Has anyone built the Blue Angels 1/48 F-18C that Revell/Monogram released? Need to know if the yellow decals are too transparent and need to paint them on instead. Thanks!
Good luck painting that scheme. But the Blues fly the A model not the C.
I heard the decals are pretty transparent. Most of the reviews on the web say to get replacement decals or double them up! This kit is in my LHS and the only reason why I’m putting off buying it, is the decal factor - but dont let my insecurities stop you [:)].
A review about painting the scheme:
http://s96920072.onlinehome.us/Gal2/1601-1700/Gal1670_F-18_Williams/gal1670.htm
I think you would be better served by buying the Hasegawa Hornet and CAM or other decals.
Here’s a pic of my ol’ Blue Angel F-18, with the kit decals slapped on right over the dark blue:
You can decide for yourself whether or not they’re too thin, but I think they’re fine![:D]
Appreciate all the input. The Blues do fly the “Charlie” model…got it straight from the source.
They fly the Alpha and the Bravo not the Charlie. According to my sources maybe someone else can clear this matter. They do not fly the C or D to my knowledge.
I did build it and they are a little transparent, but when comparing with the painted areas (Testors blue angels yellow bottle paint) I did with my airbrush, they matched all right. A word of caution; those decals are very thin and tend to collect a lot of air under it.
Maybe you should check your source, because they fly Alphas.
/fact
dragon -
Did this one a while back, no problem with the decals, but I did airbrush the wing tips/stabs.
Worked for me 
j-hulk beat me to it, but here’s mine.
Archer out.
Hmm, what a coincidence. I’m in the middle of building that exact kit right now. I’m building 2 to be exact. (attempting another dio).
Nice work, Archer!
Question: do the Blues fly with Sidewinders on the wingtips?
If so, I better go back and put 'em on!
AND cover the gun openings on the nose!
J -
Nope, they don’t use winders, and the real of the A/C is pretty bare bones as well, even the fuel is limted to the required amount for the show + a safety margin. Just didn’t look right without the them, besides, I doubt mine will be doing any immelmanns anytime soon.
Archer out.
I have one, too… But it’s on the bottom of my models to build pile, and I keep forgetting about it >.< (Tells you how much I wanna work on it, doesn’t it?.. )
Doesn’t seem like a bad kit, though… I’ll get to it, some day…
Hand painting it is bugging me, though… I need to invest in an air brush once I move out (As good a hand brusher as I am… )
Anyhoo, form J-Hulks pics, the decals don’t look too transparent… Wish I could show that, too…
I’m wrong…the Blues don’t fly the Charlie. At the same time it’s also not a straight stock Alpha either. From the late 80’s ‘til now, airframe changes/upgrades have been added that are on the Charlie model…i.e. LEX fences and a couple avionics upgrades. The conversion to F/A-18C was largely an Avionics upgrade. If you go to the Blue Angels’ website, they list the Hornet as F/A-18. The source…I talked directly with the Blue Angels’ Maintenance Control Chief.
On the kit, which is an F/A-18C, I sanded off the ALQ-67 blisters behind the cockpit and faired over the gun port and vents.
Thanks to all for their input.
My Blue Angel was all rattlecans and brushes, dude! ( I built that baby ten years ago; five years before I even had an AB!)
You don’t need an AB to get a nice Angel. I can’t recall the exact colors I used, but they were all Testors Model Master in the spray cans for the overall gloss dark blue and the gloss yellow on the wingtips and tail, with flat white spray for the wheel wells and landing gear. The cockpit was entirely brush painted.
After decaling, I sealed it in a gloss clearcoat, again from a Model Master spray can.
While I’m a diehard ABer these days, I firmly believe great results can be had with brush and can.
Don’t let the lack of an AB keep you from your date with an Angel![;)]
I happen to be a dudette, thank you 
But anyway, I have two spray cans (flat white + primer ) that I’ve never used… I dunno how, and I’m afraid of ruining whatever model I’m working on at the time…
I’m so darn used to hand brushing, too… lol
I have no less than four of the Monogram F-18 Blue Angel kits, none of which I purchased. My relatives vaguely know what I do for a hobby, and several of them have given me the same kit for birthday, Christmas, etc. Somehow this kit must resonate with the general public as a kit that modelers should like.
I’m not complaining. From what I have heard it builds into a decent representation of an F-18A. Actually, I didn’t intend to build the Blue Angels in 1/48 - I had wanted to do the whole series in 1/72. It’s simply a matter of display space and kit availability.
Now that Pro Modeler has done a Blue Angels A-4 in 1/48, maybe I should reconsider and do the series that scale after all. Does anyone know how well the A-4 builds? Who makes an F8F in 1/48?
I think that there are 2 choices on the 1/48 F8F.
Testors and Hobbycraft. If I am not mistaken, Hobbycraft offers one of their F8Fs in the Blue Angel scheme.
Randie [C):-)]
Per the team the F-18C is flown by 5 pilots the F-18A by 2, there are also 3 F-18B and 2 F-18D aircraft assigned to the team as of January 2010. Talking to them there are no plans to go into the F-18E/F or the F-35 at this time, however the idea of two solos in the F-35B did make them say it would be a good idea for the team, perhaps in the 2025 time frame when they are fully in the fleet. With the 1/48 Tiger kit coming out and a few simple conversions a short nose version of the first Tiger Blue can be made, so except for the long nose version you can now make all version. Note the Monogram kit prior to 1995 was a F-18A, after that it was an F-18C. The team will be all C models by the end of 2011 per the team PAO.