1/144 Dragon F/A-18E and Carrier Deck

Gallery Article by Rodrigo Rendon on July 13 2010

 

This is a kit I did for my co-worker and good friend Mark "the Gooch" Yamaguchi at Burbank Airport, CA, USA. The kit has exceptional detail for a 1/144 scale! The seams in the deck plating were sanded down with an exacto knife as they were grossly out of scale.

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The catapault was painted first with Tamiya black and then hit with future acrylic, then I applied a coat of Alcald Dark Aluminum. The flight deck was painted with Tamiya Dark Grey, then lightened with pastel chalk. After a few days of exposure to the sun the anti-skid coating on all Navy ships fades to a light grey. The inside of the blast deflector is painted with Testors Acrylic Red and Navy White. It's a shame they discontinued making Navy white; this color is accurate to use on landing gears and anything that is painted white, but fades after time. Lucky for me I bought the last batch my local hobby shop could find!

The kit comes with an F-18G Growler, but I opted to go with an F-18E with the CAG's hi vis colors. This is without a doubt the most eye catching markings on a Super Hornet you will ever see, even in this scale! The AIM 9x Sidewinder came from the kit's jet and the iron bombs and Maverick missile come from the Dragon 1/144 A-10 Dual Pack. If you are looking for lots of ordnance in 1/144 scale buy that kit! It comes with tons of laser guided bombs. The flight deck crew and fire engine were painted with the appropriate colors. All in all I think this is a pretty accurate depiction of a modern Nimitz class launch. This kit retails for about $15 USD and I highly recommend it. The "Gooch" likes it and so do I!

Rodrigo Rendon

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Photos and text © by Rodrigo Rendon