1/48 Kinetic F/A-18

[Fridgy]

So I've lost my mojo with my ship build

I've decided to push on with this build instead



With my wrist being how it is atm there isn't much I can do with this build so I have been spending my time figuring out what she is going to look like.

I have settled on a load out
2x aim-9x
2x aim-120b
2x aim-120c
2x agm-88
1x 330 gal fuel tank
1x sniper xr
1x aas-38 flir

Flicking through the instructions I am going to have the refueling probe extended, 1 wingtip folded in the stowed position and 1 down, air break extended, canopy open and boarding ladder out and the flaps down.

Have started building up the ordnance and all the sensors


And made a start on the office and bang seat



Hopefully I get the all clear tomorrow when I go back to the dr for my follow up xray and I can then crack on with this build

[Avgas]

Must be frustrating. Hope everything goes OK at the docs.

[Elve1984]

Nice kit, i read some good stuff about it.

[Fridgy]

So sort of got the all clear from the dr this afternoon, enough that I can have the stupid wrist brace off while I'm not at work

So armed with that great news I spent an hr at the bench tonight
Started getting all the little parts for the office painted
Using Vallejo model color acrylics for the first time.
First impression... there are thicker than I expected, but quite good for brush painting the smaller details, haven't tried them through the airbrush yet....

But on with the pics....

Got the control column painted and added some colour on the 2 buttons that where on the top with the aid of a toothpick


The seat was painted using the callouts in the manual


The ejection handle


This 1/48 stuff is a lot trickier to detail paint that the 1/32 builds I have done....

Comments and advice are welcome

[Twokidsnosleep]

Hey bud I am gonna pull up a seat
Have the itch to make some Canadian F18 Hornets, so will follow yours along

[Fridgy]

Hey bud I am gonna pull up a seat
Have the itch to make some Canadian F18 Hornets, so will follow yours along

"Welcome to the party pal!...."
(Said in my best Bruce Willis Die Hard voice)

[Smiffy]

Watching with interest I have one of these in my stash.

[Fridgy]

Good morning all
Its a lazy Sunday morning here in melbourne
Couldn't start up the compressor this morning as the household was still asleep
So cracked on the the cockpit and just did some more brush painting

Ip panel got a base coat. All the mouldings for the cockpit have some great detail on them


The tub



Side walls


The canopy had a seem line which I have never had to deal with before
So youtube to the rescue

Scrapped the seam with the backside of a hobby blade


Then taped, sanded and polished (got caught up in that process and forgot to take photos



I don't think it turned out to bad for a first attempt

Ok I need more coffee... the photos of the canopy are in the wrong order....

Edit to get the photos in the right order...

[Twokidsnosleep]

I have been eBay surfing for Hornets and have bought a couple, ahem, or four today
This Kinetic kit is gorgeous, but at 1/48 a bit big and pricey for me.
I would especially like the F/A-18A version Kinetic put out....maybe when I grow up
So keep working away so I can dream on about it

[Fridgy]

I have been eBay surfing for Hornets and have bought a couple, ahem, or four today
This Kinetic kit is gorgeous, but at 1/48 a bit big and pricey for me.
I would especially like the F/A-18A version Kinetic put out....maybe when I grow up
So keep working away so I can dream on about it

Four... why stop there... only need a few more to have a squadron... im not helping am I?

I do like the big kits, them seem a little more forgiving, having said that the pe belts for the bang seat are doing my head in and then are a simple 2 piece affair

[Fridgy]

Spent the afternoon at a friend's house for a birthday party....

May have been a little anti social at times and went looking for hornet cockpit and refueling probe reference pics....
Found some good pics
Also came across this book...

http://ultra.glo.be/daco/KDCB002.html

Unfortunately the finances won't support this right now, so close to job appreciation day

[Fridgy]

Got some more bench time when I got home this afternoon
Got some weathering done on the seat using the tamiya weathering kits. Used soot on the seat cushion and the silver on the seat






Got some colour down on the switches, levers and dials




A dry fit to see how everything looked


For the next step, things didn't fit very well..... glad I test fitted before committing with some tet!



Here is the problem, those 2 middle moulded ridges need to go..... a file made short work of them


Now it fits flush



I know the switch colours I have taken some liberties with... I think it just livens up the office a little.

I did try to do the pe belts on the seat, but in my rush I lost them to the carpet monster... unsure if I am going to bother trying to make replacements yet or not

As always comments are welcome

Edit: and now that I have done some weathering on the seat.... i've looked through the decaling guide and discovered that I need to still put 3 decals on the sides and back of the head rest
That will learn me
(Well no probably not )

[Fridgy]

Have decided on a colour scheme for this build

[Fridgy]

And the real one

[ElCapitan]

That's going to look awesome!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Ya this is ok if you like Aussie stuff...oh wait, nevermind
What are your RAAF guys flying at the moment???

The previous Conservative gov signed a deal for F35's before they are really ready for action and now the new gov is looking to reneg it and get some Superhornets for the Canadian Air Farce as a stopgap. They will try to avoid a big lawsuit from Lockheed Martin...a 30Billion $ deal. I am gonna be paying either way.

[Fridgy]

Ya this is ok if you like Aussie stuff...oh wait, nevermind
What are your RAAF guys flying at the moment???

The previous Conservative gov signed a deal for F35's before they are really ready for action and now the new gov is looking to reneg it and get some Superhornets for the Canadian Air Farce as a stopgap. They will try to avoid a big lawsuit from Lockheed Martin...a 30Billion $ deal. I am gonna be paying either way.

We have a mix of hornets and superhornets
From what I understand we weren't going to get superhornets, but after the delays with the f35 we got superhornets as a stop gap.

We seem to have form of this as an air force... the same thing happened with the f-111, which is how we ended up with the phantom

I did find an aussie hornet with a very similar colour scheme to what you posted, but I couldn't find any after market decals for it

[Fridgy]

That's going to look awesome!

Thanks Rob

[Fridgy]

Alright quick update...

Spent some time this afternoon on the exhaust area
Gave all the parts a prime in gloss black



Excuse the crappy photos, I don't have the best lighting and my phone camera struggles.....

While that was drying I finished putting the tub together. Just need to gloss coat and give it a wash


Hit the exhaust with Vallejo metal colour jet exhaust

And tried to make it look a little more interesting with some chrome... even though you probably won't see it once she is all buttoned up


And 2 coats of chrome for the compressor blades

Although looking at these photos... a third coat might be needed on the blades and the afterburner assembly

[Fridgy]

2nd part to today's update...
Still unable to find the pe seat belt that seems to have disappeared into the ether.
Tried my hand at making a belt seat out of tamyia tape has left me with a splitting headache and me giving up in frustration. The seat will be one of the last things to go in so I have plenty of time to work myself up to trying it again.

Anybody got and advice or tips and tricks to makING your own belts??

[Fridgy]

Update part 3

So drugs have kicked in and stomped all over my headache

Done a little window shopping online and have found an aftermarket set of belts.... do I dare get them?
Pe and me don't seem to get on very well....
Hmm for $7.95 +postage.... Might be worth the expense....maybe
Job appreciation day tomorrow... so I get a night to sleep on it at least.... a forced cooling off period

Anyway these are the belts I have my eye on. From the eduard site as my olhs seems to be having a moment and not loading pages....

https://www.eduard.com/store/eduard/f-a ... html?cur=2

[Twokidsnosleep]

Skip a dinner out and get the seat belts!! Save yourself another headache
I am not eating for month, shall live on my winter fat stores

[Fridgy]

Skip a dinner out and get the seat belts!! Save yourself another headache
I am not eating for month, shall live on my winter fat stores

Jeez how am I supposed to be impulsive when the online hobby store website won't play ball??

[Fridgy]

Got some bench time this afternoon between doing a tip run and school pick up

Got the intakes joined and filled the seam


Got another coat of chrome on the compressor blades


And got the exhaust tube assembled. Like I suspected once it's all together the chrome highlights are not very visable, but hey I know that it is there


Also I pulled the trigger on the eduard seat belts (thanks to a certain someone talking me into it
I'm looking at you scott.... kidding mate, I need no help what so ever finding the motivation to buy stuff)
While I was online I also picked up some Ultimate thinny sanders and a bottle of mircoscale
I realised that I need to attach pe to the canopy and I didn't want it fogging my freshly deseamed canopy and my current sanders are way too big to fit into the intakes.......

[Twokidsnosleep]

If you cannot be a good example, then be a horrible warning....or in this case a bad influence
At least when my lovely wife asks why so many credit card charges, I can say "well I bet Fridgy bought more than me"

I fought with some belts and other home made PE for 1/72nd scale and it is ok, but the real stuff with etchings and buckles looks sweet.
Especially true at bigger 1/48 scale

[SolventSolution]

I have been eBay surfing for Hornets and have bought a couple, ahem, or four today
This Kinetic kit is gorgeous, but at 1/48 a bit big and pricey for me.
I would especially like the F/A-18A version Kinetic put out....maybe when I grow up
So keep working away so I can dream on about it

Four... why stop there... only need a few more to have a squadron... im not helping am I?

I do like the big kits, them seem a little more forgiving, having said that the pe belts for the bang seat are doing my head in and then are a simple 2 piece affair

You guys are giving me great ideas that my wife will not appreciate...



Awesome looking build Fridgy. Great details.

[Twokidsnosleep]

There is a kit with four Blue Angels......Revell I think

[Fridgy]

There is a kit with four Blue Angels......Revell I think

Your a bad man scott

[Twokidsnosleep]

There is a kit with four Blue Angels......Revell I think

Your a bad man scott

I almost bought it on Saturday
Thought 4 was enough!!

[Fridgy]

It would be nice if us aussie had display teams that used fighters...
We have a display team but the only use trainers

[Twokidsnosleep]

Hey Fridgy, there is a 1/32 scale F-18 from Academy...here is a build thread from a while ago
http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/ind ... p-a-notch/&

now that is my evil at work

[Fridgy]

Holy crap...20 pages... im going to have to read that when I get home

[Fridgy]

That was just nasty scott

Now I just want one

[Twokidsnosleep]

Ya, me too
I am trying to avoid the 1/32 scale of planes as costs get a bit large rather quickly

[Fridgy]

My decals showed up today

[Twokidsnosleep]

Ooo I will send you this chart again for the paint codes, hope it helps
http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/colorchart ... rts_fs.htm

[SolventSolution]

There is a kit with four Blue Angels......Revell I think

oooohhh, you are evil.

[Bissyboat]

Nice decals!

[Fridgy]

Got the seat belt for my hornet bang seat today



Such a big bag for such a little fret....


Yes Scott..... this is your doing.... well that's my excuse and im sticking to it.....

[Fridgy]

Ooo I will send you this chart again for the paint codes, hope it helps
http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/colorchart ... rts_fs.htm

Thanks for that Scott, still no exact match... unsure weather to go closest to, or just do something completely different like a vibrant purple

[Bissyboat]

Very nice. Beware of the carpet monster.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Ooo I will send you this chart again for the paint codes, hope it helps
http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/colorchart ... rts_fs.htm

Thanks for that Scott, still no exact match... unsure weather to go closest to, or just do something completely different like a vibrant purple

I would just go closest using a name match if you are having trouble...maybe not purple
or have a peek for other kit instructions online...like a revell or hasegawa and see what their colour call outs are
Here see if this one helps, it just depends what paints ya got
https://www.cybermodeler.com/aircraft/f ... le01.shtml

[Fridgy]

Ooo I will send you this chart again for the paint codes, hope it helps
http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/colorchart ... rts_fs.htm

Thanks for that Scott, still no exact match... unsure weather to go closest to, or just do something completely different like a vibrant purple

I would just go closest using a name match if you are having trouble...maybe not purple
or have a peek for other kit instructions online...like a revell or hasegawa and see what their colour call outs are
Here see if this one helps, it just depends what paints ya got
https://www.cybermodeler.com/aircraft/f ... le01.shtml

The colour is called for in the aftermarket decal sheet

I was thinking purple because my partner suprised me with this kit one day, so it was a way of trying to get her involved in the build to a degree, and well she likes purple

Paint wise, I use just about anything I can get the right colour from...

[Fridgy]

Ok so got a bit of bench time today
Sprayed all the landing gear, bays, doors and the intakes white.

The Vallejo model colour seems to spray ok thinned with water but was getting a lot of tip drying.... is there a retarder I can use for these paints?
Spraying them with a .4 needle @ 28psi temp today is 24C. Not sure of the thinning ratio I have used, got the paint to the consistency of skim milk if that helps? It could be operator error.

Will upload some photos later this afternoon

[Fridgy]

As promised









Put the nose together



Put the intake fronts together


Next up, detail painting of the gear bays and legs

[Twokidsnosleep]

Those look great
White is an absolute B to spray and yes your heat and humidity can screw things up. So many factors in airbrushing.
Some one just told me they did 15 thin layers of spray to get their white...I don't have that kind of patience, but building the layers slowly helps

[Fridgy]

Yeah F16 build.... I couldn't do it.
All those where 4 coats of white and I was over spraying by then.....

[March]

Nice work!

With respect to the retarder question, Vallejo do their own retarder (val597). Guessing it's on the warm side where you are so something that slows down the drying process will certainly be an aid.

[Fridgy]

Not much done today...
Got some detail painting done on the landing gear




So I have come across a few problems with the instructions by Kinetic, wrong part numbers listed etc
Came across this one after I had painted the front gear,
I have painted them in the sequence that kinetic have specified, then when looking at pictures of the real deal the colours are upside down. The part I'm talking about is the "traffic light" lights just below the front landing light


The instructions have it with the green light at the bottom where all the pics I have found of the real thing have the green at the top, granted in the grand scheme of things, not a huge deal, but something for others to keep an eye out for


Not sure if I can be arsed changing them around at this point in time.

Landing gear just needs a gloss coat, decals and a wash then I can set them aside

oh a I'm going to try to put some krystal klear on the landing light to simulate a glass lens

[Twokidsnosleep]

That is all spot on
Nice gear!!!