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F/A-18e Super Hornet - VFA-31 Tomcatters - Meng 1/48. Weathered.


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Hello again,

 

It's been almost a year since my last aircraft (I'm mostly in to painting mins) but had the itch to do another and so this great kit was completed over the course of two months.

 

It was mostly airbrushed with Vallejo 'Dark Ghost Grey' on the top, with Mission Models 'Light Ghost Grey' on the undersides (more on this in a bit) done in the pre-shade technique on a black spraycan undercoat. The black was a mix of Vallejo gloss black, regular black and black ink to give it a bit of shine. The panel lines on the body were done with Vallejo Dark Grey acrylic model wash (I'm a big fan of their model washes) with enamel washes used on the smaller parts. Other weathering was done mostly with MIG AMMO Oil & Streaking Brushers, and Tamiya weathering powder sets. The decals were all OOTB, and the only third party item was the seat, which is by Eduard. The additional details, particularly the cockpit, were all hand-painted with my occasionally steady hand.

 

I had intended this to be a bit cleaner (I say the same thing with every bloody aircraft! 😂) but as usual got carried away as it's a part of the process I do really enjoy. As such it's probably a bit more weathered than a CAG aircraft should be. Saying that I did spend a fair bit of time looking at photos of F-18's online and in books (the 'F-18 in Detail and Scale' by Haagen Klaus was a very useful purchase) and noticed that there were pics of this particular aircraft having had patch-ups in the opposite colour to what it should be, particularly around the front end and the fold up wings. I thought this looked cool so attempted to replicate it in a few places. Same too with the oily fuel spills on the underside of the aircraft, although I did take this more to extremes.

 

A few things I messed up on; firstly I should have filled in the gap line where the two front halfs come together. Whilst the fit is generally very very good, I didn't notice the middle gap line running up the front and underside of the nose until it was too late. I did attempt to sand down the metallic box thing at the front of the nose (excuse my lack of technical terms) but as this was curved to begin with, it didn't look great. The canopy got a bit messy when masking, painting and sanding (I hate doing canopies) but thankfully it's not too noticeable when in an open position. Finally I decided to paint the red line separating the black and the grey of the jet, as I don't like the faff of using decals that long and thin, however, despite masking this wasn't my neatest work and it shows. Oh well. 

 

As mentioned, this is a great kit, and was generally not too painful to put together. The folded wings option wasn't too much of a headache, likewise all the small details around the wheel bays went easier than I expected. There were very few areas that required sanding and filling. The decals were generally decent, it's only on the smaller ones where writing should be (and it's instead just lines) that you might want to consider third party options. The only parts I would consider third party options for other than the seat are the exhaust nozzles and maybe the wheels. When you look at pictures of the exhausts they have much more detail in them than sculpted, particularly on the insides. I have attempted to paint the details in. Trying to add additional bits of card/plastic I think would be too tricky, and way out of my comfort zone.

 

A few other things you may find useful; firstly, Army Painter primer spray cans are fantastic! They are more of a laquer spray than just acrylic, and are of a much larger size than Tamiya/Mr Hobby ones for around the same price. They are available at many indy board game shops so well worth a try. Secondly, as mentioned, Mission Models 'Light Ghost Grey' acrylic was used on the undersides. Now I'm a huge fan of their 'transparent dust' paint, especially when mixed in slightly with other colours to get a dusty/dirty effect, but this one? not so much. It will be still be active days after its been applied, meaning it has to be varnished ASAP in order to protect it. If you get it slightly wet, thats it, your paint job won't be so neat. No issues with Vallejo products doing the same after a couple of hours, let alone days. Finally, although it's barely noticeable here, I created a good textured effect on the bulkier missles using Vallejo 'Rust Texture' acrylic effects. A few coats of that, then spray on your chosen colour and they will look much more realistic than the smooth plastic provided.

 

Oh, and finally, in case anyone says it I started this kit a few weeks before seeing 'Top Gun Maverick' which I highly recommend having been a bit skeptical of it in production! 😂 Thanks for looking, any thoughts or queries let me know!

 

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That's a very nice Superbug indeed 👍👍 I don't think you've gone over the top with your weathering at all, and to be honest it's your model and you can finish it how you like. If you really enjoy the weathering side of the hobby then go for it. I don't tend to go for over weathering myself basically because I'm not very good at it but i do love to see those that can...and do.

And if you try to make your model 'exactly' like the real thing it may not work, as sometimes an over emphasis on colour, or panel lines or weathering add a little more interest in a scaled down subject.

And once again.. great work on this beauty....gives me some inspiration on my Revell F/A-18 when i eventually get around to it 😁

Edited by binbrook87
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Excellent, the detail is just brilliant.     If looking for another Hornet subject ... VMFA323 "the death rattlers"  have one, or maybe two, nicely painted.

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That's fantastic work. Your detail is immaculate and I really like the work you've done with the wheel bays and the load out.

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Thank you all for your comments and likes, I do appreciate it. After spending a couple of months working on this, it's great to have such positive feedback!

 

Although it was slow going to begin with, finishing this has given me renewed vigour for building model aircraft again, & I've just started my next kit - let's see if this one goes as well! 😅

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