Hasegawa

1/48 F/A-18E Super Hornet, VFA-27 Royal Maces

Kit Number: 09877

Reviewed by  Rob Benson, IPMS# 44038

MSRP: $97.65 Review kit provided by Dragon Models USA - Website: www.dragonmodelsusa.com Thank you Hasegawa, Dragon Models and IPMS/USA for a chance to review another example in a wonderful series of Hasegawa Super Hornets. This kit is in fact a re-release of Hasegawa kit 07239, with upgraded decals and an identical number of parts. The kit overall was a joy to build, with many of the fine exterior details, assembly design and superb fit that one expects from this company. This kit review should complement the excellent review of the same base kit by James Kelley. The kit I reviewed was constructed entirely out-of-the-box with no significant additions or modifications. I found very little difference between this review kit and the other two review kits. All of them have 239 parts, and appear to be the same E/F base model, with E model parts. This is not a problem, as the extra figure, et al are flagged as "not used" in the instructions and were happily tossed into the spares box. The primary difference is in the updated decal sheet. Two aircraft are represented, both CAG aircraft from VFA-27, the Royal Maces. One set of markings is for the CAG aircraft aboard the USS George Washington, ca. 2009, is provided as is one set of markings for the CAG aircraft aboard the USS Kitty Hawk, ca. 2006. I was able to verify the marking for the 2006 aircraft from photographs on the U. S. Navy's website, www.navy.mil, but was unable to confirm the markings for the second jet. I did find a very intriguing shark's mouth CAG aircraft from VFA-27, dated 18 NOV 09 that is not represented on the kit decals. Try a search in the photo section of navy.mil using "091118-N-9211M-024" or "Royal Maces" as a search term. I did not find any 2009 photos of VFA-27 aircraft carrying anything other than AIM-9Xs on the wing tips and an AMRAAM tucked in below and aft of the starboard intake. I rearranged the missiles on the model to match. I reviewed the kit thoroughly and decided that the best approach for providing new information to the membership would involve using the complete coverage decals. This had not been done in previous reviews. As described above, there is a choice of two aircraft from VFA-27, the Royal Maces. However, each aircraft has the option of either complete coverage decals for the black areas on the dorsal spine and the tails, or just the yellow pinstripes, other squadron insignia and detail markings. The latter option allows the builder to paint the black sections instead of risking large-area decal application. The first option allows two colors, FS 36375 below and FS 36320 topside to be the extent of painting, with minimal masking. The second option requires careful masking and an additional color painted on the dorsal spine and tails. All the stencils, national insignia, etc., that are unrelated to any of the CAG markings are included. Thankfully there are a few extra stripes, anchor points, and so on, for those unfortunate "oops" moments.

Note the two different decal style options for the markings. Decals with black colors are large-area coverage and more problematic. The smaller pieces are designed to go over a black painted surface.

Since I was not building this for a contest (and it didn't turn out that quality nonetheless), I threw caution in the can and did the large-area coverage adventure. True, there was less painting, but some of my hair is now FS36375. As James Kelley observed in his review, the decals are somewhat thick, but do lie down fairly well with enough prompting from Solvaset. I use Microscale solvents and had to be considerably more aggressive in teasing out bubbles and aligning things. The dorsal decals came in several smaller pieces, with the joins falling nearly on panel lines. This set of decals worried me the most, but with ample surface wetting and plenty of time between applications to keep from lifting earlier decals, the operation went well. Since the tail colors stopped at the fuselage joins, I decaled the tails before attaching them. I was unable to get the tail markings to snug down well at all, even after several applications of solution and bubble-lancing efforts. I matched paint to some of the extra decals and painted over some of the blisters I trimmed off. Future floor wax saved the day here.

This shows three of the decals on the dorsal spine. One decal is a narrow horizontal band with "Royal Maces" and a yellow pinstripe, the second has a blade antenna parked in the middle and goes along the spine, and the last one is a small rectangular patch behind the canopy to the left. Since the boundaries between these three decals sit on panel lines, the boundaries are pretty subtle.

Pay attention to the orientation of the gear doors. I mounted them after decaling and discovered that the crew chief's name is upside down. Of course this was well after complete drying. Sigh…

Other interesting problems arose with the wing folds. I fold wings whenever possible since I think they look great and I am running out of display room. The hinges are included as an option and minor cutting and trimming is needed to separate the wing folds. I found attaching wingtips in the folded position was a little bit dicey. The surface area for gluing the hinges to the wings is quite small. Strengthening the hinges and modifying the hinge cover plate to conform better would produce a more convincing replica. I think the representation is fine, but could be improved. Thanks to previous reviews, I found that 14 grams (about 0.5 oz) of nose weight worked just fine. While I did not use any of the aftermarket gear and struts that have become available recently, metal nose gear might help out here. Overall comments and recommendations: This kit was a joy to assemble. Bear in mind that I only addressed some decal issues specific to this kit. The kit looks great for not a huge amount of effort, largely because I heeded the advice of others, paying extra careful attention to fitting parts before assembly. Hasegawa continues to produce a very spartan interior for this series. An aftermarket cockpit will greatly enhance the kit. If folded wings are considered, replacement hinges such as those produced by G-Factor might improve the joint strength. Lastly, paint the black sections! You will do more decaling, but I believe the results will be worth it. This is a very well-designed kit, with excellent details. Thank you very much to the Hasegawa Company, Dragon Models USA, and IPMS/USA for providing this kit for review! It was fun as always and I hope the review helps. Reference: Kinzey, B., 2004, F/A-18E & F/A-18 Super Hornet, Detailed Coverage of the Navy's New Multi-role Aircraft, Detail and Scale Vol. 69, Squadron/Signal Publications, ISBN 0-89747-470-8, 79 p.