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

Nice masking job Steve.

I've officially started!  Albeit only washing the sprues.

After looking at sidure's Super Bug pics I now know why I couldn't order my clamps from Micro Mark!.

Looks great.....super masking job too!

Travis

Very cool Steve, nicely done

Great stuff Steve, thanks for the update!

I think you are right- those CAG birds are usually VERY clean!  A little dirt around the engine area and the gear bays and that should do it.

Here are my latest developments on my 18-E from Revell. Got the top and bottom coats on and the first pic shows the fins just dry fitted. I was a little heavy handed on the bottom and the pre shading was a little heavy but the top looks spot on.

then came the masking for the squadron specific colours

an hour of masking for 5 minutes of painting but it was worth it. I applied at least 4 coats of glosscoat and it still never got as glossy as I wanted so I went on. Next will be some decals and a panell wash. Not too heavy as this is a CAG bird and presumed it would be cleaner than most.

Hope to get working on the decals soon. I also bought the Hasegawa weapons set and I am going to load this F-18 to the teeth and I dont care if its correct or not as there are so many different combination that can be carried acording to the loadout chart that came with it. I figure if Im going to pay for a weapons set by golly im gona use them, hehehehe

Steve

Nice work Jon. I haven't touched mine since the day I posted that one photo.

Great stuff Steve, thanks for the update!  I never liked the fact that Hasegawa doesn't include much for ordnance on these juts, especially since they are often festooned with it!  I know they want to sell it separately, but geez?  When we pay out the nose for their kits, we deserve some stuff to hang off of the wings. 

Sorry about the outburst...

sidure

I guess its been a while since I used Photobucket as I had a hard time figuring out the changes. When did that happen

Steve

I think the Photobucket people changed up the look of the website a week or so ago.  Nice job so far on your Hornet too.  I am looking forward to starting mine.

I guess its been a while since I used Photobucket as I had a hard time figuring out the changes. When did that happen

Steve

Ok now fellas, page two will not do for this GB. I am part of that problem as I have been swamped with work  and a 1:1 work on my house but I have been getting a little work done here and there and finally enough for some pics

No kiddin thats what it took to keep this bad boy together. I then put the nose section on and it has so much superglue and filler on it that the slightest hit and I think it will catapult across the room but its holding up so far. Then came some pre shading that I did with a brush.

Last night I masked all the openings and painted the underside the Light Ghost Grey. I have a bit of a heavy hand when I use my A/B but you can see most of the panell lines. Hope to do better on the topside. I also just got my ordinance set from Hasegawa as this kit only has sidewinders and aim 120's. I want a lot of weapons on this kit. Hope to get more work done on it over the holiday

Steve

Let's move the thread a little closer to the front shall we?

No worries Daywalker.   Others haven't started this GB yet either.  I hope the 72nd scale Hasegawa Super Hornets will be a few quick builds.  I need a couple after the build I am working on now. 

Sorry I haven't been around lately fellas, work has been crazy busy!  I am really hoping to get started on my Hornet soon, especially now as the last of the extra bits arrived Friday. 

Jeff- I hear you my friend!  Sad thing is, there really aren't any decal sheets with any ordnance markings on them.  Even the AM guys don't always furnish any with their sets, what's up with that???

dupes- PICS!!!  WE WANT PICS!!!

Ooooh, now that's niiiiiice! Reminds me why I love aggro-schemes so much.

Started construction on my Hobby Boss A in 72nd...if I could only get my camera to an internet connection I'd give you fellas some pics! It'll happen someday. Heh.

acmodeler01- WOW!!! Great paint job. Looks amazing! I really like the stand. I would love to get a few kits set up like that......saves room on the shelf!

I am going to try and get my kit started tomorrow. We will see how that goes.

Travis

Thanks for all the kind comments! It was fun to build and nice to finish a kit.

macattack80

WOW!  Nice camo scheme Jon!  She is a thing of beauty.  Nice job.

very well done sir

Really nice, Jon. I haven't used any Two-Bobs decals yet but I hear great things about them. My only "beef" with these after-market decals is that none of them supply any of the decals for the weapons, landing gear, etc. You have to buy them separate. Just a personal pet-peave.

Once again, that bad-boy looks great!

Regards,

Jeff

WOW!  Nice camo scheme Jon!  She is a thing of beauty.  Nice job.

An outstanding job on that paint scheme, she's a beauty .

 I'm considering having mine gear up too so to speed things along as I'm not too keen on the way the Hobby Boss main gear looks. In the 80's I was able to get in some 25 hrs backseat time with VC-12 when the Omars were flying the TA-4, it was a blast! we were boggies for F-14's. 

Well done Jon!  Love those aggressors with the profile of the replicated painted into the camo- very nice!  I updated page one for you.

Progress! And by progress, I mean that it's about 99% done! I think I have 2 antennae and pitot tubes to put on and the bird is finished. I'm still trying to decide on the base...

The lightest gray is Mr. Color enamel, the other camo colors are Tamiya acrylics. The exhaust is a mixture of Alclad and Testors Metalizers.
I used TwoBobs "Shades of Gray Omars" decals, which were pretty good. The only complaint is that they only included the black separation lines for the top of the wing, not the bottom. The only decals I didn't use were the vertical stabilizer tips; I painted those instead.

The kit was Hasegawa's F/A-18C backdated with the 'A' parts. It went together well. I added grab handles, rear-view mirrors and pitot tubes from an old F-15 PE set. I also added some wire and styrene bits to the bang seat, but it's so tight in there that you can't see it.

I have sketched the VFC-12 patch/ logo onto the base, but I am as yet undecided if that will get painted or if I will just stain it. I'll have to sleep on it for now.

Overall I'm satisfied with the build, I think it turned out pretty good.

Thanks guys. I'll do some more looking. Just seemed as though everything I found for an E that interested me said sized for Hasegawa. May have to give them a try to find out. Thanks again.

Tony

Tony- A lot of the decals would work fine for either kit, but as Graham said- there may be some sized for each kit that might not work exactly for a different kit.  Decals that wrap around things such as noses, wing tanks, and such may be a little off.

The problem is sometimes manufacturers have different ideas on what the dimensions of the plane is. It shold be close, but there could but tiny gaps where it's not designed to fit. Some touch-up paint should cure it though. good luck!

Hey Tony, I may not be the best authority on that question but for the most part I think if they are scale out close enough you should have no problems with the decals. I have bought decals in the past that I used for another kit and have not had a problem with the fit. The most important item is the fin decal and most of them can be moved around anyway.

Steve

Hope y'all don't mind me asking a question(or two). This seemed like the place to ask.

I had a coupon for Micheals so I went with the 1/48 Revell Super Hornet. Haven't done a lot of looking but going through the decals at Sprue Brothers most of the sheets that I've seen say they are sized for the Hasegawa kit. This is something new to me so, will they not work on the Revell kit and if not, any suggestions on where to look for decals that will fit? Not looking for anything in particular, just some decent decals other than what's in the kit. Thanks.

Tony

PS...Not quite sure if I can commit to the GB yet. Got a few things to sort out first.

My pleasure Steve!

I did some more digging for you, and came up with this...

Two Bobs All American Bug

Unfortunately, it is sold out on Two Bobs' website.  I looked on Ebay, and came up blank there too.  But, at least we know there is an AM sheet out there, just gotta find someone who has one to sell.

Thanks for that info on stars and stripes Frank, Idefinetly want to find one of those to build.

Steve

Great job Jeff! Sorry I kinda fell off the face of the earth... las few weeks I had to take the PSAT, ACT, went to MMSI, plus my grandpa from Chicago just moved in with us. He's still capable, but it's pretty difficult for him to take care of himself and with these midwest winters... we can't commute 2 hours to help him and he's 90. On top of all my regular schoolwork,,,

This does not mean I havn't been thinking about my hornet however. Heck, I've built it about 2 times in my mind already. Everything is just starting to settle down again so I'll be resuming work soon. Oh crap, forgot about the SAT... Can't colleges just accept you on your level of intelligence, not how well you play the stupid freaking game? seriously... Rant over. anyway, will be hanging around!

Graham

Steve- The only 1/48 decals of this aircraft I have seen are the ones in the Hasegawa 1/48 F/A-18C kit "Stars and Stripes", number 09520.  Perhaps that will help you to track a set down.

Hasegawa Hornet Stars and Stripes