Eduard F/A-18E Löök+ (644145 for Meng)

[Mike]

F/A-18E Löök+ (644145 for Meng)

1:48 Eduard

 

 

Meng are part-way through releasing a series of highly detailed F/A-18 Super Hornet kits, beginning with the F/A-18E, which is the modern single-seater.  This set includes some essential upgrades in an oblong Brassin box, with the resin and Photo-Etch (PE) parts safely cocooned in separate bags and the instructions wrapped around, providing extra protection. It comprises four sub-sets, as follows:

 

644129 F/A-18E Löök Instrument Panel

648701 F/A-18E Wheels

648702 F/A-18E Ejection Seat

EX787 F/A-18E TFace Masks

 

Löök Pre-Painted Resin Instrument Panel (644129)

This set contains a combination of pre-printed resin and PE parts to quickly and efficiently detail up your cockpit.  There is a printed resin instrument panel for the pilot, and a PE set of four-point belts, complete with details for the ejection seat, which is partially duplicated by the Ejection Seat set below.

 

 

 

Wheels (648701)

Kit wheels are generally in two halves, which means you have the resultant joins to deal with, possible mould-slip issues on single part wheels, and sometimes less than stellar detail due to the moulding limitations of styrene injection technology, especially in the tread department.  That's where replacement resin wheels come in, with their lack of seamline and superior detail making a compelling argument, stiffened again by the fact that they are usually a drop-in replacement.

 

 

This set has two main wheels with separate inner hubs that have brake detail moulded-in, plus a pair of smaller nose gear wheels, all of which are drop-in parts once removed from their casting blocks that are on the slightly flattened contact patches, making clean-up rapid and easy.  There is also a sheet of yellow kabuki tape (not pictured) with pre-cut masks for all the wheels, allowing you to cut the hub/tyre demarcations crisply and with easy.

 

 

Ejection Seat (648702)

Three highly detailed resin parts make up the seat, with a separate base cushion and ejection handle added to the main seat part.  The belts are Photo-Etch (PE) steel, and because of their strength they can be etched from thinner material, which improves realism and flexibility in one sitting.  Coupled with the new painting method that adds perceived extra depth to the buckles and other furniture by shading, they are more realistic looking and will drape better than regular brass PE.  As well as a set of crew belts, you also get an alternative pre-painted pull-handle between the pilot's knees that gets him out of there in case of an emergency, as well as some small parts and stencils for the seat headbox and sides, even down to the leg-restraints that pull tight on ejection, protecting the pilot’s legs from flail injuries.

 

 

 

Masks Tface (EX787)

Supplied on a large sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with all the masks for the exterior of the canopy, but also give you another set of canopy masks tailored to fit the interior of the canopy so that you can paint the interior surface and give your model that extra bit of realism.  You also get a spare set of wheel masks, and masks for some of the small windows on the external sensors.

 

 

 

Conclusion

This is a very compact set that supplies much that many modellers would wish to improve on the basic kit, although there is a little overlap with a few of the parts, but that also gives you some wiggle-room in case you make a mistake.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of