Uilleann

Hey guys,
here are some pics of the Revell F/A-18F Super Hornet…, not the best kit, but if you stick to the manual and test fitting over and over again, here and there some mental breakdowns, it’s possible to build it….🤨
 
Decals from DXM Decals, centerline fuel tank from RESKIT, pilots from Academy…
 
 

 

 



 

 

Yep, I initially thought that they must be placed a little bit forward, which indeed made them sit flush, like they were made to be there. However, the swivel points must also be placed either the same distance forward, or they would have stay further back in the stabilerzs, which is not realistic. The stabs placed half an inch forward was not realistic either. I checked plenty of photos and their entire roots touch the fuselage. So there was no doubt after that to make the extentions. It was a nice journey adding these complex shapes, but now they are perfect. Cheers.

Guess which one is the nicely thinned horizontal stabilizer...  
 

 
Btw, here are some strange ''gaps'' near the rear halves of the stabs, towards the fuselage, if put like they are OOB:


 
And after a long filling procedure, they now fit flawlessly. The darker gray material is what I added, it is staked layers of stock plastic sheets, then sanded bit by bit until they meet the fuselage flush. At least I can make them moveable as they are separate pieces, so here you can see the ''extra'' pins for the rotation points:



with some metal inserts from the inner sides, to have something to make them ''stick'' to the fuselage. Again, one stabilizer has properly thinned edges, the other still has not.


 

 
And how it looks from the fuselage side:
 

 
Then I added the outer portions of the wings, which I glued them permanently in an extended ''flight'' setting. Kinda easy fitting. And check out the symmetry with the horizontal stabs just plugged in:
 

 
Of course, I couldn't resist to check the sight with the pylons/LRASMs attached too...
 

 

 

Of course I knew it wouldn't go without a hitch... The roots of the vertical stabilizers had nasty interfaces with the fuselage... this is after my best efforts to make them sit flush:
 

 

 
But on real photos - they are flush... like it is a single panel with very sharp curves, I mean there are no seamlines at all. So... I deviated from my initial dream to make them ''detachable'' (for easier handling/transportation) and I must glue them permanently. Then,  their leading edges were okay-ish, but check the trailing edge...
 

 
And after a legit ''thinning'' procedure, here is the difference side by side - one thinned properly, and one as it was originally:
 

 

 
Not to mention that there is also some funky stuff going on with the horizontal stabs, but I didin't figure it out yet... how to proceed. Maybe they will be next. 
 
The second mishap was with the humbpack on top of the fuselage... I was aware of the edits required just after the canopy because it is too flat, but I notice that its entire shape to the far rear side of the fuselage is a bit wrong. I noticed it only once I glued both sub-assemblies of the fuselage, which posed other challenges by itself. Here I tried to capture with blue stipes some key curves, and compare them with a pic of the real plane on the background - check out the curvature of the panel lines on top of the humpback:
 

 

 
It's not a matter of POV, nor image distortion or things like that. It definitely needs quite some sanding, and the issue is that the plastic is not thick enough. So I tried to insert some extra material from the front of the fuselage through the tiny spaces back to the rearmost bulckhead... Of course I couldn't do it as I would beforehand. This lead to some holes in the humpback, which I had to additionally fill from the top, then sand over and refine the shape again and again... I think I kinda did it, anyway, it's times better than before:
 

 

 
The side profile changed ever so slightly, which is good.
 

 
The tires are mounted and the MLGs are just about done. Some wiring and final painting required. I will have to sand the tires from underneath to make them sit slightly flat at some point.
 

 

 

 

Nice progress, Leon. Great hobby room, too! Fire away on the 3D printing topic.
 
Kev

After a short intermezzo during which I remodeled the modelling room I have made some more progress. The room interior was not that old but when I did it a few years back we just got the keys to our brand new home and a lot of work had to be done, and I did not put enough thought into the layout. A few weeks ago I purchased a 3D printer (Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra 16k, a resin printer) with a washing and curing station, and now was a good time to do it once more, but right. I apologize for my meager stash. Soon a Lukgraph J2F-5 and Thai Pham's A-1E will join it.
 
I don't have the first clue about 3D printing or CAD designing, and if there is interest and the mods allow it I will start a thread in the 3D printing forum about my endeavors of treading slowly into this new (for me) but exciting field of modelling. I have decided to go with Fusion 360 for CAD software using the free Personal licence. Fusion 360 has the largest community on the net and there are a lot of tutorials / videos to be found explaining things. 
 


 
The flaps show a gap at the wingroot that is not there on the real plane.
 

 
I shimmed them, and will file and sand them flush.
 

 
I coated the vertical stabilizer in MRP gloss (again, see further down in this paragraph) , but the Humbrol Uniform Green did not like that at all this time around. I am going to have to repaint it for the third time. The first time around I painted it upside down because Italeri's painitng instructions show the bottom panel line pattern as the top one, and I didn't bother to double-check, and now this. Luckily the paint comes of very easily in an ethanol bath using a brush. I will use Humbrol gloss for coating the model from now on. A test on the nose section revealed that works well with both the Uniform Green and the MRP shades for the other three colors.
 

 
Today I was able to paint the model in it's base colors.
 






 
Some tweaks and correction need to be done here and there. I opted to paint the main gear bay and gun bay after painting the camouflage. It's much easier to mask those off in that order as it's all straight edges.
 
Cheers, Leon
 
 
 
 

I spent some more time om the Starfighter. The instrument coaming was painted and the HUD and projector glass were installed. I gave the glass a blue hue as seen in some photos. I used Tamiya metallic blue for that, in a very light coat.
 


 
The nose dit not fit very well. Fist I sanded of a bit of the base of the radome to reduce the diameter so it better matched with that of the fuselage. When it matched best I glued it on, but one side still showed a little step (maybe because of the Aires cockpit pressing against the fuselage inside) which I eliminated with black superglue. She's starting to look like a Starfighter.
 


 
And the wingtip tanks are painted and ready for weathering. I used MRP International Orange on them, and MRP RLM 70.
 


 
Cheers, Leon

Looking incredible!!

Once the MLG were ready, the major assemblies went quite straightforward and effortlessly. Here are the doors closed and ''perfected'' as much as I can. There are some gaps and irregularities (which indeed look quite big on the pictures) along the doors, but I think I can make them less noticeable during the painting/weathering stage. 
 

 
The gluieing of the side panels was relatively easy. The very front areas of the intakes need some more care. Btw I went into a really useless kind of adventure with these triangular intake ports on both sides of the bottom - they were like that OOB, and I compared with a lot of pictures, and they didn't look like that...
 

 
At that moment I didin't realize there are additional parts provided in the kit that are meant to be placed above them. So I improvized...
 

 
Then I noticed the parts and I realized it would be better to add the original parts. It all went very well, and the first picture at the top of the post is actually with the finished intakes. Yeah...

Meanwhile, I deviated a bit from the manual by glueing both parts of the wings first.


 

 
It's just easier for testfitting both major assemblies (the ''intake'' and this ''wing'' sections), which would happen quite often before I'm comitted to glue them together, and with the nose section. It's a beast with the two parts testfitted...


 
The underwing pylons will be press-fitted. They attach quite sturdy, and I will keep the option to remove them of course. However, as the wings have no supports between their opper and lower sides, I added some ''pins'' straight through the bottom sides and attached to the upper portions of the wings, and close to the holes for the mounting of the pylons. This way, it will be much more secure and sturdy when I apply force to pressfit the pylons. 


 

 
Once cut off and sanded, they are just about invisible from the bottom side.


 
The ECS vents are a day and night difference thanks to the Quickboost resin upgrade:
 




Next up, blending the seamlines of the intake lips, the ECS vents to the fuselage, and painting the MLGs, then I hope the wing and intake assemblies will be ready for glueing. Cheers for now.

The main wheel bay just before closing. Shortly put, the doors are installed beforehand with their closing fittings, in closed position, hopefully all will be okay once I remove the alignment ''things''. The two side walls of the intake areas (from the fuselage) are temporarily fixed, just to give me perfect alignment while I glue the bottom side permanently. Then I plan to ''remove'' the side walls, make the hinges and the opening ''things'' of the doors, and continue with the painting.


 


TBH, I was a little bit bored doing all this stuff about the MLGs, so maybe a month ago, I decided to give some LRASMs a go. Yep, I have no idea when I will finish this model, but I would like to display it with four AGM-158 missiles (interchangeable, with magnets) on the inner underwing pylons, no other loadouts. They are not part of the kit, and I got me a set of ''Smart bombs US aircraft weapons in 1/32'' and went berzerk... the tips couldn't by more wrong - the top is the plastic part, assembled with the two halves. The bottom shows the correct silhouette from a drawing of the real thing:
 

 
Here are the four LRASMs side by side right after the gluing of the two halves:



After adding initial facets along the tip sides. Again, these are the four missiles at the same stage of modification. I just tried to keep each one rotated at a different angle to see the progress ''in one picture'' better...
 

 
After blending the side facets:


 
Next up - this is after smoothening of the chin and blending it with the new side shapes:


 
That's just the mods of the shapes of their tips. Then, I thinned the ''stabilators'' in the rear, slightly rounded up the leading/trailing edges of the wings, and slightly modified the shape of the wing roots from the bottom side of the missile. Glued the wings and the vertical stabilizers in a retracted position, and prepped them to accept the pylons in a... let's say ''centralized and mirrored'' spot between all four interfaces. So they can be interchangeable, plus I might be tempted to do some other types of loadouts one day. Btw the underwing pylons were ''second to none'' OOB ... I couldn't leave them like that:
 

 
After installing the magnets, I drilled elyptical holes near the front sides, and some other mods that I was not exactly aware of what I am doing, but I used plenty of reference images. And I could say they are ready for painting now:
 

 
Check out how thin the trailing edges are. Of course, I forgot to take pics how they were before the cosmetic procedures, but they were really thick. If I don't forget before the painting (probably after the F is ready), I should add some round stickers as an imitation of the engine covers. And the leading trailing edges of the pylons need quite some thinning also. 
 

 

 
Cheers for now. The bottom side of the fuselage (MLGs) needs to dry very good, and I'll continue fixing the opening/closing of the doors. 
 

 
 

Ok the printer has been busy. 
 
Here are the 3 front sections of the fuselage. They have been glued, puttied, sanded and primed. The panel lines are very crisp and accurate but are just too big.
 
Cockpit opening is straight up and down to allow a drop-in fit. Doesn't look right. I will have to cut out the sidewalls to allow for a more accurate look.
 

 
Dan

So here are the first 2 fuselage sections. Joined and seams filled with Bondo. By increasing the files by 300% the panel lines have gotten way overscale for a stealth aircraft. I will need to fill all of them, oh joy.
 
 

 
Dan 

Oh yes, simple. Just an occasional pipe or wire to give it that authentic look.
 
I will attempt to give it a "busy" look. Side bays as well.
 
Dan

Hello Dan
 
The Weapon bay seems to be very simple, take a look on the Real one how it looks like 
 

 
Regards
 
Bekim 

Once paid for and downloaded to my computer I knew that I would need to split the main fuselage into smaller chunks that my printer could handle. So I then sent the files to Fusion 360 and cut the mesh files into manageable 4 inch sections. As the fuselage was solid I then hollowed in my slicer program. I am going with a 1.8 mm thickness.
 
Printing first sections now.
 
Dan

I have been searching for a suitable STL file to download and print. Mostly as an experiment to see what is out there and how they will print out.
 
So I found a suitable STL file. It is 3d print ready, comprises about 30 parts. It is in 1:96th scale so I will need to increase it 300% to get a 1:32nd scale model.
 
Here is what the parts of the fuselage look like.
 

 

 

 
And the cockpit. Although it looks nice I believe the creator took some liberties in order to have a drop in fit. It looks to small for 1:32nd scale.
 

 
Thanks, Dan

After some further careful filling and a lot of sanding and polishing I am glad it got back to an acceptable level of surface quality. It just needs a tiny bit of Surfacer 500 here and there, judging after a coat of Surfacer 1500.
 


 
I assembled the air intakes after painting the in- and backsides, and dry fitting them reveals magnificent fit (no glue applied yet). Nothing to complain here at all.
 


 
The tail section is also attached now. Not as good as the intakes fit-wise, but certainly not bad. I sanded off the rim that is supposed to aid in it's alignment, which it does not. This reduced the gaps significantly. 
 
This is after one round of filling with black superglue, sanding, and a layer of Surfacer 1500 to check what needs more attention. I will rescribe some of the seams, but the tail-seam will later receive the red stripe so I will most likely not rescribe that since the curved nature of the whole affair is a recipe for another disaster with my skill level. Well, I might.....it's not going to get any better if I never make an attempt 🤔
 


 
Cheers, Leon

I am almost there with repairing my stupid mistake of not paying enough attention when dry fitting the Aires cockpit. This is after two passes of filler and sanding and it's almost as good as new. I am happy to say that it will be at least good enough to save the kit. I was so worried the step would be impossible to hide, but using the dremel and carefully contouring the styrene it worked out.
 

 
The intake cones are fine, but they do both have flash in the worst possible place. I managed to get it smooth though. A dry-fit of the intake parts shows they fit rather well and will not pose much trouble when I blend them in. Gluing them on in stages will eliminate the need for here filler I hope.
 


 
I replaced the oleo strut with a metal one which I will mask when applying the matt coat to maintain it's shine. I think this little detail adds a lot to the final appearance later on.
 

 
Cheers, Leon

You don´t say...😇
 
TBF most struggle so far has been my own doing, otherwise the kit is very nice. You shimmed the wings to make them fit, on mine I had to sand the wing-lips and the slots to make them fit 🤷‍♀️
 
After fitting the nose well things turned even uglier. Glueing the weel and clamping it deformed the insert somewhat, now leaving no gap on the left, and an even bigger one on the right. I glues in a shim and puttied the area. After a first sanding it looks like I will get away with it. The alignment with the gun bar is now totally off though. I will think of what to do with that.
 

 
It looks pretty ugly but I think it will buff out...After the first round of cosmetic surgery:
 


 
And some added detail to the nose well.
 



 
Cheers, Leon

I have painted the electronics bay ahead of assembly which is of course a lot easier than after.
 

 
I will add detail later and will need to drill holes, for one, which exerts forces on it. The bay is held in place at only four small points and the rear bulkhead which does not seem particularly strong. To prevent it from breaking in and drooping in the fuselage I added supports underneath it.
 

 
The fuselage buttoned-up. Fit was very good (more on that later though).
 

 
I know this kit has a refutation that the panels do not fit well. While this may be true for some it's not for all. This one fit near perfectly.
 

 
The next one too if you do a little trick. If you put in as normal it does not fit. Once you insert the narrow part into the forward fuselage and then tilt the part down, it fits perfectly.
 


 
The top seam comes out great.
 

 
Bottom one too.
 


 
Now, as in almost all my builds one major screw-up is in the cards. With this one it is the Aires cockpit tub. I had not noticed it when I dry-fitted things (including the now offending part) but the fuselage is being spread outward by the tub. This results in the nose gear panel no longer fitting and leaving Grand Canyons left and right:
 

 
That is one humongous gap on the right side 🫣 😱
 
There's nothing I can do to fix the tub, so I have to come up with something else as I am not about to bin this. If I glue the panel to the top of the gun bay bulkhead as it should be a big step shows. In this photo I taped the panel flush to the gun bay bulkhead to show what I mean:
 

 
Dealing with this by filling and sanding is simply beyond my capabilities, I would destroy too much detail. I opted to shim-up the gaps, that way the curve will remain intact. I don't think the widened fuselage cross section will be obvious in any way when done. Here's the first shim loosely in the gap. I will do the same on the opposite side. I was also posing the gun bay panel in open position. Since that door opens downward this also is a nice way of hiding the nose gear panel not touching the bun bay bulkhead as it should, there will be a 1.5mm gap.. Think I'm safe..😅
 

 
Tomorrow I'm off to Switzerland with some of my siblings to visit my sister so you guys can get a rest from me, and me from the kit.
 
Cheers, Leon
 
 

Here it is in sunlight Rudy. There is already a gloss coat on it.
 

The construction is complete! Soon final photos ! 

The model is covered with glossy varnish. 

Adjusted the base colour. Assembled the cart. I made a stand for the accelerator and started blowing the stripes. The process is slow, red colour does not forgive mistakes.

Started painting. Painted the texture with white paint. Painted in light grey. I will leave it as it is for now, after final drying I will see the result in contrast and colour.