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1:72 Hasegawa Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet


Navy Bird

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On 3/7/2022 at 5:36 PM, Tailspin Turtle said:

I regret to report that I don’t know but it looks like Corogard in effect, a erosion-resistant paint that the U.S. Navy required to be applied to the leading edges of the wings and tail surfaces (initially jets) in the early 1950s (also see http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2012/01/corogard.html). Looking closely at the picture, it is also on the leading edge, tip, and trailing edge of the horizontal stabilizer. The variation in the perceived color/reflectivity is also reminiscent of Corogard because it was a clear coat infused with aluminized powder. 

It's a polyurethane adhesive film applied to the leading edges and other potentially corroded areas (radome, belly and wing/stab tips)

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/291091O/3mtm-polyurethane-protective-tape-for-the-f-18.pdf

 

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15 hours ago, Alan P said:

It's a polyurethane adhesive film applied to the leading edges and other potentially corroded areas (radome, belly and wing/stab tips)

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/291091O/3mtm-polyurethane-protective-tape-for-the-f-18.pdf

 

Alan, thanks very much for that. Corogard was replaced by a similar(?) clear tape on S-3s, A-6s, etc that tended to yellow over time.

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3 minutes ago, Tailspin Turtle said:

Alan, thanks very much for that. Corogard was replaced by a similar(?) clear tape on S-3s, A-6s, etc that tended to yellow over time.

Yes, the same as used for helicopter rotor blades as well. The yellowing has been improved now but you can still see the change of colour where the tape is applied and reapplied 👍

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Sorry for the lack of progress, but I managed to almost break my right elbow and am now dealing with a inflamed bursa about the size of a tennis ball. Getting it drained soon, but in the meantime it's hard to model (or type for that matter...)

 

Cheers,

Bill

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23 hours ago, giemme said:

Sorry to hear about that, Bill. Hope you get better soon.

 

Yeah, stupid old man syndrome. Slipped on the stairs and landed on my elbow. Thought for sure I busted something, but luckily I escaped with some major bursitis. They'll drain it, shoot it full of cortisone, and I'll be good as new. Ha! Maybe new is too strong of a word.    :drunk:

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Back to the bench this afternoon! Doc successfully drained the bursa (yuck!) and shot it full of cortisone. The size is significantly smaller and I can bend my arm again without too much discomfort. I sure hope this stays away!

 

Cheers,

Bill

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I did it again, I missed the start, drat! But I'm all caught (catched?) up now. Another Bill Hornet, so a must see.

 

Great progress as per usual Bill, and so neat and today. I've decided to put some effort into trying to make some of my WIP pics similarly tidy. I bought some pale blue backing card to see how that works. Well you use similar, as does Giorgio, so it has to be the way to go ............... and I'll turn out models the same quality you guys, yes? 🤔

 

So sorry to hear of your injury. Hope it heals soon. I'm still plagued by the veins in my legs that have decided to remind me of my age. Still waiting for the Op to fix, but the good news is the fix is likely to work ........

 

On 3/7/2022 at 7:30 PM, giemme said:

Mildly off topic, but that last pic of yours entices my will of building a well worn Navy model, Bill.... :D :D

 

Ciao 

 

Now that would be something Giorgio. As Bill says. line up the salt, and also the chipping fluid, the grubby hands ......... et al!

 

OK, I'll sit quietly and watch this one now.

 

Terry

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1 hour ago, Terry1954 said:

I bought some pale blue backing card to see how that works.

 

I use seamless photo backdrop paper, for what it's worth. It comes on a roll, and you can use one piece for the whole thing, eliminating a seam that would show if the back was a separate piece. Oh, and according to my grandson the correct word is "catchecated."     :)

 

*****

 

After having a good look at the photos I have of the CAG bird from VFA-2, it looks to me like the colourful markings were applied over a mildly weathered airframe. In addition to some random fading on the top surfaces, there are some dirt scuffs near the crew walkways. I didn't want to go hog wild on this, but I hope that I've done enough. Sometimes this kind of approach disappears after the gloss coat, stickers, and a final matt coat. We'll see.

 

IMG_6351

 

IMG_6352

 

The effect is more pronounced when it's not under the photo lights (two daylight LED lamps with an incandescent equivalence of 800W each.) The vents etc. will get a wash after the gloss coat goes on. I was toying with the idea of doing a grey panel line wash, but to be honest the panel lines and rivets seem to show up just fine the way they are (especially to the naked eye.)

 

The wheels and tyres are on and I've applied a medium grey Future wash to the landing gear;

 

IMG_6353

 

You can also see that I've added the anti-glare area and I've attempted to depict the film applied to the leading edges. In my photos, the film appears lighter than the fuselage colour when it's applied to a horizontal surface (leading edge of wings and tailplanes) but darker on vertical surfaces (fins, rudders, and the trailing edge of the flaps when they are lowered.) Is it right? Beats me, but at least it seems to match the photos. I suppose it all depends on the incident light.

 

Before I get to the decals, I have to add the yellow area at the top of the fins. I also want to do some detail painting on the turtledeck and add a wash to the instrument panel coamings. Once I'm happy with all of this stuff, she'll get a gloss coat and the stickers shall commence. I'm still in a quandary about the centreline drop tank - since there are some big holes there I have to at least add the pylon. Some, but not all, of the photos of this aircraft show the FLIR pod mounted on the port fuselage missile station. I think I'll add that for some additional interest. Photos typically show four wings pylons (two on each side) but rarely anything hanging off of them. Chalk that up as another maybe. (At least the resin wings show where to drill the holes - just don't go all the way through!)

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. The TwoBobs decals show a BuNo of 165916 but I have some photos that show 165917. No, wait - I see the difference. There are two different modex numbers as well - 100 and 101. Never mind.    :drunk:

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16 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

but I hope that I've done enough. Sometimes this kind of approach disappears after the gloss coat, stickers, and a final matt coat.

I love the way it looks right now, subtle but there. :clap:   As for disappearing, in my experience I found that a gloss coat (with Alclad Aqua Gloss) tends to enhance the contrast, while colorful stickers and the finaL matt coat greatly reduces it. Always a challenge to find the right balance, but it's all part of the fun, right? :winkgrin:  :) 

 

Ciao

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Such neat work as usual Bill 👍

On 3/16/2022 at 2:20 PM, Navy Bird said:

It's supposed to be fun? Who knew?  

😂😂😂 I thought internet modelling is meant to be a joyless slog of exposing model manufacturers' slovenly, overpriced and inaccurate releases! Any fun actually building the thing is incidental 😉

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16 hours ago, Alan P said:

😂😂😂 I thought internet modelling is meant to be a joyless slog of exposing model manufacturers' slovenly, overpriced and inaccurate releases! Any fun actually building the thing is incidental 😉

 

Ha! I tend to ignore all that stuff. I'm too old to play those games with the red lines.    :)

 

*****

 

Surprise time! I began applying the TwoBobs VFA-2 decals today and chose the front fuselage stripes on the port side to begin with. A little dip in the water, and then I set it on a paper towel so it could free itself from the backing paper. Boom! The decal split itself into several pieces without me touching it. These were printed by Microscale, and aren't that old. Luckily, I did not remove the resulting decal bits from the backing paper and I was able to push all the pieces back together. Very delicately of course. I will let the reassembled decal dry overnight, followed by spraying some clear lacquer over it and the rest of the sheet tomorrow. Then we will give it another try.    :drunk:

 

I've had luck in the past with decals that have already been in the water, returned to the backing paper, dried, and reused later. If my plan doesn't work, well then it's time for a new plan. And perhaps a lawsuit against TwoBobs and Microscale for mental anguish (this is the USA, we sue for any and all reasons).

 

Fun, fun, fun as Brian Wilson used to say.

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. When you're chewing on life's gristle, don't grumble, give a whistle!    :whistle:

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Well, the reconstituted decal is in place, but I'm not sure it's what I want. We'll see if the decal solvent snuggles it down sufficiently to meet my "standards." Ha! Like I have any standards. Anyway, if I'm not happy with it I'll have to find another sheet with these markings. I only know of two - this one from TwoBobs and an older one from Superscale. All of the usual sources I use are sold out (of course) so I'll probably put a note in the Wanted section.

 

In none of this pans out, I could use the kit decals for VFA-11 Red Rippers. It says they're printed by Cartograf so I'm sure they won't disintegrate. But I really, really like the VFA-2 Bounty Hunters markings...sometimes I hate modelling.    :banghead:

 

Cheers,

Bill

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3 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

A quick search led me to these...

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303747193853?hash=item46b8be5bfd:g:jHoAAOSwTC5fnQy1

 

Might help - a bit pricey with postal costs from Australia though.

 

Thanks Terry, I've not heard of Galaxy Decals before. The eBay posting says the shipping from Australia to the USA is about 5 quid. Not too bad. If my experiment doesn't work, I'll give these a try.

 

Cheers,

Bill

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OK, let's consider this build on indefinite hold. I didn't like the way my reconstructed decal looked, even after the decal solvent application, so I removed it rather easily with some masking tape. I then ordered the decal sheet from Galaxy Model that @Terry1954 alerted me to - I found the same seller on the US eBay site. With postage, it was only around $20 or so. However, the estimated arrival is sometime between April 5 and May 5. Seems like a bit of a large window there, but whatever.    :)

 

Now, in the meantime, I have to figure out what else I can build. Decisions, decisions...     :hmmm:

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. I had a hearing test today and what do you know - I need hearing aids. This getting old thing ain't all it's cracked up to be.

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41 minutes ago, Terry1954 said:

Welcome to the club! 🤪

 

Let's see, ten spinal surgeries, two hernias, Grave's disease, one femur nail, bursitis, vertigo, two bouts of lymphoma, immunodeficiency, and now hearing loss - I think I've been a member of the club for quite some time!    :drunk:

 

I think I'll build an F3H in the meantime. It's there, along with a boat load of aftermarket stuff. I mean, why not?

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. The nurse in the infusion room where I get my monthly IVIG said "you look pretty good for someone in your condition." I think she failed the bedside manner class.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 21/03/2022 at 17:09, Terry1954 said:

 

After a surprisingly quick trip from Oz, the "decal" sheet arrived today. I put decal in quotes because, well, only part of the markings are decals (BuNo, modex, carrier name, etc.). The red, white, and blue stripe markings are supplied as masks (from Kabuki tape). Which I guess is OK, but there are no instructions on where to use each one although I am sure I can figure that out.

 

The big issue is that the masks are what I would call "negative" masks. In other words, you paint the red, white, and blue prior to adding the overall TPS grays (Ed. - incorrect Yankee spelling of grey). Since I already have the TPS applied, I could try to somehow use the Kabuki tape that surrounds the individual colour cutouts as a "positive" mask...oh, what the heck, why bother? Just paint the damn stripes on. I really don't need masks to do that.

 

I wouldn't have bought this set if I had known about the masks. What I really wanted was a decal sheet. Live and learn they say.    :fraidnot:

 

The eBay seller turns out to be BNA Model World, who I've purchased from many times in the past. The description on their website for this product states they are "water slide decals." Separately, the specifications state that they are decals/stickers. No mention of masks. I may drop them a note suggesting they update the web page and eBay descriptions.

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Too bad about the decals Bill. I know when I looked at the link, everything pointed at normal waterslide decals. It will be interesting to see if they offer you a refund, which I think they should.

 

I hope you can get it sorted.

 

Terry

 

 

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@Terry1954 - I'm not too worried about it. I wrote a polite review of the product for BNA's website and it is now being moderated. We'll see if they post it or not. But since you suggested this product, and even provided a link to the eBay site, I will send you an invoice for the $20.    :tease:

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. I've begun the masking prior to painting the stripes. Both the TwoBobs decal sheet and the Galaxy masks show each individual fuselage stripe to be 4.5mm wide in 1:72 scale. It would have been a LOT easier if they were 6mm wide. You know, the width of Tamiya tape. What was the VFA-2 paint shop thinking?    :)

 

PPS. Although it's not stated anywhere (either TwoBobs or Galaxy) I am assuming the colours are the "insignia" triad of FS11136 Red, FS17875 White and FS15044 Blue. Basically your USAF Thunderbird colours on a USN jet.

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I've always felt tempted to build a Super Hornet or two, even though I think it's the most boring possible evolution of the world's least interesting carrier fighter/bomb truck (am I still mad it replaced the Phantom? Preposterous!). I imagine I'm going to learn a lot here. 

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