Correcting the BB F/A-18D Set by Dave Roof

Correcting the Black Box F/A-18D Cockpit Set

by Dave Roof
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Last year when Black Box announced plans to release a cockpit set for the Hasegawa 1/48 F/A-18D, I was so excited I put all of my ‘in-work’ projects aside and started putting a package together to help in research. A few days later, I sent off a large package of almost everything I had on the F/A-18D, and the F-14D for that matter. Well, months have passed since then, but the cockpit set has finally been released. When I saw the first photos of the set at Victory Models web site, I must admit that I was a little disappointed. A few important items were left out, some parts weren’t corrected, and your only option out of the package is for an early Lot Delta. Fortunately, Black Box has taken note of these shortcomings and is releasing a detail set to upgrade your ‘D’ to a late Lot aircraft. What I am going to cover here are what you can do to correct some of the problems. I have included 10 images to assist you.

First, here is what you get:

The set consists of 20 pieces on 13 casting sprues. The parts included are as follows. Pilots cockpit tub, WSOs cockpit tub, 2 SJU-5/6 seats, 2 control sticks, 2 hand controls for the WSO, forward and aft instrument panels, side walls for the front and rear cockpits, 4 rudder pedals and 2 throttles. The quality of the castings is superb and typical of Black Box. For those who have the F/A-18A/C cockpit, you will recognize most of the parts, as the forward tub and instrument panel, seats, control sticks, rudder pedals / throttle, and forward side walls are all from that set. For a review of that set, check out the review section of this site.

The ejection seats:

What are provided are SJU-5/6 seats and these are fine if you are building an early Delta. To see if you are modeling an early or late Lot aircraft, look at the decal sheet of the aircraft you are modeling and check out the BuNo. If the BuNo is between 163434 and 164068 (early lot), you can use these seats. All F/A-18Ds from BuNo 164196 use the SJU-17 NACES ejection seat. (BuNos 164069 through 164195 are not assigned to the F/A-18). This is one of the disappointing areas of the set, as the SJU-17s are not supplied. However, these will be included in the detail set mentioned earlier. If you opt to use the True Details version of the NACES, be warned that contrary to what most believe, these are not accurate representations. The headrest is incorrect and they are almost a scale foot too short. Take a close look at the photo below of the NACES headrest provided and compare it to the photos of the SJU-5/6 that Nick Kiriokos has provided over at the Walk Around. Note the headrest of both.

The WSOs instrument panel and coaming:

The F/A-18D has a stepped coaming for the rear panel. BB did not include this and has you use the kit coaming, which is part J8. This is correct for a ‘B’, but not the ‘D’. And because this part was used, the rear panel is severely undersized. The layout is correct, but the width and height is incorrect. You won’t be able to correct the width without building a new panel, but you can make the height look correct. Compare the BB panel with the picture provided.

Make a new coaming by cutting the kit part in half and repositioning the forward piece about 2 scale inches lower than the rear facing piece (end closest to the WSO)

You will also need to add the WSOs hand hold / chaff flare dispenser buttons. Use the photos provided below as a guide.

This minor surgery will give the illusion that the panel is taller than what it really is.

The control stick, throttle, foot pedals and side hand controls:

The side hand controls and foot pedals are the only items that should be used in the aft tub. Missionized (Night Attack) Deltas do not have the aft control stick installed. The mount is there, but the rest is removed. See photo below.

Also, the rear tub does not have a throttle.

The side walls, rear tub and aft deck:

The side walls are fine and can be used without any problems. The tub has a couple problems in the accuracy department. Most notably missing is the case for the NVGs on the right rear portion of the side console. See the photos below for an idea of what the case looks like.

The left side console has the detail a little too high, but redoing this isn’t worth the effort and I would recommend leaving it alone. The layout of the console is correct though.

The aft deck / canopy raising mechanism is by far the biggest disappointment of the set as this entire area was neglected. What is provided with the kit is way off. And a new deck would have been a major plus for the set. I have enclosed a couple photos showing part of the deck area, which you'll find below this paragraph.

On a scale of 1 – 10, I would have to give this set a 6. The casting, fit and overall quality of the parts is first rate. However, the omission of some parts and the inaccuracy of others, looses this set some points. This set can be used as is and will vastly improve what is provided in the kit. But for those of you who are sticklers for accuracy, I would recommend modifying this set using the photos provided or waiting for the compliment set from Black Box.