1/48 Hasegawa F/A-18A Hornet  

by Creighton Henthorn

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Here is my latest Hornet. I built this one for the Nationals this year and to my surprise it placed. She took 3rd place for the Hornet split in the 1/48 scale medium jet category. I used quite a bit of aftermarket items on this one. The cockpit is from Legend Productions. I also used the Eduard prepainted photo-etch set. The decals are from the old Microscale low vis Hornet sheet. I also used Two Bobs AIM-9 and AIM-7 decals.

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I armed this jet with SOL resin Sidewinders, Hasegawa Sparrows and Mk.82s.

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The SOL AIM-9s are beautiful replicas and the Two Bobs decals give them that extra touch. They look good but they are a night mare to apply. They are provided as mostly a single decal. I think next time I will cut them into their individual markings to put them on. The same is also true for the AIM-7 markings.

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She is armed with 2 AIM-9L Sidewinders, 2 AIM-7 Sparrows, 2 Mk.82 GP Bombs, 2 Fuel Tanks, & 4 Mk.82 Snake Eyes.

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I detailed the landing gear with Eduard photo-etch parts. The intake covers were made with tissue paper.

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 As with previous builds the HUD glass was fashioned from holographic confetti. The canopy was detailed with the Eduard photo-etch set.

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The Legends Productions Hornet cockpit is very similar to Black Box in my opinion. It went in fairly easy. I painted it with Model Master paint and weathered it with an enamel wash to bring out some of the detail.

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I painted her with Model Master paints and weathered with an enamel wash and pastel chalks.

Creighton

http://www.vfdecals.com

http://www.creightonsmodels.com

Photos and text © by Creighton Henthorn