Hi all, saw a nice pic the other day of the new Super Hornet. How long has VF-103, The Jolly Rogers, been flying the F/A-18F? Is there a kit other than Hasegawa’s for this? When did the F/A-18F join the navy ranks? Why are Hasegawa 1/48 scale kits so expensive?
I picked up the new 1/48 Hasegawa F/A-18F a couple days ago. Mainly because of the Jolly Rogers markings and was surprised to see they now belong to VF-103. I did a search on Google for some VF-84 “history” and came up with the first pick, www.anft.net/f-14/f14-squadron-vf084.htm and they had a nice page and half history of the Jolly Rogers marking. They started out with VF-17, then VF-61 in April of 1944, then VF-84 acquired them in 1960, until 1995 when VF-103 adopted the name and markings. A lot of different aircraft carried the “Skull & Bones” over the years. It would be neat to model all of them. Can’t tell you when the Super Bug F joined the Navy ranks or why the Hasegawa kits are so expensive. I’m sure the fact they are made in Japan and are “taxed” coming in plus they are quality kits and they can get the money for them has something to do with it! I especially like the option you can build them with the flaps and slats down, although they technically aren’t slats anymore!
I believe VF-103 switched over the the F-18F about a 12 to 18 months ago, they are now VFA-103.
Mel
Check out this site www.jolly-rogers.com
Has a complete history of the Jolly Rogers and aircraft (except the F/A-18F) as well as other things
I think Italeri do a model of the F as well. Certainly they do the E which is in my to-do pile.
The Hasegawa kit is a very good kit and worth the high price in my opinion. Hasegawa kits in general are well reserched, accurate, detailed, high quality and highly engineered- all this adds to the cost. I also believe import taxes/tariffs bump up the costs a bit.
Your alternatives are the Iteleri kit, which I have read is quite innacurate and a bit of a struggle to put together. Monogram-Revel make a -E kit, and are rumored to be comming out with a -F kit in the future. The Monogram-Revel -E kit is good, but takes a second seat to Hasegawa. It may be a welcome compromise on cost vs. quality however as the Monogram-Revel kit can be had for under $20 USD.
I am a big fan of Hasagawa F-18, and as far as I am concerened, they are worth the price. They go together very well. I also have the Reville/Germany kit. It is a good kit, but not in Hasagawa class. It will with work build in a nice kit.
I dunno, I keep hearing people say that the Revellogram Super Hornet is a good kit. I’m about halfway done (thank god my hair is short so I can’t get a good grip!) and it has been a hellacious build to say the least. I vowed to myself that I would build it straight OOB without correcting any inaccuracies (and there are a LOT) but it is rather difficult to hold my rivet-counting butt to that standard. The fit is ATROCIOUS. There is a good 1/8" gap in the main gear wells that very little can be done about. It is a shame too, since the detail in the gear bays is phenomenal. The engineering on the nose is absurd and the fit in that area needs a ton of filler and sanding to even remotely look ok.
I’m all for a bit of hard work to make a kit look good, but this is ridiculous!