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Good morning, Britmodellers! Finally finished Hasegawa F/A-18F Super Hornet in 1/48 scale with Eduard BigED and Fightertown decals This bird took me about 3 months, but the result is ok for me! Enjoy the pics, constructive criticism is welcome! Regards, Oliver.

Completing my set of US Navy fighters is my latest effort. Hasegawa's 1/48 F/A-18F Super Hornet. A nice kit overall but a bit lacking in the weapons department. Finished with Xtracyrlix and a brush in the markings of VFA-2 on board USS Abraham Lincoln in 2004. Decals from Cam Pro sheet 48-015. With its predecessor from VF-2. All four together.

Here is my honest attempt at Trumpeters 1/32 Super Hornet. A very nice model to build, plenty of detail, so I built it straight from the box. Trumpeter give you the option of a large selection of ordinance which I really liked. Regards, Alan

Hello all, In light of the recent air operations in the Middle East, I've decided on my build schedule for next year. Most (bar an F-14 or two) will follow the theme of aircraft used in Operation Inherent Resolve, or Operation Shader for my RAF contingent. I'll be splitting the builds into 3 parts, with 3 kits in each. First up will be a pair of Hasegawa F/A-18s: F/A-18F will be marked as 166663 of VFA-213 'Black Lions'. After market includes an Aires cockpit salvaged from a damaged previous build, Steel Beach ACS coaming, Steel Beach ECS pipes, Steal Beach FOD covers, Pavla ejection seats and Two Bobs decals. The real thing: VFA-213 Will be loaded with 5x GBU-38, 2x AIM-9x, 1x AGM-65 and 1x fuel tank. GBU's and maverick will be from the spares. F/A-18E will be marked as 166776 of VFA-31 'Tomcatters'. This kit was started briefly a while ago so i'd best crack on with it! Aftermarket includes a Wolfpack Design cockpit, Steel Beach ECS pipes, Steal Beach FOD covers and will include Fightertown decals. The real thing: VFA-31 This will be loaded with 3x GBU-31, 2x GBU-38, 2x AIM-9x and 1x fuel tank. Third up is a Hasegawa F-4E, marked as a 'Terminator' of the Turkish Air Force: Aftermarket will include Quickboost seats, Airwaves etch, Wingman Models Elta L-8222 ECM pod, Steel Beach FOD guards and Hi Decal decals. After a bit of a discussion on another of my threads, I'm loading this one with 4x GBU-10, 1x fuel tank and a Pave Spike targeting pod. For those interested, Parts 2 & 3 of this project will include an F-15E, Tornado GR4, Tornado IDS (Saudi), F-16F, F-16IQ and a Rafale M. Won't be starting until I clear the B-52 and F-4B off the bench but they shouldn't take much longer. Dave

F/A-18F Super Hornet Cockpit Set for Hasegawa Kit 1:72 Aires Hasegawa’s family of second generation F/A-18E/F/Gs are generally regarded as being at the top of the tree when it comes to 1:72 scale Hornets. Although the engineering of the kits is quite complex, they are generally very accurate in shape and the level of detail is very good. Whilst the cockpit is by no means as spartan as some of Hasegawa’s other kits, it can still be improved upon. Enter Aires, purveyors of resin finery from the Czech Republic, with a complete replacement cockpit. Inside the sturdy plastic blister pack are fourteen resin parts, a small fret of photo etched metal parts and a small piece of printed plastic film. The Martin Baker SJU-17 ejection seats are beautifully cast, with crisp, fine details and nicely textured seat padding. Fine details such as the harnesses and firing handles are represented with photo etched metal parts. The cockpit tub is equally nice. The side consoles have excellent detail cast in place and there is enough in the way of wiring and other details to give the whole thing a suitably busy appearance. The pilot’s control column and other control handles are cast as separate parts, as are the photo etched rudder pedals. The instrument panels look excellent and can be enhanced further with the film and photo etched parts. A replacement coaming is included, but you’ll need to cut away the kit part in order to use it. I would suggest that the extra work is worth it, particularly if you elect to use the photo etched HUD unit as well. More resin and photo etched parts have been included in order to bring the canopy up to scratch. I’d recommend treated the canopy itself to a dip in some Klear (assuming you have some) before using these though as otherwise the CA glue you’ll need to use to fix the extra parts in place could fog the clear plastic parts. Overall, this excellent set includes everything you could possibly want in order to upgrade your Hasegawa Super Hornet. The level of detail is outstanding and the casting is superb. Highly recommended. Review samples courtesy of distributed in the UK by Hannants Ltd.

F/A-18F Super Hornet 1:72 Revell The Super Hornet or Rhino as it's officially known on operations is an evolution of the original F-18, a Hornet on steroids you might call it. Development of the E/F models started in 1995, primarily as a replacement for the F-14 in USN service, however the RAAF has since introduced the aircraft as replacements for its F-111 fleet. Although still officially a Hornet, the E/F models are a largely new aircraft. The airframe is 20% larger, 7000lb heavier empty and 15,000lb heavier fully laden. Carrying an extra 33% fuel load, the Super Hornet has a 50% greater endurance too. Despite being larger, it also has an incredible 42% less structural parts than its predecessor and 35% additional power. One of the most noticeable features is the squared intakes designed to reduced its head on radar signature by scattering the radar waves more efficiently than the earlier rounded ones. Its not just the airframe thats been radically upgraded, the avionics have been too. Controlled by a quadruplex FBW system, it also monitors the aircraft for battle damage and makes corrections where necessary. Internally, the latest aircraft use an APG-79 active radar that allows simultaneous air and ground attack capability. It has and advanced FLIR and various threat detection and counter measure systems that can be used in combination with external jammers. With current production orders, the USN will have 515 E/F models delivered when the last order is completed and the RAAF will of had 48 delivered. Despite the significant investment for both the USN and RAAF, the F/A-18 is seen as an interim aircraft until the availability of the F-35. The kit Following on from the F/A-18E kit, the F model is in very much the same style but with the addition of a second crew station. Typical of Revells current style, you get the open ending box. On opening the pack, youre presented with four light grey sprues and one clear one as well as an A4 instruction sheet and the decal sheet. The main rival for this kit is the Hasegawa and each kit has their merits so Ill touch on them throughout. Assembly starts with the cockpits. Unlike the Hasegawa kit, the cockpits do have some surface detail to the panels, so you have the option to sand this off and apply the decals supplied or paint it. The ejection seats come in 3 parts and have moulded in seatbelts and side framework, again better than the rival kit. With the pits assembled and placed into the lower fuselage, effort is turned towards the intakes. Again, this area is better than the Hasegawa kit in terms of internal profile, the intakes are nicely shaped and backed by the engine compressor rather than being void. Surface detail on the fuselage and wings is in my opinion, a little overdone and comparing the two kits, the Hasegawa one looks slightly more refined. On the Revell kit, the addition of rivets to the panel lines looks a little excessive, however this will probably improve once primed and painted. The main wheel bays are very nicely detailed. If you really want to, you could add additional plumbing in there, but theres enough detail to make it interesting. With the cockpits and intakes fitted to the lower fuselage, the top half is then attached followed by the nose cone. I believe that the nose on the Revell E model is a little thin and less accurate than Hasegawas version, whether this has inaccuracy has been carried over to the F, its difficult to see until its been assembled. The tail panes are connected through the rear fuselage so they can be adjusted to suit the angle you desire. The wings inboard of the wing fold are moulded integral to the fuselage with the outer sections being attached separately, unfortunately they cant be fitted in the folded configuration without some work by yourself. Also the flaps and moveable surfaces (other than the tailplanes) are fixed, so again, theres no option to show them in the parked drooped state. Moving on to the exhausts and undercarriage. The exhausts are adequate. The plastic is rather thick so Id be tempted to thin the plastic out to give it a more accurate scale thickness. The undercarriage has plenty of detail and a wash will really bring this out after painting. One of the great features about Revell kits in general is the abundance of ordnance that they include in their kits and this one follows suit. The following is included in the kit: Aim-9x Sidewinder x2 AIM 120C AMRAAM x2 HARM x2 Mk83 Iron Bomb x2 Wing tanks x2 Centreline tank AN/ASQ-228 Advanced FLIR pod The instructions show the various load out options available. The detail in the weapons is quite pleasing, the missile and bomb fins being very thin giving good scale representation. The kit also has the correct 4 degrees of outward sweep to the weapon pylons. Construction of the kit finishes with fitment the clear parts, various antennas, aerials and boarding ladder which adds a great visual to the displayed kit. The canopy and windscreen are very refined free from distortion. The HUD is rather thick and you may want to replace this with a piece of thin acetate. The decals The decal sheet is designed by Daco and has options for two aircraft: VFA-103 Jolly rogers 200 CAG Scheme 2011-12 NAS Oceana High Vis markings VFA-11 Red Rippers 106 NAS Oceana Low Vis markings With over 180 decals included, the detail is very crisp with more than enough stencils and placards to keep you busy for a week ! Whilst the tails of the jolly Roger scheme need to be painted black, the black area around the cockpit can be dealt with by the provided decals however the windscreen section may require some patience and decal setting solution. Conclusion On the whole, this is a great kit. Compared to the Hasegawa kit, the surface detail is a little heavy, but you get a lot more detail in the pits, better intakes and a good selection of weapons. Couple this with a more favourable price tag and I should imagine its going to sell very well. Construction is fairly straight forwards and with a parts count of 97, shouldnt take too long to build up either. Another great release from Revell. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

Hello, Here is my next project after the VFA-102 Super Hornet. I will use this boxing I am still unsure as to which markings I will apply but I will probably go for the "normal" markings as seen here or here rather than the flashy markings seem here Quite irritatingly Hasegawa provides the old-style ECS and ACS when both aircraft have the new-style items... The old style ECS provided in the box: Fortunately I received last week this AMAZING reference book: as well as this excellent item from RES-IM: so making the new ECS should not be so much of a problem. The ACS will be scratch-built. More coming soon... Arnaud