1:48 Boeing F/A-18 F Super Hornet (VFC-12)

The two-seat Super Hornet and the role of the adversary

The Boeing F/A-18F is the larger and more powerful descendant of the original carrier-borne Hornet. It was given an enlarged wing, angular air intakes, stronger engines and a considerably greater fuel load, so it can operate farther from the deck and with a heavier load of external stores. The rear seat is occupied by a weapon systems officer, which makes the two-seat version a machine suitable not only for combat tasks but also for training and for simulating the enemy in air combat exercises.

What is in the box

The package carries injection-molded sprues for the whole aircraft, the transparent parts of the cockpit, a sheet of markings and instructions. It is assembled from the cockpit through the fuselage and the wings to the landing gear and the stores, that is by a procedure that in this format usually takes several evenings. Paints, glue and putty are not included.

The basis to which accessories are only then added

This item stands at the opposite end from resin wheels or photo-etched frets: it is the starting point, without which the rest makes no sense. Anyone who wants to go further later adds masks for the cockpit, more accurate seats or engine nozzles to it. The order is always the same, first the kit, then the upgrades.

• Read the whole instructions before the build and lay out the painting
• Finish the cockpit before the halves of the fuselage are joined
• Mask the transparent parts, as overspray is hard to remove from them
• The external stores tie up a lot of time; plan them as a separate stage

The size of the finished model matches a genuinely massive machine, so count on matching space in a display case.