Hasegawa 1/72 F-18F Super Hornet "VFA-213 Black Lions"

The F-18F replaced the Tomcat in those VF squadrons that were not disestablised when the F-14 was taken out of fleet service. Hasegawa was one of the first to provide a full production F-18E/F kit, much to the delight of modelers of the super bug. Since they, Academy has produced a full line of Hornets, however those are later production versions and there are a few differences that enthusiasts are sure to notice. This includes the modified upper rear fuselage vents though you can get those with aftermarket if you wish.      

To give you some idea on this kit, it has about 98% commonality with their F-18E kit. The main differences being the fuselage with the two seat format and the additional seat, stick and instrument panel required by that variant. There is also a longer canopy which has a seam that you will need to remove.

So you get a standard Hasegawa cockpit with an acceptable pair of seats and decals for the instruments. The cockpit sits atop a lower forward fuselage piece that includes the nose gear well. One does have to open holes in the fuselage and wings for various pylons so keep that in mind when building it. There is also a piece that fits in the back with polycaps so you can simply push the horizontal stabilizers in place after painting everything. The intakes look simple but are a bit of a challenge to get installed properly. It is the curse of F-18 kits.

Wings have upper and lower pieces on each side with the flaps and ailerons molded into the top wing. Landing gear are properly complex and it looks like you can model them closed. Burner cans fit on the back of the fuselage and there is little depth to the exhaust. Unlike some Hasegawa kits, this one comes with not only fuel tanks, but also some weapons, specifically a pair of late model Sidewinders and some AIM-120s. The racks for bombs are also provided but you'll have to sources those from a weapons set. Note that the wing racks are slightly angled outward. Canopy can be modeled open or closed. In all, a very standard Hasegawa kit.

Markings are for two CAG birds. The box art plane is from 2005 and Hasegawa provides the option to paint the blue areas if you are not that sure of your decaling skills with large markings. The other is from 2006 and gets rid of all the blue areas, with just very dark blue markings on the rudders and upper fins. The huge decal sheet provides all the markings you'll need, including those for the various weapons.

While it is not a shake and bake kit, it is one that goes together fairly well if you are a careful builder. I have built another boxing which you can read at this link. For those who haven't already realized it, Hasegawa likes to do a lot of kits of the squadrons that are in the Japan based carrier of the moment. I can recall all of their 1970s USN kits having at least one set of markings for the Midway. There are a goodly number of aftermarket sheets for this kit, but you do have to be sure it is a plane from before 2005-6 when the updated rear vents were added. This preview also ends my collection of F-18E/F Super Bugs as this was about the time that I stopped collection Hornet kits. I really should get a modern release to see if they upgraded it to current standards.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_F/A-18E/F_Super_Hornet

April 2020

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