And a good morning to you murph.  The cockpit looks great I'll be following this build!

Toshi

Well, I'd say you have a great start on the pit.  The detail painting looks very convincing.  

So far the cockpit is looking great, really nice work on painting all the controls!

Good luck with the rest of the kit. I've been working very slowly on Kinetic's F-16A/B and it's... well... interesting. 

Up side: 

The box is stuffed with ordinance, there's enough to bomb up about five planes! 

The detail looks great! 

Down side: 

As you pointed out the instructions leave a bit to be desired. 

The fit so far has been a bit sloppy. I don't expect every kit to be Hasegawa/Tamiya quality but this one is almost to the point of a limited run kit like Classic Airframes. 

The Canadian F/A-18A besides its Canadian designation of CF-188, is alsodesignated F/A-18eh.

I looked at that decal sheet and my right eye started to twitch. I'm interested in seeing how the Kenetic kits build up.

BK

Thanks for the feedback guys.

seasick...nice one!  Never saw that coming.  Well done.

Time for more...

I have made a bit more progress.  I've glued in the main gear bays.  It's a one piece assembly.  I'll paint and detail later.  The intake trunks rest on top of the gear wells.

You can build the kit with the refuelling probe extended or retracted.  I'm building this one buttoned up.  The instructions tell you to glue the door (H6) to the probe well (H7) and then glue the well into the top of the right front fuselage half (C14).  Nice, but it won't fit.  To display with the door closed, simply glue H6 to the appropriate area in C14.

One nice thing about this kit is that it comes with a separate CF-18 left front nose part.  No drilling out holes for the searchlight.  Very nice.

In the instruction page photo above, part H21 is the front nose gear well bulkhead.  This is the only mention of this piece in the instructions.  There is a photo etch piece that goes on it.  Again, nowhere in the instructions does it say anything about adding this PE part.

Finally, there's nothing in the instructions to tell you to add any weight to prevent it from being a tail sitter.  I've added a bunch of steel fishing weights to the nose (attached with CA glue).  I have never had a problem with adding weight in this manner as I avoid lead weights.

Thanks for looking.  As usual, comments and constructive criticism are always welcome.

Mike

Have you gotten to the point where they specified the left air intake to go on the right side and vice versa?  Or did they fix that in the instructions?  I tried to build this a while ago and found the instructions confusing and sometimes just flat wrong.

Following this one...

I've got this kit on my wish list to use my Australian Royal Air Force "Worimi Hornet" aftermarket decals I bought recently.

Great work in the pit...I've never seen a "Kinetic" kit built before, so this will be interesting to see what you think about them.

Have fun!

The Canadia version of the F/A-18 was going to be called the "High stick" instead of Hornet.

The Canadian F/A-18 is also has flex-fuel version of the F404 that can run on beer or maple syrup. 

On the more serious side micro-mark sells a low melting temperature metal made of bismuth, lead, and cadnium that melts at @170F. Its for ballast for model railroad engines.  Its nice and heavy and I pour it in to the randomes on model airplanes and it works real well. 

Hi guys.  Thanks for the comments and the feedback.  So far, I think I prefer the Hasegawa F-18 over this kit.  Here's the latest skinny on this build...

As posted above, I noted that there was no mention of a particular piece of PE going onto part H31.  Good reason for that is because it doesn't go there.  Don't I feel like a mule's behind.  Fortunately, I only attached the piece of PE with Future or Pledge Multi Care Floor Finish or whatever the heck that stuff is called now.  It came off very easily.  I found out where it goes in the front nose gear bay.  It goes here: 

There's another large piece of PE that goes on the flat area at the rear of the bay.  There's no mention of that in the instructions either. 

The exhaust nozzles don't look too bad once you get them painted up and installed.  A neat feature is that tabs on the horizontal stabs fit into a slot in the exhaust part.  It should prove a nice sturdy point of attachment. 

The instructions have you glue the intake trunks into the fuselage before assembling the intakes mouth and splitters, etc.  Don't do it this way.  Install the assembled opening, splitters, etc to the fuselage and then glue the trunks in place.  You'll be ablt to line up the trunks much better.  The trunks are passable but there is a noticeable seam.  If someone does and AM set of seamless trunks...

As per instructions, you see the parts don't line up well:

Attaching trunks after assembling outer parts.  Still a bit of work to be done: 

More in next post.

Mike

Note to self: avoid Kinetic 1/48 F-18.

Straycat1911

Note to self: avoid Kinetic 1/48 F-18.

 

When I tried to build it a couple months ago, I really was not impressed.

I have Kinetics E-2C Hawkeye, now I'm a bit nervous about it. I will have to really pay close attention to my build.

BK

Thanks for your observations guys.  This build has had its ups and downs but nothing a bit of perseverance and elbow grease won't fix.  I have another one in the stash and the issues I have identified with this build should be easy to overcome when I build the second one.  Hopefully...

I have made more progress but no photos yet.  They're still on the camera which is in the model room.  There was a bit of putty used around the gaps and steps but for the big gap around the refuelling probe door, I applied gap filling CA glue and then applied a bit of putty over it after it had cured.  There were multiple filling / sanding / nail polish remover soaked Q-Tip sessions but the putty seems to be quite level.  A bit of primer will tell me if more work needs to be done.

As previously noted, I'm doing this one buttoned up; refuelling probe closed, canopy closed, flaps up, speed brake door closed, wings not folded, etc.  That lends a few challenges but nothing that can't be overcome.

Now would be the time to eat some crow.  I'll have mine BBQ'd please.  The reason I couldn't find anything about the PE stuff in the nose wheel bay early in the instructions is because it's buried in the nose wheel gear / bay assembly section.  Again, because I had only attached the PE pieces with Future, they came off easily.  I'll be able to put them in the correct place after all.  Don't I feel like a jack-a$$.

Once I download the photos and make a bit more progress, I'll post another update.

Mike

Even with these issues your progress is superb!  I'm looking forward to more of this build!

Toshi

Thanks Toshi.  Today we have a three part update.  Part 1:

Some good stuff and some not so good stuff. 

Let's start with the putty.  As stated earlier, CA glue used around major gap on refuel door and then putty over top to smooth things out.  Putty only on other fixes.

This kit, like Hasegawa, allows you to build with flaps up or down.  I'm going with up.  There are two pieces of PE that need to be added to the area at the front of the wing fold.  If you build with the wings folded, the PE must be folded.

The canopy and windscreen have faint mould seams running down the length.  The seam on the front windscreen is the same as that found on the main canopy.  The seam was an easy fix.  Scraped off excess plastic with the back of a #11 blade and then polished with sanding pads; 3,000 to 12,000 grit and then a dip in Future.  Front seam still need to be repaired.

More pics in next post. 

Mike

Part 2:

Here are the instructions and the diagram for the front landing gear and PE installation.   Roll the dice....and....GO!

In this photo, assembly sequence isn't clear at all.  The gear is designed so the the front wheels may swivel, should you chose to do so.  There's a shaft on part H27 that fits into a slot on part H39 and then part H14 is glued in place to part H39 to allow the swivel.  I found this out after I had glued H14 to H39.  Furtunately that TECT hadn't cured so I pried the two pieces apart and put the shaft of H27 into the slot where it belonged.  Mine will not swivel and I'm okay with that.  The rest of the parts fit together well.  I attached clear parts L13 and L14 with CA glue.  I painted the back of the landing light silver to present the illusion of the dish of the light after everything has been painted white.  L14 is a single piece where Hasegawa's F-18 has a dish and separate lens.

Here you can see were the nose well PE parts go.  One part goes on the right side and the other on the left side of the well walls.  I've gotten to the point that even if this isn't right, I don't care.  They're in and that's where they're staying.  They don't interfere with the main gear assembly of the door actuator piece.

Further, where does part F13 sit in the nose gear well?  Here it is, placed in the well.  The instructions are vague and show it placed further to the left (as viewing the instructions) than it should be.  It fits into a small recess on the roof of the bay.

More pics in the next post. 

Mike

Part 3:

I had posted this elsewhere before I found this thread 

I have found how to greatly improve the fit of the nose and canopy and it is as follows  

1 .glue bulkhead h31 directly to the front of the main fuselage

2 glue front fuselage halves together but do not glue the floor section(which is either c13,17,18,23 depending on which you want) tape it in place only.

3 test fit nose to main fuselage, it will almost certainly sit a touch low ( check gap between floor section and the bulkhead) trim the tabs on inside of nose or notches in bulkhead to allow nose to sit higher so there is no longer a gap between bullhead and floor piece.

4 once you have that gap gone tape side of nose to main fuselage (1 piece of tape each side so it cannot move up or down) then remove the floor section you taped earlier, sometimes there is a step between the nose and main fuselage where nose is a little narrower if you are happy with the fit then glue with some liquid cement from the inside if you are not happy shim the nose to bulkhead till it is flush then glue.

Following this process gave me much better fitting of the upper fuselage to nose section and of the canopy so that the large gap shown at the front of it and around the refueling probe in Mike's pictures above just about disappear

Hope this helps 

Mrmavx

Man this looks to be one fussy fitting kit. But you're wrestling it into shape well enough. 

Mrmavx

I had posted this elsewhere before I found this thread 

I have found how to greatly improve the fit of the nose and canopy and it is as follows  

1 .glue bulkhead h31 directly to the front of the main fuselage

2 glue front fuselage halves together but do not glue the floor section(which is either c13,17,18,23 depending on which you want) tape it in place only.

3 test fit nose to main fuselage, it will almost certainly sit a touch low ( check gap between floor section and the bulkhead) trim the tabs on inside of nose or notches in bulkhead to allow nose to sit higher so there is no longer a gap between bullhead and floor piece.

4 once you have that gap gone tape side of nose to main fuselage (1 piece of tape each side so it cannot move up or down) then remove the floor section you taped earlier, sometimes there is a step between the nose and main fuselage where nose is a little narrower if you are happy with the fit then glue with some liquid cement from the inside if you are not happy shim the nose to bulkhead till it is flush then glue.

Following this process gave me much better fitting of the upper fuselage to nose section and of the canopy so that the large gap shown at the front of it and around the refueling probe in Mike's pictures above just about disappear

Hope this helps 

Mrmavx

Stik and Mrmavx,

Thanks for checking in and offering your insights into this build.  I have another in my collection and I will follow your suggestions in the hopes that the next one goes together a bit easier.

I've made some progress on this build since my last post but I came close to letting this sit as a shelf queen.  I've gotten to the point that whatever I do, it's good enough for this kit.  Perseverance has prevailed.  The HUD sat too high so rather than fight with it, I tossed it.  I did have a TETC incident under the front windscreen.  I crazed the clear plastic.  I polished out as much as I could after this photo was taken.  Close enough.

There are also a number of incorrect part numbers when it comes to the landing gear.  When building the CF-18, Kinetic has included the unique main gear legs, O1 and O2.  Glue part H11 onto O2 first.  Next, remove the small little tab on part on H26 and then glue it onto O2.  Once these parts have dried, place the MLG leg into the slots in the main gear bay and glue part H21 to O2 and place the tip of H21 into the corresponding hole in the gear bay so the parts line up correctly.  Repeat the same sequence for the other side.

I then glued on PE vents and chaff dispensers.

Ordnance, fuel tanks and pylons went together very nicely.  My CF-18 will have AIM-9's on stations 1 and 9, GBU-12's on stations 2 and 8, fuel tanks on stations, 3, 5 and 7 and a SNIPER XR pod on station 4.  Station 6 will be empty.  When building the SNIPER pod, the front parts need to be assembled first.  The head is designed to swivel.  I decided that it will be stationary.

Painting has taken place.  AIM-9's have been repainted FS36375.  Wing walkways and false canopy were masked and sprayed FS 36118.  Light coats were applied for the walkways.

I've also sprayed two coats of Model Master Gloss Coat and decals have been applied.  Unfortunately, not enough of the CF-18 footprint 'No Step' decals were provided.  I've asked Kinetic for more and Raymond Chung advises they will send them  Thank you, Kinetic!

That's it for now.  Thanks for looking and as usual, feedback and constructive criticism is always welcome.

Thanks.

Mike