ok guys..

its been a while since i posted any WIP here... due to my "takut"ness of not being able to complete what i've promised to build (still true to some of the WIP in here from me) :ph43r:

anyway.. this time its a F-18A Hornet with NSAWC like the picture below.. or at least something close to it.



if this is eligible for the NGB then it will be there aswell.. and also this is to fulfill the needs of my "Home Minister" who wanted to see me build aircraft in other color (other than the grey).

Base Kit
- i used this old ESCI kit and will built his OOB
- i believe i go this kit from Mr Yam last time.. so he should know this.. :D
- boxshot


Decal
- used the decal i got from a friend.. a Twobobs NSAWC
- 2 scheme blue splinter and brown splinter (brown is for later project:) )


Underside


Upper view




Problem area

- ok guys.. it seems that i somehow lost the sidewidner rail to the carper monster (although i dont have any carpet at home)..
- does anyone have a pair of sidewinder rail that they willing to part with?
- or will it be ok for this plane to fly without any rail at all?




- if anyone got spare please let me know yaa...

that should be it...

any C&C including any Q&A do post away..

thanks

kuman

I have a pair frm superhornets, dunno ngam or not.

good progress bro.No need to worry too much about the rail.I think you can just leave it as per now. Or just put the Winder direct to the wing tip.

Ordinary Jack & Jane wont notice it. Trust me. I bet they didnt know what is the AIM-9 is. Only modellers and aircraft fans je will notice. :D

aha..that for sure ngam Vince!

Kuman, great work so far. AT least it's not KITECH kit.. hahaha

so how was ESCI plak?

hahahahahahha.cam siut je ko Sil

KItech or MHM..that Kuman trademark

:D :lol:

aku dah agak dah ko mesti mencelah punya kat memana nih :lol:

ha ler.. ESCI/Kitech/MHM/ Zhengdefu jer yg aku "ter"mampu ehheheheh nak tangkap Hasegawa mana mampu :lol:

@vince
- thanks man... :D

kuman

leks la bro...takkan merajuk plak....

tak merdeka la merajuk ni

well kuman....as a model maker....tak kira ape je kit yg datang kau lipat jer....try to push the limit...hahahaha

bad kit is a first step of vax form kit....ahak....do you believe it????....keep my words...ehe

its a good traininglah bro.... ;) :D keep it up.... :)

Nice. Keep us posted ^_^

F/A-18A-D Hornets use a LAU-7 launch rail on the wing tips.

This is the USN & USMC commonly used AIM-9 launch rail, also used on the A-4, F-14, AV-8B, F-4B/J/N/S, etc.

Should be easy enough to find some. If you have a Hasegawa A-4, there are 2 included in the sprues which you can add to your F/A-18A.

The F/A-18E/F do not use the LAU-7 launch rail.

Looks like an interesting build!

Recommend that you putty the 2 square vents on the spine, just aft of the canopy. They are not found on production aircraft. I believe this is a YF-18 proto-type feature, which says something about the roots of the kit.

I think ESCI moded the molds, just as Monogram did to get an F/A-18A.

hi again..
thanks for the input guys..

@Jason
- u're refering to this square thing, is it?


i'll putty it immediately, thanks for the pointer.

as for the rail, i dont have the A-4 but BV will pass me a couple of those rail and see if that fits.


This is about ready for the paint shop and earlier today druid helped me acquire some Gunze Blue paint that will be experimented later to make a right color mixed and again BV will help pass to me his paint-mix formula from his F-14 NSAWC build..

hopefully can have a right mix.

thanks all and i'll update later on

kuman

Keep em coming Kuman. Your built will be my reference.. I just got my NSAWC decal as well.

No, that's the canopy hinge.

I'm talking about the two square ducts just aft of the hinges.

Matter of fact, one of them is within the red circle, while the other is cut across by the parameter of the red circle.

Almost any launch rail will fit without looking out of place. but if you want to be accurate, then it has to be a LAU-7.

I think i can scrounge some from a F-4 or F-14 for you. Will let you know.

ok Jason..
i think i saw it...

thanks for the information... nasib baik last nite i didnt have the chance to take a look at this kit or else i would have puttied the canopy hinges instead :D silly me.. :D

thanks Jason..

@shahrs
- well i think paint mixing will be a killer to do and also the splinter masking B)

kuman

as i stated somewhere above..
i'll be using the twobobs decal.. so this is the scan of the intented scheme.. might be a bit different from the picture..



i just wondering does anyone got any mixing formula for the blue based on the Gunze paint?

Dark Blue FS35109 = ???
- from Mr B:- H366 40% + H56 60%
- from BV:- H322 + H301
Light Blue FS35450 = ??? (some refer to Lifecolor UA037)
- from Mr B:- H314
- from BV:- H322 + white
Grey FS 36375 = H308
- From BV:- H25
FS33613 = H318 (Radome)
FS36320 = H307
FS36440 = H315 (edited..thanks jason)
FS36495 = H338
FS37375 = H11 / H1


so can anyone identify the mixed formua for the blue?

thanks guys..
kuman

OMG, the color is not readyly available if you limit the paints into Gunze..
I think i read in FSM somebody try to match the FS color by paint mixing. The guy bought the original FS chart and then mix the right color to get what he wants..
probably u can do like that... maybe close enough to get the correct tone. If you're looking for 100% color accuracy then you may get the original FS Color Chart and then using photovac machine to analyze the color tone.. hehe

anyway, i like the color scheme..especially the air superiority blue....

good luck getting the right tone!

FS 36440 is H315, and not H325.

should be an interesting build.

Kuman

Dark Blue FS35109 = I used Intermedite Blue (Aqua Range H 56 if not mistaken) mixed with the Panto Blue (Blue Impluse T-4 Blue) not having the number now.....around 60/40 ratio ........you can check my Indonesian Skyhawk for the outcome posted in this forum sometime back....wait let me link it........

Silly me the ratios and numbers are on that tread.......

http://z12.invisionfree.com/ScaleModelsMal...wtopic=2602&hl=

HTH
Rgds
Mr B

Thanks for the suggestion guys...

i already edited my 1st post on the 2nd page with the suggested colors...

this will be most useful to try..

thanks guys

kuman

@Mr B:

@Bomber Vince:

Aiyooooooo.... looking at all those Blue camo birds make me very gatal to build one also....sungguh bisa racunnya……nooo no.. Must restrain myself.. Concentrate on the SLUF... Concentrate on the SLUF>>

Love it, keep it coming out ya!

Updates Nov 3rd 2008

another minor update for this Hornet...

preshade the plane...
still got some minor sanding needed to be completed near the the exhaust nozzle..
will work on it in a bit.. for now enjoy the preshade photo :D

kuman

can't wait to see this one finished as I have this kit too :D .....

gonna make your build as my reference & guidance :P

Lan,

Keep it coming, can't wait to see another blue splinter

Hope all F-18 guy like this photos. See them in Fly Navy.

wah.. so nice, all are hase?

Lan,

The color for the Brown Splinter are
1. Light Ghost Grey - 308
2. Dark Green - 303
3. Light Brown - 313
4. Dark Brown - 310

pergh... so nice and beautiful..

ehh i thought those are yours Vince? no?
then i believe we're going to have a few of those "sharpshooters" during the Fly Navy then.
- thanks for the color vince. :D


Pemlow
-Who's the owner of those? nicely done

kuman

Lan,

Belong to a big time collector. Only Hase can do flap-down position. Each bird cost RM600.00. He has a full collection of aggressors.

/Low

:P

just a little bit of update..

since i'm preparing to paint this hornet in the next few days.. last weekend i try to match paint scheme to the instruction i have for the NSAWC from Twobobs..

Splinter camo
- i enlarge the scheme from Twobobs instruction to A3 enlargement and as it turns out.. the enlargement fit very nicely to the hornet i build.. i'm very pleased with this... makes my masking job a lil bit easier :D
- Next will be the manual labor of making the camo based on the drawings using all those masking tapes..



- i'll paint the lighter color first and move to a draker shade.
- will paint the underbelly first since it just an overall grey and more grey.. no camo on the underside.

Paint Matching
- As you can see.. i need to mix and match the color for the Splinter camo... (i really wish the ModelMaster II:Russian Modern aircraft paint can easily available locally, would helps with the painting)
- below are the colors that i'll be mixing..




Landing Gear
- painted white and going to future it next afetr i paint the chrome/silver to the appropriate parts (hydraulic something)


that should be it for now...
i'll update more later..

kuman

Lan.....later after you masked for splinter camo pls take pics B)

Lan,

Finally, another blue splinter waiting to be born... so "kampate" (japenese)

Updates

:rolleyes: :rolleyes:
tedious masking job although it helps a bit since i'm using template + masking..

anyway..

i completed the painting of the blue and the underside...
the mixtuer for light blue is as suggested H322 + white (a lot of white)

when i tested on 1 parts it loos ok.. but after the whole aircraft is painted blue.. it looks kinda off a lil bit.. maybe once the paint dry it gives out a different hue to the blue :( weird indeed..

hopefully i can spray the Dark blue tonite.. see how it goes.. and if i dont have the energy.. this NSAWC might not be able to make it to Fly-Navy since i still have another bird to decal for Fly-Navy.. see how this one goes tonite.

my dateline for this is Thursday nite.. since i have to pack all this with the 2 seahawks in a box ready for shipping to HHQ (via bus with me Friday night)

anyway enjoy the pictures and see the different hue of light b lue compared to the instruction on the bottom of the aircraft :blink: :blink:

BTW the dark blue i'll spray tonite by using the cut-out template from the instruction + with masking tape for the edges.

wish me luck on this guys...
peing pening... :ph43r: :wacko:

kuman

Looks ok although it seems a bit lighter than the ones in the picture.

i was thinking it might be a bit darker compared to the sample picture.. it seems lighter maybe due to the flash?

hmm...

kuman

But i do believe there's variation of tones on the ageing service plane, due to sunlight bleach or rain wear... correct me if I'm wrong...

the blue is bit too "fresh" it might ended up like a toy, but no worries, get the same blue, mix with some 315 or 11 for a lighter and dull tone, thin with a 1:9 paint thinner ratio, then spray randomly. give the plane a richer color, i normally use at least 2 tone of color for each camo color.

good luck

After a Very long hiatus

i manage to update this plane a lil bit my preparing and spraying it with the last of the splinter color.. the dark Blue...

first the tedious part of masking the splinter.

Masking



with the decal instruction


First layer of dark blue
so i spend around 30-45 mins last night spraying this Tamiya dark blue mix with a lil bit of light blue (just to est the variation)...



can compare with the intended color under the plane.. close but not there yet....
i'm hopefull that at least with a few more layer i would be able to get to that dark blur color.

Next
- tonite will continue with 1 more layer of dark blue... this time maybe i'll add some white to againi to get some tone...
- then i'll follow BV suggestion on spraying the 315 or 11 randomly along the color demarcation line to get some tone and to make it less toyish.. :D after i remove all the masking..

i'm so takut to unveil this.. since this color variation might make this looks like a toy and also this is my first Splinter camo as a test and preparation for my next major Splinter job.. the Ukrainian SU-27!!

until next update... TIA..

and usual C&C welcomed.. :D

kuman

wahh finally you continued this NSAWC ehhh.... :D

ikut mata aku okje lan dark blue nih....btw is your hands tired of masking? :lol: :P

keep it bro