Dukie99 Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 (edited) I will join this GB with another Academy F/A-18C. The F/A-18+ I built for the Training Day GB was a very enjoyable experience, so I thought I would build another one. I have decals for Swiss Air Force J-5011 in a 2014 Tigermeet marking. I have a fair amount of aftermarket for this one as well: Aires cockpit, Res-kit exhausts, 4dable model chaff/flare launchers, rhino seamless intakes and g-factor brass legs. I will load this bird with two sidewinders and two Amraams from Zactomodels which are their way. I have another F/A-18D in the stash and I may tackle it for the upcoming Navy GB, we'll see. Box shot and AM I have cut and prepped the resin and gave it a thorough cleaning More progress soon. Cheers, David Edited March 7, 2021 by Dukie99 Youngtiger1, Out2gtcha, Dragon and 14 others 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dukie99 Posted January 31, 2021 Author Share Posted January 31, 2021 Some progress to show. I built and painted the front landing gear bay and painted the main bays. The first picture is paint under gloss coat and the second after a Tamya brown wash. Cheers, David MikeMaben, LSP_Kevin, KiwiZac and 14 others 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dukie99 Posted February 5, 2021 Author Share Posted February 5, 2021 More progress. Finishing the cockpit before closing the forward portion of the fuselage. As far as Aires resin cockpit goes, this one fits very well within the two sides. the only difficulty is to match the step on top of the front landing gear, so careful cutting and sanding is required but once this is done the fit is snug and everything align. This is where it stands, I was bit heavy on the drybrushing but in the naked eye it does look better than on the close-up pictures. The lifted pain at the bottom of the tub will be covered by the bangseat. More progress soon. Cheers, David alain11, denders, Dragon and 12 others 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dukie99 Posted March 2, 2021 Author Share Posted March 2, 2021 (edited) How time flies, a month has passed since the last update. I have been working steadily on this kit but I have to admit I prefer spending time building than documenting every step, many much more talented modellers here who do that wonderfully. Anyway, this is a great kit and a pleasure to build. I have used the Reskit exhaust and the quality is top notch even though the instructions could be a bit clearer. I have also used the Reskit resin wheel and the quality is excellent and well worth the cost. G-factor leg just prepped. You need a good metal saw and good diamond files to clean the casting seams, but once this is done, they look great and fit really well in respective fuselage slots. Glueing detail pieces to the metal is a bit tricky with superglue but it works. With added detail kit parts and painted with a gloss coat, waiting for decals and a wash Reskit cans, also waiting for a wash Zactoman's Aim-9 and Aim-120 Painted and in the process of being decaled. The quality of the casting and the details are just phenomenal. More update soon. Cheers, David Edited March 2, 2021 by Dukie99 Dragon, themongoose, Out2gtcha and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzas Posted March 2, 2021 Share Posted March 2, 2021 Very nice detail work, David! Dukie99 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dukie99 Posted March 4, 2021 Author Share Posted March 4, 2021 Maru and Gazzas thank you for leaving a comment. A quick update but an exciting one for me. The centerpiece of this build and its make or break moment is the tailart: two different photo-realistic tigers on the outside face of the tails and a detail close-up of a tiger eye in the inside face of the tails. Decals are from Syhart and they are are huge, covering the entire tail, with thankfully a separate decal for the moving part. Given the shape of the tails and the number of details molded there, I was very concerned about the decals conforming well to the plastic. As soon as I finished the general painting and gloss coat on the bird, I decided to apply these decals first. Although it was a nerve racking process over several nights, the Syhart decals (printed by Cartograf) reacted beautifully to micro Sol and gentle persuasion (and a lot of patience) and I am very pleased with the result. It is not perfect but in real life it looks amazing. See for yourself (the moving part of the tail is just dry fitted and will be glued with PVA later on). Only one of the tails, the other tail is also done, but the moving part would not remain in place when dry fitted, so no picture yet) More update soon. Cheers, David panzerrob, Starfighter, BradG and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 Great work David! Those tail decals really put it over the top Dukie99 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dukie99 Posted March 4, 2021 Author Share Posted March 4, 2021 (edited) Thank you Brian. Finished the loadout. Can't say enough good thing about the Zacto missiles. My only nitpick is that you need to source decals from elsewhere (which is not easy for the Aim-9x. Cheers, David Edited March 4, 2021 by Dukie99 BradG, Dragon, Michael931080 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themongoose Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 Nice job on those monster tail decals! Going to make for a beautiful build Dukie99 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dukie99 Posted March 4, 2021 Author Share Posted March 4, 2021 Here is the other side Starfighter, alain11, Dragon and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 Great looking Hornet, i'm sure to follow your build, as i have the same decal sheets, have fun building! Jack. Dukie99 and Out2gtcha 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 Spectacular! Kev Dukie99 and Out2gtcha 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzas Posted March 7, 2021 Share Posted March 7, 2021 Whoa! Stunning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dukie99 Posted March 7, 2021 Author Share Posted March 7, 2021 I call this one done. Very happy with how it turned out. I have one more F/A-18 in the stash (a D) but will wait a bit before tackling it. I will go for the MH-60S Knighthawk for the Navy GB. Here are the RFI pictures, sorry for the quality of the pictures, I am not much of a photographer. Cheers, David Starfighter, Dragon, themongoose and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted March 7, 2021 Share Posted March 7, 2021 What a spectacular-looking Hornet! Kev Dukie99 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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