1/32 Academy F/A-18C Hornet

by Alan Purusram

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The Academy 1/32 F-18 kit needs no introduction - it's big, very detailed and made to the highest of standards. That said, it's also a challenging build - not for the difficulty (many of the parts just fall together seamlessly) but for the complexity of the details. It strikes a good balance between difficulty and good design so that you never feel like the kit is designed to be overly complicated just for the fun of it. The landing gear especially is great fun and takes days to do properly (I think there are nearly 20 parts to each main gear alone), while the bewildering array of weaponry will keep you busy for hours trying figure out what to use and where to mount it.

I also used the Cutting Edge resin cockpit and ejector seat which even beat the Academy kit for the level of detail and accuracy. The only defect was a slightly warped cockpit tub, but it didn't take much repairing to fit perfectly.

I painted with Gunze Mr Color lacquer (nos. 307 and 308) which provided a very good scale color match for the USN Ghost Grays, and mixed my own blue in Revell enamels for the fins and LEXs.

Sadly the kit decals, although very extensive and accurate (not only the airplane stencils and graphics, but also all the weapons and most of the groundcrew shirt/cap markings are included on the two big decal sheets), I found to be pretty poor, with all the smaller or curved ones needing varnish to remain adhered, and some of the full-color decals were poorly printed with ghosting between the colors.

But the aftermarket decals were spectacular! Superscale's VFA-83 Rampagers CAG bird is awesome, and the decals go on like silk. A bit of Microsol and there was no trace of carrier film. My only criticism is that the fuselage modex and squadron numbers are significantly oversized, resulting in a pretty cluttered look to the nose section. But the rest of the insignia and banners look excellent.

I kept weathering to a minimum, as you can see from the pic of the real airplane that it is pristine - obviously a very proud crew chief looked after this bird! So I just added shaded panel lines and some contrast coloring (using Kaan Gok's pastel and overspray method) to break up the color.

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This airplane flew air support in the Fallujah missions in Iraq, Spring 2004. I had some combat pictures of it packing Paveway LGBs and JDAMs with no Sidewinders, but I liked the look of the HARM and Maverick in the kit so much (missiles are way sexier than bombs, right?) that I used the "goofy" drop tank loadout with one Paveway II and the two AGMs on the outboard pylons. Inboard, I used the LDT/SCAM pod together with the FLIR to reflect an accurate sensor load.

I would definitely recommend this kit. It is very well-designed and presented and makes up into a great build. I got in trouble with the wife trying to convince her I needed to get an Academy 1/32 F/A-18D (at another 150 bucks) just to complete the set. This didn't go down too well - still, I am expecting a paycheck sometime soon!

Alan

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Photos and text © by Alan Purusram