madcat911

Sprue shots and instructions. http://postimg.cc/gallery/3j5xf609m/ Mark

Thanks for the kind words everyone! Mark

I think I have been bitten by the armour bug. This is my second completed armour build in three weeks and second ever. Kit is Academy's rendition of the venerable T-34/85 which served the Red Army with distinction during the Great Patriotic War. It was built OOB with exception of the decals. These came from a Tamiya kit as Academy's decals were not able to conform to the rather pronounced cast texture on the turret even with a hefty application of Mr Mark Softer. It was painted with Gunze lacquers and weathering was done with enamels and pigments from AK Interactive as well as artists' oils. I learnt a great deal during the painting and weathering stages and look forward to building another steel beast. Enjoy the photos! Mark

That's a good start. And I believe those "wheel legs" are actually called suspension arms. Mark

From Tamiya's blog: Looks like they have taken a page out of Hasegawa's playbook and are offering the weapons separately. Mark

That's interesting. I never knew that. Were these jets upgraded to Block 15 MLU specifications?

Today being a public holiday, I managed to get quite a bit done on this build. The lower hull was completed and the major pieces of the turret have been assembled. Mark

Dutch F-16s feature a parapack housing on the base of the vertical stabiliser. However, that particular boxing of the Hasegawa kit does not have it included. I'm not sure if you can get the parapack tail from aftermarket sources. Mark

Tracks completed and attached. The pads were a little fragile and I mangled a few. Luckily the kit had quite a few extra ones. Mark

I'm on a bit of an armour kick as of late so I'm submitting this for the GB. Started with the running gear and did up a short length of track. Mark

Yes, it seems that all the generic and unit markings are included to do a regular S or T. Just check photo references for the particular jet you wish to model. Mark

SMT box art

Source: https://www.facebook.com/TrumpeterModel/photos/a.103538733138062.8169.103526326472636/597729243719006/?type=3&fref=nf

I don't think the finish of the paint should be an issue. After all, if you sprayed a matt varnish over a glossy surface, it will become matt but it may require a couple of coats. Mark

Was it this one? Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8uFVKmAj5o Part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG4CLaBMfVU Mark

Many thanks for the kind words everyone. I think there is much room for improvement and will try to apply the lessons learnt to my next armour build. Mark

Here's my attempt at Trumpeter's Tiran-6 in 1/35. As an aircraft guy, doing armour for the first time was quite daunting. Pigment powders and liberal dusting of sand colour were foreign to me but I'm glad that this one turned out alright at least in my eyes. Hopefully I will be able to follow up with more of these steel beasts in the future but in the meantime I'll settle for some aircraft therapy. Enjoy the photos! Mark

Boxart.

In that case, the regular GWH F-15C MSIP II kit will suit your needs. But do take note that the kit does not provide the LAU-114 rails used on F-15s in the early 90s. Also, no AIM-9Ms and AIM-7s which are appropriate for 90s jets are included. Mark

Thanks for the photo. That particular Hornet belongs to VX-23 which is a test and evaluation squadron. Most operational squadrons would have changed to the new pylon already. Actually when I said that only the Adversary jets can be built accurately, I was referring to the 3 Adversary options out of the 6 that are provided in the box. My gripe here is that in order to accurately portray the VFA-87, VFA-25 and Swiss jets included in the kit, one would have to source for an aftermarket pylon or rob one from an updated Hasegawa Hornet. Even the box art shows the new pylon. Mark

The lack of the late-type centreline pylon means that only the Adversary jets can be built accurately. Mark

What time frame F-15 are you looking to model? Mark

Here is a rather detailed WIP of a GWH F-15DJ. http://www.scalespot.com/onthebench/f15dj/build.htm Mark

I was just wondering if there were any aftermarket stencils for the Hunter in 1/48. The stencils included in the Academy kit look like little blobs of paint and are quite rubbish. Mark

A little late to this party but here's my two cents worth. The kit has all the parts required to build either a late F-15E or F-15I except for the RWR sensors on the tail boom. The kit only has the chiseled type found on the F-15I but the domed type for the F-15E is not included. However, it should not be too hard to scratch-build these parts. It has the beefier landing gear legs and larger wheels appropriate for the Strike Eagle and also includes the bulged gear doors. Arresting hook is of the correct semi-recessed type found on the Strike Eagle as opposed to the flushed type found on the A/B/C/D. The gun clip fairing is also present and correct for a Strike. The kit provides an option for the forward stub pylons on the CFTs. They are the early ones with the long fairing and late ones with the short fairing. It does not have the extended pylons as found on the K/SG/SA though. Also included are the scoops for aircraft equipped with later versions of the PW F100 and GE F110 engines. For the stores, the kit gives the following: 2 x Python-4 2 x AIM-120B AMRAAM 4 X GBU-12 Paveway II 3 x GBU-38 JDAM 1 x GBU-31 JDAM (Mk 84 warhead)(Tail section seems a little too bulbous though) 1 x AGM-130 1 x AGM-142 Popeye 1 x AN/AXQ-14 Data Link Pod 1 x AN/AAQ-13 LANTIRN Nav Pod 1 x AN/AAQ-14 LANTIRN Targeting Pod 2 x 600 gal tanks The kit also provides 4 LAU-128 rails with their ADU-552 adapters but has no LAU-114 so a ODS or earlier bird cannot be built OOB. The paint guide also has an Elta-8222 pod listed but I cannot seem to find it on the sprues. Decals included are rather extensive and even include panel numbers found on IAF jets. Mark