F/A-18A/B Hornet
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F-18 Hornet |
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History:
The F-18 Hornet was developed initially by Northrop aircraft in a competition with General Dynamics to produce a lightweight fighter for the US Air Force. THis competition led to the F-16 Fighting Falcon being chosen to complement the Air Force's heavyweight F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter. Northrop's entry, the YF-17 Cobra, was developed further and turned into the F-18 after input from the US Navy. It was due to complement the F-14 Tomcat swing wing fighter, as well as take over strike and attack duties from aircraft such as the A-7 Corsair. It has been adopted by many other countries such as Canada, Australia, and Spain, and has since been developed ifrom the A/B models to the C/D, and the much larger (and mostly new) F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet. Early models still serve with the US Navy and Marine Corps in the NSAWC (Naval Strike and AIr Warface Center,) along with F-5 Tiger II and F-14s as "adversary" aircraft to train our fighter and attack pilots in the tactics of possible hostile nations.
The Kit
There are many kits of the F-18 Hornet family out there, by Testors, Revell-Monogram, and Hasegawa. Testors kit is one of the first I'd built, many years ago (when the F-18A/B was new.) It is still the only one I know of that gives you the option of building a single seat A or dual-seat B straight out of the box. It does this through use of an insert - a good way to keep the molds (and thus the kit) cheap. In this kit, it worked out rather well (as I recall.) We'll see how the fit from the molds has held up over time. I do recall that this kit taught me about making sure you have the right colors - years ago, the grey I used for the topside matched the decals perfectly, and you couldn't see them when they were put on!
The kit depicts an early F-18A/B. The leading edge slots have been filled in as they're supposed to be, but many of the ECM "lumps and bumps" are missing that were retrofitted to the A/B series. If you want to use this kit to make a "Top Gun" (NSAWC) aircraft, some of these will have to be added. (This is not, however, a difficult prospect, needing only some putty and/or sprue molded to shape.) It's a tossup as to if it's easier to add these to this kit ore remove them from the Revell/Monogram F-19C. This kit is the only game in town if you want to make a two-seat "B" model, though. (Note - no, actually Hasegawa does one, but it's four times more expensive.)
The kit does not include (or show) the side mounted ID spotlight fitted to Canadian aircraft. If the aircraft you're modelling has this, you'll have to scratchbuild it. The instrucitons also show (in the painting guide) AIM-7 Sparrow missiles on the fuselage stations, but note that they're not included in the kit. (I for one am somewhat tired of having targeting pods here on all my F-19s.) You'll have to scrounge them from another kit or buy an aftemarket weapons set if you want them (or AIM-120s) as well as putty the sides to take out the recesses to fit the pods in. The kit DOES include drop tanks, targeting pods, "dumb" bombs, AIM-9 Sidewinder short range missiles, and (suprisingly!) HARM anti-radiation missiles. I'm not sure an A/B can carry those, but if you want to make a SEAD/ "Wild weasel" aircraft, you can use them.
The moldings have held up well, the kit showing little flash. Panel lines are engraved nicely. The cockpit area is passable, if not exceptional, and if you want to go to town on it you'll have to find an aftermarket set such as the ones from Black Box - though given how the cockpit and rear fairing fits, I'm not sure how this would work. Also, a nitpick - split wheels. These are always (to me) a pain, and will probably be replaced with resin if I can find some that aren't "out of air."
The instructions are somewhat comprehensive - unlike SOME Testors kits (not to mention ProModeller) there are no photos, but they will get you through the kit with color callouts throughout. My example even had a center insert with other languages.
This kit is a mix of good and... well, not bad, but you can tell the kit's been around (even from the instructions, stating the Marine corps will use the RF-18 "starting in the 1990s.") But it's not bad, and assembly shouldn't be all that difficult. The price is right, too.
We'll see how it goes as this gets built.