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Posted (edited)

Hello,

 

The 1970's were interesting times for the aviation enthousiast. Lots of fast and noisy planes, with lots of smoke, lots of green, dark grey and tan, and not so much manoeuvring. Planes like the F-100 and F-104, and of course the Phantoms were still very common. But towards the end of the decade, something new appeared. Something big, powerful and agile, and also very grey. It must have been quite something, the arrival of the F-15 in Europe. With its massive wing surface, a single pilot, sitting under a huge bubble, and a powerful radar in front of him.

 

The 36th TFW at Bitburg AB in West Germany recieved its Eagles during 1977, first the 525th TFS, with the 22nd and 53d in the following months. Along with the 32nd TFS at Soesterberg, and the introduction of the F-16 in 1981, USAFE was getting ready for the future.

 

I will be using the 1/72 Hasegawa kit. It's quite a nice kit, with reasonable detail, and recessed panel lines. The kit comes with the featherless exhausts, so aftermarket will have to be used to do a proper 1970's Eagle. I might also give it a resin seat, and maybe wheels, if there are any availlable in this scale.

 

Work starts surprisingly with the cockpit, and the avionics bay behind it. The black boxes along the left wall aren't included for some reason in this kit, but that's not a real problem for the era. Early Eagles had the greenish metallic finish here, and I tried to match that. It's not totally accurate, but not much will be seen of it in the end anyway.

 

P3035463_zpsctgruiw0.jpg

 

P3035466_zpsphl7bvp1.jpg

Edited by Creepy Pete
  • Like 9
Posted

Very keen to watch how this one comes out.

I've got a similar F-15E in the stash, waiting for the next Eagle GB.

I've built the previous Hasegawa Eagle kit several times.

 

Posted

Reading through your introduction made me realise how the F-15 marked a change in Western fighter design philosophy. Great choice of subject.

Interesting how the avionics bay colour is similar to that of many Soviet aircaft cockpits.

  • Like 1
Posted

That's a really nicely written intro. It nicely sums up why the 70s/80s are on of my preferred modeling periods.

 

 

And nice work on the cockpit. Hasegawa really did well with the eagle. Probably the best of their teen series.

Posted

Thanks guys!

 

On 3-3-2017 at 8:53 PM, theplasticsurgeon said:

I've built the previous Hasegawa Eagle kit several times.
 

Nice job on them!

 

On 4-3-2017 at 11:41 AM, Col. said:

Interesting how the avionics bay colour is similar to that of many Soviet aircaft cockpits.

Funny enough, I did use paint marked by ModelMaster for that. ^_^

 

On 4-3-2017 at 4:00 PM, SoftScience said:

And nice work on the cockpit. Hasegawa really did well with the eagle. Probably the best of their teen series

Yup, this one and the F-14 are very nice kits.

 

Anyway, making some good progress. I masked off the engine bits using my handy cutting matt. If you don't know this type, they have different patterns printed on them, and the black lines are grooves which you can use to cut masking tape. Sovereign Hobbies in the UK sells them.

 

DSC_0324_zpsbeauyotl.jpg

 

The engine faces were about 11mm in diameter, so I put a bit of tape over the section that has a 11mm circle, and cut it out.

 

DSC_0326_zpspeujjckb.jpg

 

DSC_0327_zpsmb2itcvc.jpg

 

DSC_0328_zpsjpelyxoh.jpg

 

Which then fits neatly around the engine face.

 

DSC_0330_zpswljbynic.jpg

 

By now I have glued the forward fuselage together with the cockpit inside it, and glued that to the bottom of the fuselage. I also glued the intake bits together. So far so good.

 

DSC_0332_zpsybb2gy4v.jpg

 

DSC_0334_zpsv7mktfks.jpg

  • Like 5
Posted

I saw a review of them in one of those Florymodel videos. I got mine from this place. Maybe some company sells them in the USA as well? I think you can get them from Hobby Link Japan too.

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted (edited)

I got me some new paint for this one (Gunze), so now that the bit of the fuselage behind the intakes is painted, I can move on with the assembly. The upper fuselage is glued in place, and seams have been smoothed out. The intakes have also been glued in place, but these need a bit of work along the top edges, some minor gaps there. The wings are also ready to be glued in place.:

 

DSC_0343_zps30tn2pio.jpg

 

I bought a set of Microscale decals on eBay the other week, and they have arrived. Enough stencils to build 3 early Eagles. Too bad the small number used on the nose gear door aren't included.

 

17342973_1648945511788546_71041432571440

Edited by Creepy Pete
  • Like 6
Posted
1 hour ago, Creepy Pete said:

I got me some new paint for this one (Gunze), so now that the bit of the fuselage behind the intakes is painted, I can move on with the assembly. The upper fuselage is glued in place, and seams have been smoothed out. The intakes have also been glued in place, but these need a bit of work along the top edges, some minor gaps there. The wings are also ready to be glued in place.:

 

DSC_0343_zps30tn2pio.jpg

 

I bought a set of Microscale decals on eBay the other week, and they have arrived. Enough stencils to build 3 early Eagles. Too bad the small number used on the nose gear door aren't included.

 

17342973_1648945511788546_71041432571440

How sad, I know the all the airbases linked to the tail fin letters off the top of my head, but I do like the look of that set of decals.

 

Posted

Looking fantastic so far.

 

That matt looks ingenious, and I've never seen that Microscale sheet before - you can make pretty much any Compass scheme Eagle you want.

Posted

No idea how much work you had to put into the wing/fuselage join but it was clearly worthwhile.

Posted
On 20-3-2017 at 2:45 AM, SoftScience said:

What is your trick for getting the speed brake to sit flush with the fuselage?

No trick, just some sanding on the underside. It's still not super flush, but good enough for me.

 

On 21-3-2017 at 7:03 PM, Col. said:

No idea how much work you had to put into the wing/fuselage join but it was clearly worthwhile.

Just some sanding along the joints before glueing them together. There are some minor gaps on the underside now, easy to fix.

 

I started with some paintwork on the tail surfaces, since these will be added after painting the rest of the model. This makes things a bit easier, although not quite correct, as the vertical tails should be flush with the fuselage side. I can live with a seam there. I need to do some touch ups, as I'm not quite happy with the patterns yet.

 

P3265477_zpslcq95y1e.jpg

  • Like 7
Posted (edited)

Not much progress this week. I've been more busy with other projects. I did mask the windscreen and canopy, though, so painting can begin soon. I also ordered a set of Aires exhausts and a Quickboost seat for it today. And I have decided which specific plane I will build. It's going to be 76-0012, which flew with the 525th TFS at the time. It's one of the less anonymous ones they had at the time, as it comes with both the wing bade, and a tail strip in squadron color. It also helps that I can use the kit decals for the number on the nose gear door.

 

Here's how it looks now:

 

DSC_0367_zpslomaxssr.jpg

Edited by Creepy Pete
carp fishing badgers
  • Like 4
Posted
On 3-4-2017 at 8:18 PM, Col. said:

All ready for paint?

I wanted to wait for the resin exhausts to arrive, to see how much trouble the would potentially give, fit wise. But, just a small bit of filing and grinding, and they're good to go! So, up next, paint stage! :nodding:

 

P4085479_zpsljhj70a6.jpg

  • Like 7
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

I got some good work done this weekend.

 

First, I sprayed some black over the masked off canopy and the rear fuselage. Then I brushed some Future like product over the rear, and once this was dry, some Vallejo metal color aluminium. This was then masked off:

 

P4165480_zps5wzqregl.jpg

 

I then painted the darker grey of the main paint scheme first, using Gunze paint, and masked this off using worms of white tack and some tape:

 

P4175481_zpskjrgcd20.jpg

 

After this, the lighter grey was added, and the masking removed:

 

P4175482_zpsiwbd1sk2.jpg

 

The glossy paint makes the contrast between the two colours a bit noticeable. Maybe I will try to blend them in a bit using a very thin coat of a mix of both shades. I'll give that some thought. But first, I'm going to paint the exhaust bits in various shades of metal.

  • Like 8

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