F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet in Detail and Scale Book Review

By David L. Veres

Review

Seeking a handy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet handbook? How about details of EA-18G Growler derivatives?

Snag Detail & Scale’s eponymous, lavishly illustrated volume – available in both digital and on-demand print editions from the publisher.

Super Bugs currently dominate US Navy carrier-borne warplanes – and promise to remain major assets for decades more.

Derived from earlier F/A-18 versions – and, by extension, Northrop’s unsuccessful YF-17 lightweight fighter – the Super Hornet evolved into a larger, vastly more capable, and essentially new design.

We received an on-demand print example. And fans of the perennially popular range will easily spot Detail & Scale’s proven prescription.

Co-authors Haagen Klaus and Bert Kinzey logically commence with derivation and development notes. From there, contents recap Super Hornet airframes and systems – including those of the Growler electronic warfare iteration.

Operational service – with combat history – comes next. And background commentary closes with projected developments – including, remarkably, a possibly unmanned “stealth” UAV variant.

No, I’m not kidding.

Coverage then turns meaty for modelers with 43 picture-packed pages of Super Hornet details – nose-to-tail, tip-to-tip, inside and out.

Seeking cockpit specifics – including colors? How about landing gear? Or weapons stores? Look here.

Everything neatly concludes with Detail & Scale’s usual capsule kit comments on available Super Hornet models to 1:144, 1:72, 1:48, and 1:32 scales.

Eye candy everywhere. Nearly 200 photos augment the 104-page account. But don’t expect scale drawings.

Recommended.

With thanks to Detail & Scale for the review copy.