ChrisBraid Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 Having been away from modeling from a while, my first kit back is the F-15E in 1/72 from GWH. I'd seen a few reviews of the kit and despite being more of a propellor guy. I had a bit of an itch to give this one a go. Initial impression on opening the box was of the quality of the moulding and the apparent simplicity of the build once you ignore all the sprues holding the weapons Planning on this one mainly being an OOB apart from the Ejection seats which I've bought a set from Wolfpack to add a little more detail to the cockpit. They certainly are an improvement on the kit ones. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBraid Posted January 11, 2020 Author Share Posted January 11, 2020 So starting as always with the cockpit. A quick base coat them a light painting of gull grey for the cockpit and instrument panels. Initially I was going to use the kit decals for all the instrument panels. But I personally struggled with the decals for the main consoles and found them very thick even with softener. Anyways here are the end results of how they ended up looking. Can't say I can lay all the blame on the decals, might have been my ham fisted methods But it did encourage me to paint the remaining consoles that I could have used decals for. Not massively displeased with my first attempt at painting a modern jet cockpit in 1/72. Needs some washes dry brushing to improve though I think. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billn53 Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 Mind if I follow along? I’ve had this kit in my stash awhile, maybe you’ll stimulate me to start work on it. - Bill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBraid Posted January 12, 2020 Author Share Posted January 12, 2020 4 hours ago, billn53 said: Mind if I follow along? I’ve had this kit in my stash awhile, maybe you’ll stimulate me to start work on it. - Bill Please do Its a lovely kit so far apart from my efforts with the decals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBraid Posted January 12, 2020 Author Share Posted January 12, 2020 So seats and cockpit are all painted up added a wash and a bit of dry brushing to tone things down a bit. Camera catches the dry brushing a bit more than I can see normally Sorry for the lousy photography skills. Proper cameras and lighting are a mystery to me... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBraid Posted January 12, 2020 Author Share Posted January 12, 2020 And now with the seats in place. I'm quite pleased with the outcome after my initial worries about the decals. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBraid Posted January 12, 2020 Author Share Posted January 12, 2020 All sealed up. I really am enjoying the build of this kit so far. Its almost click fit and the way its been enginneered is superb to avoid seam lines and other joins. Thats it for the front for now. Going to go play with the main fuselage. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBraid Posted January 13, 2020 Author Share Posted January 13, 2020 So. Apart from a few little flaws in the instructions which should be quite obvious unless you're me. The kit is coming together nicely. A few parts are listed the wrong way round on the instructions when assembling the fuselage but dry fitting correct this error easily enough. The do forget to mention to drill holes in the wings for the weapon pylons but I'll get that sorted 😂 Fuselage went together very easily an no real laws in the joins and seams with the airbrake being the worst fitting part of them all, But sill not bad. Now in the process of building tiny bombs to hang off it 🤪 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vultures1 Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 Looking good! Swift progress too 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBraid Posted January 13, 2020 Author Share Posted January 13, 2020 2 hours ago, Vultures1 said: Looking good! Swift progress too Thanks Probably the fastest build since I was a kid on Christmas Day I really can't compliment this kit enough in terms of easy of build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBraid Posted January 13, 2020 Author Share Posted January 13, 2020 And today has been a day of making all the bits up that will or could hang off the Eagle Haven't worked out what will end up there as I am going to go for some Lakenheath eagle markings as I'm not convinced by the Kit ones. So if any one knows likely layout of stores? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBraid Posted January 13, 2020 Author Share Posted January 13, 2020 Not sure how well that shows up in the photo but a rather prominent line up the canopy that needs addressing. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBraid Posted January 13, 2020 Author Share Posted January 13, 2020 Quick dry fit of the undercarriage and seems its not a tail sitter. Instructions didn't call out for any weight to be added but wanted to be certain before I added the radome. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBraid Posted January 14, 2020 Author Share Posted January 14, 2020 So. All primed and ready to paint. My Stealth Eagle is airbrushed with black MR Surafacer 1500 with the exception of the radome which I polished then sprayed with Mr Surfacer 1500 grey. Hopefully might make the nose a shade different from the rest of the airframe. Next up I'm using AK Interactive Air. Never used these before as I'm a fan of MR Paint. Anyone have any experience of using them?\\ 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBraid Posted January 18, 2020 Author Share Posted January 18, 2020 So, basic paint is now done. My Iwata Eclipse really didn't seem to like AK acrylics, but managed ok on an Iwata Neo, although I couldn't seem to manage to control the paint flow as well as I can with Lacquer for some reason. Guessing that's my fault and not the paints Lots of weathering and shading to do on the metal parts yet so still looking a little bland. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBraid Posted January 18, 2020 Author Share Posted January 18, 2020 And then I realized a small problem. I didn't like the kit decals so bought the Two Bob maximum effort Eagles from Lakenheath. Didn't realize this called for an AN/AAQ-33 Sniper pod which this kit doesn't have. So seems the Hasegawa weapons set number 9 includes one so thats now on order. Fortunately that doesn't stop me from working on the rest of the kit 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBraid Posted January 20, 2020 Author Share Posted January 20, 2020 So forgive the messy work area...... Decals are for Ravage from the Two Bobs set for Lakenheath. Going to add some panel wash to the main panel lines then concentrate on weathering the exhausts. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBraid Posted January 22, 2020 Author Share Posted January 22, 2020 Not sure what has happened with the photo on the engines. Its not red/orangey to the eye. More titanium, silver, black. But anyways. My attempt at recreating the exhausts :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBraid Posted January 22, 2020 Author Share Posted January 22, 2020 And some GBU-12's painted and ready to go.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBraid Posted January 23, 2020 Author Share Posted January 23, 2020 Exhausts now fitted. Bit of a standstill till my Hasegawa weapons sets turn up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sky Keg Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 Hi Chris, I just noticed your build thread here and I instantly became interested. I would like to know how did the front section of the windscreen fit onto and over the instrument panel hood????? I just completed the same kit ( GWH F-15I Ra`am ) and my front windscreen was badly out of alignment. It took me five hours to correct thanks to Perfect Plastic Putty. If you did not have any issues, I am left wondering just exactly went wrong with mine because I never had any issues with fit of the front fuselage section. I also included a picture of my F-15I and you are able to see the misalignment of the windscreen as viewed from the front. Thanks, Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBraid Posted January 24, 2020 Author Share Posted January 24, 2020 (edited) 10 hours ago, Sky Keg said: Hi Chris, I just noticed your build thread here and I instantly became interested. I would like to know how did the front section of the windscreen fit onto and over the instrument panel hood????? I just completed the same kit ( GWH F-15I Ra`am ) and my front windscreen was badly out of alignment. It took me five hours to correct thanks to Perfect Plastic Putty. If you did not have any issues, I am left wondering just exactly went wrong with mine because I never had any issues with fit of the front fuselage section. I also included a picture of my F-15I and you are able to see the misalignment of the windscreen as viewed from the front. Thanks, Mike Hi Mike, Fitting of the canopy was a tight fit. At one stage I thought I hadn't inserted the IP correctly then it kind of just clicked and fitted tight into place and aligned correctly. So my guess would be that the slightest misalignment in the cockpit could cause a problem, facing that I got got lucky more than good judgement. By and large I've found the fit to be excellent on this model. Worst areas for me were the cannon cover. And I must have done something terribly wrong with the exhausts as the seem a very loose fit. Also possible with the uniform dark color of my paintwork, I just haven't spotted the mis alignment yet Love the paintwork you achieved on yours. All the best Chris Edited January 24, 2020 by ChrisBraid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBraid Posted February 7, 2020 Author Share Posted February 7, 2020 And after a short delay. My weapons sets have arrived :D. Hopefully I now have the right pods and GBU for this version Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
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 accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now