I am a huge fan of the CF-18 Hornet. I have wanted to build one for quite some time, but I thought I would take a crack at the smaller 1/72 kit before moving on to the larger 1/48 scale. Actually, this 1/72 build represents my second attempt at the Hasegawa 1/72 kit, and my first jet finished. My first attempt met an untimely end after running into difficulties and then eventually giving up after concluding that it would be better to start a second and learn from my mistakes. I initially wanted to do the AETE scheme, but after Scooter beat me to it I decided to do a standard scheme A/C utilizing Leading Edge decals.

I wanted to have the stabilizers positionable, so I removed these from the rear fuselage with a #11 blade. I also cut out the speed brake well from the upper fuselage so that I could glue the closed speed brake from the inside. I commenced with painting of the cockpit bits and pieces and intake interior parts. Decals are given for cockpit consoles and instrument panels which is unfortunate as the interior is clearly visible under the large canopy. I upgraded the cockpit somewhat with True Details NACES seats which are incorrect for a CF-18 but do spruce up the cockpit a bit. The rear seat is shimmed slightly so that it sits higher than the front. This is quite noticeable in a profile shot of the real A/C. At this time too, I had to decide on how I wanted to mount the now severed stabilizers. I opted to mount a length of small diameter tube steel transversely across the fuselage. After determining the proper length and location within the fuselage, I supported it on small plastic blocks and used C.A. to attach it . I had to consult my CF-18 reference information to make sure that I got the proper location for this as the all-flying tail needs to sit in the proper location.

It was now time to cement the upper and lower fuselage halves. The lower rear fuselage side pieces were attached and given a little more support with the addition of small tabs of plastic glued across their joints and C.A. I also attached the vertical fins and speed brake to the upper fuselage at this time, gluing from the inside. I glued the wings to the upper fuselage first before mating the two halves. Did I have some work ahead of me. Sizable gaps ( holes actually ) existed where I cut off the stabs. Also, the diameters of the upper and lower forward fuselage halves were different. The gaps at the rear were handled with C.A. and Mr. Surfacer, then careful sanding and re-scribing of lost detail. The forward fuselage was carefully sanded to shape. Mr. Surfacer was used on the seams and any lost detail re-scribed. The nose cone shape did not match the shape of the forward fuselage. This was sanded for a proper fit and then filled with some BBs and epoxy for nose weight. It was then attached.

It was now basically a complete airframe sans gear, tanks, and all those small bits and pieces that are the last items to go on. When I was satisfied with the seams, it was time to put paint to plastic. I used the decal set to make masks for the leading edge protective strips. I sprayed this grey first, covering a slightly larger area than necessary. When this was suitably dry, I masked these off and sprayed the light grey underside along with all three fuel tanks and landing gear doors. When the bottom was dry I masked it off and sprayed the topside grey, but slightly lightened. I again used the decals to make myself another mask, this time for the false canopy, as I wanted to paint it on. I masked the surrounding underside area and shot the dark grey. The areas surrounding the wheel wells were masked off and then they were painted white along with all the landing gear bits and pieces that needed to be white too. I must say that the main gear on this kit bears little resemblance to the real thing. I used BMF to mask the tyre rims and then painted the tyres grimy black. Any little touch ups that needed to be done were taken care of. The model was then gloss coated in preparation for decalling.

I opted to do a 441 Squadron A/C for no particular reason at all. I had a couple of problems with decals melting on me, so I had to back up and do some paint touch ups. No more Gunze after that. The decals reacted very well to Microscale and went on generally with no problems. There was a little silvering on some of the very small ones but I think that is to be expected with such tiny decals. The no-step footprints drove me to the brink of madness, I swear. Satisfied with the decalling , I applied another gloss coat to seal them and a flat coat after the gloss was dry. The flat coat would be for the adherence of pastel chalks.

Time for panel line detailing (HAH!) and weathering next. I like to highlight the panel lines on my kits, but this was not going to be a cooperative subject. I did notice when building the kit that a lot of the panel lines were faint and needed re-scribing. I thought I cleaned them up good enough to take a panel line wash but apparently not. After determining that lots of them weren’t going to take a wash, I abandoned the idea altogether. I moved on to weathering the kit by brushing on varying shades of grey pastel chalks to dirty it up some as the finish on a CF-18 gets quite dirty. Restraint was needed because it is very easy to go overboard and end up with something that you don’t like. I like what I ultimately came up with. When I was happy with the results, I sealed it all under a flat coat. I wrapped the whole project up by attaching the landing gear bits, fuel tanks, burner cans, canopy, etc, etc. The stabs were mounted by drilling a hole in their inner edge and pushing in a length of metal rod that was the same size as the inner diameter of the tube steel in the fuselage. They can now be positioned wherever I please. And that is my 1/72 CF-18 in a nutshell kids.

Lastly, I will say this. If ever I do another one of these, there better be a buffet at the end.