Small Scale Military Headquarters

Looks nice! Wonder if the issue with sagging gear (on the original release) has been corrected.

From the info BBI sent me, it seems to be the same aircrfat with new paint.
Comes with the pilot, folding wings, ladder, 2xsidewinders and 12x 250lb bombs and a drop tank.
I'll take email reservations at my web if you can find the shelf space! .

The paint scheme is MUCH better than the first release! Does anybody know where there is a photo of this plane??

-Ski

12 250# bombs and 1 drop tank???? Sounds like the Jolly Roger may have a different loadout than the previous F/A-18's.

Mike- can you confirm this info

-Rob

Judging by the BCA photo, it appears to have the same weapons load as previous releases .

I recall Mike mentioning that the u/c had been stiffened after the first release.

I would be very surprised if the ordnance has changed from the first release. I would bet it is the same.

Can anyone confirm that this in an actual paint scheme worn by an F-18 and not just something that's been made up?

I have not seen an actual Hornet in that scheme, although I think it appears in some flight sims like that. The pics I pulled of the One Zero Three all had some grey and some black. There must have been at least one Bug painted all black over the years, we just need to track down a pic. Maybe one of the small retailers could get the scoop from bbi.

I will have them stock after Thanksgiving.
www.aviatornut.com

I cant figure out how to paste the picture from my BBI doc, but these are the specs they sent me.


Product Specifications
F-18C Pilot action figure
Pilot ladder
Functional landing gear x 3
Functional “ L & R ” folding wings for aircraft carrier
Fully detail cockpit
Functional rear canopy
A set of weapon
Eexternal drop tank x 3
Aim9 x 2
250Lb. Bomb x 12
Landing gear
Detail panel lines

12 250 lb'ers would require 3 TER's(triple ejector racks).


And aferg, this paint scheme was never painted onto a hornet.

See VF-103 jolly rogers transitioned to the 2 seat F/A-18F super hornet. They originally flew the tomcat. The Jolly Rogers Super Hornet has the skull and crossbones and the vagabond, but as of yet they never painted their birds in all black with the jolly rogers liveries. From what I understand, the tailcodes on their tailplanes will be moved further back to the rudders to enable a larger skull to be painted.

The Jolly Rogers NEVER flew the F/A-18C Legacy Hornet, which is what the BBI black hornet is. So while the liveries on this bird are on the VFA-103 super bugs, they never flew the legacy hornet, and VFA-103 HAS never had a black hornet with jolly rogers liveries.

So logically, a black F/A-18F super hornet with the same scheme would make more sense. (notice there is many differences both avionics wise and airframe wise between a F/A-18A/B/C/D legacy hornet and a F/A-18E/F Super Hornet).

The only black F/A-18 I know of is the Top gun F/A-18B flown by one of the aggressor units. VX-9 MIGHT have a black super bug but if they do it will probably be in the near future, hopefully with the playboy bunny on the vert stabs.

Shin Densetsu wrote:12 250 lb'ers would require 3 TER's(triple ejector racks).
The only black F/A-18 I know of is the Top gun F/A-18B flown by one of the aggressor units. VX-9 MIGHT have a black super bug but if they do it will probably be in the near future, hopefully with the playboy bunny on the vert stabs.

See above.

BTW, I thought the bombs the BBI Hornets come with are 500lb Mk 82s Yep. Black Hornets/Tomcats were only flown AFAIK by a test/evaluation unit

Topgun is not really a test unit.

Topgun is the Naval fighter weapons school which teaches pilots DACM(Dissimilar Air Combat Manuevering) ACM/BFM. They have some aggressor units as well.

THey had the F/A-18B you pictured in black.

VX-4 originally had the black playboy bunny F-4S and later the F-14A. When they merged into VX-9, the very last F-14D made was painted in black but with the XF or other tailcodes placed in place of the playboy bunny on the vertical stabs. VX-9 and VX-4 were test units, and VX-9 still is.

Yeah, I kind of figured that the weapons load would still be the same.

I knew the paint scheme wasn't quite right either. As Shin Densetsu said, the 103 recently switched to the E/F model Hornets, replacing their F-14's.
I have never seen any of their super bugs painted all black. The markings are similar but the paint is over all gray with black or dark blue vertical stabs and spine. Very nice looking planes.

-Rob

Wow, this is very tempting !!!!! Any word on landing gear ? New design ????


Regards, BD6

no info from bbi on new tooling or anything. as i posted in description, they're saying 12 250lbers. I've not seen a real hornet with that weapons load but I guess we'll see, they're taking preorders and expect dec. arrival?

According to one of the books I got from the library, the most bombs an F/A-18C can load per pylon/ejector rack, is 2. Cleared weapons that is, I do not think the TER(Triple Ejector Rack) has been cleared.

BBTS has it up as well. Have we gotten any word whether TRU will have these?

Shin Densetsu wrote:12 250 lb'ers would require 3 TER's(triple ejector racks).


And aferg, this paint scheme was never painted onto a hornet.

Thanks for the heads-up! Another BS paint scheme! Wonderful.....

-Ski

Teamski wrote: Thanks for the heads-up! Another BS paint scheme! Wonderful.....

-Ski

BBI seems to be milking the airshow crowd with these paint schemes they choose. Whatever happened to warbirds ?

Again, we're back to the idea of recognizability. Perhaps BBI hopes that by offering some planes painted up as airshow birds (ie the Blue Angels & Black F-18 as well as the Corsair) they can increase sales than if they just offered an aircraft painted after a little known warbird. I'm still with you on the warbirds, however. There's plenty of cool looking paint schemes and they're all real.

I think Tman is right. Most F-18 paint schemes look pretty much alike, especially to the casual civillian observer. To those of us in the know, a difference in tail markings can be a big deal but to the average Joe that buys a good chunk of these planes, one blue-grey F-18 is the same as another, so a totally different paint scheme is what will catch their eye and they probably dont' care (or even realize) it's on the wrong mark of bird.

Same goes for all the planes that have been made, but 21c has offered repaints that are suprisingly similar to each other, especially on the 109G. Tells me they are catering more to the knowledgeable collector market at this time.

By the way 21c: i'm still waiting for a desert sand 109G.

I don't mind that this scheme never made it to the hornet, and I do think its awesome!

It would be more fitting on a super hornet but as mike pointed out, BBI thinks its too similar to the legacy one they put out, so now super bug for us. Its okay, I understand and all.

Nonetheless if someone wanted an accurate paint scheme they can just get the golden dragons or blue angels paint. The black skull is awesome! I just wish the vagabond was behind the USA star, and that the tailcodes were on the rudder so they skull and crossbones could be bigger.

I know this is a harsh statement, but my feeling is that this paint scheme was done because it was simply easy and cheap to do. No weathering, little paint and white transfers. It's kinda cheesy to me. If bbi wanted to do something trully striking, they should of done Chippy Ho.



I'm really unimpressed with this one, almost more so than the Shark P-38!

-Ski

I see where your coming from ski, chippy ho is AWESOME. Quite possibly thee BEST liveries ever for it!


I think liveries from the VFC-12 Fighting Omars aggressor squadron would have been awesome as well. They have the toned splintered flanker camo.

But to me the VFA-103 black skull looks better than the first black skulls that were sold at toyfair or SDCC.

I'd love to see an F-14 Tomcat in Sundowners livery, I dont mean the 2 tone grey, the older light sea grey with the red would be spectacular.

To all interested.

I just got my tracking number from Bad Cat which means they just prepared my shipping label.

Looks like the black beauty will be on its way shortly.

Ho Ho Ho.