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1/48 F/A-18F, VFA-103, Inherent Resolve, 2016. Finished 23/02.


DaveJL

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48 minutes ago, coneheadff said:

 

Well, it can get even worse if you try to add the thermal protection on them now 🤪

They’ll remain without :lol:. Some crafty oil weathering will make them look somewhat thermally protected!

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nice!

 

Luckily I don't need store for mine.....well maybe some AGM-88's as the kit supplied one are a bit on the poor side.

 

Looking at those GBU-38's made me laugh..... the AMK F-14 has some lovely "slide moulded" stores including some of those.... unfortunately they are all a bit bent like bananas!!   :D

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21 hours ago, modelling minion said:

Good start on the ordnance Dave, getting out of the way before most of us have even looked at it yet.😁

Thanks mate. I like two start on the ordnance, not sure why :lol:

 

10 hours ago, trickyrich said:

nice!

 

Luckily I don't need store for mine.....well maybe some AGM-88's as the kit supplied one are a bit on the poor side.

 

Looking at those GBU-38's made me laugh..... the AMK F-14 has some lovely "slide moulded" stores including some of those.... unfortunately they are all a bit bent like bananas!!   :D

Cheers Rich! Yeah the kit missiles are poor, I replaced them on my E/A-18 build with a pair from a Tamiya F-16.

 

Thankfully no banana shapes with the Eduard pieces!

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Some meaningful progress. Cockpit was prepped and the Quinta set added. The detail is just fantastic:

 

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Prior to painting, one of the few bits from the Aires cockpit set that I'm using was fitted:

 

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Once that was set, I sprayed a base layer of black and fitted the sidewalls from the Quinta set. You can just about see them. I also sprayed the ACS coaming.

 

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Pylons were assembled next:

 

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Each one does require a fairly heavy seam line to be removed. I used some sprue gloop for this and sanded flush. I was considering ordering some aftermarket resin pylons but I couldn't really justify the extra expense. Anyway, the main sections of the wings were assembled, along with the vertical stabiliser and I popped in the joining spar for the horizontal stabs:

 

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Cockpit was then fitted to the forward fuselage:

 

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I always find the fit of this forward section a bit iffy. This is my 5th Hasegawa Super bug/Growler and I haven't really sussed it yet. Filler needed.

 

If you are backdating a Growler to late block F model, up to this point all you need to do is ignore the instructions when they call out for additional holes to be pierced, namely on the sides of the forward fuselage, lower after fuselage, upper wings and upper fuselage. Also ignore their requests to 'bury the line' in several places and of course, don't fill in the cannon muzzle.

 

Hoping to get the intakes done next.

 

More soon and stay safe

 

Dave

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  • DaveJL changed the title to 1/48 F/A-18F, VFA-103, Inherent Resolve, 2016. Update 19/01.
5 minutes ago, Alan P said:

That cockpit really pops! Good work 👍

Cheers Alan! Needs a little bit of weathering and tidy up here and there but finished for the most part.

 

1 minute ago, coneheadff said:

The cockpit really looks great Dave! 

 

Wish Quinta had a set for the Meng kit.

Cheers Alex! I'm sure it's only a matter of time, they're releasing new sets all the time.

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18 minutes ago, helios16v said:

Nice to see a line jet.  Proper workhorse.  :thumbsup:

Cheers Chris! I prefer 'low -viz' Super Bugs for some reason! I've a few good ideas for weathering that seemed to be fairly common, though in saying that, VFA-103's jets didn't seem to be as dirty as some of the squadrons on later Inherent Resolve cruises. 

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very nice, the cockpit really pops with the Quinta set.

 

I feel your pain with that underside join on the forward fuselage section. I spent ages carefully sanding and adjusting so I didn't have that gap. As a result I will probably have a slight gap tat the rear join, but that is much easier to correct. Plus I found it better to glue this bit in sections, glue the front first, then one side then the next. I found it helped with the final joins, they weren't as bad as the ones on my first build.

 

That rear cockpit section looks much nicer than the plain offering from Hasegawa.... almost worth the price of the Aires set

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16 hours ago, trickyrich said:

very nice, the cockpit really pops with the Quinta set.

 

I feel your pain with that underside join on the forward fuselage section. I spent ages carefully sanding and adjusting so I didn't have that gap. As a result I will probably have a slight gap tat the rear join, but that is much easier to correct. Plus I found it better to glue this bit in sections, glue the front first, then one side then the next. I found it helped with the final joins, they weren't as bad as the ones on my first build.

 

That rear cockpit section looks much nicer than the plain offering from Hasegawa.... almost worth the price of the Aires set

Cheers Rich! Quinta is the go to now for cockpit details; worth the extra few quid. There are a few iffy parts on the kit but like you've found, they don't need much in the way of elbow grease to fix.

6 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said:

That's really looking splendid in the cockpit. 

 

I had a bad seam under the nose of my Hornet too but unfortunately it was caused by me not even noticing the joint hadn't been sanded smooth. There are a lot of joins on the Hornet!

Thanks Bertie. You're right about joins!

 

A few hours at the bench today. Firstly, the seams around the front fuselage were tidied up with a bit of filler and Mr Dissolved Putty:

 

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Wings fitted:

 

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Now onto what has been a bit of a disappointment; the seamless intakes. I firstly assembled the front of the kit part and once set, I started to dry fit the resin intakes. However, no matter what way I did this, I came across some issues:

 

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Gaps. And quite large ones too. I did try fitting shims of plastic sheet in but they just look rubbish. The instructions for the intakes do say to fettle to eradicate the gaps but an hour and more of said fettling didn't really help. I had a reset and attached the intake sides to the lower fuselage, using a tip from @trickyrich to secure the rear sections - add some bracing to stop them folding in on themselves.

 

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Another couple of joins to sort but again, nothing major. I wonder if Tamiya ever tooled a Superbug, would all these joins be on natural panel lines? 🤔 I digress, back to the resin intakes. I'd hoped that maybe after fitting the sidewalls, it would be easier to manipulate the trunks into position, eliminating the gaps. Alas not.

 

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It almost looks as if they are undersized by a hair. I'm quite disappointed for 2 reasons; firstly, I am a big fan of Phase Hanger items, the quality of the casting and detail is always great. Secondly, they weren't cheap. I'll have another go at them tomorrow. I did look at the kit intakes but the seam running through them was awful and the the thought of trying to eliminate that made me feel ill. Well it was either that or the antibiotics I needed after getting bitten by the cat. My missus being a midwife, insisted that I go and get it seen to. Just as well I did. Vicious little sods, cats.

 

I had a root about in the spares box and found these:

 

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FOD covers, no idea who made them or where they came from but they fit and look well:

 

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So that'll be my fallback. A shame as I wanted to have the intakes on display as my other Superbug and Growler builds all have FOD covers. Finally, some tidy up is needed on the inboard flaps (these are really rather poor) along with other parts of the flap and aileron assembly. 

 

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Once I sort out the intakes, or lack thereof, I should be able to close up the fuselage. A dry fit shows a good fit with just the usual joints to be cleaned up at the rear and in front of the cockpit.

 

More soon and stay safe

 

Dave

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  • DaveJL changed the title to 1/48 F/A-18F, VFA-103, Inherent Resolve, 2016. Update 20/01.

oh dear, those seamless intakes were pretty bad! I know resin does have a nasty habit of shrinking, but that is ridiculous.  Oh and I must remember to add those 2 tiny bits to the insides of the intakes as well! :doh:

 

Hmmm and those control surfaces..... enough said.

 

You nearly gave me a heat attack when you mention the words "Tamiya" & "Superbug"!!!! We can only hope/dream/pray!! :pray:    :D 

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38 minutes ago, trickyrich said:

oh dear, those seamless intakes were pretty bad! I know resin does have a nasty habit of shrinking, but that is ridiculous.  Oh and I must remember to add those 2 tiny bits to the insides of the intakes as well! :doh:

 

Hmmm and those control surfaces..... enough said.

 

You nearly gave me a heat attack when you mention the words "Tamiya" & "Superbug"!!!! We can only hope/dream/pray!! :pray:    :D 

I know mate, they're not great. Disappointing but hey ho, it's only a model plane right? 🤬 :lol:

 

Yeah, control surfaces = dung. More work. Suppose we're all just expecting Tamiya levels of fit and moulding!

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I know what you mean.... modelling is meant to be relaxing & fun!!! :rofl2:

 

I'm so wanting to buy an F-4J, am very tempted by the ZM model.... but just know the moment I buy it Tamiya will release there's! Build & quality wise even ZM is not close.

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3 minutes ago, trickyrich said:

I know what you mean.... modelling is meant to be relaxing & fun!!! :rofl2:

 

I'm so wanting to buy an F-4J, am very tempted by the ZM model.... but just know the moment I buy it Tamiya will release there's! Build & quality wise even ZM is not close.

Very rarely is it that. I can hardly wait to tackle the Revell Typhoon :lol:

 

I've a couple of the ZM F-4EJs in the stash, they do look nice and was hoping they'd be a nice, fuss free build. They've just announced an F-4G too. But you're right, Tamiya are bound to release a J model (hopefully with an F-14B!!).

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:rofl2:

 

Yeah, I saw the announcement for the G.  Going to attempt to resist, though I don't currently have a Hill Grey planned.  I've already got 2 (1/48 Hase & 1/32 Revell).  We'll see though, time will tell.  I likely won't bother w/ a pre-order and just wait for SB to get stock in if I do.

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33 minutes ago, trickyrich said:

I have 3 ZM F-4E's & EJ's. They build nicely but you really do notice the build difference.

 

F-4G :wub: ..... haha.... better not tell @helios16v!!!!!   :D

 

... not that I can talk....another Phantom to go into the stash!!!

They do look nice. I'd planned one for the Turning Japanese GB then the other is slated for conversion to a Hellenic F-4AUP.

 

As for the G....glad I sold my Hasegawa one now :lol:

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I had the same issue with Phasehangar's intakes. I think they really did shrink more than Mike thought due to the very thin leading edge.

Back then I bined the kit, but I have two more Hase Super Hornets and two intake sets.

I don't know if I want to start them now that I can compare it with Meng's little gem.

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