Stephen Pryke Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 (edited) Hello all! Up next is my all time fave aircraft - the F-15E. For this build, I`ll be doing a Lakenheath `mudhen` with nose art worn during operations against isis targets circa 2018. I will also build groundcrew, equipment & an R-11 fuel tanker to place around it. Edited September 1, 2020 by Stephen Pryke more pics added 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 Nice project and good ingredients! Who makes the respective decals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christer A Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 This looks very interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 Mr. Pryke, This is going to be SO interesting to follow and watch . Great choice for a build. 👏 it will be SO awesome to see it in this scale. good luck with it all. you can do this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Pryke Posted September 28, 2020 Author Share Posted September 28, 2020 On 01/09/2020 at 19:38, exdraken said: Nice project and good ingredients! Who makes the respective decals? I`ve been given only the nose art decals by a friend as he`s used the ``Gears of War`` decals for his, so he won`t use the Chuck Norris one. They are from the 48-265 F-15E Maximum Effort Eagles decal sheet by Two Bobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Pryke Posted September 28, 2020 Author Share Posted September 28, 2020 (edited) Hello All Sorry for the lack of activity but my 90yr old mum had a stroke & everything's been a bit hectic with the pandemic making things worse (no visiting at hospital for starters.) Things are a lot better now she`s at home with carers in place so I`ve had time to get started. So as always with aircraft, first port of call is the cockpit. As mentioned, I`m going with the Avionix tub which isn`t quite as detailed as the Aires (Aires have separate strapping whereas the Avionix is all moulded), but is far superior to the Revell kit parts, which in fairness aren`t too bad, especially if you`re going to display canopy down. I have a high res video of the finished tub which I was very pleased with, only to find I can`t post video here! Luckily I took a few pics at the bench. I decided to work on the tub first, then do the seats separately. After the usual cutting, fitting, sanding, re-fitting & re-sanding one has to do to get a resin tub to fit, it was ready for priming. By the time it fitted good, the bottom of the rear seat was almost visible when put in place - the resin was so thin! BE CAREFUL WHEN SANDING TO FIT. Only make small adjustments at a time & constantly check fit. The tub, 2x control panels & seats were washed, left to dry, then primed with Vallejo black. Grey paints were from the Vallejo Air Wars series. The fuselage main colour is a dark grey (FS36118 AV71097) so I selected a lighter grey from the set to add contrast. Not sure which one I went with in the end but I think it was FS36375 (AV70615). As long as it`s a standard grey & much lighter than the 36118, it`ll look fine! Details painted with Tamiya flat acrylics & a toothpick. Mainly white for switches, with a few red. Communication cords are NATO green. Panels painted grey, screens with NATO green then a drop of Klear on top to give a slight shine to make them look like `dead` glass screens. On to the seats - Taking a breather ha ha ha!!!! Ready for assembly. About this point I discovered that the wheel well has to be glued to the bottom of the cockpit tub so that it fits along the opening at the bottom of the front fuselage so I assembled that as it was also part of the Avionix set & would need to be assembled & fitted in the same way as the tub as they were all resin. Like the kit, there`s a door/strut part that leaves a part sticking out from the well. Easier to cut it off & glue it in place later when the main paintings done. Also, as you have to file down the resin under the seats, I found it easier to omit parts 20 as they won`t be seen & simply file down the resin under the seats until they fit perfectly then simply glue into position. Much easier & quicker I found! Tamiya x2 flat white. Wash added. Looks nice & busy - just how I wanted it! NB: I noticed this 2nd makers stamp on the OUTSIDE of the kit. Along with the massive seam along the centre of the canopy, it will HAVE to come off! You will need good scalpel blades & a lot of filler for this kit! There`s a lot of flash, seams to remove, clean up, etc......look at those edges Edited September 28, 2020 by Stephen Pryke Tip about seats added 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano353 Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 I'll be interested to see how this comes along I have the same kit myself and I've only ever heard positive things about it, I've a different kit on the work bench but this is a good looking kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 Where's the kitchen sink? The cockpit and seats look splendid. I also have one of these somewhere so i'll be looking for tips. John PS glad to hear that your Mum is improving Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Pryke Posted September 30, 2020 Author Share Posted September 30, 2020 (edited) On 28/09/2020 at 14:16, Deano353 said: I'll be interested to see how this comes along I have the same kit myself and I've only ever heard positive things about it, I've a different kit on the work bench but this is a good looking kit. I heard only good things about this kit myself but I think folk are referring to the finished model! I`ve had a proper look, dry fitted some parts & whether it`s just mine or not, it`s a dog! The thick raised seam on the canopy & the makers stamp on the outside can`t be limited to just my kit can it? The intakes assembly is a fiddly nightmare. Seam lines on almost all parts & a lot of rough flash along main edges. It`s going to take time just to get a part ready for assembly. Edited September 30, 2020 by Stephen Pryke 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Pryke Posted September 30, 2020 Author Share Posted September 30, 2020 On 28/09/2020 at 16:31, Biggles87 said: Where's the kitchen sink? The cockpit and seats look splendid. I also have one of these somewhere so i'll be looking for tips. John PS glad to hear that your Mum is improving Thank you for your kind words. 1st tip - get a brand new scalpel blade & remove the makers stamp on the outside of the kit as well as the large seam along the canopy! I have noticed same issue with my Revell F/A18F Superhornet. I hope this isn`t a Revell standard thing as I have a few other Revell kits in 1:48. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Pryke Posted October 8, 2020 Author Share Posted October 8, 2020 Hello all back again with more progress. Note to self: remember to take pics before moving to next stage. Anyhow I managed to get the resin tub/wheel bay into the nose section but gluing the nose section onto the rest of the fuselage turned into a freakin nightmare. When I mated up a good join at the top, there was a gap at the bottom & vise-versa, causing the nose section to move and not stay in position for the glue to hold. I had to make several attempts using superglue before it finally stayed in place & pointing straight ahead. I left a gap at the bottom to work on, rather than top as it would be less visible when finished. Same thing again with the intake assembly. Parts just wouldn`t stay in place with poly, so had to re-glue using superglue, which resulted in some seepage & finger-marks where the glue had run under my finger where I`d been holding everything together. When I`d finally finished the main assembly of the fuselage & looked at the fudged gluing etc, after all the work I`d put into the cockpit, I almost threw it against the wall!!!! (hence the lack of pics) Anyway, after walking away from it for a while, I came back & spent 3 (yes THREE) days filling & sanding all the gaps & seams best I could. Once a few coats of primer were finally applied, the bad joins seemed to disappear & it suddenly looked like a half decent Eagle. I was so relieved a tear formed in my eye & my mojo was returned. I cut the flaps off so I could re-attach them drooping like a parked Eagle. As Eric Morecambe would say `` You can`t see the join!`` Very pleased with that. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Pryke Posted October 8, 2020 Author Share Posted October 8, 2020 While waiting for the primer to cure, I started on the ground equipment. The Hasegawa fire extinguisher in the groundcrew box is outdated and the wrong type anyway so I had to make a few changes to make it look like a halon extinguisher. The Hasegawa one: I have to go from this.... to this...... My target: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Pryke Posted October 8, 2020 Author Share Posted October 8, 2020 So.......here we go....... Firstly, the rectangular box section has to go. The cylinder is too small but will have to do. My scratchbuilding skills are practically zero ha ha ha. This is how I made this - it is NOT a tutorial LOL! That`s pretty much that. I will use Mote Green (paint from Games Workshop. I think that`s how you spell Mote), for the overall green. Wheels/tyres need painting & then attaching. Electrical wire needs to be painted black (I don`t have any black wire!) & wrapped round the staple. One end glued into the drilled out hole on top of the tank. Should look the part. YEAH! A hazard decal to the back should complete the look. yeah, happy with that. While I had the Mote Green out, I watered some down with Klear & applied a VERY thin coat to the hud glass. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 Nice work on the fire extinguisher. I never really understood the Hasegawa design. I took the tank off & made a new one from spare spruce & wire. looking forward to seeing the trailer & tanker. Still want to get that Skunkworks kit 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 EXEMPLARY work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Pryke Posted October 21, 2020 Author Share Posted October 21, 2020 On 13/10/2020 at 14:35, HOUSTON said: EXEMPLARY work. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Pryke Posted October 21, 2020 Author Share Posted October 21, 2020 Hello all! So, back again. I`ve been busy with several things going all at the same time & as I went from one thing to another, I forgot to take pics. SORRY. I made a start with pre-shading the Eagle, then began on the tool box, flight line trailer, starter & generator. Going from one thing to the other & dealing with problems (I`ll come to that later) it was easy to forget to take pics along the way. Anyhow, here`s more pics............ Pre-shading. 1st I painted the airbrake area white as per Revells call out. MISTAKE!!!! I`ve since discovered this area is painted with same grey as outer fuselage so this step is unnecessary. TBH I did such a good job with the white, I simply couldn`t bring myself to paint over it ha ha! then I built up the resin kits: Toolbox (sorry no build pics!) Generator & starter (again no build pics) Flight line Trailer: The main part was 1 big piece of resin! Assembly was simply attaching the axles, wheels etc to the bottom. Once done, (didn`t take too long as using superglue for resin is much faster than plastic/poly), it was primer time. Once cured it looked spot on so I applied a similar light grey coat over everything then painted the tyres using Tamiya NATO black. After gloss varnish was dried I began the decal process but these disintegrated....had to carry on without them. Disappointing. I`ll paint the figures last as I`m c!"p at figure painting & those 3 grey camo uniforms they wear look HARD to replicate! Now to start applying the main paint & make this start looking like an F-15E......This is what I`ve been waiting for..... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 You have a very impressive build going there. I'm especially impressed with the cockpit and seats. Given the great work you've done with the additional ground equipment and on the airplane itself, this should be a magnificent diorama! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdriaN (MLT) Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 fantastic Strike Eagle! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 No ifs, ands or buts about it. That's beautiful work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Pryke Posted October 22, 2020 Author Share Posted October 22, 2020 building up the FS36118 (in my case Vallejo AV71097). Although you can use Vallejo model air neat, I added a few drops of distilled water to thin it down to help spray the coats thinly. This helps the black shading along the panel lines to fade slower between coats & avoid fading too much or disappearing altogether. I left the nose blank because as radomes weather differently to the rest of the airframe (radar?) I wanted to paint it separately with a lighter shade of 36118 when the rest was done. Although it looked ok at this point, when it had fully dried, it looked much lighter & I felt there was far too much contrast, so I`ve had to paint over it. also getting the aluminium/steel areas done top & bottom. Starting to look recognisable as a strike eagle now so I must be on the right lines lol! not forgetting the sway braces........ which I didn`t dry fit & discovered they needed filing to fit right before assembly - very fiddly! once they fitted, it was easy to put each in place, adding a little Tamiya Thin to keep them in place permanently. My advice? File each to fit, paint, then attach. The joy of hindsight eh? Also I noticed this strange option in the instructions: door up OR down even though the wheel strut is out. The model is clearly intended to be displayed `` on the ground`` so what`s going on here? After asking on a few F-15 sites, I have the answer: the door opens/closes to allow the strut to clear the airframe so it`s shut almost all the time apart from when the strut enters/leaves the wheel well. It`s usually opened & left down by crew during maintenance. Although I`ll have some groundcrew in my dio, most pics depict the door closed, so mine will be too. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Pryke Posted November 9, 2020 Author Share Posted November 9, 2020 Engines: The accentuators were VERY fiddly. Take your time & be very careful with these as you only get 2 spares. All the engine/nozzle parts were sprayed with AK Extreme Metal steel, then given a light over spray with jet exhaust (a shade of black.) I added charcoal dust to the nozzles & fans then fitted the PE part onto the fan. Then the fan part was glued to the bottom of the engine tube. WOW what a difference that makes!!! Nozzles glued on next Then finally the rods. Gave the insides of the nozzles a rub with a paintbrush dipped in white charcoal powder to lighten them up a bit & provide some contrast to the outer nozzles. I think I`ve cut them too short as they're not long enough to reach across from the outer to the inner surface, although I don`t have anything left behind on the resin sprue. Maybe they`re made too short? As I said, it`s probably my mistake. No matter. They`ll have to lie alongside the nozzle. Some dark wash will help add some depth. That`ll do pig, that`ll do.............. They`ll look great when they`re finally in place. I`m very happy with them & that`s what matters eh? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 Excellent work on the nozzles and actuators, the interior colours look just right. John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Pryke Posted January 15, 2021 Author Share Posted January 15, 2021 Hello all, Sorry for the long delay updating. Personal things going on behind the scenes etc etc. Anyway, a lot of progress since last time. The F-15 is FINISHED now. I have also finished the R-11 refueler too! I will simply continue the build updates here as before for anyone still following the progress. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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