[PappyB]

Dragon's F/A-18C "Chippy Ho" SHOULD have a hydraulic speed brake between the stabs, right? And all Hornet and Superhornet variants after the "C" should NOT -- correct?

I've now got three F/A-18s in my hangar, and I'm trying to figure out who's got it right

The Dragon Diamondbacks F/A-18F should NOT have the hydraulic brake...

And my Witty F/A=18E does not have the brake but it is correct -- again all variants after "C" use the control surfaces to sim the same effect, right?

I'm just kind of getting into the modern stuff and would appreciate insights from those "in the know" on this brake issue, and any other mold gaffs by Witty and Dragon with the Hornet and its ilk..

Thanks!

[valkyrie]

Hi, I have five Dragon F/A-18 - two hornets and three superhornets. The hornets have the airbrake while the superhornets (F/A-18E and F/A-18F) do not. But my VFA-2 F/A-18F that was released earlier has the airbrake and this was removed for the VFA-41 release onwards.

[David Hingtgen]

A through D have the airbrake, E/F/G don't.

Dragon mistakenly put an A-style airbrake on most of their E's and F's---AFAIK only their most recent releases are corrected to no longer have the brake.

All of Witty's are correct airbrake-wise, but their early ones are missing the IFF box on the nose. (right on top, just in front of the canopy)

Witty and Dragon have a lot of weapons/pylons/launcher issues on all their Hornets, will list specifics if you want.

Also, Dragon's Legacy Hornets are not any particular type. They have single and dual seaters, but they are not really an A, B, etc. However, the difference between an A and C, and B and D, are very subtle, and even I don't complain. (They have the #1 spotting difference right, so that's enough)

[skysurfer808]

DH is correct, the only other thing wrong with most of Dragon's early Hornets is that they have wingtip AMRAAMs rather than the correct Sidewinders. I have the VFA-25 one, which I swapped a couple Winders from a Dragon F-16, and swapped the big SLAM missiles that came with it with the VFA-41 Super Hornet. The result is an accurate smart bomb toting Hornet with winders, while the VFA-41 Super is my stand off attack platform. These are displayed in my cupboard/bookshelf and look great.

I have to say that in the case of straight Hornets/Super Hornets Dragon is better than anybody else (including Witty especially their early variants.) The Witty is built better and its gear is way more steady, but for simple looks Dragon blows away the competition. My VFA-41 had some QC issues with smudges, and a scraped national insignia but still looks way better than Witty on the shelf.

As for other Hornets, Sunstar's Adversary is a favorite of mine, and will soon be joined by my NSAWC Tomcat and Red Flag F-16B. The Adversary is the best out of Sunstar's bunch, IMHO.

Adversaries Rule.

Skysurfer808

[PappyB]

Thanks for the replies! Clears it all up for me. I have Dragon's Super Hornet "Diamondbacks" VFA-102 and I really like it -- the blue sidewinders seem a bit goofy to me, are they supposed to be blue? It does seem to "sparkle" a bit more on teh shelf than my Witty Tophatters Super Hornet, though it's not just cuz of the bright red scheme. But I like 'em both.

I loaded the VFA-102 up for some serious mud-moving with one of my weapons kits, I'll post pics and you guys can have a good chuckle, as it's highly likely that my loadout is... one-of-a-kind I simply attached stuff that fit from the kits, rather than researched what should go where. (I did a similar thing with my Dragon F-16)

(Why the heck couldn't dragon release and organize these sets as "F-16 Weapons Kit" "Hornet Weapons kit" etc.... rather than having us do all the legwork And also let us know what models they're compatible with -- my Vampires Tomcat doesn't have any place to attach new ordnance to, for example--and it looks pretty wimpy with just two sidewinders....Okay, rank over.)

Though I have since found some pics that seem to support the blue sidewiders... and this "handy" loadout guide...

[skysurfer808]

Originally Posted by PappyB

Thanks for the replies! Clears it all up for me. I have Dragon's Super Hornet "Diamondbacks" VFA-102 and I really like it -- the blue sidewinders seem a bit goofy to me, are they supposed to be blue? It does seem to "sparkle" a bit more on teh shelf than my Witty Tophatters Super Hornet, though it's not just cuz of the bright red scheme. But I like 'em both.

I loaded the VFA-102 up for some serious mud-moving with one of my weapons kits, I'll post pics and you guys can have a good chuckle, as it's highly likely that my loadout is... one-of-a-kind I simply attached stuff that fit from the kits, rather than researched what should go where. (I did a similar thing with my Dragon F-16)

(Why the heck couldn't dragon release and organize these sets as "F-16 Weapons Kit" "Hornet Weapons kit" etc.... rather than having us do all the legwork And also let us know what models they're compatible with -- my Vampires Tomcat doesn't have any place to attach new ordnance to, for example--and it looks pretty wimpy with just two sidewinders....Okay, rank over.)

Blue Sidewinders are inert practice rounds, hence their distinctive color. That goes well with a colorful one off anniversary scheme. Part of Witty's flaw is that their Super Hornets have white missiles, which is totally wrong for a contemporary aircraft. I don't understand why they got this wrong, as their F-15s and 16s have the correct color of missiles, and it would make more sense from a cost benefit angle to use the same color for all the missiles they make for all their models, right? Yes I do harp on accuracy issues, but sometimes the manufacturers just make stupid mistakes that don't make sense from either an accuracy or financial standpoint.

Also, don't know if I mentioned this before, but Dragon Hornets and Supers can fit on Witty Stands, which makes a lot of sense as Dragon's stands suck, and the Wittys really don't need one since they are gear down.

Skysurfer808

[PappyB]

Originally Posted by skysurfer808

Blue Sidewinders are inert practice rounds, hence their distinctive color. That goes well with a colorful one off anniversary scheme. Part of Witty's flaw is that their Super Hornets have white missiles, which is totally wrong for a contemporary aircraft. I don't understand why they got this wrong, as their F-15s and 16s have the correct color of missiles, and it would make more sense from a cost benefit angle to use the same color for all the missiles they make for all their models, right? Yes I do harp on accuracy issues, but sometimes the manufacturers just make stupid mistakes that don't make sense from either an accuracy or financial standpoint.

Also, don't know if I mentioned this before, but Dragon Hornets and Supers can fit on Witty Stands, which makes a lot of sense as Dragon's stands suck, and the Wittys really don't need one since they are gear down.

Skysurfer808

Thanks again Sky! And I hear you on the stands -- I love Witty's stands, and currently have Dragon models in the few I have. The F-15 stands work perfectly with Dragon's F-15s, the F-18 stands work, too, but don't hold the Dragon's as tightly as they do the wittys (making it hard to bank the model)...

I'm planning on picking up some Witty F-16 and F-14 stands for my corrosponding Dragon models, too. (The Witty's do look a bit strange with their fixed gear in 'em I think.)

[PappyB]

some quick pics, I'll probably put the blue sidewinders back on

[David Hingtgen]

Witty's Super Hornet has white missiles because the Hasegawa kit shows it that way. They copied the weapons EXACTLY, each and every mistake. The kit can be built perfectly accurate---if you don't follow the instructions or the box pictures. But Witty did their model just like Hasegawa would have you believe.

[STARMAN 352ND]

Originally Posted by PappyB

I have the Same F-18 except it's a Witty
Why in the world too companies put out the same jet almost at the same time.
With a little touch up you can make it the way it should be missle wise.
JP