Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet VFA-2 (Hasegawa)

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March 4, 2022
Hasegawa's venerable F/A-18F Super Bug.
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March 4, 2022
Sprues are immaculate - no flash.
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March 4, 2022
I won't be using these wings.
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March 4, 2022
Typical Hasegawa engineering and parts breakdown.
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March 4, 2022
I'll be using different exhausts and cockpit bits as well.
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March 4, 2022
The clear parts looks great - those grommets for the stabilizers will interfere with the aftermarket exhausts though.
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March 4, 2022
The Aires resin cockpit is nicely detailed, but it beat me. Try as I could, I was not able to make it fit in the fuselage. But I can still use some bits and pieces.
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March 4, 2022
The resin exhausts from Aires cannot be fitted without changing the way the stabilizers mount, and opening up the holes in the rear of the fuselage.
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March 4, 2022
Some nice photoetch from Eduard, along with their canopy masks.
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March 4, 2022
Resin wings and flaps from RES-IM. These look very nice.
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March 4, 2022
And resin wheels from ResKit.
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March 4, 2022
VFA-2 Bounty Hunters decals from TwoBobs. I'll be making the CAG bird.
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March 4, 2022
Pretty lame bang seats in the Hasegawa kit.
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March 4, 2022
The resin ejection seats and photoetch harnesses are a huge improvement over what comes with the kit.
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March 4, 2022
The cockpit tub and the photoetch instrument panels and rudder pedals from Eduard.
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March 4, 2022
To make the resin exhaust fit, you have to remove the lip at the back of the fuselage...
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March 4, 2022
...and open up the hole. You also cannot use the crossbar that holds the grommets for the stabilizers as the exhaust tube interferes.
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March 4, 2022
The resin wing and flap set removed from the casting blocks. Surface detail matches the kit nicely.
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March 4, 2022
The fit is quite good. Note that I've used a portion of the Aires cockpit turtledeck to add some detail.
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March 4, 2022
A little seam work and these will do the trick nicely. This aircraft was not yet fitted with the Bard stacks at the time of the markings I'll be using.
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March 22, 2022
Landing gear added with photoetch brake lines and nose gear detail.
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March 22, 2022
I also used photoetch for the nose gear torque links.
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March 22, 2022
The resin tyres and wheel hubs ready for paint.
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March 22, 2022
Photos of the VFA-2 CAG bird show a lightly weathered TPS.
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March 22, 2022
The gear legs received a dark grey Future wash to highlight the detail.
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April 27, 2022
The red, white, blue and yellow markings of VFA-2 are masked and painted on since the TwoBobs decal stripes disintegrated in water.
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April 27, 2022
I sprayed a clear overcoat over the rest of the TwoBobs decals so I could use them.
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April 27, 2022
Once I added the clear lacquer overcoat to the decals, the rest went on with no problems.
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April 27, 2022
I really like the Bounty Hunters scheme.
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April 27, 2022
I then painted the stripes onto the centreline tank as well.
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April 27, 2022
Finishing up the resin Aires exhaust bits.
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April 27, 2022
The photoetch HUD with its two combining glasses was, well, fun I guess!
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April 27, 2022
The skull has been added to the tank, and I also added the antennae etc.
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April 27, 2022
The horizontal stabilizers and the burner cans in place.
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April 27, 2022
Everything got a coat or two of Mr. Color GX114 Super Smooth Flat Clear, which I really like. Thinned with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner, it does not have that Mr. Color "fragrance."
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May 4, 2022
Lots of photoetch for the canopy - mirrors, hand holds. cross brace etc.
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May 4, 2022
Also the canopy latches and lock mechanism. I think fiddly is the word to describe it!
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May 13, 2022
And she is finished! Enjoy the rest of the photos.
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May 13, 2022
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May 13, 2022
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May 13, 2022
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May 13, 2022
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May 13, 2022
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May 13, 2022
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May 13, 2022
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May 13, 2022
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May 13, 2022
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May 13, 2022
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May 13, 2022

Comments

62 4 March 2022, 01:40

Ekki
Watching!

5 March 2022, 18:47

Bill Gilman
I've added some photos to show the progress. I started to add the VFA-2 Bounty Hunters decals but the very first one (the forward fuselage stripes on the port side) broke into several pieces after dipping in the water. I've rescued the bits and am going to attempt to put them back together on the model. Yikes! In the meantime, the remainder of the decal sheet has been sprayed with a clear lacquer to prevent this happening again. I've never had this happen with a TwoBobs decal sheet before. Hopefully I can salvage it. Otherwise I'll have to go for Plan B - which will be interesting as I don't have a Plan B! Cheers, Bill

22 March 2022, 00:12

Maciej Bellos
Following!

22 March 2022, 05:55

Daniel
Me 3, looking great!
Hopefully the decals work out, if not I'd vote for the red ripper Plan B 🙂

22 March 2022, 07:19

Thomas Kolb
Very nice and super clean build, not sure how I missed this one. I really like the detailed build descriptions instead of just pictures.

22 March 2022, 08:15

Bill Gilman
I didn't like how my "reconstructed" decal looked, so I pulled it off the model. I found a sheet on eBay from Galaxy Model that has this same VFA-2 scheme. I ordered it from a dealer in Australia, so it will take a few weeks to get to me in the US. This is the scheme I really wanted to do, plus this sheet from Galaxy also has the stripes for the central drop tank which the TwoBobs sheet didn't have. In the meantime I'll start something else - lord knows I ave a few kits in the stash. 🙂

22 March 2022, 14:27

Bill Gilman
The decal sheet from Galaxy arrived, but it does not have the stripes! It has masks for the stripes, but they are the type of masks that require you to paint the stripes prior to the overall grey - ugh. I just masked by eye and painted the damn things on. I've uploaded several pictures that show the progress. She's coming together! I onto the fiddly bit stage now (check out the photoetch HUD in the pix) so it shouldn't be too long. Cheers, Bill

27 April 2022, 23:51

Bill Gilman
Nearing the end of this build. I have the windscreen and canopy on, and there were a lot of fiddly photoetch bits. Eduard provided the canopy latch and lock mechanism, hand holds, rear view mirrors, and the canopy cross brace. Some of these parts are very small, but I think the end result looks very convincing, especially in 1:72 scale. Check out the latest photos. Cheers, Bill

4 May 2022, 23:32

Daniel
Beautiful work Bill, looks fantastic👏🏻

5 May 2022, 06:58

Spanjaard
What a beautiful result

5 May 2022, 07:34

Neuling
Super clean work!

5 May 2022, 08:41

Bill Gilman
Thanks - hope to finish the missiles and pylons today. Cheers, Bill

5 May 2022, 13:40

Ekki
Excellent work!

12 May 2022, 19:12

Simon Nagorsnik
Good work 👌

12 May 2022, 19:17

Bill Gilman
Thanks mates. After what seemed like forever just to finish the missiles, I've finally finished the model and uploaded several photos. Hope you like her! Cheers, Bill

13 May 2022, 17:45

Bernd Grün
Very nice result, Bill. It looks phantastic! 👍

9 February 2023, 12:53

Bill Gilman
Thanks Bernd! It was a fun project - decal issues notwithstanding. Cheers, Bill

9 February 2023, 13:35

AusRam
Lovely result! Wish I'd found your build sooner, I spent most of yesterday fighting the Aires cockpit tub trying to get it into my Hasegawa kit. Like you, I just couldn't get it to fit...even with removing a lot of kit plastic and sanding the tub down. It seems too wide for the most part.. so one rather butchered Super Hornet and Aires tub later and I gave up on it. Like you, I'll build using the standard tub and some of the bits like the seats from the upgrade kit, as they seem to fit. Very annoying!

14 August 2023, 07:45

Bill Gilman
@AusRam - It's not the first time I've had that problem with Aires resin cockpits! I have a feeling that they have never tried to use their own parts. I also had a lot of "fun" making the Aires and CMK resin parts fit my F/A-18C. You can check it out here:

McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet (Hasegawa) | Album by Navy Bird (1:72)

Cheers, Bill

14 August 2023, 14:58

Spanjaard
I love aires cockpits, the detail is just amazing, but you usually need to sand the resin until is almost transparent, and also sand the plastic a lot until they fit. But the efforts pay off when it is completed

14 August 2023, 15:01

Bill Gilman
@Spanjaard - True, but I think that a properly designed aftermarket part wouldn't require all of that, at least not to the extent you sometimes see. That said, I've had some Aires cockpits that fit just fine with minimal sanding. Anyway, it doesn't stop me from buying them! Cheers, Bill

14 August 2023, 15:04

Spanjaard
I could not agree more! It will be great if they were made to fit like a glove without sanding
But I guess that since we keep on buying them, they may not go that far 😉

14 August 2023, 15:20

Daniel
Hmm, they should start doing something in the days of Quinta and 3D printing...

14 August 2023, 18:58

AusRam
Well, I sanded the sides until they literally weren't there in places... and I trimmed, cut and sanded the fuselage as well and it still wouldn't fit... as Bill says, it really doesn't need to be that hard, surely? Make the thing a few mm's thinner. Or if there is a trick to getting it to fit, put it in the instructions...which really were pretty useless...basically "You will have to trim some plastic". Anyway, lessons learnt, avoid Aires. Rant over and sorry for venting a little on your thread for such a great build Bill! But if it helps others avoid the wasted time, money and effort, it might be worth it.

15 August 2023, 07:16

DerMattes
Fantastic build!

17 August 2023, 07:27

Project info

Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet

50 images

1:72

Completed

1:72 F/A-18F Super Hornet `VFA-11 Red Rippers´ (Hasegawa 00809)

1:72 F/A-18F Super Hornet Cockpit Set (Aires 7282)

1:72 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Exhaust Nozzles-Opened (Aires 7327)

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