Subject: Fwd: Re: Article Submission
From: HENRY J <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 10:02:05 -0700

Italeri 1/48 F-18E
Super Hornet
By Henry Juarez

Kit:  The F-18E Super Hornet is the single seat version of the Italeri 
F-18F, with the rear decking part added.  All parts are the same in both 
kits, including the weapons load out.  The kit is molded in the standard 
light gray and has recessed panel lines which I found to be a bit shallow.

Construction:  Several well known modelers to ARC (Kelly Quirk, Kaan Gok, 
and Joe Hegedus) have written great articles on the construction of this 
kit.  Many of the modifications which I made were based on these points.

    I began by replacing the cockpit with the Black Box F-18E detail 
set.  The detail in the BB set is superb.  However, as with many of the 
Black Box kits I’ve constructed, It seems that there is always a fit 
problem.  It’s not your drop in kits as with Cutting Edge, but non the 
less, a great set.

   I painted the cockpit with Model Master enamel Aircraft Gray.  I know 
this isn’t the recommended color, but I found that this color is lighter 
and brings to life the cockpit detail of the BB set.  Once the cockpit was 
painted, I sealed it with  Future to prepare it for a dark wash, which 
highlights the details and brings out the instruments.  Careful attention 
was paid to painting the CRT frames and dial rings, in black.  Next came 
the side panel instrument also painted in black.  The seat was painted in 
black with a green cushion and green/blue seat belts.  The seat was given a 
dark wash and dry brushed to highlight details.

    I filled in the LEX using Magic Sculpt putty, as well as the rear speed 
brake which are omitted in the production aircraft.  The spoilers are a 
little undersized and they too were filled with putty and the new panels 
re-scribed.  The aft exhaust ports which are of a polygonal design, where 
removed and a new rectangular port installed using sheet styrene and putty.

    I used the Two Bobs decal sheet as a reference to re-scribe the panel 
lines.  Some of the panel lines on the Italeri kit were wrong based on my 
observations of production aircraft seen in photos.  I filled these lines 
in with super glue and then drew the correct panel lines first before 
re-scribing.

    The IFF box, forward of the windscreen, was made with Magic Sculpt, 
shaped and sanded to size.

Painting:  Once all the corrections were made and the kit mostly assembled, 
I primed the whole thing with Mr. Surfacer 1000 to check for flaws.  After 
several more corrections made,  I re-primed the kit and began the painting 
process.  Model Master enamels where used throughout the painting.  I first 
began with pre-shading the entire kit’s panel lines with flat black.  For 
the underside, I used MM Light Ghost Gray as a base coat.  Using an Iwata 
Eclipse airbrush, I lightly airbrushed the Light Gray, until the shading 
underneath was barely visible.  Next, I took the same base coat and 
lightened it with about 30% white and thinned it to about 70% thinner.  I 
then went and sprayed the center of each panel to lighten it up.  Once this 
was completed, I took the base coat and thinned it down to approximately 
70% thinner to paint, rather than the usual 50-50 mix when spraying the 
base coat.  With light passes over the entire model, I checked for a 
balance of the panel shading and panel lines.   This same procedure was 
used for the Dark Ghost Gray top side.

    The intake covers where fashioned from tissue soaked in a water/glue 
solution and shaped over the intakes.  Once dried, they were painted red 
and a few coats of Future applied so that the TopHatters emblem could be 
applied.

Weapons/stores:  I omitted the kit weapons and opted to use GBU-24 and 
GBU-31s from the Hasegawa Weapons set D.  The AIM-120 AMRAAM is from SOL 
resin kits.  These are excellent kits with fine casting, including the fins 
which rival any photo etch set.  The center fuel tank was lengthened by ¾ 
inches to represent a FPU-11.

Decals:  The kit sports markings for VFA-14 TopHatters, in a low vis scheme 
from Two Bobs (48-040).  The model was sprayed with Future and allowed to 
dry for two days.  A wash of dark gray was then applied to all panel lines 
and rivets and allowed to dry for one day.  The decals were then applied 
and set with Solva Set solution.  I then took a knife and sliced through 
the decal at all panel lines and re-applied a wash  over this.  Once the 
decals dried for about a day, The entire model received a flat coat of 
Testors dull coat.

Conclusion:  Although, this kit is not without its fit problems, it does 
turn out to be a unique and interesting subject, given, that it is the only 
kit in town.  Rumor has it, hat Revell/Germany is coming out with their 
F-18E in 1/48 scale.  If it’s anything like their F-15E or Rafael, I’m sure 
it will be a hit in the modeling community.  I hope you enjoyed this 
article and pictures of my completed model.  If you have any questions, 
feel free to contact me.

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