JBr Decals 1/144 F/A-18D ATARS Conversion Set
By Matt Bittner
Taken from Wikipedia direct:
"Advanced Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance System (ATARS) is a system for image acquisition, data storage, and data link used by the United States Marine Corps on its F/A-18D Hornet aircraft. It consists of the Advanced Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance System (ATARS) with infrared and visible light sensors, two digital tape recorders, and a Reconnaissance Management System (RMS); an interface with the APG-73 Radar Upgrade (Phase II) which records synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery; and a digital data link mounted in a centerline pod. ATARS fits in the nose in place of the nose gun, with a small datalink pod mounted on the centerline station. The digital data link will transmit imagery and auxiliary data to any Common Imaging Ground/Surface Station (CIG/SS) compatible system including the Joint Services Imagery Processing System (JSIPS) or Marine Tactical Exploitation Group (TEG) based ashore and Navy JSIPS (JSIPS-N) aboard ship."
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There are twelve ATARS-equipped F/A-18D aircraft within the USMC. This 1/144 conversion from JBr Decals consists of four pieces of resin (a clear-resin piece where the camera resides, two "cheeks" that sides on each fuselage side directly behind the camera and a LITENING Pod for the schemes contained within this conversion), a set of masks for the clear-resin piece and a decal sheet for two ATARS-equipped F/A-18Ds:
- F/A-18D ATARS BuNo 165530, VK-00, VMFA(AW)-121, 2011
- F/A-18D ATARS BuNo 164677, CE-09, VMFA(AW)-225, 2010
Both aircraft are finished in the typical two-tone grey of USMC F/A-18s. The decals are up to the usual high standards JBr Decals are known for.
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There is a little bit of surgery required. I believe the kit recommended is the Revell 1/144 F/A-18D so you'll need to remove the cannon cowling from the underside of the kit's nose and if using the decals supplied, remove the external fuel tank from its pylon (as the kit supplied one is all one-piece) and use that pylon for the supplied LITENING Pod (as that Pod was attached to the center pylon for the above two aircraft). The two side "cheeks" just mount directly to the fuselage sides. Before painting remember to use the supplied masks on the clear resin piece which is laid out in the instructions.
All-in-all, not a difficult conversion and one that will result in a unique model as this is the only way to achieve an ATARS-equipped aircraft in 1/144. Many thanks to JBr Decals for the review sample.