Fellas...
Back from supper after a great day at the golf course. Ill get to your questions one at a time.
Mike...
I remember I looked at that a while back but was unable to fix or make a workaround, sorry bout not telling you my results. The CS FA-18D burners are controlled by a .gau file and I cannot dig into that and alter their work, or even know how they accomplish their burners. I agree they dont look good and would replace them with the default burners, but I dont know how to do it.
Im working on the .ZIP file now. All it will be is a .txt file that you can COPY/PASTE into the default Hornet's AIRCRAFT.CFG file. The contact points, and flight dynamics that you can overwrite inside the aircraft.cfg file. I would recommend backing-up your aircraft.cfg file before you start. Also, the .ZIP folder will contain the most current fa-18.air file.
Fael...
On the paints, Id have to ask Ray, JJ, or another painter. I really have NO PAINTING skills whatsoever. For the upgraded missile rails and nozzles, I cut/pasted them, along with Ray doing pretty much the same... he did alot of the "grunt work" on these. Wish I could help more but I dont have the capabilities. Sorry.
Later
Sludge