RCAF CF-188B Hornet in 1/48
A build of Kinetic's 1/48 scale F-18A/B kit as aircraft '934' of the Royal Canadian Air Force, based at Bagotville, Quebec. This was a special build project for me as I was lucky enough to fly in 934 with 425 Squadron in May 2023 while doing some work for the Canadian Department of National Defence, and had been wanting to make a replica of the jet since then. An old bird these days, but still an absolute beauty! I've modelled her as she'd look after a wash - so faded paint but not much overt staining.
The Kinetic kit has lovely surface detail but the fit isn't great in many places and the instructions are inadequate and flat out wrong in several places so it's a tricky one to build. I used an aftermarket RCAF decal set to supplement the in-box Cartograf ones.
Build video here if folk are interested in a canter through the process:
https://youtu.be/hIeRtfYPDB4
Gorgeous build Justin, and an awesome personal connection! I love your ordinance selection, and all the photos with your other excellent "gray jets". 🙂
Thanks so much Andrew! I'm glad you like the ordinance selection - the Hornet folks run some very unusual asymmetric war loads so more fun than usual to be had there! 🙂
Amazing result, Justin! Looks awesome together with your F-16, F-15 and Su-27!
Thank you Spiros!
Amazing looking Hornet, Justin @britflyer
You must have had a wonderful experience to be able to fly with this aircraft.
You're very kind John, thank you. And yes, it was fantastic - although extremely physically uncomfortable and very painful due to it being a mission profile with a lot of sustained G...
Nice work on a less-than-nice kit and a great result.
Thanks Tom! It's a bugger fit-wise and it amazes me that a company that can produce such nice detail and accurate shapes can't write instruction manuals or get part numbers correct. Bizarre.
Very nice build. A little jealous about flying in one.
Haha, I don't blame you Dan - it was a great experience! The Hornet has a wonderful cockpit and control layout despite it's age.
Gorgeous build. Quite some payload under the belly!
Cheers Alfred! Yes, the Hornet community call this the 'Double Ugly' loadout due to the asymmetric placement of the tanks to improve the pod view...
Excellent build, Justin! And really nice pics of your past models, quite a collection!
Thank you Joe!
Nice work, Justin.
Much appreciated John!
That last photo with the movie star standing in front of the F-18 say's it all about this kit. A real joy to see and it must have been a experience of a life time. Justin, you've brought out the best in this kit. Some strong professional work and your gifts and talents can be seen in all of the photos.
Two thumbs up.
Thanks so much Stephen, that's really very kind of you. It's nice when you can do a model project with very positive personal memories attached! 🙂
Awesome. Anything with a Maple Leaf on it is perfect in my books...except the Maple Leafs
That's a great-looking Hornet from our northern neighbor! Well done!