Hasegawa 1/72 F-18F Super Hornet

The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is the U.S. Navy's newest strike fighter which will replace the F-14 Tomcat and supplement the current F/A-18C/D fleet. The program came about because of the accelerated retirement of the Tomcat, which was already filling the the massive void left by the retirement of the A-6E Intruder in the early 1990's. This would leave the U.S. Navy without an strike aircraft that could perform long-range attacks. The only other plane left was the F-18 Hornet, which doesn't quite fit the bill. The F/A-18C/D, while an excellent weapons platform, lacks the range to perform deep-strike and interdiction missions. Boeing improved upon the original F-18 design, emphasizing greater range, payload and endurance. In short, they made it bigger and better. The Super Hornet is listed as having 40% better range than the C/D, and is cheaper to maintain than the F-14. The design also has "growth space" incorporated into it which will allow for future electronic systems to be added on as they come on-line. All of this means the Super Hornet will be at the cutting edge for years to come.

THE KIT

Hasegawa has an excellent reputation for high-quality, well-engineered kits. This one is no exception. What you get is 120 parts, the majority is molded in the standard Hasegawa light gray, except for the clear parts and 4 poly-caps. Poly caps?! You betcha, the horizontal tail moves! If you've built any of Hasegawa's earlier Hornets, then you'll remember how annoying assembly is since the tail plane is molded onto the lower fuselage, leaving little room to clean up the seam between them and the wings. I like this option, now you'll have easier assembly along with some moving parts. Hopefully it will work out well. You also get some external stores in the form of two AIM-120 AMRAAMs, 2 AIM-9X Sidewinders 4 fuel tanks, 2 dual bomb racks and 2 sensor pods, which is a little surprising since Hasegawa has been leaving their kits without weapons for years, hoping you'll buy their separate weapons sets.

The decals look a little thick, but the last few Hasegawa decals I've used snuggled down nicely with Solvaset. The markings available are one VFA-2 "Bounty Hunters" and two VFA-102 "Diamondbacks" aircraft. They're all hi-vis and would certainly be an eye-catcher. If those markings don't float your boat, I saw that Twobobs recently released a sheet with markings for VFA-41 "Black Aces".

It's a great kit but don't get me wrong, there are a couple of minor gripes with the kit. Luckily, they're very minor and are overcome easily. For example, the cockpit is pretty basic; instrument and side panels are decals and the seats don't have any seat belts provided. This is typical of the manufacturer and there's bound to be an aftermarket set released sooner or later for those who want to trick-out the cockpit. The other minor fault is that the canopy has a big seam running down the middle of it. A little light sanding and a dip in Future floor wax can remedy it.

CONCLUSIONS

You can't help but love Hasegawa's products, they offer a great variety of quality kits. Their prices are generally higher than your run-of-the-mill kits, but you can't buy champagne with beer money. All in all, I think it's a welcome addition to the fleet, both the Navy's and mine. Now if they'll only make a 1/72 B-26 Marauder!

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KIT:	Hasegawa 1/72 F-18F Super Hornet
KIT #	00548
PRICE:	$25.97 MSRP
DECALS:	Two options
REVIEWER:	Richard Bingham
NOTES: