1/48 Hobby Boss F/A-18D VMFAT-101

[nicely11b]

Since finishing up my Skyraider last week, I've started another legacy Hornet build. This one is a Hobby Boss kit in the markings of VMFAT-101 of the US Marine Corps. I'm building this one for my uncle who served with the squadron in the late 80s to the early 90s, right around the time they transitioned from the F-4 to the Hornet. Though the markings won't be from his era, I think he'll still appreciate the sentiment behind it. The kit will be finished with markings from Afterburner Decals, their "Green Hornets" sheet (48-022)



I'm also upgrading the bang seats as the Hobby Boss ones, as you can see in this photo, are garbage compared to seats from Wolfpack.



The seats do fit a bit snug in the cockpit tub, but they do fit.



At this point, the cockpit tub and instrument panels have been painted and are together. I'm leaving the seats and control sticks out until the end just so there is one less thing that I have to worry about messing up. Now, I don't have a macro setup, so my IP photos are a little rough, but its good enough to see what is going on.







With the main parts of the cockpit together, she's just about ready to have the fuselage closed up. I need to finish painting the walls of the cockpit, and she'll be getting closed up.

[mnrun.]

Very cool; I'm looking forward to seeing this. Love legacy hornets. Those seats will look awesome!

[Leon]

Off to a good start! Cockpit is looking good.

[nicely11b]

This thing is moving right along. After building the Hasegawa Hornet, I was expecting more of the same type of build, but the HB kit has been a pleasant surprise so far. The fit hasn't been perfect. The nose area took some work as the bottom fuselage wouldn't fit tight to the top in the front. I had to shave down some internal pieces to get the nose piece to sit flush with the IP hood. You can see the gap that remained.





Thought I've had trouble with the nose, the fuselage around the intakes is where I expected the most problems. Here, the Hasegawa kit was terrible. Nothing located solidly and there were steps everywhere. With this build, the sides around the intake fit pretty well. And though it still needs some work, it won't take hours like the Hasegawa kit did.





And with the nose attached





Thanks for following along, guys!

[nicely11b]

Getting some more work done on the Hornet.  It's a little further than what the photos are going to show, but I wanted to get an update posted before I got too far along.  I've been trying to move fast with this build, as I'm hoping to have it ready by the weekend.  I don't have a deadline per se but we're having a get together this weekend and I'd like to give it to my uncle then.  So for now, I'll give you guys a teaser of a few things.

The vertical stabilizers are painted and have their main markings on.  I'll still need to add the slime lights once the base decals have had some time to sit.



I've also got the drop tank painted, chipped, and ready for some oil weathering.  I'm leaving this jet pretty empty as the squadron is mainly for getting pilots transitioned to the Hornet from the T-45.  Had I wanted to spend more time on it, I may have put some inert weapons on, but with my constraint I think the single drop tank will be fine.

[Leon]

Now that's a nice teaser! Looking good.

[nicely11b]

Finished up one of the fastest builds of my life this morning. It's the Hobby Boss offering of the F/A-18D legacy Hornet in markings of VMFAT-101, the Sharpshooters. The build is for my uncle who served with the squadron in the late 80s/early 90s, right after the squadron transitioned from the Phantom to the Hornet.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the kit itself, especially compared to the Hasegawa legacy Hornet, though this one still has some flaws. The cockpit of the HB kit is much more accurate for a 'D' variant and the overall fit was much better, especially in the areas around the intakes. The HB offering, though, doesn't give you the option of dropping the flaps and slats. So I had to cut the actuators and reposition them. The plastic itself was also much rougher than what comes in the Hasegawa box. Many pieces required clean up. If I could combine the two kits into one, we might have a pretty decent legacy Hornet between them.

















The rest of the finished and WIP photos can be found here

[Leon]

Great finish on the Hornet! Your uncle should be really happy.

[mnrun.]

As I said in that other site: it looks reel gud.

Just noticed the darkened wingtips. Is that a wash or some shading with the airbrush?

[nicely11b]

Aug 9, 2016 14:52:49 GMT -5 mnrun. said:

Just noticed the darkened wingtips. Is that a wash or some shading with the airbrush?

May just be some shading differences.  I'm not exactly sure what you're talking about so I can't give you a definite answer.

[mnrun.]

Ah, must be. The portions of the wingtips that can fold up look darker to me.

[Tojo72]

That's a real beauty,love the weathering and the markings.

[wing_nut]

Yeah buddy that was fast. And nice too.

[wbill76]

Came out looking sharp! I'm sure your uncle will love it!

[thug626]

Well done my good man.

[deafpanzer]

Stunning result! Dig the green tails!

[saltydog-email no longer valid]

Sweet looking build! I enjoyed the pics.