Jump to content

LS Australian Service F/A 18A/B


Artful69

Recommended Posts

RAAF A and B Hornets has the catapult launching bar deleted from the nose landing gear for the first twenty years of their lives.  Nosewheel shimmy on landing lead to the installation of a weighted surrogate. 

 

Below is a good snapshot of the fleet in 2003. 

 

http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/opfalconerhornetskb_1a.htm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, Cheetah11 said:

Hi Rog

I will be home tomorrow and will send you photos of the different tails . I have the C and A+ in my stash. If you get a C I think sanding the extra bumps off should not be a problem.

Nick

 

I might have a look in at a cheaper C/D Kinetic kit ... and apparently this is the easiest method to save money on resin ... of course there's still the cockpit, intakes etc ... but the Avionix gear is getting difficult to find now and the A+ kit costs nearly twice as much when you find one. Maybe it's time Squadron (owner of the moulds now) popped a few more out?

 

Rog :)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Hi Rog

 

Here are the photos as promised. You can see the extra bump should be easy to remove.

 

F-18A

IMG-3293.jpg

 

 

F-18C

IMG-3294.jpg

 

 

Strange the Kinetic kit is almost unknown in South Africa and the only example I saw was twice the price of the Academy examples.

 

Nick

 

 

 

 

Edited by Cheetah11
Spelling
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...
On 8/14/2019 at 6:13 AM, Artful69 said:

Hi All ...

 

Thats right ... a Jet!

I'm doing a bit of an Australian themed collection a need the correct LSP for the RAAF.

Apparently, back in 1984, we acquired 15 F-18A's and 18F-18B's ...

I have absolutely NO IDEA when it comes to jets.

Can someone help with pointing out ...

 

Kit selection and the possibility of in-kit decals ... or AM decals to suit?

Any issues that need addressing with said kit?

 

Rog :)

 

 

 

I remember it well, a lone F/A-18A (could have been a B...) flew low over Melbourne city (actually over St Kilda down St Kilda Road from Melbourne) then shot up vertically like a rocket until out of sight. I was working at Logistics Command at the time on the 10th floor at 350 St Kilda Road.

 

A bit like this bad bird:

 

 

Just bought the Academy 1/32 F/A-18A+ and the book 'Hornets Down Under: Celebrating 20 years of F/A - 18 service with the Royal Australian Air Force.' by Andrew McLaughlin to help with this massive build :unsure:

 

BTW the A+ is the upgraded radar to the Raytheon AN/APG-73 Fire Control Radar system

 

 

 

Edited by Peter Browne
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/17/2019 at 12:13 AM, Pete Roberts said:

Ok, looks like several options for exhausts, but all pretty scarce.

 

Sierra Hotel, Black Box, Mk 1, Lion Roar and Eduard have all done exhausts in 1/32 for the Hornet, either as a resin part or photo etch. (And Aires)

 

Just secured a Black Box set so one very happy camper, but may also get the Eduard set - anyone had any experience with the Eduard set?

 

Thanks again for a great thread. 

 

PR

 

Reskit also does exhaust cans for the F-18 as well, and they are really nice and reasonably priced. Don't get the Aires cans as they are undersized. Also SAC makes cast metal main gear legs for about $20. I used them on my F-18B and they've held up just fine for ten years now. HTH, Fred K.

Edited by f5guy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Currently looking for the D-Mold intakes for the F-18.  The D-Mold site lists these as unavailable.  I'm also not getting any replies to either of the two email addresses on that site.  Any ideas?

 

http://dmold-modelworks.com/contents/en-us/d3.html

 

I noticed that Sprue Bros have something similar by GT Resin Products, but these look kind of clunky compared to the D-Mold product - the intake lips look too thick.

 

https://store.spruebrothers.com/product_p/gtr32052.htm

Edited by Peter Browne
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Peter Browne said:

Currently looking for the D-Mold intakes for the F-18.  The D-Mold site lists these as unavailable.  I'm also not getting any replies to either of the two email addresses on that site.  Any ideas?

 

http://dmold-modelworks.com/contents/en-us/d3.html

 

I noticed that Sprue Bros have something similar by GT Resin Products, but these look kind of clunky compared to the D-Mold product - the intake lips look too thick.

 

https://store.spruebrothers.com/product_p/gtr32052.htm

I was on the Dmold web store the other day as previously he had said due to Covid imposed shipping issues he wasn’t shipping until the end of July. So I checked in again the other day and he has now extended that indefinitely so maybe that’s why they are showing unavailable at the moment. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, ade rowlands said:

I was on the Dmold web store the other day as previously he had said due to Covid imposed shipping issues he wasn’t shipping until the end of July. So I checked in again the other day and he has now extended that indefinitely so maybe that’s why they are showing unavailable at the moment. 


I got a reply from Dimitri yesterday advising that the D-mold online store would re-open late August when presumably international shipping would be better and the F-18 intakes would be available again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am thinking of using the Aires cockpit which I believe has the SJU17A/Mk14 seat.  So a few questions:

 

Would this cockpit be appropriate for a F/A-18A, specifically for one in support of Operation Okra by 75 Sqn, 81 Wing RAAF in action against ISIS/ISIL/Daesh operations in Syria from 2014? 

 

What is required to fit the Aires cockpit to the Academy kit?

Edited by Peter Browne
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Peter Browne said:

On the issue of the seamless intakes, what are the opinions on current AM offerings?  Considering that D-mold intakes will be available again, are these better than Sierra Hotel?

 

https://sierrahotelmodels.webs.com/apps/webstore/products/show/4056909

you can always put a plug or cover over the intake,adds some color

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...