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I just stumbled upon this GB I would love to join in with a subset of my large "Intruders and Prowlers and Growlers", build though I fear I may have too much completed before the official start. Here is my progress to date, let me know if this would be too much of a jumped start. I would much prefer to graciously retract than be an intruder not participating in the spirit of the GB. Link to the main build: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234926990-intruders-and-prowlers-and-growlers-grumman-tailpipes/ Turning to the EA-18s, inspection of the kit parts quickly dashed any hopes that these supplied ducts and fan sections were acceptable. The ducts taper too fast leading to miniscule fans and are much too short. An online search for pictures also revealed the prominent vent seen on the outside of the intake did not have a gaping opening on the inside of the intake but appeared to terminate in a perforated strip on the inside wall. Some work was going to be required here. Now there's something different for one of my projects. How to address this new challenge? Unable to find aftermarket intake specific to the Italeri Super Hornet, I ordered 3 sets of Two Mikes intakes designed for the Hasegawa kit to use as a starting point. It was only after I submitted the order that I read the notice on the website (It was hidden in large,bold, red type at the top of the first page) that Two Mikes was going to be unable to fill orders until February. As the work on the intakes needed to be completed early in the construction sequence, I needed the parts asap! I placed a call to Mike and pleaded my case to the answering machine. 30 minutes later I received a text message from Mike! Explaining the build as being part of a presentation to VAQ-209 and I needed the intakes to continue with the build Mike graciously offered to ship my order by that Friday! A big Thank You to Two Mikes and a plug for excellent service! Beautifully cast, the intakes were designed for the Hasegawa kits and therefore needed to be converted for use in the Italeri. The inboard section of the kit duct was cut at the point that matched the dimensions of the Two Mikes part. Careful trimming and fitting yielded a fairly good fit the the forward portions of the kit intakes. Styrene sheet was used to form the inboard and outboard wall and shims. The intakes were epoxied into place earlier today and are curing as I write. The Italeri kits although capturing the shape and outline well, were based on the prototype EA-18G and have a number of features that differ from the production versions. First are a number and style of vents on the underside of the fuselage. These were filled and modified with styrene to better represent the later configuration. After Simple process, just repeat three times! Next up is the ECS vents and changes to the later configuration. A few pieces of styrene strip were used to better represent the unique intakes on the lower aft engine bays. My modifications to fit the ducts into the Italieri kits needed a bit of filler and shaping to match the intakes. Although a bit tedious, the results are satisfactory. A few minor tweaks and they should be ready for final paint. Just a quick update to reassure faithful followers that I haven't gone completely bonkers (yet ) and progress continues on the production line. Work has shifted to the Growlers as the production manager has, well burned out on the big Grummans As previously noted, the Italeri kits capture the shape of the EA-18G well but were based on the prototype EA-18G and have a number of details that differ from the production versions. The ECS vents need to be change to the later types. Fortunately the later boxing includes a small sprue containing the later ECS vents and fairings. Unfortunately I had 2 of the earlier kits and 1 of the later, so a mold was made and copies cast. The early vents were removed with a motor tool and file,s and a styrene plug shaped and glued into place. The late ECS vents are located forward of the early so the new location was opened up and a sheet of styrene attached to the inside to act a 'floor' to shim the replacement vents to match the surface of the fuselage Here one of the kit and a casting ECS vent are test fitted to the new location The scribing for the engine access bays are not correct for the Growler so they were filled and rescribed. A template was used to help keep the scribing consistent on the three models. The Two Mikes intakes are beautifully molded, but as I was using them in a kit they were not designed for I needed to do a bit of trimming and filling. Now that the work is finished I can get the fuselage halves assembled. The fan faces will be barely visible! Repeat 3 times! Like the vents and engine access bays on the bottom of the fuselage, a few corrections are needed on the top to correctly represent the production Growlers. Most of these have been documented in the previous update, the last task is to install the poorly fitting speed brakes. Because of the complex contours I decided not to try and make new ones, but to fill and rescribe. Here the poor fit can be seen before filling. The vents on the sides of the intakes contain internal vanes, these were built up from thin styrene and installed. They add a nice bit of interest compared the the empty vent. Finishing the work needed to adapt the excellent Two Mikes intakes (designed for the Hasegawa kit) into the Italeri kit allowed me to add the engine faces and close up the fuselage. The rework of the inside of the intake ducts required the forward fuselage to be custom fit. A thin styrene shim and a bit of filling did the trick nicely. The result looks fairly good. Its nice to see the engine faces line up with the nozzles, verification that the ducts are at least close to being aligned properly! Simply repeat three times! The fit along the sides was a bit disappointing and needed a bit of filler and sanding. This of course means more scribing to replace the lost detail. Speaking of scribing, the ill-fit of the speed brakes were fixed with styrene strips and filler then rescribed. Panel lines lost on the top of the aft fuselage caused by relocating the ECS vents were also re-scribed. It appeared these details were originally raised while the rest of the kit contained recessed. Vanes have been added to the interior of the upper fuselage boundary layer control vents. The EA-18G is not equipped with an internal gun, and therefore does not have the gas vents. The Italeri kit based on the F version, vents molded into on the bottom of the nose and even though they are rather indistinct, they needed filling. Small rectangles of styrene were cut to fit and with a bit of filler and file work, were soon eradicated. Only one of the EA-18 kits I obtained, was the later release that included a small sprue containing late ECS vents, and a number of lumps and bumps unique to the G version. The bulge on the spine did not, to my eyes, capture the true shape. Since I needed three of them, a bit of styrene and file work soon produced a reasonable representation. An aluminum tube was installed in the fuselage in the proper location to accept matching tubes that will be added to the tail control surfaces. These will simply plug into the socket at the end of construction. To fit the beautiful Aires cockpits (designed for the Hasegawa kit) to the Italeri required some very careful thinning of the cockpit tubs themselves as well as the cockpit side walls. Strip styrene was used to form the sill that also served as a stop to assist in installing the tub. Because of the construction sequence, the cockpit tubes needed to be epoxied into place to allow the lower forward fuselage to be installed, which needs to be in place before the LEX bottoms can be glued in, which will allow the shoulder slots to be placed, finally allowing attaching the wings! At this point the challenging fit of the kit became apparent. The sequence began with the installation of the lower forward fuselage. The well for the boarding ladder was boxed in prior to adding the bottom of the LEX surfaces. In order to have a consistent gap between the bottom of the LEX and the intakes, a bit of shimming was needed. After the lower LEX surface was in place, the block forming the unique shoulder slot was next. The outer point suffered damage during earlier construction and was repaired with styrene strip. The block was trimmed and shimmed into position focused on getting a consistent slot. The slot was fine tuned with styrene strips and judicious file and sandpaper work. The lower surfaces of the wings are molded integral with the fuselage, locking in the anhedral. Unfortunately the angle is correct for a Harrier and not a Super Hornet! Taking a deep breath, the use of hot water, firm finger pressure carefully applied, and lots of checking with references got the anhedral sorted out with no damage to the existing structure. When parked, the bleed down of hydraulic pressure invariably causes the flaps and leading edges on the Super Bug to droop. This of course means yet more modifications. The flaps, ailerons and gap flaps were cut off and set aside. The leading edges were drooped by cutting a slot on the bottom side with a razor saw and bending the section down into the resulting gap. The upper surface of the wings were attached. The EA-18G leading edge has a small fillet at the juncture of inner and outer sections. This was fabricated with styrene, glued into place and shaped with files. Much filling and sanding ensued, and more scribing to bring the basic airframe to the point where a coat of primer could be applied. Eric aka The Yankymodeler