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Another Presentation Eagle


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This is another Strike Eagle built for the F-15 Program Office director upon his retirement. The aircraft itself is built out of the box, the cockpit bits left out and the canopy painted over to match similar desk models. There is a block of wood epoxied inside the keel to accept the brass pins of the acrylic stand and the fuselage filled with expanding foam to add some rigidity. Most of the stores come from Hasegawa weapon sets. I think all the markings are from the Revell kit, with the exception of the crew names below the windscreen. As was my practice, the pilot name was always the person receiving the model. The remaining names were usually co-workers.

 

The acrylic stand is covered with cling film to avoid fingerprints until the model was  presented.

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Panel lines were accented with a Paine's Grey oil wash applied over the ModelMaster enamels finish.

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We (the F-15 office) had just recently certified the Sniper targeting pod for carriage and. operation on the F-15E, so I had to put one on this model. The pod is my own resin casting, and it is slightly over-scale (didn't have time to try to make another master and mold).

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We had also just cleared a modification to add a satcom radio to the Strike, so I had to add that as well. I didn't add the radio components😄, but you'll notice there is a slightly raised square frame around the antenna location ahead of the windscreen. This is where we put the satcom antenna, replacing the ADF antenna. Only problem was the antenna aperture covering would start to delaminate at high speed. The quick fix, to get the mod out to the deployed OIF/OEF units, was to add a metal frame covering the edges and protecting them from the air flow. Simple but effective, and still out there today. The feedback from the crews was that it gave the Strike a little more character.

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I liked this kit enough that I bought one for myself, even though I normally only build 1/72 for my collection. I did keep a small stock on hand just in case I was asked for a model on short notice. Luckily, one of the local craft stores usually stocked this kit and often used to issue coupons for either 40 or 50 percent off one item, so the price was never too dear. Now that I've retired, I'll have to dispose of a couple of kits eventually - the calls asking me to provide a going away model have finally stopped.

 

Thanks for looking,

Sven

Edited by Old Viper Tester
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2 hours ago, Old Viper Tester said:

the calls asking me to provide a going away model have finally stopped.

That could be one less excuse to build models...

2 hours ago, Old Viper Tester said:

Now that I've retired,

... while this sounds like a thousand more excuses to build models! :winkgrin: :rofl:

 

Anyway, this F-15E is gorgeous too :clap:

 

Ciao

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