Peter W Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 (edited) The second of my builds for this GB is going to be one that I've planned to build since I saw it in 1992. I've took my time but this is the perfect opportunity to finally get it done. The kit is the Hasegawa CF-188A 'CAF 75th Anniversay' boxing with an Aires cockpit and Leading Edge decals thrown into the mix. Could be fun but going to have a good shot at making it at last. The Kit The Extras The Inspiration Looking forward to Saturday now Pete Edited May 31, 2013 by Peter W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charley420 Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 Another great scheme there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellzy Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 As all ways Pete look forward to your build look a good scheme Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Great choice and nice photo's, going to enjoy watching your build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Filler Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 This is exciting. I've got those decals but don't have the balls to try applying them yet. So I'll be watching this with keen interest. Impressed you've got a CF-118 kit to use. I couldn't seem to find one so had to make do with a USN F-18 kit. Think its same as the searchlight is there. Anyway, good luck with your build Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emvar Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 Two of my favorite schemes.... Looking forward to your build.! Cheers Emil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter W Posted June 18, 2013 Author Share Posted June 18, 2013 Two of my favorite schemes.... Looking forward to your build.! Cheers Emil Glad to have you on board Emil. I should have some pictures to show that I've been doing something soon as the cockpit is taking shape slowly. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter W Posted June 21, 2013 Author Share Posted June 21, 2013 (edited) Time for a small update on this one. I have got the cockpit tub ready for fixing in place now and just need to give the inside of the fuselage halves a coat of white before it all gets glued together. The Aires cockpit, as per usual, needs quite a bit of thinning on the bottom and sides to make it fit and, even then, it's a snug fit. I've decided to leave the kit instrument coaming in place until it's all glued together. It's a structural part of the moulding and I don't want to make the alignment of the front end any harder than it already is with this kit. It should be fairly simple to cut it out with a scribing tool once the fuselage is together. Onto some pics showing it all dry fitted in place and highlighting that I need to wash the dust out before I make the final fit: - More soon Pete Edited June 21, 2013 by Peter W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellzy Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Nice work on this one as well Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gajman Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 That's a nice scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 The Aires cockpit, as per usual, needs quite a bit of thinning on the bottom and sides to make it fit and, even then, it's a snug fit. Tell me about it Pete, it's no different in 1/72nd scale. Mine are paper thin and I am still going to have problems with fitting the top and bottom halves together. Your cockpit tub is looking really good plenty of detail in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALF18 Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 (edited) Looking really nice, Pete. That AM cockpit is nicely detailed, and you've done a good job on it. Are you planning to represent the blanking plate under the ID light glass? If you look carefully at the ref pic with the gear cycling up, you'll see the spotlight is not installed; it has the blanking plate under the clear circle (glass). The top ref pic is actually a different aircraft from another year (tail number 769) that looks very similar, but the two lower ref pics are the scheme that you want to make with those decals. Our Hornets in Europe very often flew without the ID lights, and with just a blanking plate. This scheme is one of my favourites. I think I have the decals in 1/32, but have been afraid to attempt it - looks like an enormous amount of work. I'm sure you have the talent to make it look great, though! ALF Edited June 26, 2013 by ALF18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter W Posted June 27, 2013 Author Share Posted June 27, 2013 It's funny ALF, it wasn't until I looked at the pictures after starting this thread that I realised that they were two different airframes. I wanted to do the '91' scheme and couldn't work out why the LEM instructions said to paint it one colour and I knew from my pictures that it was a standard scheme with stripes over. Cue some research and 'voila' I discover after 22 years that it wasn't the same plane in the photo's. I now have 2 Canadian Tiger Hornets to build, which thanks to some great help from Emil (Emvar) is very possible. The first one is this '92' version though and, like you, I'm nervous about the decals. They are from the reprinted batch though, so hopefully won't have problems with them breaking up. I intend to scan them first, just in case I end up having to do some masking. Was the blanking plate fitted close to the glass or did it just fill the hole in the ID light housing? Great to have you on board though and will no doubt benefit from your knowledge along the way. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Nice. I have the set too and was contemplating doing it for my second one...but I have another to think about... Interesting point about the blanked off spotlights. One other thing, the top image of the static 'tiger' stripe and the next one showing at the point of rotation, the paint work is quite different in is application. So definitely different airframes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter W Posted June 27, 2013 Author Share Posted June 27, 2013 I think I've answered my own question, assuming that this is what the ID light looks like when blanked off: - (image credit to colink on photobucket) Looks simple enough. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALF18 Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Pete That's a great shot of a typical ID light blanking plate. The colours are just right; kind of a creamy off-white. We rarely or never used the lights in practice in Europe, and it was quite possible to forget that it was on in-flight. The switch to turn the thing on is on the outboard side of the left throttle, and is easy to bump forward (say by a technician between flights) and forget in the ON position. Pilots, in their laziness and being always pressed for time during missions (I resemble that comment), never used the checklists to confirm every single switch; we did "flows" from left to right through the various panels, and just quickly checked the position of most switches. Some times, we might even be more rushed, and miss some critical switches (like pressurization dump, which caused me to experience pressure breathing climbing through 35,000 feet one time). The ID light switch is invisible to the pilot, and must be felt for with the pinkie finger on the left hand; definitely not something we did a lot. There is absolutely no cockpit indication that the light is on, so it is quite probable that someone could fly around with it on and never know it (especially during the day). At night, it would be a bit more obvious, as the light is bright and would reflect off any mist or cloud near the aircraft, but on a clear night you could be advertising your presence to the world and be oblivious. The lights were therefore removed unless the aircraft's normal duties involved NORAD operations (which is the case with Canadian-based aircraft then and now), where night visual identifications were regularly performed. ALF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter W Posted June 27, 2013 Author Share Posted June 27, 2013 Thanks ALF, useful information and, as always, a great story to go with it. I've got the lens glued in tonight and will make a blanking plate to go over it once dry. Should have the nose glued on before you know it. I also spent the usual few hours sanding the rear fuselage down to get rid of the difficult seams followed by rescribing. It looks ok but a primer coat will tell. Hopefully I can get some pictures up to show the progress soon. I'm getting hooked on these CF-18's now, before you know it I'll be building one of the Bagotville based Demo ones ALF. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Looking good Pete, nice work on the cockpit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALF18 Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 I'm getting hooked on these CF-18's now, before you know it I'll be building one of the Bagotville based Demo ones ALF. Pete Just call me "pusher" - my game is to get people hooked on these jets. I have some extra decals for some schemes from Bagotville - the 425 squadron demo from 1994 or 1995 (forget which, it's the one with the big white tail and half Maple Leaf) in 1/48, and the NORAD 50th Anniversary scheme from 2008 (in 1/32). ALF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter W Posted July 2, 2013 Author Share Posted July 2, 2013 Time for another update. Prior to ALF's post about this plane not having an I/D light fitted, I'd spent some time finding the Hasegawa parts and making up a bracket to fit the light inside a nose half, was really pleased with it too: - Then came the post and a rethink. I now have 2 noses for a CF-188A assembled and ready to be fitted. The blanked off one is going on this build, so guess what a near future build is going to be?: - I then glued it all together and had a sanding and filling session, followed by a re-scribe on the tail end. Next came the task of chopping out the kit instrument coaming and fitting the Aires part. It wasn't that bad to be truthful and certainly a lot easier than having to deal with any problems caused by cutting it out before I'd glued it all together: - And finally, how it all looks now: - Ready for a little more clean up around the front end and then some more bits to add before priming. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellzy Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 Coming on very nice Pete looking good Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emvar Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 Coming along great Pete!!! Listen to ALF pretty decent gentleman and a wealth of information on the CF-18. BTW I forgot to thank you for those Pictures you sent me, Very nice and great for my files on this bird. For the Airshow Circuit I have seen Pictures of the 1991 Aircraft (188769) with either 1 center fuel tank or two wing tanks installed. Not very many pictures of it with any ordnance but ALF can most likely give you the answers on that. Now I do know that 188769 had a lot of the Stencil data painted over as the stripes were applied on top of the Standard Scheme, so some NO STEP stenciling may have not been present but this is where some artistic license may be warranted. I also do not think that it would be wrong to have all the stencil data applied as it would certainly have been addressed over time. Obviously the 1991 bird was not as sanctioned as the 1992 colours which in a way you can see from the "crudeness" of the paint scheme in comparison. I think once you mask and paint the stripes on this one you will do the same on the 1992 bird also leaving the stencil details to the Leading Edge sheet. Emil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALF18 Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 Coming along great Pete!!! Listen to ALF pretty decent gentleman and a wealth of information on the CF-18. BTW I forgot to thank you for those Pictures you sent me, Very nice and great for my files on this bird. For the Airshow Circuit I have seen Pictures of the 1991 Aircraft (188769) with either 1 center fuel tank or two wing tanks installed. Not very many pictures of it with any ordnance but ALF can most likely give you the answers on that. Now I do know that 188769 had a lot of the Stencil data painted over as the stripes were applied on top of the Standard Scheme, so some NO STEP stenciling may have not been present but this is where some artistic license may be warranted. I also do not think that it would be wrong to have all the stencil data applied as it would certainly have been addressed over time. Obviously the 1991 bird was not as sanctioned as the 1992 colours which in a way you can see from the "crudeness" of the paint scheme in comparison. I think once you mask and paint the stripes on this one you will do the same on the 1992 bird also leaving the stencil details to the Leading Edge sheet. Emil Thanks for the vote of confidence, Emil! Maybe next time we meet it will be over beers, and not Timmy's coffee. I'm about to head out of town for a few days (Ottawa, Trenton RCAF museum, Kingston, Montreal, but not as far West as Toronto). When I get back, Pete, I'll hunt around and see if I can scare up some info on the 91 scheme, such as how long it was painted that way, and what configurations it flew in. ALF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter W Posted July 3, 2013 Author Share Posted July 3, 2013 Emil / ALF, thanks for the great help your both giving on this one. It would be nice to know what options I have for the '91' scheme as I always think that the Hornet looks wrong without anything hanging on the wings, even some tanks would liven it up. Emil, glad the photos were useable. I wish that I'd taken more but, back in the days of film stock, I had to be quite careful of not increasing the development costs too much. An Air Tattoo usually saw me with 20-25 films to develop and never enough money to do it. Happy days but what I wouldn't give to be able to go back in time with a digital camera. Happy travels ALF Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emvar Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 Glad to help, I am far from an expert (literally and figuratively) my only knowledge is from a bit of research and ALF lives a couple of thousand Km from me. Tanks I know, It usually carried one center-line or 2 wing tanks (sometimes it was totally clean without tanks and pylons). I suppose this depended on the distances it flew for Airshows. It probably flew with ordnance between shows but this I can't confirm. Like I said it is unfortunate that these aircraft never touched home soil painted in these nice schemes. I have a picture someplace with the '91 bird in vertical formation with a Harrier it was on the cover of a magazine which I will have to dig out of my reference pile. Emil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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