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1/72 Hasegawa Super Hornet - 1 Squadron 100th Anniversary RAAF


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Hi all, a new one onto the workbench...a RAAFie this time.

 

Since Steve Evans from Ronin decals released these decals earlier in the year, I've been eager to build this kit. I did however have one small problem, I didn't have the kit I needed in the stash. Fast forward to a few weeks ago and I managed to score the kit with the right bits and pieces in it from a store here in the middle of Brisbane.

 

So the plan is to turn this... 

 

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into this…though just a smaller version in 72nd scale.

 

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The original kit of the 1/72  Hasegawa F/A-18F family has been around for a while now with releases seeming to come out of Japan at a steady rate of either the latest CAG jet or aircraft that adorn colourful artwork. This release which was released in early 2016 fortunately has all that's needed for a RAAF jet. The only real draw back is the lack of ordnance supplied. You need to supply your own and in my case I'll be loading it with two GBU-38 and two GBU-54 ype bombs, both 500lb class bombs. The correct bard stacks are also moulded in place which is correct for our Rhinos.

 

I recently found some excellent photos of this jet on the Defence Media site while it was deployed on combat operations overseas which is where I got the one above. It's an interesting load out in the fact that it's asymmetric. The tanks are loaded in the 'goofy gas' configuration which allows a greater field of view for the designator pod on the left shoulder station. The port wing carries two GBU-38 bombs on the inner two pylons and a single GBU-54 on the outer. Turning to the starboard side we can see the drop tank and then a single GBU-54 on the middle pylon with an empty outer pylon. Both wing tips are carrying AIM-9X Sidewinders and the right shoulder station carries a lone AIM-120 AMRAAM. As mentioned the ATFLIR is being carried on the port shoulder station. 

 

With regards to the kit, it does have the correct ACS coaming that the later Lot jets have, however the rear instrument decal IP represents the earlier style of rear cockpit. I'm not too fussed on this as the model will have the canopy closed. I have ordered a set of Quickboost resin seats to add some visual interest to the closed cockpit as the kit seats are quite simple one piece items. I’ve also got the GBU’s covered with some Attack Squadron products.

 

Construction is fairly straight forward however there are a few spots that need some attention. The kit intakes are extremely short and have an obvious seam in the roof of the intake. There's not much to do about the short intakes unless some major plastic surgery is undertaken. The seam however can be easily dealt with. It had a touch of Tamiya grey putty mixed with some Tamiya lacquer thinner to make it into slurry, kind of like the texture of soft butter. This has been applied and I've started to smooth it in as you can see in the photo. I'll sand it back and apply some primer to see how it looks.

 

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The cockpit tub has been installed on the lower forward fuselage half and has had paint applied along with a gloss coat ready for the decals. The same thing goes for the front and rear IP.

 

The engine exhausts are a simple affair and in hindsight I wish I'd gone for some aftermarket items. I might get away with sleeving they outlet with some tube with the right OD, we'll see.

 

The basic representation of the flame holder has been painted Burnt Iron from the Mr Color Metallics range. The great thing about this stuff is that it can be polished. You can see the results in the picture of the differences between a polished and non-polished paint. I hit the polished parts (on both sides) with a micro q-tip and it looks the part. Sealing this stuff is a bit of a grey area for me at the moment as any form of lacquer or hot thinner in the gloss will cause the grey to change shade, not exactly something I'm interested in achieving. If you have any info on how you go about sealing these paints I'd be interested to hear.

 

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An upper and lower half capture the polycaps for the elevators which in turn also holds the flame holder. This part is installed in the rear of the fuselage. I’ve added a splash of the same Burnt Iron in the bare plastic after i took these photos.

 

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The upper and lower half of the fuselage are one piece items. I’ve applied some Gunze FS36231 on those. [PIC]

 

The fuselage join is pretty good. The dark grey paint is the Burnt Iron after it hit it with some Humbrol poly. I’ve used this on the fuselage seams as I’ve heard it’s a bit more forgiving with regards to ghost seams than Tamiya Extra Thin.

 

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The fit of the LERX is very good too. The first pic shows the fit of the parts held in place by gravity. The second two images shows it buttoned up with glue applied.

 

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And this is where I’m at with the build; I’ve also assembled the two drop tanks.

 

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More to come soon.

 

Mick

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I'm glad to see you got the right kit at last Mick, and I will follow this one

 

ps   I wouldn't put anything on the flame holders, they will be out of harms way anyway

 

Edited by Graeme H
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Nice start Mick,

 

Agree with Graeme on the exhausts, though if you really want to then I use Testors Metalliser Sealer. It obviously designed for the Testors paints but I am sure it would work with any metallic types.

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3 hours ago, Graeme H said:

I'm glad to see you got the right kit at last Mick, and I will follow this one

 

ps   I wouldn't put anything on the flame holders, they will be out of harms way anyway

 

Thanks Graham.

 

Sadly PX didn't come up with the goods so had to for retail!

 

As you say the exhausts will be out of harms way so I might put my work in elsewhere.

 

Mick

1 hour ago, TrojanThunder said:

Nice start Mick,

 

Agree with Graeme on the exhausts, though if you really want to then I use Testors Metalliser Sealer. It obviously designed for the Testors paints but I am sure it would work with any metallic types.

Thanks Ray.

 

Testors Metalliser sealer, of course! I think I might even have some left overs somewhere in the paint collection. I might do a test on some scrap and see how it performs. I really like the Metallisers from Mr Color because they can be polished. This capability makes them quite fragile though.

 

Thanks for the tip.

Mick

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Hi all.

 

Back again with another update.

 

The nose and cockpit tub is together though I've got a couple of seams to remove to make it a RAAF jet. The instructions are kind enough to show you which ones need changing and removal. The fit so far has been excellent with minimal cleanup work. Don't mind the bare plastic in bottom of the tub. I had to remove the locating rail for the bottom of the seat for the resin replacements when they eventually arrive.

 

The tub is basic but you get the idea.

 

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Certainly not a kit of problems I have encountered one 'niggle' so far.

As you can see in the first photo the rear bulkhead of the cockpit tub sits very close to the lower section of the LERX where the nose section fits. You can see the black texture mark where the original kit plastic ended and how much I removed. It's a much better fit now with no interference in this area.

 

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You can see how much I've removed, it was about 5mm in total.

 

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The wings are complete with the flap and aileron actuators in place. The pylon hopes have been drilled out too. The forward ones are 1.5mm and the rear ones are 1.2mm.

 

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I've stolen two AIM-9X's and an AIM-120C from the Tamiya F-16CJ boxing. The benefit of these over the Hasegawa items are they are one piece moulding so there's no faffing around cleaning up guidance fins and then attaching them. Here they've got their first lick of paint.

 

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I think I'll have the main fuselage pieces together tomorrow night and a strong 'maybe' for the wings and stabs too...of course all dependent on everything outside of bench time.

 

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Cheers,
Mick

Edited by Mick Drover
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I've had a bit of progress since the last post. It's 90% all glued up but I'll get to that at the end.

 

The Hasegawa instructions kindly show the panels and bumps that need to be either filled or removed. I've filled the panel lines with a mix of CA and talc. I've added quite a bit of talc as it makes the mix easier to remove and there's no problems with shrinkage.

 

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I've done the seam under the LERX using the same stuff. It looks a bit messy i the pic but it has since cleaned up nicely.

 

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Since doing this I've got it assembled. This is it so far.

 

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One thing I ensured before the glue had gone off was the dihedral for each wing was correct on either side. As the model sits flat on it's base I could measure from the cutting matt to the wingtip missile rail on either side and be confident that the distances would be accurate.

 

12.5mm on the left

 

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and 12.5mm on the right.

 

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I dragged out the Academy Hornet I recently completed. You can easily see the shape and size difference between the older and newer versions.

 

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More soon.

Mick

Edited by Mick Drover
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On 15/06/2017 at 2:45 PM, TrojanThunder said:

Nice work there Mick, I have an Eduard coloured etch sheet for the cockpit of my build. Though with the canopy down not much will be seen I expect.

 

Who's seats are you using for your build?

G'day Ray. I'm planning on doing a closed cockpit as well so have not opted for any of the Eduard stuff. As the seat are fairly simple I've chosen a set of Quickboost seats. They should arrive next week so in the meantime I'll be getting it ready for paint. In the same order I've got some Attack Squadron ordnance coming too.

 

What scheme is your's going to be Ray?

 

Mick.

On 15/06/2017 at 3:05 PM, Woodziee said:

Coming along nicely Mick.

Cheers Matt. More to come tomorrow hopefully (Sat night our time)

 

Mick

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  • 1 year later...

Hi all.

It's been a while between drinks for this one. It came close to being finished yesterday afternoon but the workshop was getting a bit warm, plus I had to go play darts at the BIL's place.

These photos were taken yesterday afternoon post flat coat and before and after the clear parts were unmasked. Considering all of the handling its had I was surprised at how well they were after un-masking, there was no residue at all. I've also modified the wingtip slime lights to represent the longer RAAF (Lot 26???) version.

 

The last few things to do are the GBU-32's from Eduard and the wingtip AIM-9X's and single AIM-120C; the canopy actuator and the decoy cable boomerang blade. From memory the seats are from Quickboost,the decals are from Ronin and the laser JDAM's on the wings are from Attack Squadron.

 

Not far to go.

 

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Cheers,
Michael

Edited by Mick Drover
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17 hours ago, zigster said:

I'm not very keen on the markings ( RAAF choice, after all), but your model is cracking good in execution! 👍

Thanks Zigster. Good to hear it gets your approval!

 

1 hour ago, Romeo Alpha Yankee said:

NIce result Mick :thumbsup:

Thanks Ray! I'm keen to do a bigger version of the Super, same squadron but in different markings. I've got the Ronin 48th decals though I can't remember if its the Okra markings.

 

Mick

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On 2/12/2019 at 10:23 AM, Mick Drover said:

...

 

Thanks Ray! I'm keen to do a bigger version of the Super, same squadron but in different markings. I've got the Ronin 48th decals though I can't remember if its the Okra markings.

 

Mick

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1

I built a 1/48 Hasegawa kit some years ago with very early Southern Sky/Ronin decals, that is now at my son's place. I am yet to build a 1/72 version for myself.

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