Reviewed by Rodger Kelly
 

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FirstLook

CED32036 is the second of Cutting Edge's two new sheets covering F/A-18C Hornet in 1/32 scale. It provides markings for Bureau number 165214 of VFA-34 Blue Blasters during its combat cruise as a part of Airwing 17 aboard the USS George Washington during the Afghanistan and Iraq combat cruise between July and December of 2002.  Finish is the standard Hornet tactical paint scheme of FS 3620 dark ghost grey upper surfaces over FS 36375 light ghost grey, with black fin caps and a tan radome that has a stainless steel tip.  The majority of decals for this aircraft are provided in black.  They consist of: CVW-10’s AA airwing identifiers for the outer surfaces of the rudders. 200 modex for the sides of the nose and tops of the flaps.  The fin caps sport white double zeros. Black national insignia in four places. CVW-17 scripts for the spine. USS Washington scripts for the base of the outer surfaces of the vertical stabilizers. CAG and DCAG names beneath the canopy. Bureau number data block. National insignia, and Navy scripts. BLUE BLASTERS scripts for the drop tank. Befitting a CAG aircraft, it has some colour in its markings and these consist of:  §         The VFA-34 squadron insignia of a smoking; winged skull whose eyes and nose are cleverly depicted as and old fashioned batsman for the outer surface of the port vertical stabilizer.  §         A playing card Joker wielding a .50 Cal machine gun for the outer surface of the starboard vertical stabilizer. This is the old WWII VF-20 "Jokers" squadron insignia from which VFA-34 descended from.  Cutting Edge has supplied the larger items of stencil data.  To be truthful, given the larger scale, you might add to add some more.  I have had a look at the Academy kit and their stencil data looks eminently useable so if you are using this kit then this is probably not too much of an issue.  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 on the front and in the centre pages as well as a single top view on the back.  The side profiles show the radome 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 tip and a tan coloured vinyl/rubber covering over the first third of the radome.  As per usual, Cutting Edge does not identify the printer of the decal sheet.  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 F/A-18C and Hasegawa F/A-18C.  If you want to see some colour pics of this aircraft have a look at the preview of the 1/48 scale sheet form Cutting Edge at:   http://decals.kitreview.com/decals/ced48229decalreviewrk_1.htm  A nice sheet from Cutting Edge.  Recommended. Thanks to Cutting Edge Modelworks for the review samples.. Cutting Edge Modelworks products, including Cutting Edge Decals, can be viewed at Meteor Productions website Review Copyright © 2003 by Rodger Kelly This Page Created on 15 August, 2003 Last updated 18 August, 2003 Back to HyperScale Main Page Back to Reviews Page