Ever since the
Academy 1/32 F/A-18C kit was released a few years ago. I'd been waiting for them
to release either an F/A-18A or Export edition, but that never happened. One day
while browsing the ARC classifieds, I came across a listing at a good price for
an Academy Hornet by Paul Cotcher, I had to have it so I sent him a PM and
I was pleased to see reply in my inbox a little while later. Other deals and
trades were made in the ARC classifieds till I had all I needed to build a
proper CF-188A in 1/32 scale.
The kit itself looks
a bit intimidating once you open the box, but it really wasn't too bad to build,
the fit was fairly good for the most part. The wings on mine were warped badly,
I was able to straighten them up by careful assembly. Others have had issues
with the intakes but I didn't have any trouble there.
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images below to see larger images
The aftermarket I used was
a Black Box cockpit and tail conversion set, Eduard's exterior photo etch,
Scale Aircraft Conversions landing gear, a Cutting Edge SJU-9/10 ejection
seat and Leading Edge's Standard CF-188 markings. Based on a picture I
found at www.airliners.net. I
decided on doing an aircraft form the newly reformed 409 Squadron out of
CFB Cold Lake (aka the Cool Pool). The picture I based it on showed a/c #
188794 in a very patchy and dirty standard paint scheme. I tried to
reproduce that as best as I could. My base color was a tad too dark though
on the lighter grey portions and as a result, some of the markings don't
show properly. Lesson learned. I based the air to air weapons loadout on a
picture I found at http://www.hazersflightline.com/.
I finished this kit
on the evening of April 9th 2010, the night before the CFB Shearwater hobby
show, talk about cutting it close, I'm sure some of the glue was still curing on
the trip south to Halifax NS. I was quite pleased to have received a 1st place
plaque in the large scale aircraft category. That meant a lot to me.
The following month I brought the
kit to the CAMS show in Fredericton NB. I was hoping for at least another best
in class or maybe best in category. Well I was pretty well surprised to have won
best large scale aircraft, then best aircraft, then Best in Show. That was
my first ever major award, one that I am quite proud of. I found out a week
later that It had also won best Canadian subject.
Id like to thank many of the guys
that helped me along the way with this one. Av8fan, Paul Cotcher, Pig Fleischmann, Rick Chin and Chuck Sawyer. Also Tilt, Scooby and
Alf18, and to all the other guys here at ARC past and present that have
inspired me over the years.
Happy Canada Day Eh!
Charlie 'Cheetah'
Arsenault
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images below to see larger images
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