Academy 1/32 F/A-18C

I had to see how big this was going to be as It's been a while since I've done a 1/32 scale Modern bird.

It's going to be rather large.

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Here is my nearly completed AC-47 next to it by comparison. It's in 1/72 scale haha.

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While I'm waiting on my AM parts to arrive I think I'm going to start in on the weapons. If I finish those then I'm going to scratch detail the engine up and I might even try to display it somehow. Haven't quite decided yet.
 
She's a monster Myke!!! This is gonna be great!!! Nice work so far on the AC-47 too ;)
 
:eek: Yip ...That is one big bird ;D...looks like a lot of fun . Are you displaying the engine out of the A/C ?

Chris.
 
You got an amazing kit Myke!!! I was planning to buy the 1/72 F/A-18D... but someone already took a hold of it... It got the marines kit, I just stare and say goodbye!! :-[

I'm sure this one will be pack as the blackhawk :)
 
@ Chris: I think I'm going to leave the engine in this one. I want to build the Super Hornet in 1/32 next year and i think I'm going to drop the engine in that one instead.

@ Eastrock: You should build it anyways bud. ;)


I've made a couple of decisions on this build that has changed my plans.

1. Not going to light this one up. I'm going to save that for my Super Hornet
2. Bought the decals for this set. Finally found some for a Marine bird in the C variant. Nearly all the other ones I could find would have forced me to convert it to the 2 seater D model.
3. It's getting loaded down with weapons. As much as I can get away with putting on the wings.
4. I will still be incorporating the Eduard BigEd PE Set on this which should add about 435,302 pieces to the build.

So on to some building eh?

I'm still waiting on the BigEd set so I decided to build up all the wing pieces and the vertical stabs.

I managed to turn all of this...,

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Into this.

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Nothing difficult or tremendously exciting..., just some grunt work that can be done while waiting on the details to show up.

This kit might have one of the best instruction books I've ever seen. It's printed on a heavier weight paper and is very organized with great printing. If you're into that sorta thing. :p

Thanks for following!
 
This is one of those kits that made me get back into the hobby. I've got dreams of building a CF-188 out of it, and displaying it with maybe an old Voodoo, a Hercules, and a Tudor or Sabre (did we fly those?) to create a Cdn plane display.

Man I was hoping someone would be building one of these soon! Looking forward to EVERY post!!!!! ;D
 
Myke, that thing is a MONSTER! The parts totally cover the mat.
 
Nice start Myke , It does no harm to get the tedious bits out of the way if you can ,at least you can enjoy the rest of the build ;D

Chris.
 
I might build one, Myke. Soon!! hands still full, I've join our local seal GB, aside from that I've also volunteered for the 1/72 USS WASP project for the Nats next year, full stowage, armors and Aircrafts!!
 
Well folks this one is just not going to get completed by the deadline for the group build.
I ran into some problems with acquiring the aftermarket parts, and then I got killed at work over November, and now I'm in the middle of moving my man cave/modelling studio down two floors into the basement, (converted my old one over for my wife as an office).

ANYwho..., too many excuses... I know ;-)

Going to move this one over to the Aircraft board and plug away when I can. I WILL be finishing my Stryker over on the group build. In fact that one is only a few weeks of work away from completion. And, I'll be posting my new man cave over in the man cave thread if you're interested.

Thank for following and it's still going to be a massive build, just not during this deadline, and for that I'm disappointed but..., ah well.

Cheers, Myke
 
Looking forward, Myke!!! take you time modelling is here to stay, you need to finish what needs to be done

Cheers!!!
 
Myke said:
FRUIT!! Where ya been dude? Thanks for tagging along, this will be quite a large project!

@Carsenault: So I'm sure you'll have plenty of good tips then? Is your build here on SMA? Got a link? Did you use any resin or AM parts? Which did you use if you did? Ever see any Marine decals for this kit? What is your favorite color? Why is the sky blue?

Thanks for following.

Hello again, glad to see your progressincg nicely. It is an impressive kit when built. I have a gallery article with my CF-18 over at ARC http://www.arcair.com/Gal10/9901-10000/gal9985-CF-18-Arsenault/00.shtm
No in progress pics in the article, but here is a link to my i/p tread at Zone-5 http://zone-five.net/showthread.php?t=5102
A few points I remember about the build to watch out for... The joint between the upper rear fuselage and the fwd fuselage was a bit tricky to get lined up right, I used a fair bit of putty to fill the gap there. Watch the fit of the panel that goes on the spine behind the canopy. Dont use the lowest angle (45 deg) flap hinges, Academy got the angle wrong, use the 30 deg if your planning to have it sitting on its wheels, or use the kit hinges to make new hinge parts at the correct angle (approx 34 deg). If you can, get a set of aftermarket landing gear sets from either G-Factor or Scale Air Dynamics, the kit legs are too weak to hold the weight of the completed build and will begin to sag within weeks. Lastly, my kit decals were not very good, I used aftermarket decals for the airframe but used the kit decals for the weapons, and they would not adhere properly, almost like there was no adhesive on them.
Besides the decals and landing gear, I used the Black Box (now Avionix) F/A-18A cockpit and tail set, Cutting Edge SJU-9/10 seat (used on export Hornets only), Eduard exterior photo etch detail set and some Orion Models scab plates for the tail. I also modified the kit exhaust to make it more realistic by thinning the petals and adding some detail between them. also scratch built a few other bits that would be used on a modern CF-18.
Check out the decals by http://orionscalemodels.com for some Marine Air and or http://fightertowndecals.com for some great Naval Air markings.

as for that sky blue... Something to do with light refraction thru the atmosphear.
Hope this helps you some, if you need any clarification, fell free to send me a pm.
 
ps: Just read you post about not making the deadline, dont sweat it, build it for yourself and have fun with it. Start to finish, mine took about 15 months to build.
 
Just went through and read your build log you linked to. Fantastic build and congrats on the win..., absolutely deserved!

Picked up a lot of good info in there too. I was thinking it would take me about 6/8 months to complete it what with all the AM parts to deal with, so maybe I should plan for a little longer. Maybe this time next year I'll have it ready ;-)

Thanks for the tip on the gears, I was going to use the box ones as they seemed really nice built up but I'll go pick up the metal ones then.

I saw a reference to Hannah and Fritzi from ChukW in your posts too. Love that guy, he seriously needs to publish a book.

I've since found some Marine decals, and they are the only AM piece that I ordered and had it delivered with no issue.

Again thanks for all the info, and I'll keep a detailed build log here and will be grateful for your input.
 
A few of us at ARCair have tried to talk ChukW into creating a comic book series based on his sexy little Fraulein characters, no luck yet, but i have a feeling he'll do it some day when he has less on his plate. He currently does backdrops for videogame cinematics and other artwork as well. great artist, and talented modeler too. Glad you found my links useful, dont be shy if you have any questions, best to pm me here or email me at charlie_arsenault at hotmail dot com.
 

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