I picked up the decals and kit from Uncle Bill's Hobby a week a go. After about 20 hours I now have a very colourful CF-188.

Other than the Blue Angels, this one is probably the only ALL GLOSS F-18 in miltary service and it really stands out amongst the drab greys. Being fortunate to have seen the real one several times last summer, I anxiously dove into this project.

The basic construction of the Hasegawa 1/72nd kit is straightforward. Painting the model was the biggest challenge. I started with the black tails and upper spine. This was masked off with Tamiya tape, being careful to follow the instructions in regards to the final placement of the red and white stripes. The nose will be the most interested area, but mask the black straight along the leading edge extension (LEX) and fuselage. This carries out to and around the gun panel.

I used Testors Chevy Engine Red. It's a very close match to the actual colour, but darkens slightly when sprayed over the kit's grey plastic. I would suggest mixing in some Italian Red to help lighten the colour. This will also help the Dark Red X's stand out from the model later on. I used the decals as a template and cut Tamiya tape to follow the curve of the red and white stripes on the nose. Some fiddling will be required to make sure both sides are aligned equally. The provided decal gives some allowance for error, but only about 1mm. The wings and tails are simple to mask - nice straight lines. Finally I used 2 light coats of flat white before laying down a thin coat of gloss white paint.

Decal application time: I've used Leading Edges decals on many projects and have never had a problem. I typically use Gunze Mr. MarkSofter at full strength after placing and lightly pressing the decal in place. I found that this project took a lot of decal set. Having had several "product review" conversations (and beer!) with L.E. it's thought that my setting solution may be old. Dave's time tested production wasn't altered on these sheets.

If you are into putting all the stencils on the model, you will note the instructions don't identify a location for the hooks labeled as 24. They go on the landing gear struts.

Why have I got weapons on an airshow bird? Well that's cause this ain't just another "pretty" airplane. This baby still sees active testing and research with our Forces Aeronautical Engineering Test Establishment. My load out is from when '907 still wore a grey suit.

I enjoyed this build and look forward to the other up coming Hornets from Leading Edge. Is anyone up for a game of checkers?