1/48 Hasegawa F/A-18D Hornet

Gallery Article by Creighton L Henthorn Jr on Nov 10 2002

  USMC Birthday (1775)

 

F/A-18D Hornet VMFA (AW)-224

Here is my Hasegawa 1/48 scale F/A-18D Hornet. After a bout two years and $90 on E-bay I finally got a hold of Hasegawas Bengals kit. It was painted with Model Master paints in the standard dark ghost gray over light ghost gray paint scheme. It was weathered using an enamel wash and pastel chalk. This model is actually not quite finished yet. I am patiently waiting for the release of the Black Box ATARS conversion so I can get the correct UHF antenna for an accurate Delta kit. 

 

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The landing gear was detailed using photo-etched parts from the Eduard F/A-18C detail set. The right nose gear door was replaced with one of the extra doors that came with the kit. This door was sanded smooth and the antenna was moved to the correct position at the rear of the door. 

I wanted to show it at rest so I towed the rudders outboard and the elevators in a drooped position. The flaps and slats were also put in the down position. It’s kind of hard to read on the model but the BuNo are the same. The actual aircraft has since been repainted after the kit was released. 

This would not be a normal site on a Hornet at rest. I wanted to show all the detail this kit has to offer so I went ahead and opened the speed brake. 

The cockpit was replaced with the Black Box F/A-18D and F/A-18 Multipurpose sets. The handle on the top of the rear instrument panel hood is brass rod. The pictures just do not do this cockpit justice. I was very satisfied with the way it turned out. 

The canopy was detailed using photo-etched parts from the Eduard set. 

She is armed 2 AIM-9Ls on the wing tips, 4 GBU-12 LGBs on the inboard wing pylons, 2 AGM-65 Mavericks on the outboard wing pylons, FLIR and LST pods on the cheek stations, and a fuel tank on the center line pylon. 

The Sidewinders and GBU-12s are from Hasegawas weapons set D. The Mavericks are from Academy’s F-16A/C kit. The launch rails for the Mavericks are also from the Academy kit. I cut off one rail and glued it to a piece of strip styrene. The top was then sanded to a curved shape.

I hope you enjoy the article.   

Creighton L Henthorn Jr

www.creightonsmodels.com

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Photos and text © by Creighton L Henthorn Jr