Reviewed by Rodger Kelly
 

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FirstLook

CED32035 is the first sheet in Cutting Edge's coverage of the F/A-18C Hornets in 1/32 scale.  It provides markings for Bureau number 1644212, the VFA-131 CAG bird when it was shore-based at NAS Oceana during the winter of 2002-2003.  Essentially, this sheet is a scaled-up version of their 1/48 scale sheet CED 48228, but it only provides the markings for one aircraft 

The aircraft is finished in the Tactical Paint Scheme of FS 36320 over FS 36375.  The vast majority of the markings worn by this aircraft are in colour, predominately red and the use of the red paint even extends to the stencil data. 

The markings consist of: 

·        Five pair of 400 modex, three red and two black.  You only need a set of red ones for the nose and set for the tops of the wing flaps so you can consign the others to your Decal Bank. 

·        Squadron insignia and a stylized red white and blue jet exhaust coming from a white F/A-18 for the vertical stabilizers. 

·        AG airwing identifiers for the rudders in red. 

·        CAG titles for the fin caps in red. 

·        A red, white and blue sash and VFA-131 titles for the spine. 

·        Nose-art consisting of three figures raising a US flag for either side of the nose with the words 'Still flying Strong'. 

·        A pair of full-colour national insignia for the nose.  The wings get lo-viz ones. 

·        FDNY and NYPD titles for the outer faces of the wing fences in red. 

·        CAG and DGAG titles and names for either side of the nose beneath the canopy in red. 

·        Sailor of the Year, Chief of the Year award winners for the nose gear doors in red. 

·        Ship's name in red for the rear of the fuselage. 

·        Stencil data in red – the arrestor hook, and jet exhaust blocks, the intake warnings, the Bureau number blocks, ejection seat triangles and rescue data blocks to name the major ones.  There are many other smaller ones as well – see the image of the decal sheet! 

·        Stencil data in grey – the NAVY scripts, no step area for the horizontal stabilizers. 

·        A set of slime lights. 

The decal placement guide follows Cutting Edge’s normal fashion of a full colour double-sided a-4 sized sheet.  It shows a left hand side view of the aircraft on the front and centre and a single top view on the back.  The profiles show the radome of the aircraft to be grey.  I’m not convinced that this is correct as the normal practice for F/A-18s is that the extreme tip of the nose has a small stainless steel cap and a tan coloured vinyl/rubber covering over the first third of the radome. 

There is no identification on the decal sheet as to who printed it but my bet is that it was Microscale such is the quality of the printing.  The decal sheet and placement guide come packed in a clear plastic zip-loc bag. 

The recommended kits are the Academy and Hasegawa ones. 

This is a nice sheet from Cutting Edge. 

Recommended. 

Thanks to Cutting Edge Modelworks for the review samples..

Review Copyright © 2003 by Rodger Kelly
This Page Created on 13 August, 2003
Last updated 14 August, 2003

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