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This
kit was built for my brother in law who had the thrill of a lifetime last June.
He had a check out ride in a 410 Cougar Squadron CF-18B at CFB Cold Lake
Alberta. My mission was to duplicate his "ride" with the same paint
and markings as well as hardpoint load.
The
kit was built out of the box with the addition of True Details ejection seats
and the Leading Edge #72-24 CF-18 decal sheet. The kit has recessed panel lines,
that are not quite as fine and defined as the 1/72 Hasegawa F-16 kit that I
recently built. The cockpit uses decals for the instrument panels.
The
kit went together fairly well, although the fit around the intakes required some
work. I used white glue to fill the large gaps and followed up with a coat or 2
of Gunze Mr. Surfacer 500. Another area that required a bit of work was the seam
line at the front area of the fuselage that runs at an angle across several
panel lines. Getting rid of the seam line ruins the panel line detail, which I
attempted to re-scribe with moderate success. For filling most small seam gaps,
I have found that the Mr. Surfacer 500 is a good way to fill them without
risking sanding off any surrounding detail. After applying the Mr. Surfacer
(basically a very thick primer), with a fine brush, I removed the excess with a
cotton swab and methyl hydrate. Usually no sanding is required.
To
help the primer to "lock on" to the model, I sanded the entire model
with an ultrafine 3M sponge, giving the paint some "tooth" to hold
onto.. I have had projects where
the primer has pulled off the
model, so now I sand before any painting.
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After
washing the model, I airbrushed decanted automotive primer over the entire
plane. Luckily, the primer (Pro Form Fill and Flex Gray PF-520) was very close
to the shade of gray used on the undersides of CF-18s, so no further painting
was required in that area. After
masking with Tamiya masking tape, the darker top colour was airbrushed with
Acrylic Polyscale paint using my ancient Pasche single action airbrush at around
40 PSI. I seem to use higher pressures with my airbrushing than other modelers
that I have read about. Perhaps my pressure gauge is off? The shade of gray (FS
35237) that is called for the top side of CF-18s is much too dark compared to
the actual colour of the aircraft. You need to lighten the top gray up to 50%
with white to match the photos of actual CF-18s. On this model I could have
lightened it even more than I did. After I had finished painting the model I
discovered that the top gray should have ended at the gun area instead of
continuing to a point.
The decal instruction sheet from Leading Edge is very good, but does not
have every possible paint combination that appears on CF-18s. The paint scheme
shown in detail in the instructions are for single seat CF-18s, not a 2 seater
like I was building. Like they say, check your references.
I
then placed the model in my new "easy bake" paint drier overnight ( a
light bulb in a surplus plastic display case) to insure that the paint had
completely cured. Next, I airbrushed 2 light coats of Future in preparation for
decalling. Before and in between Future coats, I lightly sanded the model with
the microfine (green) 3M sanding sponge to get the glossiest finish possible.
Every time I sanded the model I needed to rewash it using a small amount of dish
soap in warm water. Having the paint dryer "oven" speeded up the
drying time and kept the project moving along. To define the panel lines, I used
artist's oil paint mixed with lighter fluid painted, on with a brush. I used a
50-50 mixture of black and brown. I mixed the paint and lighter fluid in small
quantities in a 35mm film canister lid, and applied it with a fine brush to the
panel line. You need to experiment with the ratio of paint to lighter fluid to
get it to run into the panel lines just right. The beauty of lighter fluid is
that it dries very quickly. Applying the panel line "wash" after the
gloss coat of Future works much better than applying it over matte paint
surfaces. I have discovered that you can use a microfine 3M sanding sponge to
remove the excess panel line paint perfectly, by lightly sanding over the panel
line. None of the paint in the panel line is removed, which can happen when you
use a cloth or cotton swab.
The
Leading Edge decals went on well using Microscale Micro Sol and Set. The final
top coat was Aeromaster flat clear. The Leading Edge decal sheet covers every
possible "standard" 2nd generation CF-18 paint scheme possible. For
weathering I used a little ground up black pastel applied with a cut off brush
to simulate the grime from the gun, and oil leaks on the wings.
I
made the display base using a scrap piece of 1/2" signboard (plywood would
work the same) and some 3/4" molding. I spray painted it black and then
glued in a piece of mirror to show off the undersides of the aircraft. I also
had a glass shop make a dust cover to prolong the life expectancy of the model.
Luckily, I had a 410 Cougar squadron decal in my collection that added a bit of
colour to the presentation. Finally, I had a plaque made at a trophy shop to
complete the commemorative display. The total project took about 25 hours over a
period of 2 weeks, which is very fast for me. Having a deadline (Christmas
present), makes you re alize how much time is actually spent putting a model
together.alize how much time is actually spent putting a model
together.
My
next CF-18 will be a single seater with the very sinister looking 3 Sidewinder,
3 Sparrow,
2 drop tank load that has been seen in use since 9-11.
Don
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