Now we move onto painting and
decal application. The marking I used is 20 Years Hornet special produced by
Leading Edge. This set should be out of production now. I got mine from Uncle
Rick who had barely one or two left. The instructions provided by Leading Edge is
very clear, telling you how to paint the Hornet and making it ready for decal
application. My advice would be to cut the decal and double check before you
paint. For a marking this complicated just a few milimeters would be a total
disaster. So, measure, measure and measure before you go.
After the model was sanded
smooth, I double check with a coat of white primer. This served two purpose, one
to check for any flaw and two as a base for the yellow color. Then the model was
masked and sprayed according to Leading Edge's instruction. The decal included a
black curve and a converging line for the marking stretching from the formation
light at the forward fuselage down to the center pylon. I chose not to use them,
made a mask by myself, and had the mark sprayed.
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A gloss clear coat followed by
three weeks for complete dryness, I was ready to apply decal. A very clear
warning in Leading Edge's instruction is "Large Decals must be soaked only
in hot water to prevent possible cracking". I had no problem with the large
ones but somehow I had cracks on those black strips on the bottom of my Hornet.
After one or two weeks I tried to touch up with black enamel paint but there
just cracked again. I dared not to do anything more so there is a little
unpleasant mark. Except this the decal went on very well.
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This Academy Hornet is a very
nice kit and the Leading Edge decal set is of high quality. I enjoyed very much
the build but I don't think I would do such a colorful demo jet again. Thanks CC
for buying this for me.
Accessories I used are :
- (1) BlackBox CS32011 Cockpit set with tail fin conversion for Academy Kit
- (2) Eduard 32105 F/A-18 Hornet Exhaust Set
- (3) Eduard 32106 F/A-18 Hornet Exterior
- (4) Eduard 32508 F-18 Hornet Placards
- (5) Eduard 32510 F/A-18C Hornet Interior
- (6) Eduard 32519 F/A-18 GRU/SJU Seat Detail Set
- (7) Eduard 32107 F/A-18 Hornet Armament
- (8) Eduard XL051 F/A-18 Hornet Mask
- (9) Seamless Suckers Seamless Intakes for the Academy 1/32 F-18 Hornet
- (10) Leading Edge #32.09 CAF CF-18 "Hornets 20" Special
References :
- (1) DACO Publication "Uncovering The F/A-18 A/B/C/D Hornet
-
By Danny Coremans and Nico
Deboeck
- (2) Building the CF-188 by Steve Bamford
http://www.arcair.com/tnt1/001-100-TNT100_CF-188_Bamford/tnt100.htm
Douglas
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