1/48 Hasegawa F-15C Eagle WIP

Tojo72

Great progress on an old classic,love all the extras.

Here's an update if anybody's interested. Since I glued the upper wing halves to the upper fuselage first I think I created a slight gull wing effect...or maybe the fuselage part was a little warped. So what I did was I bend the fuselage so that the wings were level (using the trailing edges as the guide) and glued in this styrene strip to hold the bend. It worked really well:

There were some gaps between the lower parts of the wings and the fuselage that I used Mr Dissolved Putty to fill. Then I used 90% alcohol to wipe the excess Mr Putty away:

I also had to do a little filling around where the intakes joined the upper fuselage. Nothing too bad, though:

Here's a small update:

I don't know if I dropped the part or if it came out of the box broken but the tip of one of the wing pylons was broken off:

So I sanded the break flat and attached a carved piece of sprue to the tip:

Then I sanded the tip to shape:

I've installed the cockpit to the forward fuselage and attached the forward fuselage to the main fuselage.  I've also attached the vertical stabs and the ailerons:

Here's the underside.  I think I did a descent job with the seam where the fuselage meets the nose section:

Heres the view from the top.  Notice I cut out the vents behind the electronics bay.  There is a PE part the will go over this (the tape is sort of acting like a clamp so that the sides of the nose section stay correct while the glue dries):

Here's a view of the work so far.  Notice that the PE part is attached behind the electronics bay.  All of the panel lines on the wings that were sanded off have been re scribed.  Also, the seam between the nose and the main fuselage has been cleaned up and re scribed:

And the bottom.  Here you can see the gaps that were filled and cleaned up between the wings and fuselage.  Also, the seams where the intakes joined the fuselage have been cleaned up and re scribed as well:

Here are some shots of where the vertical stabs attach to the fuselage.  I used Mr Surfacer to fill the gap and then wiped the excess away with alcohol:

Here's the gun muzzle.  This seam was a little tricky.  Since it is recessed it was hard to get to without damaging the muzzle shape.  I used a round jewelers file to get in there and clean it up:

I tried to get some pics of the cockpit in better light.  I'm really happy with how this 'pit turned out:

Very nice Fly. Lots of small, tedious seams there. Looks like you got them under control. Those pylons look pretty nice for this old kit. I wish the one's in their Phantoms were that nice. I'm really diggin that cockpit too. Nice work in the avionics bay. I always thought that green/blue tint looks like Japanese WW II Aotake.

Nathan T

Very nice Fly. Lots of small, tedious seams there. Looks like you got them under control. Those pylons look pretty nice for this old kit. I wish the one's in their Phantoms were that nice. I'm really diggin that cockpit too. Nice work in the avionics bay. I always thought that green/blue tint looks like Japanese WW II Aotake.

Thanks Nathan!  

About the pylons...yeah, they do have good details.  But the problem is that the anti sway braces are those cube blocks that you set into the pylons like on their F-4 kits.  I think you know what I'm talking about, right?  Well I don't know if its old molds or bad molds but a few of the blocks really didn't fit.  They are a little bit of a PITA to sand down because they are too small to get a good hold of.  I managed to get them to fit right but there's going to be some filling.

I don't know why Hasegawa thought this was a good idea. 

Oh yeah I know. The sway braces themselves need to be sourced from the Hase weapons sets, as they aren't in the phantom kits. And they don't fit, and its an odd place to fill and sand. I like the True details resin pylons because of that...and other reasons...

That's cheap!  I didn't know that the Hase F-4 kits didn't have the parts.  That bugs me.

 Your work on this plane is really fun to watch,  and I love the pit color.  I know some of the smaller steps you have posted are a pita to document, but thank you for doing so.  I have picked up some tips that will help with other builds.                  knox

knox

 Your work on this plane is really fun to watch,  and I love the pit color.  I know some of the smaller steps you have posted are a pita to document, but thank you for doing so.  I have picked up some tips that will help with other builds.                  knox

Glad to hear that you are enjoying this one. It doesn't seem like there's too much interest in this one so I was beginning to wonder if I should take it easy on the posts.

I'm getting close to starting the painting process on this one so the updates should get more interesting.

Alrighty...

After inserting the Aires cockpit and test fitting the windshield I discovered that the cockpit is just a bit too wide.  As a result it widened the space around the instrument panel glare shield.   So now the windshield doesn't line up with the framing:

So I decided to cut a piece of sprue to push out the sides of the windshield to make it match the framing:

Then I attached the windshield to some masking tape and used a hair dryer on high heat to soften it into the correct shape:

This worked very well.  I took it really easy on the part being careful not to warp it or damage it.

Beautiful solution.  Damn cunning of you Flyinhigh! You keep this looking so clean.  I'm envious of everyone on here that put out such clean builds when it comes to the canopy section.  If it doesn't just fall together for me...there's no guarantee that I won't screw it up once or twice.

That cockpit is just.............WOW !! I really like what you've done here. Looking forward to see how it looks finished. Nice work. 

I like the picture of the pit from that angle, and a tip worthy of FSM magazine. Mercy!                  knox

bvallot

Beautiful solution.  Damn cunning of you Flyinhigh! You keep this looking so clean.  I'm envious of everyone on here that put out such clean builds when it comes to the canopy section.  If it doesn't just fall together for me...there's no guarantee that I won't screw it up once or twice.

BrandonK

That cockpit is just.............WOW !! I really like what you've done here. Looking forward to see how it looks finished. Nice work. 

knox

I like the picture of the pit from that angle, and a tip worthy of FSM magazine. Mercy!                  knox

This one is really coming along nicely.  Thanks for sharing the idea on the canopy, I'm sure I'll need it at some point.  I can't wait to see what you do with the paint job!

Groot

RobGroot4

This one is really coming along nicely.  Thanks for sharing the idea on the canopy, I'm sure I'll need it at some point.  I can't wait to see what you do with the paint job!

Groot

I'm looking forward to the painting, too.  Should be soon.  All I need to do now is paint the rest of the 'pit and attach the HUD & windshield.  Then I just have to mask off some stuff and I'll be good to go.

The attention to detail is amazing, everything looks perfect.  Great job!

Toshi

Toshi

The attention to detail is amazing, everything looks perfect.  Great job!

Toshi

Here's where I'm at with the landing gear:

I didn't really like the kit's wheels because I thought they looked very bland.  I also do not like the True Details resin wheels I bought.  They are way too flat (under inflated).  So I ripped off the wheels from a Tamiya F-15C that I built several years ago when I was getting back into the hobby.  They are a bit fat but they have great detail.  

I also cut off the attachment pegs on the landing gear struts from that Tamiya kit and grafted them onto the struts so that the Tamiya wheels would have a solid connection to the Hasegawa struts.

I've painted and weathered the tires and wheels.  I've weathered the parts of the tires that roll on the ground but the camera flash pretty much drowns out the difference:

Here are the struts so far.  I've added the hydraulic lines just like I did on the Revell F-15E.  Also, warning:  I had to modify the strut parts a little to make sure that they fit solidly into the wheel well.  The part of the strut that extends out forward (the down lock?) needs to be filed down just a bit and attached at an angle that is not clearly explained in the instructions.  The point on the main strut where the down lock arm attaches isn't at the correct angle, either.

The detail is very bland here, as well.  Not nearly as nice as the Tamiya kit:

I've also attached the main gear doors.  These are normally closed on the ground. They fit really well but I did need to do just a little bit of sanding and there were a few small gaps that I used Mr Surfacer to fill in:

Coming along beautifully so far!

Cracking work so far mate and great job reforming the windscreen with the cut sprue and hairdryer, worked a gem! I look forward to watching this big baby come to fruition!

Cheers,

Martin : )

Here is a shot of a couple scratch built featherless cans I built many years ago.  Used an old Scale Craft F-4 afterburner can for the inner section.   I think about 160+ pieces went into each one.

Jim Barton

Coming along beautifully so far!

Thanks Jim!  Always nice to hear!

UKguyInUSA

Cracking work so far mate and great job reforming the windscreen with the cut sprue and hairdryer, worked a gem! I look forward to watching this big baby come to fruition!

Cheers,

Martin : )

Mel, looks good

 Wiring to the lights!  That is the detail that you often don't see in a picture of a completed build.  Nice.                     knox

Fly-n-hi

It doesn't seem like there's too much interest in this one so I was beginning to wonder if I should take it easy on the posts.

Oh no, please keep posting! Really enjoying watching this. Cockpit looks great and you should be happy with it. Great solution on the poorly fitting canopy. Bravo.

Also, looking at the detail in those wheels, I had to look at the thread title again to convince myself this is 1/48. Your wheels look so good I thought they were 1/32nd.

Just had a look through this thread and that's some really nice work there. the cockpit looks excellent and I like what you did with those computers. Those wheels look really nice as well.

knox

 Wiring to the lights!  That is the detail that you often don't see in a picture of a completed build.  Nice.                     knox

Greg

Oh no, please keep posting! Really enjoying watching this. Cockpit looks great and you should be happy with it. Great solution on the poorly fitting canopy. Bravo. 

Also, looking at the detail in those wheels, I had to look at the thread title again to convince myself this is 1/48. Your wheels look so good I thought they were 1/32nd.

Bish

Just had a look through this thread and that's some really nice work there. the cockpit looks excellent and I like what you did with those computers. Those wheels look really nice as well.