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Thursday, November 26, 2020

New Odd'l Kit Design?


Last Sunday was a "free" day for me, vendor orders were filled and I had some down time. Most of the day was spent drawing, cutting balsa and body tubes.
I've been looking for a interesting new Fighter Fleet kit design and may have found it.
This is the F-18 Hornet, the same jet the Blue Angels use.

I use original scale drawings to draft the wings and fins. Design adjustments are made with the goal to capture the spirit of the original jet and still be stable. The wings are a bit smaller and set back. 
I'm always surprised how many changes are made from the initial drawings to finished flying model.
 
This F-18 is very different from the two other Odd'l Fighter Fleet kits, the F-104 and the F-16.
You'll rarely see me fly a "naked" rocket, this is a test model for the many test launches using different 18mm engines.
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13 comments:

  1. AnonymousNovember 26, 2020 at 8:29 AM

    LOOKS GREAT!

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    1. Chris MichielssenNovember 26, 2020 at 10:52 PM

      Thanks! There will probably be more small revisions. I've already drawn up some possible decals.

      Delete
  2. Tim B.November 26, 2020 at 1:07 PM

    I’m gonna want four of those, Chris. :-) Any chance they’ll be available in time for the NSL?

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    1. Chris MichielssenNovember 26, 2020 at 10:51 PM

      Hi Tim,
      I had to check the dates for NSL. If the test flights go well, it should be ready by then!

      Delete
    2. Chris MichielssenNovember 26, 2020 at 10:53 PM

      I should add, the kit decals won't be for the Blue Angels. I couldn't afford the licensing fees!

      Delete
  3. Naoto KimuraNovember 26, 2020 at 2:23 PM

    Looks very nice!

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  4. Naoto KimuraNovember 26, 2020 at 5:24 PM

    On the aside: http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/planes/q0145a.shtml
    if the model is decorated in a USAF rather than USN scheme, it could be a "what if" F-17 (i.e. if the YF-17 won out over the YF-16).

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    1. Chris MichielssenNovember 27, 2020 at 10:30 AM

      Thanks Naoto,
      This is the earlier version of the F-18. I didn't even know about the YF-17 Cobra! Looking at the profile, Cobra is an appropriate name. There are some subtle differences between the Hornet and the Super Hornet.

      Delete
    2. Naoto KimuraNovember 29, 2020 at 11:42 PM

      I do remember that at the time before the F-16 was officially named the "Fighting Falcon" there had been some talk of it being named "Viper".
      I do find it interesting that the F-18 ended up being a bug rather than something supernatural or occult (McDonnell had had a history of naming fighter planes after supernatural creatures or occult theme: F-4 Phantom II, F3H Damon, F2H Banshee, FH Phantom, XF-85 Goblin, XF-88 Voodoo, F-101 Voodoo)
      Grumman often had cat theme with fighter planes (F4F Wildcat, F6F Hellcat, F7F Tigercat, F8F Bearcat, F9F Panther, F9F-6 Cougar, XF10F Jaguar, F11F Tiger, F-14 Tomcat)
      Lockheed tended to have "star" theme (e.g. Lockheed Vega, Lockheed Sirius, Lockheed Altair, Lockheed Orion, Lockheed Constellation, L-1011 Tristar, C-141 Starlifter, C-5 Galaxy, P-80 Shooting Star, F-94 Starfire, F-104 Starfighter, etc.)
      NOTE: I am in no way implying that these manufacturers *always* stuck to these themes.

      Delete
  5. David KooNovember 26, 2020 at 8:38 PM

    DEFINITELY looking forward to this one! Huge airshow fan.

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    1. Chris MichielssenNovember 27, 2020 at 10:31 AM

      Thanks David!
      It'll go through many test flights and some tweaks before release. Let's hope for stable flights.

      Delete
  6. AnonymousNovember 27, 2020 at 1:43 PM

    You must kit this immediately!

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  7. IsurusNovember 30, 2020 at 12:15 PM

    That has to be one of the best "jet" rockets I've ever seen! I'm definitely down for one! Good job Chris!

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