Here is my first entry on ARC. It's my recently finished Revell F/A-18C Hornet in the markings of the CAG aircraft of VFA-195 'Dambusters', ca 1995.
The spues are obviously from Italeri although they come in a Revell boxing with new, spectacular decals. This also means raised detail. The kit went together nicely, only minor filling and sanding was needed eg where the forward fuse joins the main fuse, and between the top and bottom wing halves on the underside of the wing. Some decent detail was added to the cockpit: The original plastic triangIe which was to represent the 'HUD' was replaced by a scratchbuilt version built from plastic sheet and a bit of clear plastic painted with Tamiya clear green. A pilot figure from a Hasegawa F-16 was also added (Hasegawa Block 50 Vipers come with three pilots!). I stuck with decals for the instrument panels since with the canopy closed and a pilot in place, they are hardly visible anyway. Speaking of the canopy: the front windshield needed some filling at the bottom edge due to fit issues with the main part of the canopy.
Once all the major components were glued together, it was time for the paint job. After preshading the panel lines with black enamel the typical US Navy Tactical Paint Scheme was applied consisting of FS36375 (Model Master) and FS36320 (Revell #375) underside and topside, respectively. Airbrushing a preshaded aircraft in this scale requires some patience since some of the panels which are to be painted individually are really small. But I am quite satisfied with the end result.

Click on images below to see larger images

Prior to the application of the decals the model was sealed with Revell Clear Gloss in order to avoid silvering of the decals. I chose to use the kit's decals because the nose art promised to look pretty spectacular, and I have never seen an F-18 in this finish before, although I think the beautiful box art could appeal to many modellers. I was almost a bit surprised as all the decals went on very nicely, especially in the curved nose area, needing only little softener. After the decals weathering was next. I could not find a photograph of that particular aircraft for that period  of time, but since plenty of reference material for the F/A-18 is available, this posed no real problem. First some pencil powder was applied with a hard brush to simulate oil and grease strains. Black drybrushing brought out the panel lines, and a black enamel wash accentuated the landing gear. Then the model was sealed with a Flat Coat. Adding all the small bits such as antennae, landing gear and underwing stores completed a very enjoyable build.

Hope you enjoy the pictures

Andy, Switzerland