Book Review of
Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet
Authors: Adrian Wolnicki & Sebastian Piechowiak
Kagero Publishing
Kit Build 5 (41005)
Kit Build 5 (41005)
ISBN: 978-83-66673-13-7
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright 2020
MSRP: $24.95
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright 2020
MSRP: $24.95
HISTORY:
The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornets are twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole fighter aircraft variants based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The F/A-18E single-seat and F/A-18F tandem-seat variants are larger and more advanced derivatives of the F/A-18C and D Hornet.
The Super Hornet has an internal 20 mm M61 rotary cannon and can carry air-to-air missiles and air-to-surface weapons. Additional fuel can be carried in up to five external fuel tanks and the aircraft can be configured as an airborne tanker by adding an external air refueling system.
Designed and initially produced by McDonnell Douglas, the Super Hornet first flew in 1995. Low-rate production began in early 1997 with full-rate production starting in September 1997, after the merger of McDonnell Douglas and Boeing the previous month.
The Super Hornet entered fleet service with the United States Navy in 1999, replacing the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, which was retired in 2006; the Super Hornet serves alongside the original Hornet. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), which has operated the F/A-18A as its main fighter since 1984, ordered the F/A-18F in 2007 to replace its aging General Dynamics F-111C fleet.
RAAF Super Hornets entered service in December 2010.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Role: Carrier-based multirole fighter
National origin: United States
Manufacturer: McDonnell Douglas, Boeing Defense, Space & Security
First flight: 29 November 1995
Introduction to service: 1999, 2001 (IOC)
Status: In service
Primary users: United States Navy, Royal Australian Air Force
Produced : 1995–present
Number built: 608+ as of April 2020
Developed from: McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet
Variants: Boeing EA-18G Growler
THE BOOK:
Kagero Publishing is based in Lublin, Poland.
This book is soft-cover of 56 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format and inserted into a self-sealing clear cello envelope.
The cover art shows a F/A-18E as a head-on color photo, coming to land on a carrier deck with its arrestor-hook down and landing light on,
Below it is 2 color walk around photos of the Academy brand 1/72nd scale F/A-18E kit and 2 other color walk around photos of the Hasegawa/Eduard Limited Edition 1/48th scale F/A-18E.
There is a red circle at one corner of the cover art that says the book has a FREE MASKING BOIL ! I assume they mean “Sheet” and not Boil.
The book is aimed at aircraft modelers, because both these kits are featured as build reviews in this book.
The book is multilingual. It is in Polish and English.
Page 1 gives the copyright of the book as 2020, over Kagero’s street address in Lublin, Poland, their telephone and FAX numbers and web address.
The build review of the 1/72nd scale Academy kit is first
It shows progressive photos of the building of the kit, which include photos of the paints and tools being used. There are 95 color photos of it being built and painted. A further 16 color photos are walk-around type showing the model built. One photo includes a Navy officer’s white hat.
The aircraft is overall bare metal with a black no. 107 on the sides of its nose, on the upper side of its wing flaps and high on the outer-sides of the rudders. Also on the outer-sides of the rudders is an black illustration of “Felix the Cat” carrying a round bomb with a fuse in it and large letters A J.
The build review of the 1/48TH scale Hasegawa/Eduard Limited Edition kit is second.
It shows 54 progressive color photos of the building of the kit, including building the weapons. There are 14 color walk-around type photos of it made up.
It is overall bare metal with a black spine, anti-glare pattern twin rudders. It has a red no. 200 on the sides of its nose, on the tops of its wing flaps and at the top of the outsides of the twin rudders. The outside of the twin rudders have a red diagonal section across the bottoms, under 4 white stars. Inside the left twin rudder is a red and white letter A. Inside the right twin rudder is white POW-MIA logo. It also has a shark’s mouth painted on the sides of its nose.
On the last four pages and the rear cover there are 10 color side profiles of F/A-19E’s.
All these are mostly bare metal overall.
The 1st one has a pale gray nose cone, a black no. 104 on the sides of its nose and high on the tip of the outside of the twin rudders. Also on their outsides is a illustration of a black Ace of Spades followed by a large gray N G.
The aircraft was with VFA-41 “The Black Aces”.
The 2nd one also has a pale-gray nose cone, a black no. 100 on the sides of its nose and high on the tip of the outside of the twin rudders. Also on the outside of the twin rudders is an illustration of a red bird in flight, followed by large gray N A.
The aircraft was with VFA-22 “Fighting Redcocks”.
The 3rd one also has a pale-gray nose cone, a black no. 106 on the sides of its nose and high on the tip of the outside of the twin rudders. Also on the outside of the twin rudders is an illustration of a black shield with a white lightning bolt across it and two small circles. There is some lettering above the shield that is unreadable. It is followed by large gray A B.
The aircraft was with VFA-11 “The Red Rippers”.
The 4th one also has a pale-gray nose cone, a black no. 205 on the sides of its nose and high on the tip of the outside of the twin rudders. Also on the outside of the twin rudders is a black skull and cross bones illustration, followed by a large gray A G.
The aircraft was with VFA-103 the “Jolly Rogers”.
The 5th one also has a pale-gray nose cone, a black no. 401 on the sides of its nose and high on the tip of the outside of the twin rudders. Also on the outside of the twin rudders is a illustration of an Indian chief’s head with a feathered head dress, followed by a large black N H.
The aircraft was with VFA-87 “Golden Warriors”.
The 6th one also has a pale-gray nose cone, a black 310 on the sides of its nose and high on the tip of the outside of the twin rudders. Also on the outside of the twin rudders is black illustration of a dragon, followed by a large gray N E.
It was with VFA-192 World Famous “Golden Dragons”.
The 7th one has a black 104 on the sides of its nose and high on the tip of the outside of the twin rudders. Also on the outside of the twin rudders is an illustration of a black flying griffon, followed by a large gray A G.
It was with VFA-143 “Pukin’ Dogs”.
The 8th one has a pale-gray nose cone, a black 401 on the sides of its nose and high on the outside of the twin rudders. Also on the outside of the twin rudders is 3 diagonal red stripes, followed by a large gray N G over the stripes.
It was with VFA-151 “Vigilantes”.
On the back cover there are 2 more color side profiles. Both are overall bare metal.
The 1st one has a pale-gray nose cone, a black 210 on the sides of its nose and high on the tip of the outside of the twin rudders. It has an illustration of a black wasp on the outsides of its twin rudders, followed by large gray N E.
It was with VFA-113 “Stingers”
The 2nd one has a pale-gray nose cone, a black 300 on the sides of its nose and again in white atop a black tip on the outside of the outside twin rudders, above a black shield with a diving white bird on it, followed by black A B outlined in white.
It was with VFA-136 “Knighthawks”.
Inserted into the book is a sheet of die cut canopy masks in 1/48th scale as a bonus.
This is one neat book for modelers who plan to assemble a F/A-18E Super Hornet and also to aviation historians alike.
I sincerely want to thank Casemate Publishers, the North American distributor of Kagero Books for this review sample. All Kagero titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornets are twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole fighter aircraft variants based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The F/A-18E single-seat and F/A-18F tandem-seat variants are larger and more advanced derivatives of the F/A-18C and D Hornet.
The Super Hornet has an internal 20 mm M61 rotary cannon and can carry air-to-air missiles and air-to-surface weapons. Additional fuel can be carried in up to five external fuel tanks and the aircraft can be configured as an airborne tanker by adding an external air refueling system.
Designed and initially produced by McDonnell Douglas, the Super Hornet first flew in 1995. Low-rate production began in early 1997 with full-rate production starting in September 1997, after the merger of McDonnell Douglas and Boeing the previous month.
The Super Hornet entered fleet service with the United States Navy in 1999, replacing the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, which was retired in 2006; the Super Hornet serves alongside the original Hornet. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), which has operated the F/A-18A as its main fighter since 1984, ordered the F/A-18F in 2007 to replace its aging General Dynamics F-111C fleet.
RAAF Super Hornets entered service in December 2010.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Role: Carrier-based multirole fighter
National origin: United States
Manufacturer: McDonnell Douglas, Boeing Defense, Space & Security
First flight: 29 November 1995
Introduction to service: 1999, 2001 (IOC)
Status: In service
Primary users: United States Navy, Royal Australian Air Force
Produced : 1995–present
Number built: 608+ as of April 2020
Developed from: McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet
Variants: Boeing EA-18G Growler
THE BOOK:
Kagero Publishing is based in Lublin, Poland.
This book is soft-cover of 56 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format and inserted into a self-sealing clear cello envelope.
The cover art shows a F/A-18E as a head-on color photo, coming to land on a carrier deck with its arrestor-hook down and landing light on,
Below it is 2 color walk around photos of the Academy brand 1/72nd scale F/A-18E kit and 2 other color walk around photos of the Hasegawa/Eduard Limited Edition 1/48th scale F/A-18E.
There is a red circle at one corner of the cover art that says the book has a FREE MASKING BOIL ! I assume they mean “Sheet” and not Boil.
The book is aimed at aircraft modelers, because both these kits are featured as build reviews in this book.
The book is multilingual. It is in Polish and English.
Page 1 gives the copyright of the book as 2020, over Kagero’s street address in Lublin, Poland, their telephone and FAX numbers and web address.
The build review of the 1/72nd scale Academy kit is first
It shows progressive photos of the building of the kit, which include photos of the paints and tools being used. There are 95 color photos of it being built and painted. A further 16 color photos are walk-around type showing the model built. One photo includes a Navy officer’s white hat.
The aircraft is overall bare metal with a black no. 107 on the sides of its nose, on the upper side of its wing flaps and high on the outer-sides of the rudders. Also on the outer-sides of the rudders is an black illustration of “Felix the Cat” carrying a round bomb with a fuse in it and large letters A J.
The build review of the 1/48TH scale Hasegawa/Eduard Limited Edition kit is second.
It shows 54 progressive color photos of the building of the kit, including building the weapons. There are 14 color walk-around type photos of it made up.
It is overall bare metal with a black spine, anti-glare pattern twin rudders. It has a red no. 200 on the sides of its nose, on the tops of its wing flaps and at the top of the outsides of the twin rudders. The outside of the twin rudders have a red diagonal section across the bottoms, under 4 white stars. Inside the left twin rudder is a red and white letter A. Inside the right twin rudder is white POW-MIA logo. It also has a shark’s mouth painted on the sides of its nose.
On the last four pages and the rear cover there are 10 color side profiles of F/A-19E’s.
All these are mostly bare metal overall.
The 1st one has a pale gray nose cone, a black no. 104 on the sides of its nose and high on the tip of the outside of the twin rudders. Also on their outsides is a illustration of a black Ace of Spades followed by a large gray N G.
The aircraft was with VFA-41 “The Black Aces”.
The 2nd one also has a pale-gray nose cone, a black no. 100 on the sides of its nose and high on the tip of the outside of the twin rudders. Also on the outside of the twin rudders is an illustration of a red bird in flight, followed by large gray N A.
The aircraft was with VFA-22 “Fighting Redcocks”.
The 3rd one also has a pale-gray nose cone, a black no. 106 on the sides of its nose and high on the tip of the outside of the twin rudders. Also on the outside of the twin rudders is an illustration of a black shield with a white lightning bolt across it and two small circles. There is some lettering above the shield that is unreadable. It is followed by large gray A B.
The aircraft was with VFA-11 “The Red Rippers”.
The 4th one also has a pale-gray nose cone, a black no. 205 on the sides of its nose and high on the tip of the outside of the twin rudders. Also on the outside of the twin rudders is a black skull and cross bones illustration, followed by a large gray A G.
The aircraft was with VFA-103 the “Jolly Rogers”.
The 5th one also has a pale-gray nose cone, a black no. 401 on the sides of its nose and high on the tip of the outside of the twin rudders. Also on the outside of the twin rudders is a illustration of an Indian chief’s head with a feathered head dress, followed by a large black N H.
The aircraft was with VFA-87 “Golden Warriors”.
The 6th one also has a pale-gray nose cone, a black 310 on the sides of its nose and high on the tip of the outside of the twin rudders. Also on the outside of the twin rudders is black illustration of a dragon, followed by a large gray N E.
It was with VFA-192 World Famous “Golden Dragons”.
The 7th one has a black 104 on the sides of its nose and high on the tip of the outside of the twin rudders. Also on the outside of the twin rudders is an illustration of a black flying griffon, followed by a large gray A G.
It was with VFA-143 “Pukin’ Dogs”.
The 8th one has a pale-gray nose cone, a black 401 on the sides of its nose and high on the outside of the twin rudders. Also on the outside of the twin rudders is 3 diagonal red stripes, followed by a large gray N G over the stripes.
It was with VFA-151 “Vigilantes”.
On the back cover there are 2 more color side profiles. Both are overall bare metal.
The 1st one has a pale-gray nose cone, a black 210 on the sides of its nose and high on the tip of the outside of the twin rudders. It has an illustration of a black wasp on the outsides of its twin rudders, followed by large gray N E.
It was with VFA-113 “Stingers”
The 2nd one has a pale-gray nose cone, a black 300 on the sides of its nose and again in white atop a black tip on the outside of the outside twin rudders, above a black shield with a diving white bird on it, followed by black A B outlined in white.
It was with VFA-136 “Knighthawks”.
Inserted into the book is a sheet of die cut canopy masks in 1/48th scale as a bonus.
This is one neat book for modelers who plan to assemble a F/A-18E Super Hornet and also to aviation historians alike.
I sincerely want to thank Casemate Publishers, the North American distributor of Kagero Books for this review sample. All Kagero titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Highly recommended.