best late Hornet kit in 1/72

[72modeler]

Looking into some future projects- can any of you Hornet experts out there (Not the DH kind, although I like that one much better!) share your thoughts on the subject on best kits for these three versions? Don't really care if fit is an issue, as it appears all of the kits released are a real challenge in that area, but which ones are the most accurate. I don' know that much about them steenkin' modern weenie cookers! I already have the kits listed below. I would sure appreciate some help!

Mike

 

Academy F/A-18C

Fujimi F/A-18A/C

Hasegawa F/A-18A, F/A-18D, F/A-18F, EA-18G

Italeri F/A-18A

 

 

 

[Silverkite]

Short answer Academy

Before Academy it was Hasegawa plus Italeri MLG wells

 

For the Academy kit you need/have to replace MLG struts with Italeri F-18E struts or something else for cheap or fix their error also have to do something for intake trunking and dropped flap/slats thing that no manufacture got it right

Fujimi spine proportions are off but it comes with earlier drop tanks and full (?) intake trunking

Italeri kit is just too basic and Hasegawa fuselage breakout is kinda problematic especially now that molds are getting old with warping and flash taking over

 

Luigi

[72modeler]

Thanks, Luigi!

 

What's wrong with the gear struts on the Academy kit?

Mike

[Silverkite]

Struts angle is 90° ish degree on the kit, it should be less or more than it (sorry I'm not a degree person lol) but unfortunately I can't find the discussion on ARC forums, might be as well elsewhere or lost inside my bookmark hell 😕

 

Samples are there, sadly I no longer own any Legacy Hornet from Hasegawa also I forgot to say that Academy MLG wheel wells are not shallow enough

 

https://imgur.com/a/1l325E5

 

Luigi

 

 

Edited June 30, 2019 by Silverkite

[72modeler]

Thanks for the photos, Luigi- I see what you mean about the angle of the main part of the LG strut- looks like it should be visibly greater than 90 degrees- now that I know what to look for, I can see if the kit struts can be altered or of I need to rob another kit... as luck would have it, I have an Italeri F-18 I got at a trade table a while back that was missing all of its wheels, so I could use the struts from that kit. I appreciate your help. Grazie molto!

Mike

 

 

 

 

[Silverkite]

you welcome. pretty sure there are better experts than me as Hornets are not my territory, it ticks me off that I can't track those discussions and also the WIP were the builder brought up those faults and the fixes. For a more later and upgraded Hornet you also have to check wing pylons as there are some A/M options for Austrialian or Canada users, plus everything else which escapes me (cockpit IP, antennas, tip rails etc)

 

Luigi

[CT7567]

On 6/29/2019 at 2:46 PM, 72modeler said:

Academy F/A-18C

Fujimi F/A-18A/C

Hasegawa F/A-18A, F/A-18D, F/A-18F, EA-18G

Italeri F/A-18A

 

Luigi's given you the rundown pretty well for "Legacy" Hornets (A/B/C/D and most export birds). Only note I would add is the ejection seat variations: Academy's tooling started as a C-model and thus has NACES (Martin Baker Mk 14) seats included. Early C/Ds and most A/Bs (excepting some exports and upgrades) have the SJU-5 (MB Mk 10 variant).  Several companies have done aftermarket SJU-5s, or you may be able to rob the Italeri Hornet if detail isn't critical.

 

The Hasegawa F and G you list are among the best Super Hornets - competition being from Revell (better detail but trickier fit due to engineering; no G variant available, if that's your preference) and Academy (in many respects best of the 3, but compromised in some details by being a snap-together kit).

 

 

[Silverkite]

7 hours ago, CT7567 said:

Luigi's given you the rundown pretty well for "Legacy" Hornets (A/B/C/D and most export birds). Only note I would add is the ejection seat variations: Academy's tooling started as a C-model and thus has NACES (Martin Baker Mk 14) seats included. Early C/Ds and most A/Bs (excepting some exports and upgrades) have the SJU-5 (MB Mk 10 variant).  Several companies have done aftermarket SJU-5s, or you may be able to rob the Italeri Hornet if detail isn't critical.

 

The Hasegawa F and G you list are among the best Super Hornets - competition being from Revell (better detail but trickier fit due to engineering; no G variant available, if that's your preference) and Academy (in many respects best of the 3, but compromised in some details by being a snap-together kit).

 

 

Completely skipped the part regarding the Super Bug, guess my eye filters are still working

You are right about Academy seats, I don't remember if their first F/A-18A had a extra sprue with a different seat or not in any case the aftermarket options got it covered.

For the Super Hornet I was aware that Revell did something wrong not only about its engineering but also in terms of shapes?As for Academy SH I still have to buy one, I do have a couple of Hasegawa Super Bugs but I'm not planning to build an empire out of them

 

Luigi

[CT7567]

7 hours ago, Silverkite said:

You are right about Academy seats, I don't remember if their first F/A-18A had a extra sprue with a different seat

I can't lay hands on the plastic at the moment, but my recollection (confirmed by online previews) is that the Academy A/B* kits only include the NACES seats.  The way the kit was engineered it has all the major options for an early or late C/D airframe in the initial release with exception of the seat change. 

 

When the A kits were issued they added a new sprue with the A tails, external "L-brackets" (added at base of the vertical stabilizers on most A/Bs), and the early centerline pylon.  All the other A vs C features are a matter of optional parts/inserts or simply leaving off select details (antennae, etc).

 

*I use the phrase "A/B" and "C/D" to refer to the respective airframe generations, but to date I don't believe Academy has issued any B (first generation two-seater). You can cross-kit to get a family model of the earlier vintage.

 

In browsing for the aforementioned previews I found what may be the ARC thread Luigi referred to. In any case it's a helpful comparison of some of the Legacy kits:

 

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/156380-acadamy-hasegawa-and-fujimi-cf-18-comparison-build/

[Jure Miljevic]

Hello Mike

I built Revell Super Hornet as the fifth evaluation aircraft twenty or so years ago.

It was an OOB review build and, for obvious reasons, I gave the model away almost immediately after I took this picture. Fit was not satisfactory, especially so around and inside intakes. To mask somewhat bare cockpit I put in a pilot figure and to save time I buttoned everything up, did not bother with weapons and drop tanks and put the model on a stand. In my old review I noted the kit was about three mm too long (not too bad), although I vaguely remember some issues with wingspan I was not certain about and did not mentioned it. Unfortunately there is not much more I can tell about this kit as I threw it together as fast as I could to get it out of the way. Cheers

Jure

[CT7567]

1 hour ago, Jure Miljevic said:

Hello Mike

I built Revell Super Hornet as the fifth evaluation aircraft twenty or so years ago.

It was an OOB review build and, for obvious reasons, I gave the model away almost immediately after I took this picture. Fit was not satisfactory, especially so around and inside intakes. To mask somewhat bare cockpit I put in a pilot figure and to save time I buttoned everything up, did not bother with weapons and drop tanks and put the model on a stand. In my old review I noted the kit was about three mm too long (not too bad), although I vaguely remember some issues with wingspan I was not certain about and did not mentioned it. Unfortunately there is not much more I can tell about this kit as I threw it together as fast as I could to get it out of the way. Cheers

Jure

This brings up an issue I should've mentioned earlier: Italeri's Super Hornets were rather mediocre, apparently based on their Legacy Hornet tooling and carrying some features not on the actual aircraft - most notably the dorsal speed brake between the tails. Before creating their own, far better tooling circa 2009, Revell reboxed the Italreri E version (kit #04605). I don't believe they did the F.  Italeri's Super Hornet was also reboxed by Tamiya.

 

Revell E - Italeri rebox

 

Revell E - new Revell tooling

 

From the "twenty years ago" date and the airbrake visible, it's clear the model @Jure Miljevic posted is the Italeri rebox.

 

Edited July 1, 2019 by CT7567
Corrected link

[Matt P]

I have just finished the discontinued 2009 issue Revell f/a-18e and it goes together pretty well if you are careful with the intakes. 

 

Just started a hasegawa tf-18A and it is very basic compared to the Revell kit. 

 

Found both used on ebay for under £10 each 😊

 

Edited July 1, 2019 by Matt P