1/48 HobbyBoss F/A-18+ Hornet R.A.A.F

Gallery Article by Michael Hickey on July 23 2013

 

 

F/A-18+ Hornet R.A.A.F

This is a HobbyBoss F/A-18C that I converted to a R.A.A.F F/A-18+. The aircraft was painted this way to commemorate 77Squadrons 70th Anniversary 1942-2012. 

 

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I used some parts from Aires which included the cockpit panel, seat, sidewalls and the compartment behind the pilots seat. I also used Aires closed exhaust nozzles and scratchbuild the Air Intake Covers, Bird Slicers, GPS Dome and other Antennas, Seat Belts and the RBF tags around the nose, as well as add in the 2 Chaff Dispencers on the underside of the fuselage and some wiring on the undercarriage. The other RBF tags came from Eduard, the AN/AAQ-28 Litening AT pod and Mk82 bombs came from Hasegawa Weapon Set E, as did the 2 AIM-120 AMRAAM's. The 2 AIM-132 ASRAAM's came from OzMods. I used Gunze, Tamiya and Alclad paints. I weathered the plane using oil paints and a small amount of chalk. I used Limited Edition Decals from Southern Sky Models, which I had no problem applying. 

This aircraft is going to GPCAPT G.Beck, 77Squadrons last Commanding Officer whose name appears on this aircraft. I'll be building a second kit the same for the crew of 77 Squadron.

Michael Hickey

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Photos and text © by Michael Hickey