This is the new F/A-18C in 1:72 from Academy. This is a great little kit. They worked in an amazing amout of detail in this kit.
The box art is very nice, typical of Academy kits.
The SJU-5A seat is reasonably well represented here. More detail could have been given to the seat belts and the center pull ring is missing.
Once painted and with a bit of wire added for the pull ring, it looks very good for this small scale.
The cockpit contains a great deal of detail. The controls are all molded. There are decals for the display screens and side panel colors. There are also decals for the ejector seat markings, a nice touch I have not seen on any other kits in this scale.
That kit was just in the latest issue of FSM workbench review by Paul Boyer. The only con was some tricky assemblies and shallow intakes (from Mr. Boyer’s review) look forward to your progress.
I followed the build as per directions. This worked out well enough, though it took some holding to get the parts to set up properly aligned. I use Tenax 7-R for all plastic-plastic joints. Later on, when I’m assembling painted assemblies, I will use BSI gap filling CA glue. The places I used filler was on the wing root trailing edge and where the upper nose section joins the sides (two very tiny gaps there) and on the intake fences. This strikes me as very minor, given the complexity of the parts. I agree with other comments on the wing aileron/flap scribe inaccuracy. With all the other amazing detail that Academy crammed in, they could have easily given the option for positionable wings for carrier stowage.
Close-ups of the finished cockpit fully assembled. I dry brushed some silver to pull out the details and give it a bit of a “lived in” look.
While I appreciate a construcive critique, this is NOT what I had in mind!
Another detail they could easily have added is the retractible ladder. The scribed detailing on the kit is very weak, and easily lost when cementing parts.
I finished all the main assemblies and prepped the plane for paint. I have opted for a closed canopy, making it easier to paint it (as well as simplify masking off the cockpit interior).
I originally went with Testor’s Light Ghost Gray and Dark Ghost Gray for the colors but they did not have enough contrast for my taste. I mixed the Light Ghost Gray with equal parts Light Gray, the Dark Ghost Gray is straight color. Radome tan on the nose cone.
I masked the wheel wells and hit them with flat white. This photo is with a gloss clear lacquer over everything. I don’t have a photo of the top in gloss before I put down some decals.
Weapons, weapons, weapons! I love the decals for the weapons. This is a detail that really brings them up to par with the excellent quality of the plane itself. This should be the new standard by which aircraft kit armaments are judged. Also note the landing gear, they have decals as well.
Found a photo of the top, glossy finish, no decals. The paint contrast improved with the gloss coat.
I hand painted the gear door red edges.
Next I started with the decals. These decals are very thin, but did not stretch or tear. However, they are VERY sensitive to decal solvent. I used solvent anyway, but was careful to use only a small amount and only over a decal that had already been set in place.
Installed the pylons and weapons…
I’ll clean up that glue haze where the GBU is mounted to the rack.
I attached the wheels and painted flat black in the rear wall of the intakes. This is where it stands for now until I get some custom decals. This will be marked as a Knighthawks bird of VFA-136 onboard the USS Enterprise.
Yes, I will do a wash and some very careful airbrush or pastel weathering. Since I’m using a lacquer clear coat, and weathering is NOT a strong skill of mine, I have to learn how to do an acrylic wash. Past attempts have led to a wash that dried too fast or did not leave any pigment in the panels and recesses. A recent FSM article had a recipe for an acrylic “sludge” that sounds promising. I’m going to try it on a throw-away kit (old P-40E replaced with a better build).
Gun soot and exhaust marks will be airbrushed, but very gently, I want it to be subtle.
Learning and practicing a water-based wash. I used Windsor & Newton Gouache, water, and Dawn dish soap to improve flow into the panels and details. On the spare P-40, I used straight black.
I like the W&N Gouache a lot more than the last time I tried this with Testor’s Acryl paints. I also feel so much more sophisticated, using paint you can’t buy in a hobby store, only at a real Art Supply. I mean, the name “Windsor & Newton” just sounds so darned posh.
My dad used to work as an artist at MacDonnell Douglas so he would bring home all sort of illustrations, crew patches, whatever it was he had designed. A couple of his logo designs made it into Lou Drendel’s F-15 books. So to this day I have an interest Mac fighter jets. This F-18 kit has been a real joy, working on it, talking to my dad about it, getting some insight into the history, etc. Next, Academy REALLY needs to come up with a new tool for the F-15 in 1:72.
ON WITH THE PICTURES!
Used the Windsor & Newton Gouache-Wasche (ha!) on the F-18. I mixed the black with some red to add a bit of warmth, more of an earth tone. The best part is that I got the mix wrong the first time, but this mixture washes off so I got to start over… a couple of times… and eventually got something I think looks right.
Got my decals today. Pretty good, but a bit off on color matching and the resolution could be better. However, they are good enough for me and make the bird look finished.
A bit more wash on the control surfaces, a coat of dull lacquer, and more photos!
The aftermarket decals have been bothering me. They came out with a very visible dot pattern and in a slightly warm gray. In fact, I have been lying awake worrying about this. I took some masking tape and lifted them off. I went with one of the schemes included on the kit decals, the only change being the tail code and markings. I’m a bit concerned having applied new decals over the flat finish, but the decals are so thin and sensitive to solvent that they seem to have melted right into the finish. A second light spray of dull lacquer should seal things up nicely.
Modeling… its more than a hobby, its an OBSESSION.
Here it is with the kit decals for the World Famous Golden Dragons (or whatever, it just looks cool). There are a couple of minor paint details. I added some dry-brush black on the gun port, dry-brushed some metallic silver on the exhausts, and retouched the tail position lights.
The shallow intakes don’t look at all bad when painted flat black.