mentioning this? You'll find out... See the etch for the AN/ALQ-218... they are tiny! They will pin off into the dogs hair no doubt... The sprues for the other two aircraft. I might think "screw it" and do the Gunslingers too... I dunno yet. I also have this... I have the Dragon carrier deck thing which I will be using also, for some reason I didn't take a picture of it... I dunno. Looking forward to doing this one. Kind Regards, Dazz

The box art from the future - very soon ! - 1/32nd Kinetic McDD F/A-18A/B/C/D Hornet kit in on Facebook Source: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=138843782949408&set=a.129556723878114.28243.129238860576567&type=1&relevant_count=1 V.P.