Dandiego Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 (edited) My new project has been simmering for about 40 years. The first picture I ever saw of the F-18 was an artist's rendition showing the Hornet in the gull grey over white scheme in use at the time. I have always wanted to do a "what if" model depicting this scheme. So when I saw a Hasegawa F-18 for sale at the San Diego IPMS annual June contest I snatched it up for only $10. The Hasegawa kit represents a prototype aircraft which is what I needed for this project. My narrative is this....during the last days of the Vietnam War 4 early production F-18's were sent over to enter the final days of the war to get a combat evaluation. Yes I know the time lines don't line up but it's my project, so my rules. This kit will be build as an early production version. So the early lerx slots, shorter aelerons, and original missile rails will be present. I have a resin AM kit that will be supplying some details and the Academy Hornet that will also donate to this project. This is a flight of fancy so if you don't like "what ifs" you have been warned. Dan Edited December 3, 2018 by Dandiego themongoose, Daniel Leduc, Out2gtcha and 5 others 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 Should be an interesting build, I’ll be following. Mike Dandiego 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 Cool! Dandiego 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1to1scale Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 1 hour ago, Dandiego said: My new project has been simmering for about 40 years. The first picture I ever saw of the F-18 was an artist's rendition showing the Hornet in the gull grey over white scheme in use at the time. I have always wanted to do a "what if" model depicting this scheme. So when I saw a Hasegawa F-18 for sale at the San Diego IPMS annual June contest I snatched it up for only $10. The Hasegawa kit represents a prototype aircraft which is what I needed for this project. My narrative is this....during the last days of the Vietnam War 4 early production F-18'so were sent over to enter the final days of the war to get a combat evaluation. Yes I know the time lines don't line up but it's my project, so my rules. This kit will be build as an early production version. So the early lerx slots, shorter aelerons, and original missile rails will be present. I have a resin AM kit that will be supplying some details and the Academy Hornet that will also donate to this project. This is a flight of fancy so if you don't like "what ifs" you have been warned. Dan All you have to do is say that the war continued for a few more years, and since the F-18 started flying inthe late 70’s, it sort of works. Dandiego 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artoor_k Posted December 4, 2018 Share Posted December 4, 2018 A "what-if"? Count me in I'll be following Dandiego 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted December 4, 2018 Share Posted December 4, 2018 Dandiego 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themongoose Posted December 5, 2018 Share Posted December 5, 2018 Exciting, I'm on alert! Dandiego 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandiego Posted December 6, 2018 Author Share Posted December 6, 2018 (edited) Alright how about some pics... I have started construction by assembling the rear fuselage. Air intakes. Focus Dan! Tail area. Some putty is needed. Also I have moved the slot for the stabs to reflect the normal drooped attitude when at rest. Vertical tails had a very loose and sloppy fit. I added shims to tighten everything up. I am re-scribing the entire model and adding rivets using the Academy kit as a guide. I have added intake interiors back to the compressor faces. The compressor faces are to far forward but it was going to be very difficult to move them farther back. Cutting up the wings. The Academy kit gives you different parts for 4 different flap angles so I will using some of these parts to show deployed flaps. Some resin and PE parts from the AM kit. Nose cone with resin gun port already added to the nose. Thanks, Dan Edited December 6, 2018 by Dandiego Out2gtcha, Anthony in NZ, Shawn M and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted December 6, 2018 Share Posted December 6, 2018 Go Dan go! Making some great progress on this! Dandiego 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted December 6, 2018 Share Posted December 6, 2018 No rest for the motivated eh Dan! Looking great so far Dandiego 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmthamade Posted December 7, 2018 Share Posted December 7, 2018 Look forward to the build, Gull Grey/White will look different on the Bug. What squadron will it be? Lots of options, could be a VF fighter or VA attack or VFA fighter /attack, or the Marine squadrons. Lots of colorful schemes, too. Will be great to see... Don Dandiego 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandiego Posted December 7, 2018 Author Share Posted December 7, 2018 3 hours ago, Out2gtcha said: No rest for the motivated eh Dan! Looking great so far Thanks Brian, if I am not building I feel that something is missing. Also when I am about 80% through a project my focus shifts to the next. I have been building this current project for about 3 months....in my head. 4 minutes ago, dmthamade said: Look forward to the build, Gull Grey/White will look different on the Bug. What squadron will it be? Lots of options, could be a VF fighter or VA attack or VFA fighter /attack, or the Marine squadrons. Lots of colorful schemes, too. Will be great to see... Don Squadron, hmmmm. Not sure yet. However probably a Navy bird. Might make something custom for the first " Hornet Det ". I have been looking at Hornet graphics on-line to try and get some ideas. But I will try to make it believable and in line with Vietnam Era markings. Dan Out2gtcha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandiego Posted December 10, 2018 Author Share Posted December 10, 2018 Ok ...next installment. I have been working on the flaps. After cutting them free from the wing I needed to do some filling and shaping. I used the Academy flaps as a guide as to overall shape and panel lines. I was going rather fast this morning and ended up gluing the fuselage together before I took any pictures of the cockpit. I used the Hasegawa cockpit for a couple of reasons. First I knew it would fit and the detail was actually quite good. So after adding some sidewall detail I painted it and glued everything together. I have also epoxied the PE cockpit sill into place. It was a perfect fit. I have added the nose and a bit of a preview to the finished model, a black nose. Basic colors on the resin seat. Later, Dan Lee White, Alain Gadbois, Out2gtcha and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themongoose Posted December 10, 2018 Share Posted December 10, 2018 That IP does look good, nice job! Those flaps bring back ugly memories for me lol, your filler looks just like mine did. Dandiego 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandiego Posted December 12, 2018 Author Share Posted December 12, 2018 A small amount of progress. I have cut out the very plain looking vent area and will be building up some actual vents. Also some "shoot from the hip" re-enforcing of the nose to main fuselage joint. And last some reshaping of the instrument cowl to get a better shape. Dan Out2gtcha and LSP_Kevin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now