1/48 Revell F-15E Progress Thread

Plastic, that's exactly why its new to me.  I typically build modern jet fighters so there isn't much chipping going on.  If I build any WWII stuff then I will definitely use this technique more often.  

And yes, I've got a few WWII subjects in the stash...

I've painted on the little details around the plane.  I've hand brushed them all using Citadel paints.  These paints hand brush incredibly well.  

Here are the chaff & flare dispensers. I've looked at several photos of real F-15Es and it seems like thee is no particular standard configuration so I'm just going to paint mine randomly.  I've painted most of the ports grey and others will be red. The ports that will be red are getting a white under coat:

In the pic below you can see that I've painted the wheel wells:

Here are the paints:

Here are the muzzle port and the vent behind the cockpit.  You can also see that I painted the areas next to the anti collision lights. These are the only spots on the plane that have been painted Gunship Grey straight out of the bottle:

Looking good!  Keep up the good work!

Fly- I would never have thought to add a salt-chip to that already great paint job, but doing so has taken it to a whole 'nother level of awesome.   I really like what you're doing on this kit.

T3ch & Dre, thanks!  Yeah, the salt weathering added just enough unevenness in the paint to give it a good deteriorated look.

Here's a small update.  This is the resin SNIPER pod painted and almost ready to go:

I painted the clear part with some Alclad II Transparent Smoke just to give it some scale depth:

The clear part leaves a very slight gap at the rear of the joint so I'll have to deal with that.  Actually, I'm thinking about getting the Shull24 resin SNIPER pod and using that instead.

Hey guys,  I've got another update...

After the salt weathering I did another light post shade to bring back a little of the fading that was lost.  At this point I have 9 layers of paint on this thing!  In the pic below (which is out of focus...sorry) you can see a little of the detail on the nose.  I also went over the windshield seam to fill it in and repainted it so that it is more seamless now:

This pic (also out of focus) shows some of the detail painting.  I saw a pic of an F-15E with a lighter panel at the beginning of the engine humps so I added it to mine.  You can also see that the rudder on the left vertical stabilizer is painted a lighter color as if it is a replacement part:

You're really taking your time with this and it shows, you're gonna have a great looking Eagle when done.

Really fantastic work,lots of attention to details pays off

Really nice work on this, looking great.

Dean, Tojo and Bish,  thanks!

Ok, she's all glossed up and ready for decals!  I decided to use Future as a glosscoat for this build.  On my last build I used Liquitex Acryilc Gloss Varnish and it turned out great but I had a little bit lift with some masking tape.  Since I still have to mask the metal part of the exhaust I decided to use Future just to be safe.  I brushed it on with a large flat brush:

In the pic below you can see that I changed the chaff/flare configuration.  Having three red panels drew too much attention I thought.  Plus, many of the pics I saw had black panels mixed in with the grey and red panels:

Here's a good view of some of the painted detail on the vertical stabs:

I used "The Detailer" to wash the vents:

She's shaping up nicely. I also brush on the Future instead of air brushing it, works great.

Is a frog waterproof???? HECK YAH, let's see it.

Patrick

Thanks guys!

I've decaled and flat coated the weapons.  I've also added my own clear seeker heads for the GBUs and painted them clear yellow:

Great looking weapons!

I agree, those are great looking weapons.  What did you make the seeker heads out of?  

T3ch & Dre, thanks!

I've added a filter to the bombs to make them look more weathered and used.  I think they turned out pretty good but I'm curious if you guys think it looks good.  Tell me what you think:

Here's a good update.  I've masked off and painted the bare metal areas at the rear of the fuselage.  I painted the areas Alclad II Gloss Black then applied Stainless Steel.  It turned out great!  

I sealed that with Alclad II Aqua Gloss and then highlighted the panel lines with a very thinned out layer of Alclad II Jet Exhaust.  The Aqua Gloss did not diminish the high shine of the Stainless Steel at all!  I'm afraid I may have gone a little heavy on the panel line shading, though.  The camera's flash really hides it so its hard to see in these pics but with the naked eye its quite a bit darker:

I also laid down some thin strips of tape and tried to recreate the burnt skin around the (APU?) vent:

Looks brilliant! I never heard of a sealer from Alclad either so I will be definitely getting some.

Very nice work. Bombs look right on, very realistic. Excellent metallizer work too.

Ordnance is always tough when it comes to weathering because generally the weapons sit in a fairly sterile magazine until needed, away from the weather.  Then they tend to sometimes get messy handprints all over them during loading so the weathering is very light, or very dark in small patches.  I think you nailed the subtle effect perfectly.  I also love the seeker lenses on the GBUs, you'll have to tell us how you did it!

Groot

Dean30

Looks brilliant! I never heard of a sealer from Alclad either so I will be definitely getting some.

Nathan T

Very nice work. Bombs look right on, very realistic. Excellent metallizer work too.

RobGroot4

Ordnance is always tough when it comes to weathering because generally the weapons sit in a fairly sterile magazine until needed, away from the weather.  Then they tend to sometimes get messy handprints all over them during loading so the weathering is very light, or very dark in small patches.  I think you nailed the subtle effect perfectly.  I also love the seeker lenses on the GBUs, you'll have to tell us how you did it!

Groot

As for the seeker heads;  I just cut off the tips, placed a drop of clear drying glue to the end, let it dry (hanging nose down) and brushed some Tamiya Clear Yellow onto the lens.  It was a very simple process.

Ok, here's a very pic heavy update.  

I have advanced a few steps but I forgot (again) to take pics off all the steps...sorry.  What I have done is applied an oil wash to the panel lines, applied the decals, faded the decals with a very thin mix of faded Gunship Grey, added the antennas and GPS blister and added the anti sway braces.  

The weird shiny stuff on the metal part is liquid mask to keep the next flat coat off.

I should mention that the camera flash really brings out the graininess of the paint over the decals especially on the tail.  It looks way better to the naked eye.  

The light grey round spot on the fuselage behind the gun vent is the GPS antenna.

Most of the oil wash ended up being wiped off of the model.  I might have too many layers of paint that may have filled the lines a bit too much.  At first this bugged me but now I think I like the random look of the dirty spots.

The decals went on very well.  There were only a few silvered areas and they were easy to deal with.

The gloss coat did drown out the paint fading a little but thats ok.  I'll be adding some more after this step anyway.

So after the gloss coat, oil wash and decal fading I think I'm up to 12 layers.  I don't know for sure now...I've lost count!

This just gets better and better!   Nice tip on weathering the ordnance, BTW.   That's definitely something I overlook, but not any more.

I agree with Dre, it just keeps getting better!  Outstanding work!  Thanks again for taking the time to post these great pics!

Eagle90

Fly-n-hi this is a great WIP.  I've been following it for a while now.  I've definitely concluded that I'll just have to throw a jet in the build list every so often.  Lots of useful tips here as well and plenty to think about.  I usually don't jump into a thread unless I have something useful to add or something to ask. This time it's something to ask. =]

What kind of filter did you use on the ordinance.  I'm thinking about trying one out on a dark green and dark earth camo scheme for the AVG P-40.  In the past, I've done all the subtle variations with an airbrush.  This time I wanted to try something different.  What color filter would you figure would work best on this scheme?  Maybe even just the green?

Dre & Eagle, as always I appreciate the kind comments!

bvallot

Fly-n-hi this is a great WIP.  I've been following it for a while now.  I've definitely concluded that I'll just have to throw a jet in the build list every so often.  Lots of useful tips here as well and plenty to think about.  I usually don't jump into a thread unless I have something useful to add or something to ask. This time it's something to ask. =]

What kind of filter did you use on the ordinance.  I'm thinking about trying one out on a dark green and dark earth camo scheme for the AVG P-40.  In the past, I've done all the subtle variations with an airbrush.  This time I wanted to try something different.  What color filter would you figure would work best on this scheme?  Maybe even just the green?

As far as the P-40 goes, I'm not sure what colors would be best.  It sort of depends on how much weathering you've applied with the airbrush I believe.  Obviously, you'll want to use some greens that are lighter and/or darker than the OD and some browns that are lighter and/or darker than the tan color for panel shading and variation.  You can also use a dirty color to spot filter the entire plane...or at least the areas of the plane that get the dirtiest such as the areas that get stepped on alot.

In any event I would probably use the AB to apply some pre/post shading and use some oil paint for filters.  Stay tuned to this thread because I'm planning on adding a few oil filters.  I've also been playing around with the Tamiya Weathering Master sets and they seem very promising.

This has been a great thread to follow/.  Your skills are very obvious.  Thanks again

Wirraway, thank you!

Ok, I've applied a flat coat.  I airbrushed a 50/50 mixture of Liquitex Matte and Semi Matte.  It ended up being very matte, though.  Not really what I wanted but I think it will be ok since I'm going to apply some oil filters and a flat surface is better for that.

You can see that the Alclad II high shine paint on the metal areas has held up very well even after being masked.

And here's a "hold your breath" moment...removing the mask from the clear parts:

There was a little bit of a ragged edge on the windshield but nothing I can't fix.  I've also added the coaming part that separates the front cockpit from the rear.

The bombs look outstanding!....like the rest of your project!  

That's getting better and better! It's inspiring me to build my Tornado a bit faster lol.