2003 may be looked at as the last year of the eye-popping demo jet paint schemes with the 410 TMOTA scheme and the focus of this article, the East Coast CF-18 Demonstration jet. 

            2003 marked the 60^th Anniversary of 433 “Porcupine” Sqn (more formally known as “City of Timmins” Sqn), so it was fitting that 433 colors would represent 3 Wing during the 2003 summer air show season.  2003 also marked the 100^th Anniversary of Powered Flight. 

Leading Edge has always been known for producing quality model decals for the various CF-18 demo schemes, and once again, the Calgary based company has produced a fine decal sheet depicting Capt Daniel “Dano” Bellanger’s colorful demo jet. 

            As with the previous CF-18 Demo jets I have built, I chose the Revell F-18C Hornet and made a few modifications to backdate it to “A” model standards.  These modifications include:

-as well, there are two square vents behind the cockpit as well…these need to be filled in, as they are not on production Hornets.  Other than that, and drilling a hole for the spotlight, that’s all that really needs to be done (see pictures directly below). 

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-removing RWR’s from behind the cockpit, nose gear door and from the tails.  On the tails, there are three RWR’s, the one in the middle needs to be removed (see pictures directly below). 

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            Assembly is straightforward.  Cockpit is painted gray with black instrument panels.  Some dry brushing was done to pick out the instrument dials and switches.  One step I did skip was adding the horizontal stabilizers before assembling the fuselage halves.  It is a little easier to assemble and sand the seams without these attached, so I placed a piece of plastic tubing inside the fuselage so I could attach the stabilizers later using some stiff wire. 

            This kit is famous for some gaping seams, in particular, on the underside of the LEX and wings.  I have found a way around that by filling some of the monster seams on this kit with strips of Evergreen plastic.  By using this method, it cuts down on the amount of filler you have to use (in some cases, none at all is needed!) and makes assembly go a little quicker. 

            Once everything was filled and sanded, I proceeded to paint the model with Gunze acrylics.  The topside gray paint usually has a bit of a greenish tinge in it and is not present in the Gunze paint, so I tinted my fray with a couple drops of green paint and achieved the desired effect.  Model was gloss coated with Gunze Gloss clear in preparation for decals.

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            As I said earlier, this set of Leading edge decals was the best set I have used to date.  Normally, there are some larger decals that will crack, even with the use of warm water, but in this instance, there was none of that.  The decals conformed nicely to the model, with a bit of help from some Mr Mark Softer.  Only a small amount of trimming is needed to fit the Revell kit (as these decals are sized in between the Hasegawa kit and the Revell one).  The markings feature spectacular orange, black and white markings all over the jet with a fencing Porcupine on the left tail (433’s mascot) and the 100^th Anniversary of Flight logo on the right tail.  After the decals were applied, another coat of gloss was applied, followed a few days later by a flat coat.  Some minimal weathering was applied.  I noted in some photographs that this jet had some noticeable hydraulic fluid staining on the left wing, so I matched the model to the photos.  The weathering was done with pastel chalks applied with a brush.  After, the pastel was sealed under a light mist coat of flat. 

            Once that was done, the landing gear was assembled, painted and had a black wash applied to them.  Once they were installed on the model, the wheels and gear doors were also added. 

            It was at this point that I added the spotlight to the model.  After assembling the fuselage, I drilled a hole in the side of the nose, just slightly larger than the MV Lens I was using as the actual spotlight lens.  I glued a piece of plastic inside the nose to black off the hole, and then proceeded to build the rest of the model.  When it came time to install the spotlight, I used CA glue to attach it.  Then, I took Krystal Kleer and filled in around the lens and covered it op completely (this simulated the clear panel covering the lens.  It produced the look I was looking for, but I may still refine this method on the next model.

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             The ejection seat was built OOB, but I added some foil belts using foil off of a chocolate bar wrapper (it was a Christmas stocking stuffer…but there is lots of foil to last for years!).  Once that was done, it, as well as the control column, throttles and the HUD were installed, followed by the canopy (after being dipped in Future). 

            All in all, this was a two-week build and the model is a great addition to my Demo Hornet collection. 

            Hope you have enjoyed my Hornet!

Colin