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.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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
Click on
images below to see larger images
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