F-18 kits in 1/48
scale are described basically in three types, (1) Hasegawa, which is by
far the best, (2) Revell-Monogram, which is a competent kit and (3) The rest,
which generally *suck*. So we have here a newer kit from Kangnam, a kit which is
not going to threaten the Revell-Monogram kit let alone the Hasegawa kit for
quality.
I picked this kit up
about 1 year ago and it came packaged with the Leading Edge 425sqd. "
Alouette Sqd." 70th. anniversary markings. Of course the decals are quite
good esp. for that vintage of Leading Edge decals (1998) They come fairly
complete for a typical Canadian CF-18A. As for the kit itself, well it's
an also ran. To it's benefit it does do some things right.
-
(1) It has
engraved panel lines even though they are not totally accurate. The lines
are petite and the plastic is good as such.
-
(2) It has
decent engraved landing gear struts though missing parts as the tie down
rings and such, but they are nicely to scale.
But, it has so much
more wrong. I won't elaborate too much but hi-lite a few things.
-
(1) The kit
wings are separate from the fuselage, unlike the Monogram kit, this is
enhanced by joints that are not accurate at all once the wings
are joined. But it's on the underside and won't be seen unless you flip it
over.
-
(2) The vertical
tails are too small, about 1/4 inch too small in height.
-
(3) The intakes
are all wrong, instead of the more oval looking ones of real F-18's
these are b*st&rdized squarish openings and way too thick.
-
(4) The cockpit
just plain blows.
I could go on but I
won't as I want you all to enjoy reading this article. So onto
things I did to make this a decent CF-18 even if it's messed up.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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I had to kit bash, I have
numerous F-18A parts from Revell-Monogram kits in my spares box. I used
the following in this build.
- (1) Monogram cockpit and seat,
which is a nice set-up, one of the best Revell-Monogram have
ever made on a 1/48 scale aircraft kit.
- (2) Monogram vertical
tails, because the Kangman ones just can't be used. This required lots
of grafting work.
- (3) Monogram windscreen and
canopy set-up, even though the fit is not going to be right. The set up is a
touch too long, but I'll be setting it canopy open so I can live with this.
- (4) Monogram wheels, but the
Kangnam front strut. My Monogram front struts were too badly
maligned from dismantling of old F-18 kits.
- (5) Monogram exhaust
cans and Sidewinder missiles.
So onto the build. It was
basically out of the box with the above noted bashed parts used and made
to fit. I thinned out the intakes but did not get too anal over their
lousy shape. The grafting of the Monogram vertical tails required a lot of
gap filling (using super glue and sanding). The Monogram cockpit tub and
seat fit well though.
Onto the Canadian 600,000 candle
power spot light on the port side. Always a pain as it's hard to make this look
good. I marked out the approximate area and drilled a hole that
seemed close to the scale size of the real CF-18. It's a touch too low on
my kit, but not bad. I had to fill the panel lines with super glue and
sand them smooth to rescribe new ones to look like the housing for
CF-18's. I did not drill totally through. I left a paper thin amount of
plastic. In my spares box I found a clear set of 1/25scale 1957 Ford
(torpedo style) tail lights (the kit made one set clear red and the other
clear). I found that if you reverse the torpedo tail lights and push them
through the paper thin remaining plastic to poke a hole, if you paint the
back of the clear piece silver it comes close to looking like a
spotlight. The clear acrylic housing was made using a hole punch and
a thin piece of clear acetate. I had to sand and shave it down a touch to
fit the opening better and I glued it in (after painting and decaling of
course).
The kit does have ok fit. The
inaccuracies may drive builders who want the utmost in realism to just
throw the kit away or give it to a kid. I like an accurate build but am
not too anal that can't live with inaccuracies. I knew this kit was going to be
a dog's breakfast before I began and I just was wanting to make it
into a decent CF-18. So I continued on through the build.
Painting is typical of CF-18's. I
used Humbrol FS 36375 for the underside and FS35237 for upper surfaces. Humbrol
raydome tan on the nose cone front. Spraying went down as typical, but I
pre-sprayed flat black on all panel lines. I then airbrushed as typical the
other colours, including white on the outer tails. Once all dried about 36
hours. I then brushed on about 3-4 thin coats of Future using a clean 1 inch
wide brush. I wicked up any runs. This left the paint glossy
enough to place the Leading Edge 70th. Anniversary 425Sqd. markings. I
placed these on using Micro-set and Micro-sol. I let them sit for 24
hours. I then sealed them in with a coat of Future.
Onto light weathering. I mixed up
a thin wash of brown-greyish-black enamel and flowed it into panel lines
and on landing gear. Once dry I wiped off the surfaces
with regular paint thinner and a paper towel and Q-tips. This
left a light weathered look. I then did some spot spraying of
colour to give the plane a slight (very slight) repainted look. I never saw
the real plane so was not sure how grimy it may have looked
back in 1994. So I decided to go very light on such details. A final coat
of Testors Dullcoat to flatten the gloss and the paint was done.
The plane was looking pretty
decent for such a lower end kit. All the final details were applied as
normal, with the loadout being as follows.
- (1) I used one
fuel tank (BTW the kit ones are too small but I did not have any Monogram
tanks so too bad for me). I made a tail fin for the tank
and used Monogram pylons for it.
- (2) I placed on the other wing
a storage pod. I just wanted the plane too look a little different.
- (3) Even though this was
likely an air show bird all the time in this paint finish. I wanted
live missiles. Two Aim-9's on the wing tips using Monogram tips and
missiles and I used the two Kangnam Aim-7 Sparrows even
though their fins are too thick.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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So, where do we
stand? Well it looks like a CF-18. The Maple Leaf on a white tail looks very
nice. It sits on my CF-18 row with other, kits (darn still no Hasegawa
ones, only a Revell-Monogram one and a Testors twin seater
which is also a little lame IMO.)
If you are a
builder who cries for accuracy, you won't like this kit, in fact you'll probably
use it for kindling during fire season. I will not recommend this kit. If
you want a kit to mess with or give a kid to save some money on, well ok,
but the Revell-Monogram kit is way better and costs a similar price. The
other kits of this price point are no better and the only
great kit is the Hasegawa kit, but at a price. I still enjoyed building this kit
just to see how well I could turn it out as. The nice 70th .
Anniversary markings make it a cool plane too. Will I buy another Kangnam
F-18A kit? Probably not. In fact as this hobby really grows with me
in my maturity I am getting a little tired of lamo/cheapo
kits. I all too often throw money away as I often do not enjoy such lower
quality kits. From now on I'm going to settle with Revell-Monogram kits
if I want lower priced ones and other brand of similar to
Revell-Monogram quality or budget to get only better kits
from say Hasegawa, Tamiya and to a lesser extent Airfix and their
likes. I'll display this kit though with pride as it is a Canadian
Forces subject worth displaying.
Les
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