Alright folks, this
is my second bu ild I'm
showing here on ARC...the "Shocker"! First I
used to build only USAF jets, but when I first saw this elegant grey thing I was
in love! I purchased it as usual from the internet. The kit itself looked okay in
first. The only thing that sucks is the poor cockpit that Italeri included
(just
like the A-10īs). Unfortunately I didn't find a resin cockpit for the EA-18,
so I chose to look in my trash box to find something to pimp the cockpit.
And
again the F-15E from Academy gave me the parts I needed, so far so good.
But as I tried to fit the body parts together I was shocked about the poor fit of the big
parts...TERRIBLE! Gaps overall. The landing gear was also very simple but at that
point I knew it would be a hard build with lots of scratchbuilding. The decals
weren't usable, I have no idea what Italeri wanted to show with those...I
purchased the Afterburner Super Bug Shocker decals which were absolutely
perfect.
I started with the
landing gear, added some wiring and stuff. I choose to show the tires in half
flat as if the weight of the plane laid on it. So I heated it up and flattened it.
Next was the
cockpit. I cut some parts out of the instrument panel of the F-15E to add
some structure to the flat panels of the Shocker. I know this is not really
realistic and stuff, but it gives a really nice look. I had some decals from a
Harrier I built before which I applied on the new scratch panels. I also
cut
little pieces of a landing gear I had in my trash box to add buttons on the
sticks. I also pimped the ejection seat with some wiring and a little structure.
Click on
images below to see larger images
Next came the nose
of the plane. I filled the
gun barrels and scratchbuild the "Pizza Box"
on the front from styrene and filler.
After that I started
to build the fuselage. After many times of filling and sanding it looked
okay. The
fit of the wings was also terrible. But somehow I managed it. The engine inlets
were horrible. Nothing fit as it should. So I filled and sanded again.
The antennas on the
spine were also scratchbuilt from styrene. The satcom hump was made of three
layers of styrene and filled and sanded again. The rest of the build went without
bigger problems.
I wanted to build an
armed Shocker, but the kit didn't provide the HARM missiles I needed.
Instead I
have two more sidewinders for my trashbox...I thought about ordering the
Hasegawa weapons set, but I don't have that much money and it doesn't seem
economical for me to spend 20 Euro for just 2 missiles. So I ordered the HARMs
over Revellīs department X. Their F/A-18F Super Hornet has two of those in the
box. And voila, after three weeks Revell sent me the two HARMīs FOR
FREE!!! The decals came from my decal trash box. After painting with
Revell colors and
applying the decals I choose a light weathering with acryl colors. I added a
pilot figure from Hasegawa to give it a living touch.
Afterall it was much
fun, but also a lot of work...but now it's a nice piece in my collection.
Sorry
for the picture but my cam isn't the best...I hope you enjoy it.
Philipp
Click on
images below to see larger images
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