Blue Angel Hornet

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

Hey Fellow Modelers,
I’m building the Hasegawa 1/48 F/A-18A Hornet as a Blue Angel from the 1987 season…No.6 to be exact…flown by a friend Lt Wayne Molnar using the CAM decals. My question is this: knowing that the maintenance guys try to keep the planes as clean as possible, what colors would be used on the white areas such as the landing gear struts, wheel wells, and inside the air brake etc, to dry brush or wash to bring out the details, but not to weather or indicate alot of dirt that’s normally found on the fleet birds???
Thanks in advance guys,
John
BTW…I just finished my 1/48 Revell B-17G “Chow Hound” and as soon as I can get a digital camera, I’ll try to post some pictures…

2

From my brief hands-on experience in BA No. 7 during the 1988 season, I had never seen a bird so immaculate. It looked, inside and out, like a 1:1 scale model of an F/A-18B with no weathering whatsoever. I couldn’t even find a spec of dust on the inside of the canopy. It seems as though the plane captains wipe hydrolic fluid off the oleos the minute the plane comes to a rest. I would recommend, rather than weathering, using dark and light shades to bring out contours. Especially in that very dark cockpit. BTW, I’m still looking for that 1/48 Hasegawa F/A-18B model so I can use the same CAM sheet to model the bird I got my ride in. And I can’t afford to pay the exortion rate of $52 plus shipping that Hasegawa is charging for their “special releases.” Specially expensive, but otherwise the same old kit that’s out of production.
BTW, if you want to further dress it up, I got a great Black Box resin cockpit set for the two-seater, and they make one for the one-holer as well. I got mine on sale from Squadron. In fact, I have everything I need, paint, decals, assorted AM parts, everything but the kit, to make my Number 7. Best of luck.
Tom

3

Thanks Tom,
Oh yeah, definitely no weathering! What colors would you suggest to bring out the details of the white wheels wells & struts, etc?
John

4

Use Gloss insignia white. Then use flat insignia white thinned and applied as a wash to give you the color contrast and the highlights to bring out the details. Every BA bird, including “Fat Albert”, is kept in pristeen condition.

Now if Hasagawa would release a 1/48 TA-4J with BA decals I’d be a very happy camper! Then we need an F-11-F-1 Tiger, a Cougar, a Panther, a Cutlass, and a good Bearcat, all in BA colors. Until that all happens “color me blue”.
rangerj

5

Thanks rangerj…I’ll do just that. I’ve always known that the BA birds are meticulously cleaned and maintained. What I didn’t know was how to highlight the details on white painted areas but not make them look “dirty”. Thanks so much for your help!
John

6

For mine, I used the Gloss insignia white; then detailed with a mechanical pencil, and then sealed with a satin clear coat

7

Would a very ,very thin concoction of Tamiya smoke work to bring out depressions and stuff like that? I was thinking about this very same topic myself yesterday as I was contemplating building an F-4D that according to the author in the magazine article “everything on these A/C were in excellent condition…even landing gear and exhaust areas,the two places places on any A/C that collect dirt and grime, were completely spotless” I will be watching this topic very closely to say the least…thanks in advance for your replies. And a big thanks to Navy1996 for bringing this up…I have never seen it addressed in FSM Magazine or on-line. Later, Scot

8

I have always been a BA fan. I have got to take some great photos of them during TO at the airports and such. They are very clean planes! The whites are very vivid.

9

navy1996,

I don’t have any tips or hints regarding your question, but I must thank you for posting the question! I have the 1/48 Revell Blue Angels F/A-18 and that is one thing that I had NEVER thought about.

Thanks for posing the question and let us know how it turns out!

10

Hey Guys,
You’re welcome! I never thought about it before either, but it seemed like a stickler: how do you highlight clean areas to bring out details but not look dirty??!! Thanks everyone for the info, and I’ll be sure to let all know how it goes.
John