1/48 Kangnam CF-18A

425sqd. Alouette sqd. 70th. Anniversary aircraft

by Les Horvath

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F-18 kits in 1/48 scale are described  basically in three types, (1) Hasegawa, which is by far the best, (2) Revell-Monogram, which is a competent kit and (3) The rest, which generally *suck*. So we have here a newer kit from Kangnam, a kit which is not going to threaten the Revell-Monogram kit let alone the Hasegawa kit for quality.

I picked this kit up about 1 year ago and it came packaged with  the Leading Edge 425sqd. " Alouette Sqd." 70th. anniversary markings. Of course the decals are quite good esp. for that vintage of Leading Edge decals (1998) They come fairly complete for a  typical Canadian CF-18A. As for the kit itself, well it's  an also ran. To it's benefit it does do some things right.

  • (1) It has engraved panel lines even though they are not totally accurate. The lines are petite and the plastic is good as such.

  • (2) It has decent engraved landing gear struts though missing parts as the tie down rings and such, but they are nicely to scale. 

But, it has so much more wrong. I won't elaborate too much but hi-lite a few things.

  • (1) The kit  wings are separate from the fuselage, unlike the Monogram kit, this is enhanced by  joints that are not accurate at all  once the wings are joined. But it's on the underside and won't be seen unless you flip it over.

  • (2) The vertical tails are too small, about 1/4 inch too small in height.

  • (3) The intakes are all wrong, instead of the more oval looking ones of real F-18's  these are  b*st&rdized squarish openings and way too thick.

  • (4) The cockpit  just plain blows.

I could go on but I won't as I want you all to enjoy reading this  article.  So onto things I did to make this a decent CF-18 even if it's messed up.  

Click on images below to see larger images

I had to kit bash, I have numerous F-18A parts  from Revell-Monogram kits in my spares box. I used the following in this  build.

  • (1) Monogram cockpit and seat, which is  a nice  set-up, one of the best Revell-Monogram have ever made on a  1/48 scale aircraft kit.
  • (2) Monogram  vertical tails, because  the Kangman ones just can't be used. This required lots of grafting work.
  • (3) Monogram windscreen and canopy set-up, even though the fit is not going to be right. The set up is a touch too long, but I'll be setting it canopy open so I can live with this.
  • (4) Monogram wheels, but the Kangnam  front strut. My Monogram  front struts were too badly maligned from dismantling of old F-18 kits.
  • (5) Monogram  exhaust cans and  Sidewinder missiles.

So onto the build. It was basically  out of the box with the above noted bashed parts used and made to fit.  I thinned out the intakes but did not get too anal over their lousy shape.  The grafting of the Monogram vertical tails required a lot of gap filling (using super glue and sanding). The  Monogram cockpit tub and seat fit well though.

Onto the Canadian 600,000 candle power spot light on the port side. Always a pain as it's hard to make this look good. I  marked out the approximate area and drilled a  hole that seemed close to the  scale size of the real CF-18. It's a touch too low on my kit, but not bad. I had to  fill the panel lines with super glue and sand them smooth to rescribe  new ones to look like the housing for CF-18's. I did not drill totally through. I left a  paper thin amount of plastic. In my spares box I found a clear set of  1/25scale 1957  Ford (torpedo style) tail lights (the kit made one set clear red and the other clear). I found that if you  reverse the torpedo tail lights and push them through  the paper thin remaining plastic to poke a hole, if you paint the back   of the clear piece silver it comes close to looking like a  spotlight. The  clear acrylic housing was made using a  hole punch and a thin piece of clear acetate. I had to sand and shave it down a touch to  fit the  opening better and I glued it in (after painting and decaling of course).

The kit does have ok fit. The inaccuracies  may drive builders who want the utmost in realism to just throw the kit away or give it to a kid. I like an accurate build  but am not too anal that can't live with inaccuracies. I knew this kit was going to be a dog's breakfast before I began and I just was  wanting to make it into a  decent  CF-18. So I continued on  through the build.

Painting is typical of CF-18's. I used Humbrol FS 36375 for the underside and FS35237 for upper surfaces. Humbrol raydome tan on the nose cone front. Spraying  went down as typical, but I  pre-sprayed flat black on all panel lines. I then airbrushed as typical the other colours, including white on the outer tails. Once all dried about 36 hours. I then brushed on about 3-4 thin coats of Future using a clean 1 inch wide brush. I wicked up  any  runs. This left the paint  glossy enough to  place the Leading Edge 70th. Anniversary 425Sqd. markings. I placed these on using Micro-set and Micro-sol. I let them  sit for 24 hours. I then  sealed them in with a coat of Future.

Onto light weathering. I mixed up  a  thin wash of brown-greyish-black enamel and flowed it into panel lines and on landing gear. Once dry I wiped off   the surfaces   with  regular paint thinner and a  paper towel  and Q-tips. This left a light weathered look. I then  did some spot  spraying of  colour to give the plane a slight (very slight) repainted look. I never saw the real  plane so  was not sure  how grimy it may have looked back in 1994. So I decided to go very light on such details. A  final coat of Testors Dullcoat to flatten the  gloss and the paint was done.

The plane was looking pretty decent for such a  lower end kit. All the final details were applied as normal, with the loadout being as follows.

  • (1) I used one   fuel tank (BTW the kit ones are too small but I did not have any Monogram tanks so too bad for me). I  made a  tail fin for the tank  and  used Monogram  pylons for it.
  • (2) I placed on the other wing a storage pod. I just wanted the plane too  look a little different.
  • (3) Even though this was  likely an air show bird  all the time in this paint finish. I wanted live missiles. Two  Aim-9's on the wing tips using Monogram tips and missiles and  I used the  two Kangnam Aim-7 Sparrows even though their fins are too thick.

Click on images below to see larger images

So, where do we stand? Well it looks like a CF-18. The Maple Leaf on a white tail looks very nice. It sits on my CF-18 row with  other, kits (darn still no Hasegawa ones, only a Revell-Monogram  one and a Testors twin seater which is also a little lame IMO.)

If you are a  builder who cries for accuracy, you won't like this kit, in fact you'll probably  use it for kindling  during fire season. I will not recommend this kit. If you want a kit to mess with or give a  kid to save some money on, well ok, but the Revell-Monogram kit is  way better and costs a similar price. The  other kits  of this  price point are no better and the only  great kit is the Hasegawa kit, but at a price. I still enjoyed building this kit just to see  how well I could turn it  out as. The  nice 70th . Anniversary markings make it  a cool plane too. Will I buy another Kangnam F-18A kit? Probably not. In fact as this hobby  really grows with me   in my  maturity I am getting  a little tired of   lamo/cheapo kits. I all too often throw money away  as I often do not enjoy such lower quality kits. From now on I'm going to  settle with Revell-Monogram kits  if I want lower priced ones and   other brand of similar  to Revell-Monogram quality or  budget  to get only  better kits from say Hasegawa, Tamiya  and  to a lesser extent Airfix and their likes. I'll display this kit though with pride  as it is a Canadian Forces subject worth   displaying.    

Les

Photos and text © by Les Horvath" I wish to thank the Department of National Defence for the supplying of the actual CF-18 image from their public image library.