The Hornet's Nest GB 10/10-10/11

Julez72

 

Daywalker:

 

 I really gotta get my behind in gear!

 

 

You and me both Frank... i'm quietly confident i'll finish on time though

I dunno if I will!  I am finishing up a couple of other projects, hope to really get going next weekend.

Christian- Excellent work on the office, great to see pilots in there as well.  Don't see that very often!  I also updated page one for you.

FastasEF

Does anyone have any good shots of the inside of the gear bays? I can't seem to find any...

Hows this....

http://www.cybermodeler.com/aircraft/fa-18/fa-18d_walk.shtml

Christian, lovely office, well done

Does anyone have any good shots of the inside of the gear bays? I can't seem to find any...

micro-mesh polishing pads and plenty of plastic polish... pretty much the only way to remove it cleanly. finish with a dip in future and it should look perfect.

Here's what I've got so far.  I think Hasegawa modeled their figures after the two shortest pilots in the Navy.  Everything is straight from the kit except for the seatbelts and the straps which go up to the parachute I assume(green and grey behind the pilot heads).  Both are just bits of computer paper and masking tape that are painted with enamels.  Does anyone have any suggestions about how to tackle the mold line on the canopy?  I remember reading something about how to do it a while ago but I can't find where I read it.  The picture makes the line look not as bad as it really is.

[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

[View:/themes/fsm/utility/a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/christiantheodotou/5479445470/" title="IMG_0235 by Christian Theodotou, on Flickr">:550:0]

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Fastas, if it were me i'd attach all the pylons before painting but leave off the disposable stores until the final coat of flat clear, that way they're not in the way during decals, washes ect.... I personally would paint the gear bays first and mask them off with blutac, the Hornet i'm doing has red on the edges of the gear bay doors so that makes 3 colors on each gear bay door so i'll be doing mine seperatly and again attaching before it's final coat...

'

Alright guys, I got the pilot done and also have the fuselage halves mated up along with the intakes.

Question, what all should I attach before the overall gray? I know that the vertical and horizontal stabilizers should be on, but what about the landing gear covers and the center line fuel tank? Or the wing pylons?

And would you guys paint the gear bays before or after the overall paint scheme?

Thanks!

Daywalker

 I really gotta get my behind in gear!

You and me both Frank... i'm quietly confident i'll finish on time though

F-18F, I'm doing one from  the VFA-41 Black Aces

That's a great website! Thanks for the photo mac!

Christian- to the GB!  I added your name to the roster on page one.  Which version of the Super Hornet are you building?

Great looking work guys, I really gotta get my behind in gear!

I found this pic of a pilot from VFA-201 flying.  Looks like a green flight suit.

http://www.pbase.com/keith1959/image/58024866

FastasEF, awesome job on the cockpit!  Nice detailing!  BTW, for a cell phone camera those are pretty good photos.

That red really pops on the gray.  Looks sweet!  Nice choice. 

Oh, and here are some crappy cell phone pics of the progress:

Hey guys, I think I have decided to do up the plane in this scheme:

https://www.aviationillustration.com/shop/images/f_a-18c.54.jpg

I have two sets of decals coming and this one seemed more interesting and colorful. Question though, what color(s) were their flight suits? The plane is from VFA-201 `Hunters' which started flying the F/A-18 in 1999 and was deactivated in 2007.

The flight suit schemes I've seen are tan, tan camouflage and the typical green. Any info or even photos would be appreciated, thanks!

I just noticed this group build and as I am currently working on a 1/48 Hasegawa Super Hornet I was wondering, is it still possible to get in on the group build?

Here are a few progress pics

The wing sections

[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

I tried to get a close up of the cockpit with no avail

[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

The belly

[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

I only took pics of one of the models but I am doing 2 both of which are at the same point in the build.

I will throw some putty on a few spots and smooth out some areas tonight.

Things are moving forward on my 2 SuperBugs.  I got the forward and main fuselage sections together.  The fit is pretty bad though.  Lots of putty and sanding will be in order. 

The decals for the cockpit were not good.  One decal decided to break up and I was able to save about 2/3's of it.   I little black paint to replace the lost decal should make it look ok.  I guess I know which plane will have the closed canopy....

The panel lines are so fine and well done I hate to sand them away.  I tried to rescribe the ones that have already been lost but the look too heavy handed when compared to the surrounding detail. 

I was able to borrow a camera so I will have to post some pics tonight.   Keep up the good work everyone!

I got the pit all painted and finished up tonight. Gonna try and finish the pilot tomorrow morning and then move on to the tedious fuselage halves fitting tomorrow night. One of my least favorite, and most favorite parts of the build, lol.

I will try and get photos up tomorrow too.

LOL, isn't that one of the best parts of modeling?  Learning new things along the way, best part IMHO.

The MER is a Multiple Ejector Rack

The TER is a Triple Ejector Rack

Lol I knew it was too good to be true! Thanks man! I am obviously a green jet modeler, but that loadout looks suitable. Does anyone know where I can get pylons for the outboard wing single Mk.83? What do they even look like? More research I guess. What is a MER? What is a TER? Much for me to learn master   masters!

Glad to help. 

Andrew, you could tackle this loadout from Franks link.  That's six Mk. 83's, plus the Sidewinders, and the fuel tank you wanted.  If you don't have the AAR-50 sensor, I might have an extra.  I think.

Just a thought.

Thanks for the info, good to know the Hasegawa kit is typical Hasegawa.  Decent fit but a fair bit of smoothing to get them to look nice.  Thanks for the head's up!  Good catch on the loadout, thanks for the advice on MAW's site.  I forgot about that one!

arki30

 

Deadmau5.

That guy ROCKS!

raptordriver

Hey Frank! Thanks man you rock! I have found this:

 

Wing			Fuselage	Belly	Fuselage	Wing
Wingtip	Outboard	Inboard				Inboard	Outboard	Wingtip
AIM-9M	Mk.83 LDGP	Mk.83 LDGP	AIM-7F/M	Fuel tank	AIM-7F/M	Mk.83 LDGP	Mk.83 LDGP	AIM-9M

That looks like the answer I was looking for. 8 Mk. 83s that is a lot, but the hornet is beastly. I seriously don't know why the majority of modellers like WWII planes better. Modern Jets rule!

My question is though, where do the AIM-7F missles go? I don't know where the fusalage pylons are.

Again thanks Frank!

H

Ah, no not quite, Andrew.   That's a single Mk. 83 bomb on four stations, so only four Mk. 83's total in this loadout.  MER's aren't cleared for Mk. 83's on a Legacy Hornet so that's out.  I wonder if a TER could be used however?  Not sure on that, I'll dig around and see what I come up with. 

Here's a link to MAW decals Hornet info.  Great site, click the ordnance button to see a nice diagram of the stations.  The AIM-7's would go on stations 4 & 6.  Ordnance loadouts here are all USMC, fyi.

Edit:  Speaking of USMC loadouts, there are several schemes which have 2 Mk. 83's on a station.  They must be using TER's then.

FastasEF

I have a question for the Hornet's Nest. I have the 1/48 Revell Blue Angels F-18 Hornet and was wondering if it could be turned into a military used variant? Inside the box it has two different sets of cans and has bombs in there also.

If this is possible, which variant would it be? If this turns out to be possible, I will join up with you guys on this GB. Might be the first GB/ model I've finished in a quite a while, lol.

Thanks!

The Blue Angels fly F/A-18A and B variants.  Wikipedia has a little blurb here.  I swear I've seen a post somewhere on a forum that detailed the "changes" the Angels aircraft have over the full military version, but darned if I can remember where.  I know the gun is removed.

Daywalker

 

arki30:

 

Filling and sanding....

Sanding and filling....

 

 

=my least favorite part of a build.  How bad is it on your kit?

Good fit, but typical Hasegawa over-engineering.  A lot of sub-assemblies that create more seams.  It's just tedious and my least favorite part of a build.  The good news is I've taken that as far as I can and will be putting primer down soon to see what I missed.  Progress pics coming by the end of the week.

Deadmau5.

Good to see some Hornets being builtI'll be starting mine at the end of this month...That should be enough time to finish it

Thanks DayWalker! I think it is an "A" model though.

I ordered 2 sets of different A+ decals for it, as the only difference between the two is the Hughes AN/APG-65 in the "A" model and the Raytheon AN/APG-73 in the "A+" model, which are both in the nose and thus not visible.

I cut both fuselage halves off their sprues and started filing and fitting them to each other. Outside of that I've only just perused through the instructions. I'll probably start painting interior pieces tomorrow but won't do any major gluing until my Tamiya Super Thin gets here (happy dance).

Hey Frank! Thanks man you rock! I have found this:

That looks like the answer I was looking for. 8 Mk. 83s that is a lot, but the hornet is beastly. I seriously don't know why the majority of modellers like WWII planes better. Modern Jets rule!

My question is though, where do the AIM-7F missles go? I don't know where the fusalage pylons are.

Again thanks Frank!

H