THE iDOLM@STER F/A-18F Super Hornet

Ron Garcia
Nice F-18F kit. Obviously, the main draw is anime decals.

The decals are very stiff. This is good and bad. Good in that they held together well when moving them into place. Bad because if there is any portion of a decal overhanging the edge of a wing or fin, for example, unless they are totally dry AND securely adhered to the edge, they will crack and flake off even with the sharpest blade. Having built two iDOLM@STER kits now, I knew about this and it still happened in places. The stiffness also makes it hard to have the decals snuggle over areas that aren't flat. Micro Sol and Micro Set (or something similar) will be your best friend!

I suggest doing the bottom first to get a feel of how to properly place the decals. There are a lot of decals that overlap each other. After they dry thoroughly, trim any edge overlaps with a very sharp blade and then do the top.

The white decals aren't totally opaque but close.

The instructions don't say this but DO NOT add the left fin where the large anime figure is until after that decal is set in place. The decal doesn't have a cutout for the fin so you will have to slice and splice to get it fit properly if the fin is already cemented in. I had to do this and it came out surprisingly well if not a bit frustrating to do.

My paint job is a bit more green than the "actual" aircraft. The instructions say six drops of white, two of green and two of cyan. This looked really pale to me. I doubled the green and cyan and it looked a bit better. I think the paint job would have been a bit closer to the tealish color if I went five white, two green and three cyan. In any case, make a big batch because it's hard to match if you have to make a second.

This is my last F-18 kit. It definitely sticks out sitting next to the US F-18s on my shelf (the two Canadian F-18s I built hold their own against it, though). Recommended if you like anime or want something that really catches the eye. My wife proclaimed it her favorite of the nine F-18s that I built, so that's good enough for me!