1/48 - Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet & EA-18G Growler by HobbyBoss - F/A-18E/F & EA-18G released

[Stephen]

15 hours ago, B.sin said:

Stephen, perhaps you can give us your assessment of the kit when it arrives? Thank you!   BTW, who has it in  stock?

 

Hobbyeasy.

[B.sin]

On 5/10/2021 at 6:34 AM, Stephen said:

Hobbyeasy.

😀

[Stephen]

@B.sin

 

I received the kit in the post today,  there are pictures of the sprues already so I won't post anymore. I'm cross referring to the Modern Super Hornet Guide by Jake Melampy (2nd edition) which coincidentally also arrived today. The following opinions are my own .

 

  I've had a quick browse through the instruction manual and out of the box it looks like you can build a later Block F/A-18E Super Hornet it's obviously set up for the production of the F/A-18F and EA-18G variants through optional parts. The manual doesn't show any parts as not for use so the two seat versions will have additional sprues for example the canopy parts are on two different sprues , sprue P which has the rear part can be swapped for the larger two seat canopy while retaining the front part.

 

The fuselage is comprised of five main parts and has the later "bard stack" ECS vents moulded on the rear of the fuselage top part, these were added from Block 27 production onwards but were retrofitted to earlier production aircraft and by June 2014 all aircraft had the later vents. There is a separate insert for the spine which I've never seen on a Super Hornet kit before.   The forward fuselage parts have an avionics bay open on both sides of the fuselage, both of these bays can be displayed open. The "pizza box" also known as the Combined Interrogator Transponder  part is a separate insert on the nose in front of the windscreen as is the gun muzzle for the M61A2 Vulcan cannon. The radome can be displayed open and has the urethane boot moulded on to the radome depicted by a recessed line just before the tip. This was on aircraft fitted with the original mechanical scanned radar, later block aircraft are fitted with an AESA radar and the urethane boot is missing. To build an AESA aircraft it would simply be a matter of filling the panel line on the radome.  The radome can be posed open to display the radar which appears to be the APG-79 AESA going by pictures I found on Google.

 

The cockpit tub has detail moulded on it and two additional side panels are added to the front, sidewalls are included for each side although not as detailed. The majority of the cockpit detail looks quite good  the instrument panel  has the multifunction displays moulded on and decals are provided for the panel . There's an SJU-17 ejection seat which looks pretty fair and this an has etched seat harness to be added.  A HUD made up of three plastic and two etched parts is provided for the coaming.

 

There are full length intakes provided and these are comprised of two halves for each split lengthwise. one of each half has an ejector pin mark on it fairly close to the front which would have to be filled although they're not too deep.  There are two GE F414 engines provided which look quite nicely detailed although most won't be seen after installation. both open and closed nozzles are provided . The main undercarriage bays require five internal parts to be added to each bay. The landing gear looks OK although the main gear legs are split into halves , wheels are plastic (no rubber tyres) The nose gear has a choice of normal or launch position  , two different nose gear legs are provided to cater to either choice. According to the book the Super Hornet has acquired new nose gear doors which have a ribbed structure inside and are lighter and stronger than the original doors. the kit has the original doors.

 

The kit gives you the options for folded or extended wings , the flaps can be posed up or down and the rudders can be posed in either neutral or deflected position. According to the Guide  the formation lights at the wingtip missile rails come in two different styles, the original trapezoidal design and from block 29 the light panel is slightly longer at the front. In this kit the panels  are of the earlier design. 

 

There are a total of eleven stores pylons comprising six underwing pylons ,one centreline  pylon as well as an additional station on each side of the intakes from left to right they're numbered one to eleven. The intake stations (5&7) are used for the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile , alternatively the left station (5)can have an adaptor mounted for carriage of the AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR targeting pod. The kit provides adaptor for both left and right stations but according to my references the  pod is only carried on the left (station 5). 

 

There are quite a lot of stores provided in the kit the weapons sprues (K and L)come in pairs .

 

4 x FPU-11 480 gallon external tanks 

2 x D-704 Air to Air refuelling pod. While the Super Hornet does routinely carry a pod this is a later design designated  A/A42R-1 ARS. The kit item is an earlier design used on the S-3 Viking , A-6 Intruder and A-7 Corsair. The item in the kit can actually have the drogue shown as deployed via a length of vinyl hose provided.

2 x MER multiple ejector racks known on the Super Hornet as the BRU-41 IMER . These are only used for carriage of Mk-76 ,BDU-48 and LGTR (laser guided training rounds) and are carried on stations 3 & 9.

2 x dual vertical ejector racks which I believe are supposed to be the CVER (Canted Vertical Ejector Rack) however, these look to be the vertical ejector rack carried by the the legacy F/A-18A/B/C/D Hornet and superseded by the CVER.

2 x TER Triple Ejector Rack I can't find any reference to them being used on the Super Hornet.

2 x dual missile rail for AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles mounted to a central adaptor .This looks very similar to the LAU-114/A dual AAM launcher carried by the A-10 Warthog , not sure why included .

 

6 x AGM-88 HARM missiles. These require an adaptor LAU-118? this isn't included on any of the weapon sprues but it's not shown as used on the weapon assembly pages of the instructions. For the EA-18G release.

6 x AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles

6 x AIM-120C/D AMRAAM missiles, instructions say AIM-120B are included but all have the clipped fins of the AIM-120C/D

6 x Mk83 1000lb bombs with BSU-85 fins .These don't have the thermal protection coating used on USN bombs.

6 x GBU-12 500lb Paveway II Laser Guided Bombs (LGB) . No thermal coating 

4 x GBU-10 2000lb Paveway II LGB, no thermal coating and look suspect in size and shape.

2 x GBU-31 2000lb JDAM these have the BLU-109 warhead .

2 x GBU-24 2000lb LGB with BLU-109 warhead.

 

If you're not happy with the weapons options there are many aftermarket alternatives available  from Flying Leathernecks, Wolfpack Design, Eduard , Meng to name but a few. 

 

There are decals provided for the stores and a paint guide including AGM-88 The AIM-9X are shown as inert rounds signified by blue bands for warhead and motor while all the others are live rounds.

 

Decals: There are six decal options provided which is not bad, there's a mix of colour and line birds.

 

#1 VFA-31 166777 Modex 101 USS Theodore Roosevelt 2009 

#2 VA-105 166651 Modex 401 USS Dwight D Eisenhower 2015

#3 VFA-192 165782 Modex 300 USS George Washington 2015

#4 Blue Angels #1 165536

#5 VFA-31 166776 Modex 100 USS George W Bush 2010

#6 Top Gun: Maverick  aircraft used by Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in the forthcoming (much delayed) feature film of the same name. 

 

For reference material I wholeheartedly  recommend The Modern Super Hornet Guide by Jake Melampy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 19, 2021 by Stephen

[SAT69]

Thank you Stephen for a fine review.  

[B.sin]

On 5/19/2021 at 11:19 AM, Stephen said:

@B.sin

 

I received the kit in the post today,  there are pictures of the sprues already so I won't post anymore. I'm cross referring to the Modern Super Hornet Guide by Jake Melampy (2nd edition) which coincidentally also arrived today. The following opinions are my own .

 

  I've had a quick browse through the instruction manual and out of the box it looks like you can build a later Block F/A-18E Super Hornet it's obviously set up for the production of the F/A-18F and EA-18G variants through optional parts. The manual doesn't show any parts as not for use so the two seat versions will have additional sprues for example the canopy parts are on two different sprues , sprue P which has the rear part can be swapped for the larger two seat canopy while retaining the front part.

 

The fuselage is comprised of five main parts and has the later "bard stack" ECS vents moulded on the rear of the fuselage top part, these were added from Block 27 production onwards but were retrofitted to earlier production aircraft and by June 2014 all aircraft had the later vents. There is a separate insert for the spine which I've never seen on a Super Hornet kit before.   The forward fuselage parts have an avionics bay open on both sides of the fuselage, both of these bays can be displayed open. The "pizza box" also known as the Combined Interrogator Transponder  part is a separate insert on the nose in front of the windscreen as is the gun muzzle for the M61A2 Vulcan cannon. The radome can be displayed open and has the urethane boot moulded on to the radome depicted by a recessed line just before the tip. This was on aircraft fitted with the original mechanical scanned radar, later block aircraft are fitted with an AESA radar and the urethane boot is missing. To build an AESA aircraft it would simply be a matter of filling the panel line on the radome.  The radome can be posed open to display the radar which appears to be the APG-79 AESA going by pictures I found on Google.

 

The cockpit tub has detail moulded on it and two additional side panels are added to the front, sidewalls are included for each side although not as detailed. The majority of the cockpit detail looks quite good  the instrument panel  has the multifunction displays moulded on and decals are provided for the panel . There's an SJU-17 ejection seat which looks pretty fair and this an has etched seat harness to be added.  A HUD made up of three plastic and two etched parts is provided for the coaming.

 

There are full length intakes provided and these are comprised of two halves for each split lengthwise. one of each half has an ejector pin mark on it fairly close to the front which would have to be filled although they're not too deep.  There are two GE F414 engines provided which look quite nicely detailed although most won't be seen after installation. both open and closed nozzles are provided . The main undercarriage bays require five internal parts to be added to each bay. The landing gear looks OK although the main gear legs are split into halves , wheels are plastic (no rubber tyres) The nose gear has a choice of normal or launch position  , two different nose gear legs are provided to cater to either choice. According to the book the Super Hornet has acquired new nose gear doors which have a ribbed structure inside and are lighter and stronger than the original doors. the kit has the original doors.

 

The kit gives you the options for folded or extended wings , the flaps can be posed up or down and the rudders can be posed in either neutral or deflected position. According to the Guide  the formation lights at the wingtip missile rails come in two different styles, the original trapezoidal design and from block 29 the light panel is slightly longer at the front. In this kit the panels  are of the earlier design. 

 

There are a total of eleven stores pylons comprising six underwing pylons ,one centreline  pylon as well as an additional station on each side of the intakes from left to right they're numbered one to eleven. The intake stations (5&7) are used for the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile , alternatively the left station (5)can have an adaptor mounted for carriage of the AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR targeting pod. The kit provides adaptor for both left and right stations but according to my references the  pod is only carried on the left (station 5). 

 

There are quite a lot of stores provided in the kit the weapons sprues (K and L)come in pairs .

 

4 x FPU-11 480 gallon external tanks 

2 x D-704 Air to Air refuelling pod. While the Super Hornet does routinely carry a pod this is a later design designated  A/A42R-1 ARS. The kit item is an earlier design used on the S-3 Viking , A-6 Intruder and A-7 Corsair. The item in the kit can actually have the drogue shown as deployed via a length of vinyl hose provided.

2 x MER multiple ejector racks known on the Super Hornet as the BRU-41 IMER . These are only used for carriage of Mk-76 ,BDU-48 and LGTR (laser guided training rounds) and are carried on stations 3 & 9.

2 x dual vertical ejector racks which I believe are supposed to be the CVER (Canted Vertical Ejector Rack) however, these look to be the vertical ejector rack carried by the the legacy F/A-18A/B/C/D Hornet and superseded by the CVER.

2 x TER Triple Ejector Rack I can't find any reference to them being used on the Super Hornet.

2 x dual missile rail for AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles mounted to a central adaptor .This looks very similar to the LAU-114/A dual AAM launcher carried by the A-10 Warthog , not sure why included .

 

6 x AGM-88 HARM missiles. These require an adaptor LAU-118? this isn't included on any of the weapon sprues but it's not shown as used on the weapon assembly pages of the instructions. For the EA-18G release.

6 x AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles

6 x AIM-120C/D AMRAAM missiles, instructions say AIM-120B are included but all have the clipped fins of the AIM-120C/D

6 x Mk83 1000lb bombs with BSU-85 fins .These don't have the thermal protection coating used on USN bombs.

6 x GBU-12 500lb Paveway II Laser Guided Bombs (LGB) . No thermal coating 

4 x GBU-10 2000lb Paveway II LGB, no thermal coating and look suspect in size and shape.

2 x GBU-31 2000lb JDAM these have the BLU-109 warhead .

2 x GBU-24 2000lb LGB with BLU-109 warhead.

 

If you're not happy with the weapons options there are many aftermarket alternatives available  from Flying Leathernecks, Wolfpack Design, Eduard , Meng to name but a few. 

 

There are decals provided for the stores and a paint guide including AGM-88 The AIM-9X are shown as inert rounds signified by blue bands for warhead and motor while all the others are live rounds.

 

Decals: There are six decal options provided which is not bad, there's a mix of colour and line birds.

 

#1 VFA-31 166777 Modex 101 USS Theodore Roosevelt 2009 

#2 VA-105 166651 Modex 401 USS Dwight D Eisenhower 2015

#3 VFA-192 165782 Modex 300 USS George Washington 2015

#4 Blue Angels #1 165536

#5 VFA-31 166776 Modex 100 USS George W Bush 2010

#6 Top Gun: Maverick  aircraft used by Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in the forthcoming (much delayed) feature film of the same name. 

 

For reference material I wholeheartedly  recommend The Modern Super Hornet Guide by Jake Melampy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephen, 

           I apologize for not responding to you sooner. 

Thank you for the fine review. 

Sound's like a nice kit. 

 

Brad

Edited May 28, 2021 by B.sin

[Homebee]

Release expected in China in late August 2021 - ref. 85813 - Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet

Source: http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=article&a=show&id=187&l=en

 

 

V.P.

Edited September 2, 2021 by Homebee

[Homebee]

Release expected in late September 2021 in China - ref. 85814 - Boeing EA-18G Growler

Source: http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=article&a=show&id=189&l=en

Box art

 

 

V.P.

[B.sin]

Nice box art!

[Homebee]

Released - ref. 85813 - Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet

Source:http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=1625&l=en

 

 

 

 

 

V.P.

Edited November 9, 2021 by Homebee

[Stephen]

Two of the options VFA-103 and Top Gun: Maverick  are the same as the Meng F/A-18F.

[Collin]

Interested in how these HB kits build up and look when finished. 

Value for the $$$?
 

Cheers

Collin

[Calum]

As anyone seen a review that covers accuracy of the HB superhornet?

 

[B.sin]

13 hours ago, Calum said:

As anyone seen a review that covers accuracy of the HB superhornet?

 

Their are some reviews on YouTube.  One is by Phil Flory, 

he likes the kit, more then the Meng.  There's another quick build video that shows the model finished at the end. Looks good,  so far. Fit of the part seemed to be very good also, maybe not Tamiya fit,  but very good. 

 

Brad

Edited September 3, 2021 by B.sin

[exdraken]

Nice selection of markings!

[VMA131Marine]

9 hours ago, B.sin said:

One is by Floyd Flory, 

he likes the kit, more then the Meng.  There's another quick build video that shows the model finished at the end.

Floyd Flory?!?! 
 

Would that be Phil Flory’s American cousin?

[B.sin]

57 minutes ago, VMA131Marine said:

Floyd Flory?!?! 
 

Would that be Phil Flory’s American cousin?

Oh dear,  my bad!

[tonyp]

15 hours ago, Stephen said:

Two of the options VFA-103 and Top Gun: Maverick  are the same as the Meng F/A-18F.

There were three Hornets painted up for Tom's jet. The "hero" jet is a single seat Boeing F/A-18E, BuNo. 165667; and a two-seater F/A-18F, BuNo. 165796 for shots of Tom in the back back to make it look like he is in an E. So same same but different.

[Homebee]

Released in China - ref. 85814 - Boeing EA-18G Growler - released

Source: http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=1633&l=en

 

 

V.P.

Edited September 30, 2021 by Homebee

[Homebee]

In box review - ref. 85814 - Boeing EA-18G Growler in your favourite forum: 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235104285-ea-18g-growler-85814-148/

 

V.P.

[exdraken]

Thanks, does not look bad...

Ejection seat us a bit strange... hmmm

And why include 4 weapons sprues when just needing a pair of Harm and Amraam missiles?? ( that do not look great by the way...) that is a waste of resources, shipping space and cost etc...  maybe not relevant though in China...

let's see when people start to wakeup!

[-Ian-]

1 hour ago, exdraken said:

 

And why include 4 weapons sprues when just needing a pair of Harm and Amraam missiles?? ( that do not look great by the way...) that is a waste of resources, shipping space and cost etc...  maybe not relevant though in China...

let's see when people start to wakeup!

Probably cheaper to do that than tool a new weapons sprue specifically for this boxing.

 

I do agree about the waste of resources but can understand why they did it.

[exdraken]

45 minutes ago, -Ian- said:

Probably cheaper to do that than tool a new weapons sprue specifically for this boxing.

 

I do agree about the waste of resources but can understand why they did it.

maybe but very short sighted...

the box need to be ~3cm / 2 inch higher that whay...  that is about 15% more I'd assume....

[Homebee]

In box review - ref. 85813 - Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet in your favourite forum

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235104405-fa-18f-super-hornet-85813-148-hobbyboss-via-creative-models/

 

V.P.

Edited January 8, 2022 by Homebee