Model Aircraft – August 2019

T

he F/A-18 Hornet family has, over the

years evolved into a multi-task ‘jack

of all trades’ aircraft, with numerous

roles in its arsenal, from leet air

defence, ground attack and all the

way through to electronic warfare. The Hornet

in question here are based on the Advanced

Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance System lown

by the US Marine Corps, commonly known

as ATARS, and these aircraft can provide high

resolution digital imagery, day or night, via the

dedicated palletised equipment located in the

nose of the aircraft.

This is one of Kinetics most recent releases,

and adds another highly detailed Hornet to the

company’s portfolio of F/A-18s. The large box

is adorned with the Kinetic ‘Gold’ logo hinting

at extra goodies inside, and on examining the

contents you can quickly see this is a detailed

and reined ofering, with exceptionally

inessed engraved detail. Kinetic have obviously

tried to squeeze every last Hornet variant from

their mouldings, and the subtle diferences

across the leet are inside the box, with extra

parts including optional nose and vertical

stabilisers, as well as the dedicated parts for the

ATARS aircraft. This has to be a positive move for

the modeller, and particularly for Hornet fans,

as you will be able to build a leet of modern,

quality kits from the early ‘A’ types, through

to the two-seater ‘Ds’, with Navy, Marine and

foreign operators covered. But is there a price

to pay for this lexibility? Initial viewing of the

sprues does indicate a complex build process,

with potential alignment issues...we shall see.

To do such a quality kit justice I thought I’d

go for a ‘straight-from-the-box’ build, using only

the manufacturer supplied components. So, this

process began with the cockpit. Out of the box,

the detail displayed in this area is excellent, the

two-seater oice has delicate, raised console

elements, and this comes complete with

separate side wall parts. Similarly, the moulding

on the front and rear instrument panels is

intricate and beautifully inessed with two

multipart ejection seats with separate etched

harness parts, complete the look. Keeping

weathering to a minimum, I airbrushed the tub

with Mission Models Light Ghost Grey, and once

dry the consoles were masked and given a coat

of Mission Models Tyre Black. The tiny, raised

buttons and switches were then picked out with

a ine brush in white, grey and red acrylics. The

completed cockpit sits in a dedicated position

Recce Stinger

Mac Patterson builds the

1:48 Kinetic F/A-18D ATARS

Mission Models Masterclass

Manufacturer: Kinetic

Scale: 1:4 8

K i t Ty p e: Plastic injection moulded with etch

Kit Number: 48033

F/A-18D ATARS

(^74) F/A-18D ATARS WWW.MISSIONMODELSUS.COM