[Mark Nguyen]

Jokebait name aside, I've found a relatively cheap example of this one online and am considering the purchase. One thing seems to be inconsistent in my research, though - what this Hornet comes with under the wings. Some pictures online show it with only Sidewinders on the (improperly railed) wingtips, plus tanks; others have that plus some larger (AGM?) missile. Does anyone have this model and can shed light on what the box contains? Thanks!

Mark

[David Hingtgen]

Dragon did 2 different Chippy Ho schemes (there have been many over the years). Mainly, look for a big green stripe along the spine, that's the biggest difference. Photos are still inconsistent, but 50024 is one of their first releases, and I think is AMRAAM only. 50056 (with the green striping) is newer, has Sidewinders (pretty sure) and a better more realistic load either way. I'd go for that one for several reasons.

[flyXwire]

I have the "Chippy Ho" Hornet (I hope I won't get into trouble like Don Imus for saying that...) Model # 50056.
This is the 'weathered' Hornet version and comes with the following weapons compliments:

2X - AIM-120B AMRAAMs
2X - AIM-9L Winders
GBU-24 Paveway III
GBU-31 JDAM

I really like this particular Hornet and come to think of it...it was my very first diecast Dragon jet purchase from Martin of TFM. I also remember getting this plus two other Gaincorp Flankers
round about the same time.

[PappyB]

Lucky you Fly! I've been looking for that one for some time now... its a needle in a haystack situation. I have 50024... and it looks like the pilot on the inside of the windscreen...

(not to mention the livery/loadout isn't as interesting -- plus I believe 50056 is weathered, too...)

[Mark Nguyen]

I've ordered the 50024... But the '56 "weathered" version certainly looks far better, even if I'm not a fan of too-flashy CAG birds (dammit, someone give us some good COMBAT schemes!). pappy, what did your '24 come with?

Mark

[PappyB]

Originally Posted by Mark Nguyen

I've ordered the 50024... But the '56 "weathered" version certainly looks far better, even if I'm not a fan of too-flashy CAG birds (dammit, someone give us some good COMBAT schemes!). pappy, what did your '24 come with?

Mark

Just fuel tanks and two wingtip missiles -- the big 'uns, which supposedly are wrong for the wing tips? Here's an old pic...

[Mark Nguyen]

Thanks! I guess I've been spoiled by Hobbymaster's "Let's fill EVERY SINGLE PYLON!!!" train of thought, but I'd figure that Dragon would've given their jets SOME sort of mission load outside of the usual Sidewinders..

Mark

[PappyB]

Originally Posted by Mark Nguyen

Thanks! I guess I've been spoiled by Hobbymaster's "Let's fill EVERY SINGLE PYLON!!!" train of thought, but I'd figure that Dragon would've given their jets SOME sort of mission load outside of the usual Sidewinders..

Mark

Yeah, but then again they do offer the weapons sets so you can fill 'em up that way at least.

[David Hingtgen]

But the weapon sets are often physically incompatible with what they're intended for, ironically. (go see my big Dragon rant). And vice-versa--many of the planes are molded so that they cannot accept weapons properly. It'd be easy to change at the design stage, and actually would have cost them less time/money/effort to do it "correctly"----then all their planes could use nearly every weapon, and easily swap and share. But it's too late now.

And an issue with the legacy Hornet is that the wingtips are molded to "correctly" position AMRAAMs on them--which is impossible. Which makes the Sidewinders attach in the wrong place.

[lanslide]

Originally Posted by flyXwire

I have the "Chippy Ho" Hornet (I hope I won't get into trouble like Don Imus for saying that...) Model # 50056.
This is the 'weathered' Hornet version and comes with the following weapons compliments:

2X - AIM-120B AMRAAMs
2X - AIM-9L Winders
GBU-24 Paveway III
GBU-31 JDAM

I really like this particular Hornet and come to think of it...it was my very first diecast Dragon jet purchase from Martin of TFM. I also remember getting this plus two other Gaincorp Flankers
round about the same time.

I have this one and the weathering is really nicely done. It looks like a subtle pre-shading of the panel lines.