F/A-18E Super Hornet - VFA-115

[gengriz]

Given my normal focus on non-grey British and European naval aircraft, you may not be surprised to hear that this is my first attempt at building a Hornet model (of any type), albeit that there are two more in the stash after this one!  

 

This is the Tamiya release of the 2007 Italeri kit.  As supplied it comes with some rather plain demonstrator decals, so these are Superscale markings for a more recent operational aircraft onboard the USS Ronald Reagan in 2006. 

 

 

As is often the case, Italeri rushed this one out to be firs ton the market, so it has a number of features that didn't make it to the production aircraft.  Most noticeable is the air brake between the tails, which I filled.  

 

I also added the BAE SYSTEMS "pizza box" IFF in front of the canopy. I gave up on the individual vents between the tails, although I have a possible plan for a future update. The pilot comes courtesy of an Airfix kit and hides the otherwise sparse cockpit.

 

 

The kit-supplied weapons are a mixed bag.  I had wanted to use the SLAM ER missiles, and to create an asymmetric weapon load (as is typical for the F/A-18E) but the kit ones are a variant that I cant identify and certainly not in service (they are far too long for SLAM ER). Instead I went for a more simple double Harpoon loadout, with two AIM-9s and two AMRAAMs.

 

 

This is a reasonable kit to build, albeit that the intakes and fuselage are definitely tricky to assemble. 

 

 

 

FredT

Edited September 30, 2022 by gengriz