Subject: Re: F-21 part 4 of 4
From: "Steve Bamford" <[email-masked]>
To: "Joe Hegedus" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 3 Nov 2001 00:36:22 -0800

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you have never been hurt; and
Dance like no one is watching!

----- Original Message -----
From: "Joe Hegedus" <[email-masked]>
To: "Steve Bamford" <[email-masked]>
Sent: Sunday, October 14, 2001 4:06 PM
Subject: Re: F-21 part 4 of 4

>
> It had to be the first of the FA-18E messages, didn't it.  Oh, well,
> here're the pics again and let me see if I can recall what I wrote...
>
> This is Italeri's 1/72 FA-18E, built almost OOB.  I corrected the major
> errors in the kit (sealing the upper fuselage speedbrake and adjusting
> the wing pylon orientation to reflect the 4-degree toe-out of the real
> article.  I chose to mark the model as the #4 development airplane,
> which was used for departure and spin testing before being employed as a
> weapons test airplane.
>
> I bashed a pair of Hasegawa FA-18 wing tanks to make a 480 gallon fuel
> tank for the centerline station.  The 480 tank is longer and a bit
> larger in diameter than the kit (and Hasegawa) 330 gallon versions, but
> the difference in diameter is negligible in 1/72 scale.  The Hase tanks
> were cut into 2 parts each, then the longer of each tanks pieces (one
> forward and one aft) were mated to yield a tank 3/8" longer than the
> originals.  This was reduced by 1/8" after I rounded the aft end off.
> The aft fitting was then reattached in the same relative location as it
> was on the original tanks.
>
> I used Kryon gloss white as the main color, with Model Master
> International Orange for the high visibility markings.  The white
> pinstripes were done by cutting thin strips of white decal film and
> applying these rather than masking and trying to get even lines by
> painting.  All other markings, except the national insignia, formation
> lights, and the gray data blocks around the canopy, were printed on an
> Epson Stylus 600 on SuperCal inkjet decal film, sealed with thier
> topcoat.  The artwork was made in a graphics program by using a scan of
> the kit decal sheet as a template.  The black and white targets were
> printed both on white film and on clear, as the targets on the orange
> areas needed to be cut closely to ensure that no white was visible
> around the perimeter.  I used a target printed on clear over the one
> printed on white in these locations to get a clean black edge.
>
> The wingtip and aft fuselage store separation cameras were manufactured
> from Plastruct stock, the camera bodies being made from a a lamination
> of strip to get the proper cross section and the lenses from rod
> inserted into holes drilled into the bodies.  The aft fuselage mounts
> were made from sheet stock, and the wingtip mounts were made from a pair
> of AIM-9J missles with the wings and fins removed and sheet stock.  The
> camera bodies and mounts were painted international orange, while the
> lenses and film magazines are black.  The business ends of the lenses
> were painted gold with an overcoat of clear blue to simulate coated
lenses.
>
> The 4 MK-84 bombs came from the Hasegawa weapons set, and were painted
> to represent inert bomb bodies that had been sitting in the weather and
> carried on airplanes for a while, before being dropped.  The base coat
> of 35109 blue was drybrushed with Model Master rust on the bomb noses,
> some bombs heavier than others, then the noses were painted fresh olive
> drab to represent the blunt nose plugs in these bombs.  The nose fuzes
> were cut off before painting.  All the targets on the bombs were
> individually applied, as were all the targets on the airplane and
> pylons.  There're a lot of decals on this model!
>
> Having finished this one, I'm in the process of doing a 1/48 FA-18E as
> the current weapon separation test airplane.  I guess I didn't have
> enough fun putting all those targets on one airplane, I'm gonna do it
again!

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