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themongoose

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This build was for our local clubs Marine tribute in honor of past club President, avid modeler, and Marine Ed Kinney. I wanted to do a Desert Storm Hornet from the Hasegawa F-18 kit I had. Going through all the options I decided on a stinger from VMFA-451 because it received a purple heart for damage incurred from a SAM missile to the sidewinder station. The Warlords frlew out of Shaikh Isa AB in Bahrain. The Warlords were also the first Marine unit to attack Iraqi locations in Desert Storm so there was alot of history here to model.

This has been my most involved build, which ended up taking 6 months to complete (although there were a few family interruptions and that leaking 2nd floor bathroom lol but that's another "remodeling" story). Forward dating the model, which was essentially the prototype AC, was a chore helped along by 3 great LSP'ers. A big round of applause to RedDog, Dragon & Dandiego who donated parts from their stash, the Academy kit(a special note, that's RedDog's belly tank you see), and some aftermarket resin! To this I added the Avionix cockpit and tail resin F/A-18A conversion set, AMR Reaver screens and vents, Flying Leathernecks decals, TwoBobs ordnance decals, a Navy pilot from my stash plus alot of scratch building.

My logic on weathering was that since this stinger was in action my first time weathering efforts would be ok if they were a little on the heavy side. I learned as I went along, practicing on the Haz parts I didn't use before doing the real thing. I used The Scale Hornet by Jake Melampy for reference. My WIP page has all the details on scratch buildings and techniques used to complete the project. Check it out!

Let's start with some main profile shots and then I can add some details in second post (Note the flap and tail position are set for the takeoff orientation I use on the stand).

FrontDownUnder-L.jpg

FrontProfileMain-L.jpg

Top_Rear-L.jpg

TopReaMain-XL.jpg

TopFrontMain-XL.jpg

Top_Main-L.jpg

TakeoffBelly-XL.jpg

TakeOffMain-L.jpg

LeftRearMain-L.jpg

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A dirty F-18! I like that Marine squadron too! I have an Academy kit and after reading a book about Scott Speicher I'd like to build it from the Sunliners that flew off the USS Saratoga. The anniversary of Desert Storm is approaching again. I spent 7 months in the desert for Desert Shield/Desert Storm. 

 

Cheers...Ron

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Thanks guys appreciate it! I’ll continue to work on my technique. This is the first plane I’ve ever weathered. Definitely changes the appearance and creates more opportunities for a realistic look.

EagleDriver I know where you’re coming from :D thanks for looking in and commenting. I expect alot of people are thinking along those same lines as i felt like it came out kinda heavy myself.

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10 minutes ago, themongoose said:

Thanks guys appreciate it! I’ll continue to work on my technique. This is the first plane I’ve ever weathered. Definitely changes the appearance and creates more opportunities for a realistic look.

EagleDriver I know where you’re coming from :D thanks for looking in and commenting. I expect alot of people are thinking along those same lines as i felt like it came out kinda heavy myself.

 

 

I think this is the tendency for a lot of us on our first excursions into weathering, so I think its perfectly normal. Honestly I think in situ, the Hornets did get this dirty, but to me its really only the walkways that may look a bit overly done. This doesn't detract from the overall effort IMHO, and I think as you go along with experience weathering will get easier and easier, and you will start getting to a point where you are happy with the look more often than not, and find a good balance. 

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Personally I think the plane looks fantastic and given the "desert" theme would perhaps be even dirtier than this BUT the most glaring problem I see is that Marines ALWAYS wore a camo cover over the helmet. It''s probably a Marine thing but it's something they all did regardless.

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Sgt Schultz II - Wow I didn’t know that. Will have to get something made up so i can update the model in the future. Also good to know for future builds as I prefer a Marine focus.

 

Thanks all for the encouragement!

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On 1/2/2019 at 6:08 AM, Sgt Shultz II said:

Personally I think the plane looks fantastic and given the "desert" theme would perhaps be even dirtier than this BUT the most glaring problem I see is that Marines ALWAYS wore a camo cover over the helmet. It''s probably a Marine thing but it's something they all did regardless.

 

No, they didn't. I was at Sheik Isa during Desert Storm with MALS-11 Ordnance and spent several hours on the flight line. Not all aircrew had, or wore camouflaged covers on their helmets, nor was it a required item. 

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