Happy New Years to everyone!
Back in November I was going through my stash and I discovered a 1/32nd scale F-18 kit from Revel that I had started more than three decades ago. The kit has been through around 10 moves. I found the fuselage and wings assembled and primed. I also found the box with many of the sub assemblies already assembled. Some parts were in an old cookie tin that I used to put model parts that I would find in the bottom of moving boxes throughout the years.
One of my brothers spent his career as a fighter pilot, so I thought I'd build the model in the version of a CF-18 that has his name on it in the mid 1990's.
Upon going through the box it was discovered that some things were missing, such as the instructions and the entire starboard main landing gear assembly. It was also discovered that many of the parts of the of the model kit were very basic and would require scratch building. When chatting with my brother I also discovered that the model would require some updating with additional details like LEX fences, reinforcing brackets for the tail fins, filling in the gaps on the LEXs, etc.
The kit also came with raised panel lines! I seem to recall them being pretty common back in the 1980s. In the interest of building my skills, I decided to try scribing new panel lines. In hindsight, I think I got out of control and did almost the entire model. We'll see how it turns out. Below are some of the before-and-after photos of the work so far.
I scratch built the assembly on the left.
Cockpit area before scratch building.
Cockpit area under construction.
Still some work to do on the inside of the cockpit.
Mostly finished cockpit area.
The ejection seat has received a lot of attention. I had to go back and re-do the harness after my brother told me that they used a different harness in the early 1990's.
This kit should keep me busy for the rest of the month.
