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Hasegawa F-15J 'Komatsu Special Markings 2018' 1/72


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I'll be attempting to do justice to this kit, once the build gets underway:

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I really like the look of the Japanese graphics, let's hope the decals work well!

It will be a straight OOB build (seems to have some resin exhaust nozzles), with the addition of some paint masks.

 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

So here's the box contents - rather more parts than I was expecting for a 1/72 fighter, hopefully not everything is needed (I've spotted at least 2 seats and the sprue map does show not everything is used).

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The duplicate spures had managed to interlock themselves in the bag, but I hope I got them apart without any damage!

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The black things are the so called 'high detail nozzles', the instructions seem to suggest they're 3D printed.

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The decal sheet is pretty huge though the markings look much more grey on the sheet compared to the box art (which makes them look slightly blue), I've no idea what the actual colour should be!

I've also got some aftermarket camo and canopy masks.

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Instructions are a fairly standard black and white folded sheet, hopefully nothing too suprising in here.

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Gorgeous looking scheme! 

 

These Hasegawa eagles are really tricky, but rewarding, if you're patient.

 

Just remember to use the stitching technique when assembling the main parts. Glue only small lengths at a time, flexing and bending the pieces to fit, as you go. 

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I made a start... the cockpit has internal side panels and rear and dividing bulkheads making a kind of 5 sides of a box (including the floor), I wasn't overly sure how the pieces needed to align together so as the glue was drying I used the nose section halves as a jig to help ensure everything would fit (seat is just placed in here to help ensure the alignment).

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The main fuselage parts were fixed together, after assembling the intakes, no massive dramas so far, though the instructions have you remove the small part between the exhaust nossles, the kit includes a tiny filler piece but this will later need a hole drilling in it (for some kind of sensor probe I think that sits between the exhaust nossles). I'm not sure if this is common to all these F15J kits or due to the kit supplied nossles?

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The cockpit was painted and assembled. The instructions suggest either sanding off the instruments and using the decals or painting the raised detail. I decided to be lazy and apply the decals over the non-sanded instruments which didn't come out too great but will be passable for my usual standard!

What would be the usual rear seat compartment, the instructions have you paint white with no callout for the quite nice detailed insides, however this will be hidden by the cover plate (I'm going to model it in flight) so I just gave it a quick thin coat of white Vallejo primer with a brush.

Speaking of the cover plate, there is what looks like a gas strut to hold it up (when open) which attaches to a small cross bar, I can't figure out where that crossbar should go (across the top of the front/rear cockpit bulkhead or in the floor of the rear section?)

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The nose section was fitted to the fuselage, this was possibly the worst join so far - annoyingly it only connects on the lower curved segment of the nose section and the very far end of that extension piece on the top (see above image), however that section seemed just a tad too long to allow the lower section to connect, so I had to sand it back somewhat.

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With the nose finally on I added the airbrake, as it was helpful for alignment and may add a tiny bit of structural integrity. before adding the wing sections.

I've also made a start on the drop tanks - I'll be building it as the box art (with two tanks) however the kit includes parts for 4, so I'll build them all up and select the best looking pair.

 

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  • 5 weeks later...

I noticed some nasty sink marks in the side, so these got filled and sanded both sides.

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Pressing on I managed to button up the doors quite easily with just some minor sanding and fettling, though one of the front ones has indented a little further than I'd have liked. I also decided to attach all the wings / stabilisers before paint. It'll make painting, masking and decalling a little harder but I find it preferable to trying to attach them later and the glue ruining my paint, also I wasn't sure just how well the vertical tail planes would meet and if they would need filling (they actually fit very nicely). The drop tank pylons were also fitted for a similar reason, given the tanks have some large decals I wondered about attaching the tanks to the plyons first but hopefully this is going to be the easier way.

 

So onto priming using my current 'dark' mix of Mr Surfacer 1500 Black and Mr Surfacer 1000 Grey in a 3:1 mix, this then thinned 1:1 with self leveling thinners (so 3 black : 1 grey : 4 thinners)

I generally dislike using pure black as it can look a bit harsh, the grey should give better filling and the black is quite hard to get hold of (usually out of stock in the UK when I need it - I ended up ordering from an online store in Poland).

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I always think kits look great in black primer.

 

Firstly I sprayed the darker colour on the upper surfaces that will be masked, I shouldn't have left the soft edges though fading out (as this caused issues later).

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I then added the masking for the radome and wing 'blobs' (not sure you could call it a camo really).

Here it is next to the F5.

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The second colour was then sprayed all over (it's the same colour on the underside too)...

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At this point I decided that the colour variation looked a bit too harsh, also the light feathering of the first coat didn't help, as it left darker regions just near the transitions!

(There's also some nasty 'steps' where I put quite a bit of paint near the masking tape).

To help a bit with the colour changes I put some of the darker colour back in the airbrush and decided to try free-hand around the blobs (filling in the first colour areas near the transition so hopefully I get a bit of bleed to soften the colour change)...

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I think that looks a whole heap better, though the marking maybe somewhat off where they should be now - Though you can clearly see that paint step towards the leading edge of the left wing in the photo above. The blending might not be accurate for the F15J but the colours look better now.

 

The next task was to maskup and paint the exhausts and metallic sections, I'd added some rough masking tape to try and keep as much grey as possible off the primer.

Unfortunately I'd kind of gone a bit overboard with the rough masking and so I'd been left with a few black spots (also the rear stabiliser fell off when removing the masking for the exhaust, but that kind of made my life a little easier for the fixup...

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The metal areas I'd given a quick coat of Mr Color gloss black, then AK Xtreme metal dark aluminium. The exhaust nossles will need painting a different colour but I'll attempt that with a brush and hopefully not too shaky hand.

 

Here's where it's at now, it needs a bit of a gloss coat, then decals next...

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On 8/16/2022 at 10:45 PM, Scargsy said:

 

The cockpit was painted and assembled. The instructions suggest either sanding off the instruments and using the decals or painting the raised detail. I decided to be lazy and apply the decals over the non-sanded instruments which didn't come out too great but will be passable for my usual standard!

What would be the usual rear seat compartment, the instructions have you paint white with no callout for the quite nice detailed insides, however this will be hidden by the cover plate (I'm going to model it in flight) so I just gave it a quick thin coat of white Vallejo primer with a brush.

Speaking of the cover plate, there is what looks like a gas strut to hold it up (when open) which attaches to a small cross bar, I can't figure out where that crossbar should go (across the top of the front/rear cockpit bulkhead or in the floor of the rear section?)

 

 

G'day Scargsy,,

 

The 'gas strut' you mention may actually be a canopy brace  to prevent the canopy closing when undergoing maintenance. You did not mention the part number but on my kit this part is E2 (the canopy actuator is E1) and if you are gluing the canopy closed this part along with E1 can be omitted. Part E7 forms part of the cockpit deck and incorporates the canopy locking mechanism (the twin hooks) which should face upwards - not downwards as the instructions would have you believe,

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

 

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2 hours ago, Pappy said:

 

G'day Scargsy,,

 

The 'gas strut' you mention may actually be a canopy brace  to prevent the canopy closing when undergoing maintenance. You did not mention the part number but on my kit this part is E2 (the canopy actuator is E1) and if you are gluing the canopy closed this part along with E1 can be omitted. Part E7 forms part of the cockpit deck and incorporates the canopy locking mechanism (the twin hooks) which should face upwards - not downwards as the instructions would have you believe,

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

 

Thanks it was part E7 which I wasn't sure where it fitted (at the deck level or in the 'floor' of the recess) as the instructions aren't very clear. In the end I've omitted it, there are a couple of tiny little tabs - one on either side of the main deck lid (E9) which do lock into the canopy clear part so hopefully it should be secure enough!

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1 hour ago, Scargsy said:

Thanks it was part E7 which I wasn't sure where it fitted (at the deck level or in the 'floor' of the recess) as the instructions aren't very clear. In the end I've omitted it, there are a couple of tiny little tabs - one on either side of the main deck lid (E9) which do lock into the canopy clear part so hopefully it should be secure enough!

 

You are welcome,

 

Pappy

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  • 3 weeks later...

A quick gloss coat and it's onto the decals, I decided to start with these rather annoying ones...

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Unfortunately the decals are a bit on the thick side and if I'd had to do the drop tanks again, I'd have probably slice the ends of these off and added them on top. After a bit of decal solvent and even a bit of neat self-leveling thinners it's not too bad.

The rest of the decals weren't too difficult to get on (though I did rip a bit of one of the roundel's on the nose) and being a modern jet, rather too many stencils than I'd like!

I gave it a light coat of gloss clear to seal the decals, then a clay 'dirt wash' / panel lining with some Flory stuff (wipes off once dry and can be re-wetted/wiped away).

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Then a light coat of semi-gloss clear to help seal the 'dirt' and finally a very heavy coat of flat to try and level out the decal steps (all Mr Topcoat rattle-can clears).

I did manage to knock off one of the vertical stabiliser and another horizontal stabiliser along the way!

After removing the masking I seem to have had some weird reaction on the canopy (bizarrely this seems to be on the inside, I've no idea why and what caused it or how to fix it, I did try running some water inside it and swilling around, to see if it would dissolve but to no avail).

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Can the canopy come off? If it’s an acrylic based paint that’s caused the streaks then it might be possible to remove with isopropyl alcohol. It’s such a lovely job you’ve done, might be worth trying?

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On 16/10/2022 at 16:15, Johnson said:

Can the canopy come off? If it’s an acrylic based paint that’s caused the streaks then it might be possible to remove with isopropyl alcohol. It’s such a lovely job you’ve done, might be worth trying?

Unfortunately I glued the back / edges on with a little bit of Tamiya Extra Thin after originally just using some PVA - it would probably make a real mess trying to get it off. I think it's maybe the clear coat (Mr Topcoat aerosol can) which has made its way inside - it is acrylic based, I just can't easily remove it. I'm mainly more interested in what caused it, so I can avoid it in future!

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11 minutes ago, Scargsy said:

Unfortunately I glued the back / edges on with a little bit of Tamiya Extra Thin after originally just using some PVA

If so you can score the edge with the PVA. Then use Tamiya extra thin over the spots glued with it. The new Tamiya will soften the old. Score gently and slowly you should be able to remove the canopy. 

 

14 minutes ago, Scargsy said:

I'm mainly more interested in what caused it, so I can avoid it in future!

Could be there was a pinhole and it bled through ? Could be it came in from the landing gear bay or intakes ? Ive had issues if dust getting in that way before. 

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