Revell Maverick's F/A-18E Super Hornet 1:48 - Page 7 of 7

Summary

Not a great kit but definitely not a terrible kit. It’s not quite as good as the Hasegawa kit but that kit has its issues as well and this is a lot cheaper and easier to get hold of (see the Hasegawa F-18 builds in the Hasegawa-Finished Now area). With as little care and attention this kit can be made into a decent rendition of an F-18E and in particular Maverick’s jet with the supplied decals. Its surface detail is ok but just a little soft in places – especially the panel lining when trying to apply a wash but again not a show stopper. That said the detail in the undercarriage bays and on the undercarriage, itself is very good. One weak area for me were the intakes and I just took the easy option as you saw and did intake blanks – I didn’t have the time or patience to sort them out (the intakes in the Hasegawa kit are no better in my opinion).

The decals are a real high point with regards to their print and application quality but as I said in the review there are some accuracy issues with them – I sorted them but it’s up to you how you deal with that. Overall, it’s by no means a state-of-the-art kit such as those from Tamiya but you are not paying Tamiya prices for it so taking that into account it’s actually not a bad model for its price. To get the best out of this build some basic modelling skills are required but most modellers with some experience should be able to get a decent result from it out of the box.

From a personal point of view I now have the Top Gun set I needed so I’m happy!!

Just to finish this off, as I complete this build MENG have announced a new tool F-18E in 1:48th scale. Initial shots of the test sprues show that it is a step up from both this kit and the Hasegawa kit but a proper hands-on look and build will be needed to really see how it stacks up.

Dave C.