1:32 F/A-18 Super Hornet/EA-18G Growler exhaust nozzles type 2 for Trumpeter kit

The most closely watched spot on the whole model

The nozzle of a jet engine is the detail the eye catches before anything else. It is dark, deeply structured, full of concentric rings and overlapping plates, and that is exactly why an injection mold handles it worst. Standard parts tend to be too thick-walled, and their edge gives away the thickness of the plastic at first glance. Replacement nozzles remove this weakness, because the technology they are made by lets the wall be drawn to a real sharpness while holding the detail of the interior.

Which machines the set is for

It covers a pair of closely related aircraft. The single-seat and two-seat versions of the Super Hornet are the backbone of carrier aviation today, and the derived electronic warfare machine shares the airframe and the power plants with it, so the same set serves both. In 1:32 it is a large model, on which the difference between the factory part and the replacement shows most strongly.

Fitting it into the build

The type 2 designation distinguishes a version within the line, to which a type 1 variant also exists. Before buying it is therefore worth comparing the two against the particular kit and the intended state of the machine. The fitting is among the less demanding jobs: the parts replace the original sections at the end of the engine nacelles and call for no work on the fuselage. Before gluing it is a good idea to wash them and to try the fit dry. The final impression is heightened by a dark metallic shade with a hint of blue and purple, the kind the heat of operation leaves on real metal. It pays to paint them before gluing them on.