John B (Sc) Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 HI all. I have been building an Italeri F/A-18E Super Hornet. (If you are wondering - don't do it, unless you have LOTS of filler available. My next will be the Revell offering!) IRather than give it the deep six it so deserves, I am battling on. Amongst the various weapons offered with the kit is a strange modification to the port lower fuselage side mounting for the AIM120. This is replaced with a fairing and a long tube, bulged at the rear, with a clear lens at the front. Clearly intended to be some sort of sensor, but what? I can;t find anything similar on the photos I have seen, so is it an Italeri oddity? Any help appreciated - it;s just idle curiosity but I am reluctant to add on something I know nowt about at all. Oh for the long lost days when kit instructions named all the parts, some times in detail ! John B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard E Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 It might be a Raytheon AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR (Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking Infrared) precision targeting pod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 (edited) Agree, most probably the ATFLIR. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN/ASQ-228_ATFLIR Alex Edit: a funny kit, it even has an airbrake where the original hasn't got one... Edited February 15, 2020 by alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 A photo would help, but it could also be the AN/ASQ-228's predecessor, the AN/AAS-38 Nite Hawk. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN/AAS-38 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AN_AAS_38B.jpg 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B (Sc) Posted February 15, 2020 Author Share Posted February 15, 2020 (edited) Thank you all. Alan P's guess was correct - Italeri have provided an earlier piece of kit, the ASQ-173 LST, which is what Alan's picture shows. ( Wikipedia shows this along with the AAS-38) Given the age of the kit, this makes sense. (True, a photo would have helped.) I may add an ASQ-228 to my next build - looks like something quite possible to scratch build. I agree - it is a funny kit. Very curate's egg - some good, some bad. Odd was the way fuselage has been split, also the wing-fuselage junction with complete;y useless (to me) locating pins. Made flush assembly impossible for me Much filler required... Regards, John B Edited February 16, 2020 by John B (Sc) missing word 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B (Sc) Posted February 16, 2020 Author Share Posted February 16, 2020 (from Alex) Edit: a funny kit, it even has an airbrake where the original hasn't got one... Alex - I didn't see any airbrake on the kit I have, and as you say the original hasn't got one at all. (In the conventional sense) Reading some early reviews and looking at pictures online, I got the impression there may have been two different kits issued by Italeri. Where does the airbrake appear on the kit you have - or have seen ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 the newer tool Italeri Super Hornet has a re-tooled rear fueslage without the airbrake: I assume since the Growler kit is out... good job on correcting that ! that is the old sprue: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B (Sc) Posted February 23, 2020 Author Share Posted February 23, 2020 (edited) Thanks exdraken. That makes it clear - I have the later variant of the kit. Does anyone know what the two shallow recesses on top of the LERX sections are, just in front of those vents, and why the covers are provided as separate items? What sits under there? Cheers, John B Edited February 23, 2020 by John B (Sc) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted February 23, 2020 Share Posted February 23, 2020 I assume you mean those: I think some kid of speed brakes .. relatively rarely seen deployed though https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffwelker/8575918839/ http://www.zone-five.net/showthread.php?t=16840 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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