Next up is the Hasegawa 1/48 U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler. The EA-18G Growler is an airborne electronic attack (AEA) aircraft which operates from either an aircraft carrier or from land-bases. The Growler is the replacement for the United States Navy EA-6B Prowler aircraft which entered service in 1971 and was retired in 2015.
For this kit I will be using the Eduard photo etch sets for the seats, cockpit and exterior of the kit. I also will be using decals from Two Bob’s Decals that represent “Star Warriors” of VAQ-209. I chose these because I like the star wars theme with Darth Vader on the tails.
Starting with the cockpit, I built and detailed the seats first. The photo etch set includes the seat belts, seat pads, handles, and warning signs for each seat. Once the seats were done I moved on to the cockpit tub. The details added were the pedals, walls and dashboards. I weathered the interior with some dark gray pastel chalk the mounted the cockpit in to the lower fuselage. The kit shares the same mold as the Hasegawa F/A-18E/F so some of the details on the nose needed to be modified. The instructions show you which panel lines need to be removed and which ones to add. Since the EA-18 version does not have the guns, the gun bulge and ports are removed. It is nice that the instructions include the corrections.