Trumpeter F/A-18E Super Hornet 1/32

[BarryW]

Found some info.

The AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR (Advanced Targeting Forward Looking InfraRed), is the main electro-optical sensor and laser designator pod for the Super Hornet.


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By U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate Airman Apprentice Timothy C. Roache Jr.

Nice pic thanks - i have decided to fit one to the left shoulder with a AMRAAM on the other with a load of 4 GBU-12's and two JSOW.

[BarryW]

HI Barry NO NO NO NO PLEASE PLEASE DONT BIN IT as id love to see this plane through completion ? as I must admit ive not properly looked through my super hornet kit an wont till ive finished tiger but you binned the AV10 an that was a shame an im sure you had your reasons as you said that you've never had such a bad fittin kit well ok on that but im sure the hornet is not that bad is it ?
chris:cold-sweat::disappointed:

I all depends Chris. I will get in there later and provided I can get a reasonable join between the front and rear fuselage then thats great. I do have my doubts though, you can see the gap and I dont know whether brute force will get it to line up.

The Bronco was a real shocker in every sense, much worse overall than this one but this particular problem, if I cannot correct it, is a potentially fatal one.

[boatman]

I all depends Chris. I will get in there later and provided I can get a reasonable join between the front and rear fuselage then thats great. I do have my doubts though, you can see the gap and I dont know whether brute force will get it to line up.

The Bronco was a real shocker in every sense, much worse overall than this one but this particular problem, if I cannot correct it, is a potentially fatal one.

WELL Barry don't give up yet before havin a good ole try an its on the underside so a little filler to build up to the other level if the other side wont compress but if I have this problem on mine I would try an get around it by fittin a very thin cutting disk to my Dremel an gently cutting horizontally back wards to have a gap on both sides then force the fusalarge down an then glue an it should be lined up with the other front section but that's me anyway good luck Barry
chris

[BarryW]

Well, sometimes the right solution is the application of brute force....


There was a loud clunk as I beared down on the model, a seam had split, but I do believe that if the cement holds problem is over.... a bit of a gap to fill but that is nothing to worry about.

[boatman]

Well, sometimes the right solution is the application of brute force....
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1126465[/ATTACH]

There was a loud clunk as I beared down on the model, a seam had split, but I do believe that if the cement holds problem is over.... a bit of a gap to fill but that is nothing to worry about.

SEE Barry a litte force an you are back in business again as for me it was a heartstopper when you said you might bin the model as im hopein to see this hornet out to sting an in wonderfull colours as you make some cracker of some models so lets forget the bin thing an onwards an upwards lol an while I think of it lets just hope that whatever went crack is not noticeable
chris
chris

[BarryW]

The repair held, I have filled the seam and the gap, tonight some final surface prep and I will spray primer.

Unlike my normal practise I am not black basing simply because I want a more toned down weathering. This being a 'celebration' paint scheme I am assuming that it would look relatively fresh. So I am, going to prime in pale grey, not usually a good idea on grey plastic but it is the best option to produce a 'cleaner' aircraft. There will still be weathering simply to avoid it looking like painted plastic. Hopefully I will get a start on this tonight.

[BarryW]

Some significant progress made.

I have primed the sub-assemblies. It is not good using grey primer on grey plastic specialty when the two are almost identical shades...


above are subs that need some seam treatment with Mr Dissolved Putty And sanding. After that they will get another primer coat.

below are subs that are not in need of extra work other than painting detailing and weathering. A few parts are shown that have already gone through at least some of those processes.


on another thread was a discussion about masking. Here is how I do it.

First I fill the wheel well with blue roll (I get this cheap I’m a large supply, kitchen roll is as good). This has two jobs, it catches stray paint that gets under the masking tape and it gives something for masking tape to stick to..


I then start using small bits of various sized masking tape, some just torn from the roll but some times it is best to cut it carefully to position it.


work slowly, bit my bit, a cocktail stick helps to ouch it into position and tamp it to flat surfaces and edges.


here are all the u/c wells done

Same approach to the office.


then


note the white Tamiya curved masking tape. It works well.

I will prime this soon.

[BarryW]

I primed the airframe


There are some gaps and other flaws highlighted by the primer that now need dealing with. So out comes Mr Surfacer 500 and Mr Dissolved Putty.

there is a fair bit of work needed mostly in the nose area above.

I then went on to start spraying sub-assemblies.
Light Ghost Grey first

the subs above now need some decals, in some cases and weathering on all of them.

below, these are painted Light Ghost Grey where needed, Olive Drab bombs, Dark Ghost Grey on the top of the stabs and black fins/drop tank. All these parts are awaiting additional detail painting some of which will be sprayed.





next session I will be doing more corrective work to the airframe before repriming. Hopefully I will also get to do some detail painting.

[boatman]

HI Barry lookin good im really pleased you dint bin it as this this build will help me when I start my superhornet in yrs to come but it will an I can look back on this build for any small probs to be careful of cheers an lookin forward to more pics :thumb2:
chris

[stona]

It's good to see that you have managed to wrangle this into excellent shape. It would have been a shame to consign it to the bin!
Cheers
Steve

[Lee Drennen]

Barry. looks nice Hope you don’t bin it if you run into another problem I’m with the others like to see it finished. You did a great job on the cockpit too

[BarryW]

Barry. looks nice Hope you don’t bin it if you run into another problem I’m with the others like to see it finished. You did a great job on the cockpit too

Not likely to have another real issue now except for decals and, if so, I will just work around it as I have previously. It really only was that fuselage fit issue which, if not corrected, would have been fatal. Brute force did the trick.

[BarryW]

Progress really being made, moving into my favourite part of a build...

I have treated and sanded the flaws I identified. Mostly it was around the front fuselage joins. MRP Primer feathers beautifully...




I then re-primed those areas and sprayed the underside, Light Ghost Grey which is much too close to the primer colour than I like. It does feel unnatural to me to spray such an even clean finish rather than make this the first weathering stage from black basing. The photo below is just after applying a mist coat of MLT to provide the best possible finish, taken while still drying.



I have also been doing some detail painting...
Bombs and missiles. The copper is the AKI wax metallisers and I will have to do a second coat tonight. I will remove the masking once it is dry, not before. I anticipate a little clean up being needed.


A bit more detail added to the front u/c

The 'expanded' photo does not look right to me. However there is still a spot of work needed on that, the rubber wheels need a clean up before some earth pigment gets carefully drybrushed on. Not to replicate dirt so much, as this was a carrier aircraft, but to make the tyres look more authentic.

The red edges added to the u/c door.

[boatman]

VERY nice job Barry on that front undercart an there is even the carrier landin light as on the real aircraft I cant really see what pupose they serve but they look good as I first noticed these when lookin round a real phantom nose gear in duxford museum :thumb2:
chris

[BarryW]

I sneaked to the bench to lay down the Dark Ghost Grey. Here it is, picture taken while the MLT mist coat is drying.
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I will be masking up for the black tonight.