amason61

Progress: landing gear installed, Aires exhaust complete pending application of "no Step" "No Push" decals on turkey feathers, airframe primed with Alclad gray primer, and basecoat of MM Light Ghost Gray applied.

Thanks for the input, everyone. I think I have a pale burnt metal shade that I can live with for the exhaust feathers.

decided to work on the back end along with the Aires exhausts. Nothing glued or finished, just push fit in place after the first go around with colors.

simply outstanding! Love everything about this one. It looks like a Mighty Eagle!

I picked up a 1979 issue of Monogram's F-15 in order to get the A-style wheels. As a bonus, the kit decals also had the tailcodes and squadron emblems I needed as well. The decals looked good, but they were printed in 1979! I cut one of the Langley tailcodes and was surprised that it didn't disintegrate when it hit the water. In fact, it held up quite nicely. So I bit the bullet and painted the tails to make sure I'd have what I needed. I have to say, the decals were a little thick and somewhat finicky . . . but, after applying some Micro-Sol and they behaved rather nicely.

getting close to the paint stage. Cockpit finished -- although I think the Bay 5 color should probably be more blue/green and less blue metallic. But I can live with it. front fuselage halves together and attached to the rear fuselage:

For whatever reason, I found that the cream-colored Aires resin set fits like a glove to the back of the Eagle, whereas the gray resin set was a mm or so smaller in diameter. Glad I had two of the cream-colored sets!

More progress: First, a simple modification to replace the AoA probes on the forward fuselage with straight pins. * Then on to getting seamless intakes using the Latex paint pour method:

I think I may try a work-around to avoid all those PE Turkey Feathers. The idea is to use the Aires F-16 Pratt nozzles. Here's a dry-fit:

Okay, I'm gonna try this one again. My first attempt at a tribute build for Major Don "Duck" Waddell who, as a member of the 32 FS at Soesterberg AB, was awarded "The Best F-15 Pilot of Europe." Working on delivering jet 77-089. Hasegawa kit, with "A" styule wheels donated from the Monogram F-15. Gonna try to use the PE exhausts included with the Hasegawa kit since I may never build another Eagle with the Turkey Feathers on the exhaust!

Kit: Hasegawa Scale: 1:48 Subject: F-15C Eagle Decals: Afterburner, 48-007 Paint: Model Master Blue 2031 (FS 35109), Model Master Flanker Blue Gray 2132 Extras: Eduard F-15C cockpit PE, Aires exhaust, PP Aeroparts metal ACMI pod So here she is:

Next up . . . final reveal photos!

The finish line draweth nigh:

stickers going on!!!!

A little progress on the Aires exhausts . . .

Okay, I was feeling a little Blue because my tribute build was supposed to be a F-15A and I was building a F-15C. So I'm gonna start over with the tribute build and concentrate on making an early "A". So . . . . since, I was already blue . . . I thought I might as well make my Eagle Blue, too! So this build has transformed into a 65th Aggressor Squadron Eagle. Here's some freehand work from this evening. Still have a lot of touch ups, some refining, and a tad bit of post-shading to get to this coming week.

65th Aggressor build using Afterburner decals. I'm also using Eduard cockpit and exterior PE, Aires resin exhausts (gorgeous, btw)

1:48 Hasegawa kit built OOB using kit decals. Painted with MM Metalizer and various Tamiya paints.

Anybody seen my ride???

Almost done . . . next photos will be of the final reveal.

MM Metalizers "Aluminum Plate" for the base coat. Some MM Metalizer Burnt Iron on the exhaust. MM Metaiizer Titanium for the gun panel. Some thinned black Tamiya shot over a few panels for contrast.

Started decaling . . . .

Sprayed some aluminum paint to check for seams . . .and had a few to polish out even more. Then shot some Tamiya Semi-Gloss Black in preparation for the NMF to go on next. Here's where we are . . .

The morning began with President Obama appearing at a local community college just 1.5 miles from my house. I had to officiate at a funeral in Orlando this afternoon, so while everyone was gushing over the Man, I went to see his ride on the way out of town. Air Force One was parked at the St. Pete/Clearwater airport across the bay from Tampa. A crowd had already gathered and I didn't have time to get out of the car to take better pics since I had a two-hour drive ahead of me. Glad I didn't linger too long, though. As it turns out, the President's next appearance in the day was Kissimme (a suburb of Orlando!). And he didn't take AF1 to Kissimmee, he took the motorcade. I musta been an hour or so ahead of him, but there was solid security from Tampa to Orlando. State Troopers parked on every overpass that crossed I-4 and PLENTY of State and local Highway Patrols very visible along the route. Some folks form my area who were headed to the same funeral got snared in the security cover while they CLOSED The main bridge across Tampa Bay so the President could cross. They sat in standstill traffic for close to 2 hours, and were very late to the funeral. Anyway, on with the pics. Again, these were all taken from my car. Still pretty cool, so I thought I would share.

my favorite part of this kit: