A while back I go this kit with the intention of using TwoBobs' VFA 97 Part II decals (3-tone camo, baby!). The model builds into a C/D. I had to convert it to an A for these decals. It's a simple process that, thanks to the good folks here at ARC, I was able to figure out.
    I just LOVE this paint scheme. I knew I had to build a kit. I did not, however, know what was a good kit to build. The RoG kit.... Is not... 
    It's rudimentary in detail and fit. It should be classified as a skill2 kit (one step above snap-tite kits). However the kit was not the main point. This was 1) my first F/A-18 and I was going to enjoy it! (p.s. I did!) and 2) my first custom decal use (the TwoBobs decals are wonderful!), so I got a double whammy!
    I'm not upset at the kit or anything. I don't mind a bad kit now and then, and this wasn't the worst. Just beware of a few things when building it: The fit of the "cockpit top" -- where you place either the single-seat canopy piece or the double-seat piece -- the deck over the
second seat wants to push it up a lot. You have to grind the detail flat. Watch for the wing joins -- the top is good but the bottom needs a lot of work to hide the seams. There was some ambiguity about the tail fins too. I figured it out.

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    On a side note: I gathered the following information from folks on the ARC forums. Here is what was suggested and what I did to convert from a -C to a -A model.

• 1.   The C has 3 sets of ECM bumps on each side of the forward fuselage.  The A only has the one directly behind the radome. I lost the radome bumps with sanding, so I cut off the rear bumps and moved them forward!  

• 2.   The A doesn't have the ECM bumps on the spine behind the canopy. The "A" model has an ECM bump underneath both intakes. The bumps were separate pieces, so I simply moved them.

• 3.   The C has 3 set of antennaes on each tail. To make it an A tail, you need to remove the middle antenna from each tail. Easy enough to fix. 

• 4.   The C has an ECM bump and blade antenna on the right front gear door, while the A only has the blade antenna, which is positioned a little bit ahead of where it is on the C. I'm not sure about this blade antenna, but it's there. And it stays.

For the most part a good kit, save for one area: the weapons. These weapons are molded with two fins flat (either side) and one fin each up and down on the sprue. Now, the fins flat DON'T line up with the fins up/down! The same goes for the HARM missiles included with the kit. I carved away at the Aim-9 fins to make them presentable, but trashed the HARMs. One note: This model has been repackaged several times from what I gather. Somewhere along the way they forgot to tell you how and where the central pylon goes! It's there, but has no placement pins and is not acknowledged on the instructions! I used a belly drop tank on this model to reflect operational norms in OEF, but used my own weapons selection (Hasegawa 1/72nd weapons sets supplied the bombs). I had to deduce where the pylon went by the way that drop tanks nearly touch the strut on the nose gear. From there I was able to figure it out, but I was surprised at the angle (it all checks out, so it would seem, but the angle is different than that of the wing pylons).

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    It took me a long time to finish this kit because I stopped twice. First I stopped just after putting a priming coat of paint on. The task was too intimidating! I'd never before tried such a scheme! Then there was the Adversary/Aggressor group build and I wanted to enter it. I tell ya, those group builds sure do provide incentive! I got almost all of it done then, until the end when I found I didn't have radome tan. So I let that sit for nearly a month (lol!) on my "finished" shelf and at the last second mixed up something close and put it on.

    Paints are Model Masters, almost entire of the Acryl line. I ended up wimping out about masking it (plus, every time I mask these acryls they come up with the tape!) and did it all free-hand with a paintbrush (several, actually) and keeping the instructions in front of me at all times!

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    After the first coat I covered with future, and the same after the second coat, but I had to touch up colors in several places so I stopped doing that until I was totally done with all three colors. Then I futured. Then I decaled. The decals were tough. I had so many! It was hard to line up the paint properly, and I missed in a few areas (where the decals change colors to match the paint). In pictures of the real thing the same happened, but only by about an inch. If you scaled mine up they'd be a foot off (heh heh)! Once decals were completely done (took me a couple of nights) I futured again (to seal it) and dull-coated the entire thing, using an index card and a napkin, selectively spraying around the clear canopy.
The drop tanks only have one side supplied. You have to continue the paint scheme on the other side. I improvised and did it as I thought was fitting. I like how it turned out.

The cockpit is a laugh, for those nitpickers amongst you. Well, to tell the truth I'm not that picky and I was disappointed myself. The molding on the instruments is literally cartoonish. Stupid me, there's a DECAL! 

Guess who just dry-brushed it as-is and sealed up the cockpit? Ding ding ding! That's right! I did! Ah well it's not the insides that count. I've put in a pilot figure (not supplied with kit) donated graciously by ARCer John Leung to distract the eye. It works nicely. You notice the pilot and not the cockpit.

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    I super detailed the laser targeting designator (or is that target laser designator??) from some of the walkaround pics here at ARC. I like how it turned out.

The entire model was worked with several coats of sludge wash (using black acrylic sludge). The detail stands out well on the burner cans nicely, but I couldn't get a good picture of it. It looks nice in person, trust me. No detail in the burners or intakes (flat walls, in fact). Both painted black, because you can't really see in anyways. I slugged the gear and the wheels and they look like realistic weathered gear, but I may have overdone the wheel wells. All in all my first sludge wash wasn't bad, methinks!

Due to the bad nose fit, I had to sand around the seam. I lost the gun port! I had to fasion two pieces of tape to make a new shape and paint it back on.

This group build was great. Did some new things. Have a great model to show for it!

Note that some of the pictures are when the model is 95% complete (missing pilot/seat, canopy, and radome tip on nose) -- those outside are nearly complete, those on the experimental background are complete. 

Heh, I found a better way to take pictures of models, too late but oh well!

Mark

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