1:72 F-18 Hornet 'Golden Dragon' (wet decals)

The Hornet with the dragon marking

The squadron whose insignia the sheet carries was one of the units of a US Navy carrier air wing permanently based in Japan. Its Hornets flew from the deck of an aircraft carrier all over the western Pacific and a dragon on the vertical tail set off by golden stripes became their recognition mark. In the 1990s the F/A-18C was the backbone of the carrier squadrons: single-seat, with digital controls and able to carry out fighter and strike tasks in the course of one flight. A model with the striking colorful markings of the commander's aircraft looks quite different in a display case than a gray production example.

Sheet contents

The set covers two particular aircraft of the same squadron, including the numbers on the nose, the markings on the vertical tail and the national insignia. The decals are printed on a continuous film, from which the individual motifs are cut out.

Transferring onto the model

The key to a good result is the surface underneath. Let the paint cure properly, coat it with a gloss clear varnish and only then start. Soak the motif and wait until the film releases from the paper. Lay it in place, shift it into the correct position on the water underneath it and drive the bubbles out to the edges with gentle pressure from a soft brush. Once it has dried, give it a second coat of varnish and finally a matte or semi-gloss overcoat, depending on how the surface is meant to look.

What to watch out for

The colorful insignia of naval squadrons tend to be large and they break over raised detail. It pays to divide a large motif into two parts and to use a decal softener. The package holds the decals themselves, the model and paints do not belong with it.