1/32 Academy F-18B Hornet  

by Terry Chan 

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Hello.  This is my second submission to ARC and it's another big one - the Academy 1/32 Hornet.  This is the 2-seater version that is sold as the "D" night attack model, but there are enough extra parts in the kit to back-date to a "B".  I decided to use this kit to build an Aggressor Hornet in the desert camouflage for the VFC-12 Fighting Omars.

As you may or may not know, the kit comes with a highly detailed cockpit out of the box.  I contemplated using an aftermarket cockpit set that might offer marginally more detail.  However I figured since I built 3 straight models prior to this one using BlackBox's offering, I should spare myself the torture this time.  I actually settled on a hybrid cockpit - The tub, sidewalls and instrument panel are all stock, the ejection seats are from Cutting Edge.
 
When building the "B", be careful to use the right parts for the cockpit.  I think I used all the right parts but I know tomorrow my inbox will be flooded with correction notes from you Hornet experts out there.  What I did NOT use correctly was the part for the under-nose panel with the wrong vents.  Oh well.

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The intake trunk presents a challenge: an inside seam that will test any modeler's patience.  I used Testor red tube glue to put the trunk halves together, squeezing them to let the glue fill the seam.  After it cured, I used sanding sticks to meticuloulsy sand it smooth.  The end result wasn't perfect - the guys at Seamless Suckers won't lose any sleep over my paltry effort - but was good enough to cover 90% of the unsightly gap.
 
The most challenging part of the construction has to be the main landing gears.  They're highly complex and consist of so many tiny parts that they have "lose me" written all over them.  In fact, I almost lost a couple of them to the Carpet Monster.  I should write an ARC article "How To Slay the Carpet Monster" - get on all 4's and slap hard against the carpet, the vibration will make the lost part jump.
 
All the landing gears and cockpit parts were painted with Gunze acrylics which is my paint of choice.
 

I primed the airframe with Mr. Surfacer 1000.  This was somewhat of a mistake because the pre-shading and camouflage were to be done with Model Master enamel, which refused to stick to this lacquer-based primer.  There were so many scratches and paint chips on the camouflage it'd make a Zero fighter blush.  Multiple touch-up sessions ensued.  The chipping finally stopped after I coated it with Future.

The decals came from Twobobs, which silvered like they were on a mission and did not react well to setting solution.  I know it's probably my fault for not having a flawlessly smooth Future'd surface for decaling so please spare my inbox the pain of explosion.  To alleviate the silvering, I had to pinch the decals with a needle then flood them with setting solution - ironic because I was trying so hard to not scratch the paint before.

The decal'd model was flat coated with Gunze acrylics and given a burnt umber wash.  Weathering was done with pastel chalk and was kept to a minimum for this land-based Navy jet.

The finished model is big and impressive.  It has enough dings on it to stop it from becoming a contest winner, but I'm still very happy with the results.  If/when I build another 1/32 Hornet, I will do it in the CF-18 tiger stripes markings.

Terry 

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Photos and text © by Terry Chan