1/48 Hasegawa F/A-18C Hornet  

by Marv Mays

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This is my first 1/48th scale Hasegawa Hornet! BuNo 163484 was an F/A-18C-24-MC and is shown here loaded and marked as the jet LtCdr. Scott Speicher flew on the opening night of Operation Desert Storm. Sadly, Speicher did not return to the USS Saratoga due to what is believed to be either an Iraqi SAM, or a lucky shot from a MiG-25. Years after the Gulf War ended, the wreckage of this jet was located in a remote desert in Iraq. Photos of this particular airframe as it appeared before the downing are extremely hard to find these days but I received quite a bit of information from a friend of "Sunliner" pilot Lt Barry Hull. Lieutenant Hull is the pilot whose name actually appeared on this aircraft. Many thanks to Mr. Michael Engle for his help in researching this subject!

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The model was built with the addition of the Black Box F/A-18C Cockpit Set and resin copies of my Hasegawa F/A-18C "High Grade" wingfold parts. The decals were pulled from two different SuperScale sheets, one Repli-Scale sheet, and some were custom made using my Alps Micro-Dry printer. The paint scheme is Dark Ghost Gray over Light Ghost Gray with large patches of faded Medium Gray on the upper surfaces. All of the aircraft colors are from the Testors Model Master enamel line. All weathering was done with a black/gray mix of water-based craft paint using both "panel washing" and "dry brushing" techniques. The model's exterior surface is sealed with Testors Dullcote Lacquer with additional talc mixed-in for extra flatness.

Marv

Photos and text © by Marv Mays