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1:72 Hasegawa F/A-18C Hornet VFA-122 USN Centennial


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Hi Bill, hoping the baby stuff went ok, we'll understand if you're awol for a bit.

I'm enjoying this build a lot though it is making my oob build look increasingly doubtful. Who'd have thought all that stuff. :unsure:

Steve.

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First things first! Dexter Joseph Hasto entered the building today - that's grandchild number five for Old Man Navy Bird and wifey, and grandson number two. Mother, son, and hubby are all doing well. I'm so glad it wasn't drawn out - the last stage of hard labor and pushing only lasted about half an hour. I'm so proud of her.    ❤️

 

Since I was not able to be with my daughter due to Covid restrictions at the hospital, I figured I might as well do some more on the Hornet. The second main gear bay was installed and as far as I can tell it aligns well with the first. This will be important when the gear legs go on so she doesn't sit cattawampus.

 

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I remember from the first time I built this kit that the rear fuselage ended up a bit too narrow and needed a spreader. The same happened here so I obliged accordingly.

 

IMG_5817

 

When you think about how Hasegawa engineered the bottom fuselage, sidewalls, and top fuselage, I wouldn't be surprised if every kit needed this or some other kind of more solid junction between the top and the sides. Next, I painted the inside of the intakes white (luckily with this scheme there is no wraparound of the camo colour into the intake). The engine faces were popped in and I immediately noticed that the lip around the outside of the engines was larger than the trunk - out came the sanding sticks again as this interfered with the fit. Although the engine faces are not even close to being deep enough I think it's an improvement over what came with the kit.

 

IMG_5822

 

IMG_5823

 

While I had the white paint loaded up in my single action, external mix, siphon feed airbrush (yes, I am that old!) I sprayed the gear bays to see how they'll look.

 

IMG_5820

 

IMG_5821

 

IMG_5819

 

IMG_5818

 

So what do you think? Was all that extra effort worth it? I think so, and adding some paint really starts to bring out the amazing detail that Aires put into the casting masters. Remember, this is 1:72 scale mates. My only fear now is that I have to do all that detail painting in the bays prior to applying a wash. Time for the magnifying glass! I'm looking forward to see what this will look like when it's finished.

 

I went through every page in every legacy F/A-18 book I have (and I have a bunch) and I found several photos of parked aircraft with no crew, canopy open, and the flaps NOT lowered. Certainly most show the flaps down, but these photos show that at least it was possible. (I suppose the shots could have been snapped before all the hydraulic pressure bled off.) Or, the flaps were locked up somehow. In any event, I don't think I'm going to lower the flaps. I am going to hack off the elevators as I've ordered resin replacements that can be posed.

 

And, of course, I'll keep thinking about those flaps...      :wall:

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. Grandson number one, Carter William Smith, had another airbrushing lesson this week. He's getting the hang of it even though he's only five. He sprayed up a tic-tac-toe, er, I mean naughts and crosses, board so he can annoy me by cheating when we next play. He's clever - I like how they learn to cheat as soon as they learn the rules.

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Intakes are in. I'll need a tiny bit of filler to blend them into the fuselage proper, but overall they look pretty good.

 

IMG_5824

 

IMG_5825

 

OK, enough of this stuff. Off to the cockpit!     :)  :)  :)

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Alright, first off: congratulations grandpa!! :thumbsup:

Second, the wheel bays look a huge improvement over the kit parts :clap:

And those intakes are just spot on :worthy:

 

As for the detail painting in the wheel wells, when I do that kind of stuff, I like to apply a quick dark wash to bring up the edges and help with the brush painting. And I use an Optivisor. I'm getting old....

 

Ciao 

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2 minutes ago, giemme said:

Alright, first off: congratulations grandpa!! :thumbsup:

Second, the wheel bays look a huge improvement over the kit parts :clap:

And those intakes are just spot on :worthy:

 

Everything Giorgio said goes for me too Bill.

 

3 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

And, of course, I'll keep thinking about those flaps...      :wall:

 

Just cos the cockpit drill says lower the flaps before engine shut down doesn’t mean there can’t be some maverick individualist, non-conformist, narcissistic type out there bucking authority and leaving the flaps up Bill!

 

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Just catching up on this--wow!  First, congrats on the new addition to the family--really happy to hear all went well.  I dont typically do light greys, but if I did, I would hope they would turn out like this 🤣.  Yes, I think the resin was totally worth it--particularly given your landing gear walk through.  I really am impressed where you are going with this--would be cool to see it next to a time period Hellcat.  Best, ERwin 

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14 hours ago, giemme said:

Alright, first off: congratulations grandpa!! :thumbsup:

Second, the wheel bays look a huge improvement over the kit parts :clap:

And those intakes are just spot on :worthy:

 

As for the detail painting in the wheel wells, when I do that kind of stuff, I like to apply a quick dark wash to bring up the edges and help with the brush painting. And I use an Optivisor. I'm getting old....

 

Thanks Giorgio. The new guy is a cute little rascal, although I've only seen him on my Dick Tracy two-way wrist TV, er, I mean, my phone. So far he's pretty quiet but that will end as soon as wifey and I start babysitting.    :)

 

I don't have an Optivisor, so I use pretty strong reading glasses that let me focus on something about two inches in front of my face. I have a magnifying glass (Sherlock Homes type) that goes into one of the five extra hand things, and combining that with my Mr. Hobby Mr. Brush (20/0) I can paint the tiny details. But I have to do it before I drink my 12 cups of coffee in the morning or after I've had some single malt to calm the nerves.    🍷

 

14 hours ago, Fritag said:

Just cos the cockpit drill says lower the flaps before engine shut down doesn’t mean there can’t be some maverick individualist, non-conformist, narcissistic type out there bucking authority and leaving the flaps up Bill!

 

Perfect! Fritag says I can leave the flaps up. He's the lawyer, so he knows the rules. That saves me a ton of work.     :)

 

14 hours ago, VT Red Sox Fan said:

Just catching up on this--wow!  First, congrats on the new addition to the family--really happy to hear all went well.  I dont typically do light greys, but if I did, I would hope they would turn out like this 🤣.  Yes, I think the resin was totally worth it--particularly given your landing gear walk through.  I really am impressed where you are going with this--would be cool to see it next to a time period Hellcat.  Best, ERwin 

 

Thanks Erwin. I agree that it looks pretty good so far, but remind me not to do it again! Sanding and grinding are my least favourite part of modelling, and it seems that's all I've been doing so far. But at the end of the day I'll think we'll have a unique little F/A-18. And I have the Eduard 1:72 F6F in the stash - it has markings for VF-83 off the Essex which are quite similar (geometric shapes). Maybe some day.

 

Cheers,

Bill (NY Cubs Fan - they won before I died!!)

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Congratulations on becoming a grandad again!

 

I’ll also echo everyone’s comments re the resin additions and your efforts in getting them fitting so well.

 

Edge

 

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32 minutes ago, Edge said:

I’ll also echo everyone’s comments re the resin additions and your efforts in getting them fitting so well.

 

There is no try - only do!     :)

 

About halfway through I was beginning to wonder if it all would fit. It did, but it's tight in places. I don't envy Aires having to make these resin bits - you have to try and replicate the original all the while trying to make it fit in the model. For higher realism you end up having to remove a lot of the injection moulded detail so you can replace it with the resin. A right royal pain in the behind, but it sure do look nice.

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Congratulations on the new arrival Bill.

Love your under carriage bays and intakes well worth all your time and trouble!

 

  Stay safe             Roger 

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14 hours ago, Fritag said:

...some maverick individualist, non-conformist, narcissistic type out there bucking authority...

 

Come to think of it, that sounds a bit like me.    :dinosaur:

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Everything have blend in very nicely Bill! I guess now it's time to bring all the parts together; wings, upper/lower fuselage, horizontal/vertical stabilisers, radome....

 

Mind the wings/fuselage joints and all the angles.

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Hey hey !! Congratulations Grandpa Bill...

So, another Navy bird fan on the world !!!

Congratulation too for your bug !! Great achievement with the Aires parts !!

And great choice of colour scheme...

Can't wait to see it finished !!

Sincerely.

CC

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21 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

While I had the white paint loaded up in my single action, external mix, siphon feed airbrush (yes, I am that old!)

I'm with you, Bro' as I have worn out two Paasche H-1's! As Missus 72modeler likes to say, I'm God's Older Brother! :giggle:

Mike (Like the dinosaurs, extinct and loving it!)

 

 

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10 hours ago, Shalako said:

Everything have blend in very nicely Bill! I guess now it's time to bring all the parts together; wings, upper/lower fuselage, horizontal/vertical stabilisers, radome....

Mind the wings/fuselage joints and all the angles.

 

Patience my son. Got to do the pit first, then I can mind the gap. Er, angles. Speaking of angles, I once saw a 1:32 F-14 that was beautifully crafted and painted. But the vertical fins were absolutely vertical - like on an F-15. Kind of ruined it for me. 

 

10 hours ago, corsaircorp said:

Hey hey !! Congratulations Grandpa Bill...

So, another Navy bird fan on the world !!!

Congratulation too for your bug !! Great achievement with the Aires parts !!

And great choice of colour scheme...

Can't wait to see it finished !!

 

Thanks. I've been on a fancy or unusual paint scheme kick lately. Not sure why - maybe it's because I have 487 different shades of low-viz camouflage grey paint in my stash and they all look the same.     :drunk:

 

8 hours ago, 72modeler said:

I'm with you, Bro' as I have worn out two Paasche H-1's! As Missus 72modeler likes to say, I'm God's Older Brother! :giggle:

 

I have three Paasche H airbrushes, a Paasche Talon, and a Harder & Steenbeck Infinity CR-X Special Autograph Edition. For sure the H&S is the absolute best, but I use the Paasche H for 98% of my work. And that is no joke. I have several replacement sets for the H-1, H-3, and H-5 needles, colour adjusting parts, and aircaps. I stocked up on these when Paasche decided to combine H-1 and H-3 into one size which I didn't think was a good idea.

 

All of my brushes are siphon feed as I really dislike the colour cup setting on top of the airbrush. Maybe I'm just contrarian about that, but this whole bit about using lower air pressure due to the gravity feed seems odd - just turn up the regulator if you need more pressure. We're certainly not talking about much pressure anyway. My regulator is set at 20 psi and I never change it. But, as they say, horses for courses. I'll go get my shovel.    🏇

 

I didn't know God had an older brother. So I guess it's a quadrinity then?     :coat:

 

*****

 

No modelling on the Hornet today as my five-year old grandson insisted that he build a model. I gave him the 1:72 ZTS Plastyk kit of the Gloster Javelin (dreadful attempt at a Flatiron Drag Master). I cleaned up all the parts and had him use some old Mr. Cement S that I had. Other than wanting to immediately play with it before the glue had a chance to set up, he surprised me when he said that he didn't want to build it like the picture - he wanted to add more details. I wonder who he's related to. Anyway, he's building it like the picture for now. He'll be lucky if I let him paint it. I wonder if I have a roller small enough?

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Thanks everyone. Mom, Dad and Dexter are home from the hospital so today will be my first chance to meet the little guy. Based on the hand gesture, I'd say he's ready to meet the world on his terms!

 

dexter 2

 

Cheers,

Bill

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On 4/20/2021 at 3:29 AM, Navy Bird said:

 

Patience my son. Got to do the pit first, then I can mind the gap. Er, angles.

:clif: no time to waste grandpa. We don't have a big age difference. Only about a decade and a half.

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You know Bill you are making excellent progress on this build especially considering the after market pieces you are adding to it. Young Dexter looks like a handsome little fellow, glad to hear that he and his Mom are doing well. 

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Really nice work Bill. I have the Aires cockpit and great bays for the 1/72 Academy kit, I don't suppose you happen to know whether they will fit, as the 'recommended' kit for them is Hasegawa?

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10 hours ago, Billy54 said:

Young Dexter looks like a handsome little fellow

 

Someone mentioned that he looks like his grandfather. Must be the other one.     :)

 

*****

 

A little work accomplished today - mainly just the instrument panel. The resin from Aires is very 3D, just like the real thing, and I figured I would paint the details. After a few attempts at 1:72 knobs that are tiny in the real aircraft, I decided to have a look at the Hasegawa decal sheet. They of course had included an instrument panel decal (not entirely authentic) but it was designed for the flat bit of plastic included in their kit. I didn't know which was worse - continue trying to paint the resin, or cut up the Hasegawa decal panel into tiny bits and use them. I chose the latter.    :doh:

 

IMG_5827

 

In case you're wondering, that's 16 different bits of sticker there. I kinda like it though, and I think it will be OK. I need to add the PE rudder pedals, and do a bit of detail painting. I'm working on the cockpit itself now, using the same technique. By the way, I used Mr. Mark Setter for the first time on the panel, and it did a good job of sucking everything down. There is still a spot or two that needs a good #11 blade poke and some Mr. Mark Softer to complete the effect.

 

Since my model will be parked, canopy open, no one in the cockpit, and the flaps up, I've decided not to worry about why the flat panel displays would be all lit up. They would look pretty boring if they were just black...besides, accuracy is highly overrated.

 

Cheers,

Bill

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5 hours ago, James G said:

Really nice work Bill. I have the Aires cockpit and great bays for the 1/72 Academy kit, I don't suppose you happen to know whether they will fit, as the 'recommended' kit for them is Hasegawa?

 

Oops, just saw this. The quick answer is I don't know, as I've never seen the Academy kit in the flesh. Just pictures. Maybe if you do some searching through the various forums you might find someone who has tried it. Or, you could post a request in Military Aircraft Modelling Discussion By Era/Modern forum asking if anyone has tried it.

 

Cheers,

Bill

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