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Monogram F-18C |
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Article by John Formon |
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It’s rare to have the
opportunity to build a model for a good friend and fighter pilot. It’s even
more rare if your good friend is also a Mig killer. My good friend, Lt Cmdr Nick
"Mongo" Mongillo downed a Mig 21 on the first day of the Gulf War
flying an F/A-18C from VFA-81 (buy the book Bogeys and Bandits….it’s
a great read and goes in depth into Mongo’s shoot down). Thanks to Mongo….I
have had many opportunities to visit Navy flight lines, ride in simulators and
watch carrier landing practice. I "owed" Mongo big time…. So I
decided to repay him with a model!
I decided to build a model of his
Mig shoot down. The Hornet is flying, with the Sparrow coming of its rail…..
The basis of the model is
Monogram’s 1/48th scale F/A-18. It is basically box stock, but
allot of attention was paid to fit, alignment and finish. It is amazing how well
a OOTB model can turn out when you take the time to do it right. As with any
model… DON’T RUSH!
The model went together well with
the usual seam work required. I would consider the fit of parts to be good….with
the exception of the landing gear doors. I choose to pose my model flying which
meant the doors would need to be closed. Unfortunately they didn’t fit the bay
openings very well. But….don’t panic…just slow down and CAREFULLY trim and
fit each door. It took me about 5 hours to get this done but the result was very
satisfactory with all doors closing and being "tight". A technique I
learned from the scratch builders is this….. BUILD AND USE AN ALIGNMENT JIG.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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For every model I build I
construct a simple "cradle" that the model sits in. This jig takes me
about 1 hour to build (I use styrene sheet) and I am careful to make sure that
the jig is built accurately. As you can imagine for each type of aircraft you
build your jig will change but… save all of your jigs. A future model might
fit an existing jig. The main purpose of this jig is to provide alignment of all
of the flying surfaces. TRUST YOUR JIG not the fit of the parts. Example….
When you attach wings to a fuselage you would normally get the joints to fit as
well as possible (minimal gaps) then apply the glue (I use super thin CA). But
using this method you don’t really know if your ALIGNMENT is correct. I have
built many models where after cementing the wings I have found them to be off a
few degrees…ARRRGH! Now I have my fuselage supported in a jig…THEN I can
glue on my wings, stabs etc knowing that all my dihedrals, angles etc are
correct. The joints might take a bit of extra work to fill but that’s OK. In
contests, one of the first things judges look for is ALIGNMENT.