Jump to content

F-15C Aggressor "Flanker Scheme"- Finished!


azureglo

Recommended Posts

Well seeing as my wee F-15E made it to the finish line, I felt adventurous: A nice 1/72 Hasegawa eagle dressed in Aggressor Camo to complement my F-5E from last year. I got the HB as a freebie from a friend whose AMS it had offended and the Hase was a HLJ bargain at under £10 delivered so no big bucks here.

 

box2.jpg

box1.jpg

 

A quick peruse of the decal sheet and instructions had me howling with laughter, I was not going through micro modelling again. So plan B, a quick build of the Hokeyboss. 

 

fiddly1.jpg

 

hgdecals.jpg

 

So on to the sprues, simple and crude as ever...

 

sprue1.jpg

 

sprue2.jpg

 

sprue3.jpg

 

 

A little light aftermarket as per my F-5E build should liven things up in the front room:

 

aftermarket.jpg

 

Great camo but not sure about the garish colours, I'll be mixing up my patented Mr El Cheapo paints for this:

 

hbcamo.jpg

 

paint.jpg

 

It should be a nice therapeutic second build, need to make some FOD covers as Hokeybozz simply blank off the intakes and thoughtfully don't provide a the blanking plate for the avionics bay behind the pilot. That said , I'm looking forward to my Blue Eagle!

 

A

 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

A wee update: Cockpit all done with Eduard zoom for the Academy F-15C fitting after some "adjustment", love the solvent paint wipe technique for highlighting the details. Quickboost seat looks lovely despite my cack handed painting and endlessly knocking off and re-gluing fragile sticky out bits.

 

pit1.jpg

Note clumsily scratched HOTAS throttle:

 

pit2.jpg

seat.jpg

 

 

Checking my refs I noted that Mr Hobby's color recommendations were a bit suspect, the pundits would suggest Air Superiority Blue and something called FS 35109 (a colour as controversial as RLM63). I opted for a 50/50 mix of Intermediate Blue and H332, looks OK to me.

 

coltest.jpg

 

Now to look at some FOD scatchbuilding and see how everything else fits, what could possible go wrong?

 

A

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Some progress, I've finished the 'pit and decided to add the very distinctive inboard wing navigation lights using the sprue/file/micromesh method. The wingtip lights were done at the same time

 

lights.jpg

 

navlight.jpg

 

stbdlight.jpg

 

portlight.jpg

 

These will be duly masked prior to next weeks priming. Onto the pit, a new thing for me , Hasegawa polarising hologram film applied to the HUD glass, it does that groovy metallic green reflection as you change angles. Could have been neater but will definitely be making an appearance on all future builds. Cutting these tiny bits of film burnished on to thin clear sheet was intriguing but its one of those "wow" moments for me when I see it do the hologram thang!

 

pit.jpg

 

pitmain.jpg

 

holo.jpg

 

Bonne nuit, fellow Eagle-istas

 

A

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

So wrapped up in my Matchbox F-5B, totally forgot about this beastie. A furious burst of activity and everything has been primed. Tried a neat trick I learnt from a Flory models master-builder: After priming with Alclad grey, let it dry for 30 mins then heavily mist with neat Mr Leveling thinner at 15 PSI till it glistens. Result super smooth primed coat, that's gone glossy. Downside: mind boggling amounts of toxic fumes...

 

primed.jpg

 

Tomorrow will see some paint going one after  I fix a pesky seam in front of the canopy. I may be able to finish two builds in a STGB, a minor miracle worth pouring a Laguvillin 16 year old or two.

 

A

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I know what you mean a about getting wrapped  up in a build,  that matchbox mercedes sskl has been keeping me from my f15c I'll be back on it today though, good work on yours though, i like the tip about the levelling thinner

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Hewy Weird isn't it, how badly fitting, ancient  old kits suck us in, anyhoo had some interesting repair work to do on this bizarre imperfection, no idea how this happened , looks like the primer chipped off but I saw it come up as I sprayed on the Alclad grey?!! Re the Mr Leveling mist/drench technique, I can  see this going horribly wrong if you use filler that would react with cellulose thinners but as i use superglue as filler its not an issue. I  think it may have possibilities in curing silvering/thick decal carrier film? I'm going to try it on my paint mule tomorrow, god I love toxic chemicals.

 

flaw.jpg

 

The BMF is to stop the superglue I use as filler from getting on the the rest of the intake. No biggy but calling it a day, have pile of reading to do for work and a fine bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon to help with memory retention, normal service tomorrow.

 

Cheers

 

A

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its part of the fun "a" isnt it making stuff fit that seems like it never in a millon years did, 

I must admit ive gone on to mr hobby laquer thinners, i think its the best paint finish I've tried, i also have a bottle of levelling thinner to try,, big up the chemicals 

Glynn 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wot no Flanker Eagle Action? I bit the bullet, got out the Panzer Putty and went a masking for what seemed like an eternity...

 

panzered.jpg

 

Satisfaction was obtained: Not sure about the Mr Color Air superiority Blue but I think it looks believable if a little toy like. Perhaps a pin wash may help.

 

top.jpg

 

bottom.jpg

 

 

Tomorrow sees gloss coating , decaling for next week, a finish on time is possible...

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let the decalling begin:

 

fin.jpg

 

And I thought I'd escaped the gazillion stencils on the Hasegawa version...

 

stencils.jpg

 

Well, the end is in sight, final stencils, a bit of metal work to spray and we should see a finish by the 29th...

 

 

A

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, azureglo said:

Let the decalling begin:

 

fin.jpg

 

And I thought I'd escaped the gazillion stencils on the Hasegawa version...

 

stencils.jpg

 

Well, the end is in sight, final stencils, a bit of metal work to spray and we should see a finish by the 29th...

 

 

A

looking nice....be good to see it finished!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Spurred on by @Tim Moff, I lay down my single malt and took up brushes glue and tweezers for the final push!

 

top.jpg

 

under.jpg

 

nose.jpg

 

fod.jpg

Home made FOD to cover up Hokeyboss blanked off exhaust, note lovely silvering effect on decal.

 

gearlight.jpg

Landing light from Airfix P-51D to sub for one the HB left off.

 

gunlight.jpg

Drilled out blanked off gun port and added properly clear red landing light. The AK true-metal gunmetal is a bit shiny though.

 

burners.jpg

Nice 3-D effect from etch burner rings. Inside of crappy nozzles painted proper white ceramic and dirtied up.

 

whitetail.jpg

Clear left port fin light.

 

redtail.jpg

And red starboard fin light. Note blobby ECM covers.

 

pitdetail.jpg

Very happy with pit detailing.

 

bignose.jpg

With one I made earlier.

 

Well my third finish this year, it actually looks like what I imagined in my head a month ago and everything I tried, actually worked. Really had fun doing this and beauty shots go in the gallery tomorrow after puzzling out how to tether my new Nikon D850 as suggested by @Paul Budzik in his most excellent video. Thanks for watching.

 

Anil

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, azureglo said:

Spurred on by @Tim Moff, I lay down my single malt and took up brushes glue and tweezers for the final push!

 

top.jpg

 

under.jpg

 

nose.jpg

 

fod.jpg

Home made FOD to cover up Hokeyboss blanked off exhaust, note lovely silvering effect on decal.

 

gearlight.jpg

Landing light from Airfix P-51D to sub for one the HB left off.

 

gunlight.jpg

Drilled out blanked off gun port and added properly clear red landing light. The AK true-metal gunmetal is a bit shiny though.

 

burners.jpg

Nice 3-D effect from etch burner rings. Inside of crappy nozzles painted proper white ceramic and dirtied up.

 

whitetail.jpg

Clear left port fin light.

 

redtail.jpg

And red starboard fin light. Note blobby ECM covers.

 

pitdetail.jpg

Very happy with pit detailing.

 

bignose.jpg

With one I made earlier.

 

Well my third finish this year, it actually looks like what I imagined in my head a month ago and everything I tried, actually worked. Really had fun doing this and beauty shots go in the gallery tomorrow after puzzling out how to tether my new Nikon D850 as suggested by @Paul Budzik in his most excellent video. Thanks for watching.

 

Anil

Good drills - lovely finish......

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...