Hasegawa 1/72 F-18E Super Hornet 'VFA-27 Royal Maces', previewed by Scott Van Aken

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. The type is under low rate production and all extant air frames (except those for the Blue Angels) will be brought up to current standards.

THE KIT

It is with much delight to modern jet enthusiasts that Hasegawa has released the single seat version of the Super Hornet so quickly after the F-18F kit. While the Italeri kit was nice, it was also a prototype and so did not have all the things changed for the production version. It is a bit unusual for Hasegawa not to have done a prototype kit when the F-18E/F was first brought out as they have a history of doing just that and then modifying the molds to match things up with the production version later on. This was not the case with the Super Hornet. Hasegawa actually waited until it had been in squadron service for some time before releasing these kits. The results are that they had the latest and greatest. Not surprising is that it has been released in multiple boxings of the base kit with little more than decal changes. One thing to keep in mind is that this is the earlier version with the old upper rear fuselage vents. If you want the newer one, get the Academy kit.

To give you some idea on this kit, it is 98% common with the F-18F so I'll not trouble you with the showing the sprue layout though I have included the sprue diagram from the instructions. The different bits are the inclusion of the 'E' sprue that has the cover for the back seat section and a canopy attachment point, and the K sprue which has the single seat canopy. That is a total of three different parts out of a total of 117. Since the 'base' kit is the two seater, there are a few holes that need filled and a couple of parts you won't use (like the second instrument panel), but all the rest is exactly the same. The kit supplies AMRAAMs and AIM-9X Sidewinders, but you'll have to dig into a weapons set to fill the center wing pylon. All the pylons are faced outward, though it seems that they are not precisely at the correct angle. Have a read of the F-18F build review for more info in that area.

Instructions are the excellent ones we've come to expect from Hasegawa so there is no need to comment further on those. Markings are provided for two aircraft. One is the box art CAG bird with the black tail, spine and canopy surround. You need to paint these areas. The other is a standard line bird. A really nice touch is the inclusion of missile stripes, something that is always difficult to come by for most modelers.

CONCLUSIONS

These kits have been selling quite well and much of it is due to the nice decal sheet that Hasegawa now provides. I'm sure you will find this one to your liking as well.

REFERENCE

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

April 2022

KIT #	00744
PRICE:	1800 yen when new
DECALS:	2 options
REVIEWER:	Scott Van Aken
NOTES:	2004 Limited Edition