Model Aircraft – August 2019

provide a smart solution in the creating the

folding option. The kit also provides a number

of parts for the various leading edges, laps and

ailerons, which can be displayed in the neutral

position or drooped. I elected to leave these

parts of at this stage, deciding to paint and

weather them prior to attaching to the wings.

As the painting stage approached, the

instruction guide indicates that the gun ports

need to be illed, as this is the case on the

actual aircraft, where the ports are blanked of.

However, Kinetic do not provide a dedicated

blank part that could plug in here, so a little

more sanding and illing was needed. Once

complete the entire airframe was primed with

Mission Models Grey, as this forms a great base,

allowing you to check for any remaining laws

that need to be addressed prior to painting.

When it came to what colour scheme to adopt,

kit provides three USMC options, all in the

classic Light/Dark Ghost Grey scheme, the most

attractive of the three being the commanders

aircraft from VMFA(AW)-224 ‘Bengals’ with

its striking tiger striped inish, so this was the

one for me. I pre-shaded the upper and lower

surfaces with Mission Models Black, and once

dry I added MMP073 Light Ghost Grey, to the

lower surfaces in two light coats. Again, once

dry these areas were masked-of, the upper

surfaces then received MMP074 Dark Ghost. The

large decal sheets beneit from the expertise

provided by Flying Leathernecks and are

printed with their usual accuracy by Cartograf.

The tiger-stripes themselves are printed in

sections relative to their position on the

airframe, making it very convenient

for the modeller to position

the markings accurately. I

was a little concerned that

there could be a fair bit of

carrier ilm here, so to

be sure I cut round

the individual

stripes before

positioning

them. I decided

to keep the weathering to a minimum on this

build, leaving a fairly clean aircraft, as I thought

this would better showcase the tiger stripe

decals. So, to highlight the recessed panel

lines, diluted Lamp Black oil paint was

applied with a ine brush.

Kinetic have captured

the Hornets chunky

I CHOSE THE COMMANDERS AIRCRAFT FROM

VMFA(AW)-224 ‘BENGALS’ WITH ITS STRIKING

TIGER STRIPED FINISH

The wing fold

mechanism is also

nicely done

I began with a

coat of Mission

Models Grey...

Here you can see

how the nose

section is presented

...followed by some

pre-shading....

(^76) F/A-18D ATARS WWW.MISSIONMODELSUS.COM