Academy F/A 18C Chippy Ho- Finished

[chrish]

I finally decided to pull this one out of the stash for a go. It was given to me as his parting gift from my long time friend who's passing (now as far back as 2014) left a large vacancy in my small group of friends. "Uncle" Rick Chin of Uncle Bills Models in Calgary Alberta. He had included a set of "A" tails a Blackbox cockpit and Leading Edge Models decals (in case I wanted to do something different) I used the aftermarket stuff on a previous build but may try to add Dmold intakes Rescast exhausts and Aires gear bays...I seem to have used up all my carefully hoarded resin cockpits so, I may use the kit part or, order more resin Aires cockpits for the 3 remaining kits in the stash.

I may, depending on my ability to stay focused,  put this build aside for a spell when an order for the F-35 arrives from Hannants...

Thanks for looking

[ScoobyDoo]

Make Rick proud. I just pulled out the Academy Hornet too. Time to build it!

Rick is dearly missed.

 

[chrish]

Thanks men

puttering well under way on the bug, I've taken the initiative of filling the sink marks inherent on all these kits as a place to start.

 

 

 

I'm thinking (after a bit of web searching etc.) to go with the kit gear bays and just add a bit of fluff here and there.

 

 

added some "fittings' in the way of super glue and tape strips.

 

and some vents added from aluminum tube bent and filed to shape

 

The fun continues

Thanks for looking

[Martinnfb]

Nice start Chris, pulling out my  comfy chair

[O.W]

Nice start. I always really enjoy building a 1/32 Academy Hornet.

[themongoose]

Those vents just crave formed tubing! Those touches really up the game on this one. Nice!

[chrish]

I've added a few wires to the main gear to represent the mass of plumbing in the area. The last time I did one of these I made the mistake of painting first and plumbing later, super glue pulls paint off quite efficiently when trying to bend wires super glued to the paint.

 

 

 

 

The good times continue

Thanks for looking

[LSP_Kevin]

Nice work, Chris. And you made the correct choice in terms of the order of applying the wires. Like you, I'd much rather deal with the hassle of painting the wires once they're already installed, than ruining existing paintwork trying to glue them on later.

 

Kev

[Starfighter]

Great work so far! But, if I may, do yourself a favour and get an all-metal landing gear. I know from experience that the kit landing gear does not support the weight of the model  as time passses. My first Hornet was sitting on its tail after several years. 

[chrish]

Thanks for the encouragement

some fun building and fitting some of the smaller bits to the bigger bits. A bit of paint splashed on as well.

dirty brake dust:

 

 

I added some decals and a bit of color to the gear bay, not that it'll ever be seen once it's sitting on it's wheels.

 

 

 

and front 1/2 closed up

Thanks for looking

 

[MikeMaben]

Excellent job Chris 

[Crew Dog]

YES!!! Another Bug! Keep up the great work Chrish!

[GreyGhost]

Very nice, Chris ..l 

 

-Gregg

[chrish]

Haha don't expect to much from me, I'm a modeller striving for mediocrity.

I have had a bit of luck gluing things together this weekend though (the sun does shin on a dogs butt once in a while)

I have added the resin engine air intakes and glued the rear top and bottom and the front left and right together

I glued the wing upper halves to the top fuselage half so as to minimize the upper wing joint gap

 

 

here's the intakes fitted, careful sanding and fitting has reduced the filler I'll still need to smear on;

 

 

 

It's mostly all faired in now, some filler at the wing joint, rear fuselage joint and upper front fuselage...so yes, still a lot of filler needed.

Thanks for looking

[Crew Dog]

Just wait till you get to the LERX's, I had to putty nearly every joint for mine. Also, don't forget about the standoffs that go between the intake plates and the fuselage (I'm assuming you still have them off for ease of painting.) Detail in the gear bays looks awesome!