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Academy RAAF F/A-18A


Pappy

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19 hours ago, gingerbob said:

Oh dear- glad it (almost) escaped damage.  What's the boxed in and "shaded" rectangle at the wing root- looks like an area you thought you had to cut away, or something?

 

18 hours ago, modelling minion said:

Wow Pappy, she's really come together very quickly and very nicely.

The PE behind the cockpit will look very nice when painted.

A real shame about the accident and the damage to the missile rail but at least it is only in that area and as you can say you can always use the original kit part.

You most certainly have.

 

Thanks Craig, The kit detail was pretty good but the separate mesh screen and the presence of the canopy locking hook details tipped me over the edge. As for the damage I think I got off lucky

 

 

10 hours ago, Wings unlevel said:

Amazing build unfolding Pappy.

 

Re the NLG launch bar story, if we really wanted to lose weight we could have bought/launched the Northrop F-18L…

 

Thanks WU.

 

I actually briefly entertained building an F/A-18L when thinking of a subject for this GB but it had mojo killer writen all over it. It was marketed at non-Navy air arms but it ended in an acrimonious argument between Northrop and McDD and was eventually scrapped, which was a shame as it would have been lighter but with a similar payload. Fortunately the RAAF did not opt for it as it would have been left operating an unsupported airframe with no development prospects and would likely have to transition to Hornet anyway

 

 

10 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said:

 

Hands up all those who've made that particular move. (Preferably not at a model show with someone else's model)

 

For me,                at least.

 

Guilty your honour!

 

Got the 'zorsts inners done

 

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The jets are both getting towards painting time

 

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cheers,

 

Pappy

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wow, relegated to the last page!

 

I spent the weekend mainly doing stores

 

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Plus something to carry them with

 

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This build will represent an RAAF legacy Hornet in the final configuration so that means the BOL equipped pylons and BRU-55s with prox fused JDAMs

 

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The final config

 

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Finally some airframe tweaks.

I added the splitter plate supports

 

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and replaced the HUD frames with PE

 

DSCN8528.JPG

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

 

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6 minutes ago, Hewy said:

Youre doing a fine job on this, those resin wings look a nice touch

 

Thanks Hewy. The resin wings are okay. they save a bit of time but if I were to build another kit with flaps down I would prefer to mod the kit parts as it would not be too hard and I could spend the money saved elsewhere.

 

The resin wings are not more detailed, just modified resin copies of the kit wings with separate flaps. Mine suffered some damage in transit so required repairs wich means it did not save me any time in the end, hence I think I would prefer to do my own mods next time. Folded wings OTOH  may be better value

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

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12 minutes ago, Pappy said:

Folded wings OTOH  may be better value

 

I've actually got a couple sets of those for an eventual CVW-11 dio w/ 1 aircraft from each squadron of my '95 deployment.  Not sure when I'll get to it, just been acquiring the bits.  If I did enter an -18 though it would be one of those.

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59 minutes ago, helios16v said:

 

I've actually got a couple sets of those for an eventual CVW-11 dio w/ 1 aircraft from each squadron of my '95 deployment.  Not sure when I'll get to it, just been acquiring the bits.  If I did enter an -18 though it would be one of those.

 

I like the idea of aircraft with Navy lineage to have elements of those features which have been adapted for ship board use to be displayed, like folded wings on an 'Air Force' jet for example. One of the neat things about the Hornet was that a lot of the airframe was designed to be workeable without the need for support stands. even the Lex was treated as a built in work shelf,

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

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16 hours ago, Wings unlevel said:

Stunning stores Pappy. The Litening pod is a work of art. 

 

12 hours ago, modelling minion said:

Nice job on the ordnance Pappy.

 

 

Thanks fellas, fun part over for now, back to the grind, sorta

 

Canopy jettison details added to rear portion of canopy

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I have also painted up the HUD and completed the somewhat ticklish job of adding the two lenses

 

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I made sure to attach the front windscreen immediately to afford a measure of protection to this extremely fragile area

 

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cheers,

 

Pappy

 

 

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

G'day people,

 

Well my Spad build is currently stalled so that means I could spend some quality time getting back into the Hornet build(s)

 

I have painted up the canopy and the PE inner frames could now be added

 

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I also scratched up a pair of canopy jettison rocket motors which were also added

The engine cans also received a coat of paint. They might need to be dulled down a notch

 

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A quick dry-fit just because

 

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The last thing I wanted to do was represent the scabbed on strengthening patches on the stabs

 

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I don't know if all RAAF Hornets got this but most that emerged from HUG 2.0 seemed to have them. They were no super prominent and I did not want them to look like a BDR plate so I masked off the area and sprayed a couple of layers of primer before going over the top with the upper camo colour

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

 

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