SoftScience Posted August 3, 2022 Share Posted August 3, 2022 I've always wanted to build a Desert Storm F-15E. I was in the 6th grade when the conflict broke out, and I had recently become interested in aviation, so I was glued to the news broadcasts about the air raids by strike eagles, aardvarks, tornados, f-117s and others. One the 30 years since, I've never managed to get around to building an F-15E, and so it's time to change that. I'll be using the Hasegawa kit in 1:72. I've built a few Hasegawa F-15A and C kits over the years, so I know what to expect: lots of dodgy with the much dreaded steps at seams. I've developed a bit of a strategy to minimize the steps, and I'll be sharing it here. There may be another, better way to do it. So stop me if you see me about to make a mistake. The first step is to install the intakes. These fit pretty poorly, so I first mount the medial/inner halves and the "ducting" behind them. I've also glued the upper and lower wing halves. The lower half rests inside the upper, so you need to be careful to make sure they don't sit too deeply, or you'll get a really nasty to fix step. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted August 3, 2022 Share Posted August 3, 2022 Welcome along with this one. I was in College at the Gymnasium when it started myself. One of the students ran in and said “its started”. So we kind of just watched tv that night. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted August 3, 2022 Author Share Posted August 3, 2022 8 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: Welcome along with this one. I was in College at the Gymnasium when it started myself. One of the students ran in and said “its started”. So we kind of just watched tv that night. Yeah. I recall the first night, watching with my mom and dad, and my mom crying. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted August 4, 2022 Author Share Posted August 4, 2022 Moving right along, here are the finished intakes. One felt a little narrow so I added a shim between the two halves. Somehow I still had a tiny step between the halves which needed filling and sanding. Something to do between work tasks and the many long meetings I had to sit in on today. The starboard intake, meanwhile, fits like a glove. Just a touch of filler needed at the lip. Last night after posting my pictures I glued together the wings. The fit of these is pretty lame, and there are big sink marks below. I tried to feather in the sink marks with filler, and then prescribed. The rescribe job isn't perfect, but not too many people will be flipping my model over. I glued the wings to the upper fuselage, as it's easier to line them up flush with the top now, rather than when the fuselage halves are together. Something in the lower half of the slot for the spar obstructs the full movement of the piece. One of...no; the only, advantage of having Covid is that I get to work from home and model between tasks and during long meetings. Seriously though, even vaxed and boosted it's still kicking my butt. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted August 4, 2022 Share Posted August 4, 2022 Having had the Vid twice now you have my sympathies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted August 4, 2022 Author Share Posted August 4, 2022 11 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: Having had the Vid twice now you have my sympathies. Oof! Twice? Im not even coughing that much, the worst thing is the fever. I'm on day 2 of that 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted August 4, 2022 Share Posted August 4, 2022 4 hours ago, SoftScience said: Oof! Twice? Im not even coughing that much, the worst thing is the fever. I'm on day 2 of that I hope it runs its course quickly and thats the worse you have is a cough and minor fever. The 1st time was in February of 2020 and almost killed me. I wasn't right for a couple of months. The second time was in June and was mostly a sore throat and some coughing. Ive got 3 of the shots Im holding on a 4th one as they're coming out with a new variation in September for the newer strains. To add my 3rd booster played hell with my diabetes for five months and just started settling down in May. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted August 5, 2022 Author Share Posted August 5, 2022 I'm sorry you had to go through that, Dennis. I'm happy you pulled through, though. Lucky for me, I'm already feeling a lot better, and will be going back to work; albeit from home, tomorrow. Today I got the main body of the eagle put together. It's been some time since I built a Hasegawa F-15, and I had forgotten how frustrating these kits are. Despite all of my fettling and messing, I still needed filler on almost all of the major joints. Next time I build an F-15 in 72nd, I'm going with the Plaatz kit. Life is too short for Hasegawa. But here it is. Most of these seams should not be taken care of. I may need to do some more feathering on the wing/fuselage area. I could have sworn these were lined up near perfect last night! Oh well Also started the cockpit. I never start a model with the cockpit. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theplasticsurgeon Posted August 5, 2022 Share Posted August 5, 2022 On 8/3/2022 at 3:21 AM, SoftScience said: I've always wanted to build a Desert Storm F-15E. I was in the 6th grade when the conflict broke out, and I had recently become interested in aviation, so I was glued to the news broadcasts about the air raids by strike eagles, aardvarks, tornados, f-117s and others. I remember watching breakfast news reports of overnight strikes. Eagles, Phantoms, Tornados, F111s and more. At that time I built the previous tool 1/72 Hasegawa Strike Eagle, and their 1/48 F-4G Wild Weasel - having seen both on TV. I hope you're over the Covid soon. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted August 7, 2022 Author Share Posted August 7, 2022 Activity has slowed down with the coming of the weekend. I'm mostly on the other side of covid now, save for some lingering congestion. That meant full engagement at work on Friday, and engaging other activities on the weekend. I did fit in some bench time, though, and have a mostly completed nose section. The cockpit, at this stage looks uninteresting, and I hope the seats give it some life, when they go in. I feel a little stuck though. The fit of the nose section was fairly poor, and I'll need to do cleanup around all of the antennae on the bottom. Not really relishing this task ahead, and to be honest, I probably would be further along on the build now, if I didn't have this task, and then subsequent mating of the nose to the fuselage staring back up at me. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted August 7, 2022 Share Posted August 7, 2022 Good to hear the “Vid” is waning. I have the same sense of dread sometimes with all the builds I have going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted August 9, 2022 Author Share Posted August 9, 2022 It turns out my concern was unfounded. All but one of the antennae get clipped off for the E eagle, so the seam line here won't be too much to fix. Fit of nose to fuselage wasn't terrific, but I simplified things for myself by not gluing the cockpit tub to the fuselage sides. This allowed me to bend and flex them to match the parts they were attached too. Just a bit of Mr. Surfacer were needed in the end. I also added some smaller details and the bomb racks to the CFTs. Looks like Hasegawa got them right this time. Looking more and more like an eagle, now. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT7567 Posted August 10, 2022 Share Posted August 10, 2022 On 8/8/2022 at 10:45 PM, SoftScience said: I also added some smaller details and the bomb racks to the CFTs. Looks like Hasegawa got them right this time. Just a quick note, I don't believe the Desert Storm veterans would have the small external intake on the CFTs (above & between the center and aft tangential pylons). That was a feature of a later engine mark so most of the fleet (possibly all now) have them, but the early Strikes taken into combat by the 4th TFW did not. It's a small detail and usually hidden in photos, so totally understandable if you prefer to leave it alone. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted August 10, 2022 Author Share Posted August 10, 2022 1 hour ago, CT7567 said: Just a quick note, I don't believe the Desert Storm veterans would have the small external intake on the CFTs (above & between the center and aft tangential pylons). That was a feature of a later engine mark so most of the fleet (possibly all now) have them, but the early Strikes taken into combat by the 4th TFW did not. It's a small detail and usually hidden in photos, so totally understandable if you prefer to leave it alone. Thanks for the heads up!!! I was also wondering about the flat trapezoidal attachment at the centerline. Looks very modern to my eye. Any idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT7567 Posted August 10, 2022 Share Posted August 10, 2022 32 minutes ago, SoftScience said: Thanks for the heads up!!! I was also wondering about the flat trapezoidal attachment at the centerline. Looks very modern to my eye. Any idea? The trapezoidal detail on the belly is, IIRC, the ammunition loading door for the internal gun. I believe this was common on all production Strike Eagles so should be correct for an ODS airframe. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted August 11, 2022 Author Share Posted August 11, 2022 Basic paint laid down today. Offending post-DS intakes removed. Thanks again for the heads up, CT. Still need to paint a few panels around the exhausts in gunship gray. Same goes for the wing pylons and nav pod. Hopefully by then, the decals I ordered, will have arrived. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted August 16, 2022 Author Share Posted August 16, 2022 Avert your eyes from the dazzling array of color! Believe it or not, there are a bunch of decals on there. After three nights, I'm nearly done. I just have to do the other tail and opposite side of the nose. Oh and the weapons and pylons and pods and stuff. Ok, I'm not nearly done. These early Hi-Decal Line sheets aren't the greatest, so I used mostly Hasegawa stencils. Some of HDL markings had edges roll up under themselves and will need a bit of trimming once dry. Sigh. I'm spending more time on decals than I did on the build! 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted August 16, 2022 Share Posted August 16, 2022 True decals can take a good deal of time (especially if you like Japanese jets). However she is definitely looking good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted August 16, 2022 Share Posted August 16, 2022 On 8/9/2022 at 4:45 AM, SoftScience said: It turns out my concern was unfounded. All but one of the antennae get clipped off for the E eagle, so the seam line here won't be too much to fix. And even if all the antennae would stay there: clip them off, fix seam line, glue them back on (or make plasticard replacement and glue those on). I like your work by the way 👍🏽 Sam 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted August 19, 2022 Share Posted August 19, 2022 What’s that decaling solution in the top left?? Looks like it was most effective! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Ballman Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 Bringing back some memories, good and bad with this kit, nice work, thanks for sharing this. JB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted August 21, 2022 Author Share Posted August 21, 2022 Really disappointed, but the decals turned a weird white frosty color after I applied a clear coat. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfa1983 Posted August 21, 2022 Share Posted August 21, 2022 Oh man that really sucks, because it was looking very very tidy. Was it gloss or matt? Maybe try a gloss coat again if it was a matt coat. It might bring it back then try satin or a different matt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted August 21, 2022 Share Posted August 21, 2022 Oh I hate when that happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted August 21, 2022 Author Share Posted August 21, 2022 Oh good. I guess I'm glad it's not just me. Let me back up a few steps. The frosting only appeared on decals that i added setting solution to. That meant most of the HDL decals and a few of hsegawas stencils too. Now typically when I use Mr. Mark Softer, i have no weird reactions, but this time I listened to a guy who was swearing up and down about how Hasegawa decals need to go down over Future/Clear because they sink into it and don't look so thick. THIS IS A BUNCH OF HORSE $h!+ !!! Not only did the thick Hasegawa decals NOT sink into the Future, but the solvents in Mr. Mark Softer caused it the future to turn white. Well Mr. Smart Floor Wax Ding Dong then swore that applying a second gloss coat would hide the frost. Who is the bigger fool? Him for telling me these things, or me for listening to him even after I got burned? Learn from my mistake. Keep your floor wax on your floors and off your models. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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