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Hasegawa 1/72 F-15C x3: The Seekers - WIP

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  • Member since
    January 2016
Hasegawa 1/72 F-15C x3: The Seekers - WIP
Posted by suomi39 on Thursday, August 15, 2024 2:18 PM

As a child of the 80s, I lived and breathed Transformers for the first decade or so of my life. The show was in constant syndication and my butt was glued to the carpet daily, watching the silly antics and poor animation of what was quite literally a half-hour toy commercial. Of course I had the toys, too, or at least a few of them -- the $10-12 that the bigger ones cost at the time was a lot for our household. 

Nearly forty years later, that old show (and movie) sticks with me, in a wholesome nostalgic way, and to indulge it a little, I decided last year to build up a Monogram 1/48 F-15 and paint it up like Starscream. I quickly decided that the pain of building that old kit, plus its ginormous completed display size, wasn't worth it, and it got shelved for a long time.

When I revisited it recently, I decided that a 1/72 scale version of the project was the more prudent choice, and a quick search found that these old Hasegawa C-model kits can be had for around $15 a pop, and the idea of a tryptich display lodged itself in my head. 

In the original 1984 Transformers show, the "Seekers" were these flying Decepticons of various colors, many of whom were nameless cannon fodder. But three were actual characters, with Starscream in red, white, and blue, being the duplicitous and cunning, if deeply cowardly, leader; Thundercracker in blue, ever thoughtful and supremely confident; and lastly Skywarp, in purple and black, who was able to teleport around the battlefield but was a few electrons short in the intelligence department. These guys were mainstays of the show through the 1986 theatrical movie, in which they were mercilessley killed off, along with most of my childhood favorites. 

Just in case anyone wants a much deeper dive into the lore and real-life story of the Seekers:

Now, this isn't exactly an original idea. There's this really nicely executed Starscream, done up from a different boxing of this same kit, which will make for excellent inspiration. But I've not seen a display with all three of the original "Seekers" in it. 

I'm really looking forward to building these kits up rather slapdash, not worrying about missing details or fiddly PE sets, and eventually getting to play with these bold, bright colors.

A quick peek at the plastic here. It's quite glossy, so a good washing and a quality primer will be important. For a 1974 tooling (how can that be right?!), the detail is quite nice! The panel lines are raised, but very fine, and there doesn't seem to be any major warpage of the larger panels. There is some flash, but nothing not scrape-able with the back of an Xacto. 

You guys know me: expect slow updates. Thanks for checking in. 

  • Member since
    January 2016
Posted by suomi39 on Monday, August 19, 2024 6:31 PM

Got a pretty fair start on kit no. 1 over the weekend, even with a trip up north to the cabin. Not needing to paint in subassemblies means I can bring my work with me Big Smile

A lesson I learned working on a Warhammer 40K army is that batch construction is great -- very efficient -- but it pays to always build at least ONE on its own first. If (WHEN) you make an error in construction or fitting on step 3 that doesn't rear its ugly head until step 10, you haven't made that error multiple times. 

Thus I'm building one F-15 start to finish before starting on kits 2 and 3. 

Construction wise, you can see from the instruction "book" that it's pretty simple, with joints at the fighter-jet-common, and problematic, locations.

The cockit, consisting of a whopping 3 parts, doesn't offer much detail. Luckily I will be building it closed with a heavily tinted canopy so I'm not going to worry about it a bit.

Why do all these companies insist upon modeling the speed brakes open, and in such a way that they don’t fit worth a darn closed? I'll have to come up with something better for kits 2 & 3 than this too-deep fit. 

The nosecone fits... okay. Nothing some sanding and filling can't fix. 

Luckily, the rest of the assembly went rather smooth. Some flash to scrape on all the delicate edges, and a little warpage on the starboard wing. But overall, a satsifying fit and it quickly went from "kit" to "F-15."

And despite the poor fit of the speed brake, the gear doors actually fit really well after removal of the “hinges”! In fact I’ve never had a kit’s open gear doors fit “closed” quite this well before. Not perfect, but for the ventral side that won't show in the display anyhow, I'm pleased. 

Next up is final filling/sanding of the seams that need it. One issue I have never really figured out is how to deal with sanded-off raised panel line detail. Do I just sand it all off and re-scribe (risky and tedious)? Just not worry about it and hope nobody notices? Ha!

  • Member since
    October 2019
  • From: New Braunfels, Texas
Posted by Tanker-Builder on Tuesday, August 20, 2024 8:12 AM

Aha!

    Being as how the "15" is one of my favorite birds, I'll be watching Ya!

  • Member since
    January 2016
Posted by suomi39 on Tuesday, August 20, 2024 6:11 PM

Hey Tanker, it's one of my favorites too. I finally got to see one in person at Oshkosh this year! A brand new F-15EX, to be specific. They are a BIG BIRD!

Got the sanding and filling mostly done at this point. This is the first time I've messed around with Vallejo's "plastic putty," and I am really impressed. 

It's water soluable, so you just squirt a bead onto the seam, and then use a damp paintbrush to work it into the shape you want, and then use the brush and damp Q-tips to rub off any excess. Dries quick, and It makes these thin cracks and seams disappear.

Scrubbed it down with some Iso alcohol, and now it's drying overnight. A coat of dark grey primer tomorrow will help me identify any areas that still need sanding or filling, and will let me know how badly I've mangled the raised panel lines. 

Oh, also discovered this... bummer! This clear sprue was bagged seperately, and the missing bit wasn't in the bag, so it is a factory defect.

Still, I think ordering another entire kit for $15 is going to be the best solution.

  • Member since
    October 2019
  • From: New Braunfels, Texas
Posted by Tanker-Builder on Friday, August 23, 2024 7:37 AM

Hi Suomi39!

        Listen! What you have there is one of the things I was going to discuss in Small Broken Pieces. It's very frustrating to deal with this but there two ways to do this . One, as You mentioned, buy another kit Or fix it! Yes! It can be fixed! There two ways and they both work! One is this. You know what Sprue Glue is don't you? You can whip some up from the clear sprue in all three kits. Too little won't work. Take a clean bottle. Chop the clear sprue into little shards into the jar. Then put clear fresh glue into the jar not quite covering the shards. Let sit in a dark place for Twenty-Four hours. Check on it and see how it's dissolving. Stir gently and let sit another Twenty- Four Hours.

      If it's soupy let sit for and hour or two with the lid off ( That way it will Gas out a wee bit!). It should flow like cool, Not Cold, Molasses. Now, take a needle or toothpick and apply a little to the edges. Come back in and hour and do it again.Do NOT mess with what is already there too much. It will bond itself. Do this til the area is filled. Now this is tricky. Cut the canopy free of the one little piece of sprue it's still on. Put some Saran Wrap on a piece of glass or metal and stretch it tight. Set the canopy on it and continue building. Yes! It will sag a little. Don't worry this is fine. Keep building. Come back at the time you are ready to do canopy work. Make sure the bottom edge is flat and in line.

      Now begin to gently sand it to the contour it is supposed to have. When you're close stop! Check on the shape. If you're satisfied, Take some 1000 grit and Wet, sand again.Then 1200 and so on till you are at 1500. Remember this is inside and out. Come back with Rubbing compound or Toothpaste. Buff dry till it shines.There, Got it! I know this sounds like a lot of work. It is. But ,the results can be worth it. The other method is a patch of plastic from another canopy of the same general shape, but you may not be able to get the seam completely invisible.That's why, years ago, I started using the Sprue Glue patch method. After about fifty years it still works for me! T.B.

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Northern California
Posted by jeaton01 on Friday, August 23, 2024 7:19 PM

Looks like a short shot to me.  The other part never made it into the mold.

John

To see build logs for my models:  http://goldeneramodel.com/mymodels/mymodels.html

 

  • Member since
    October 2019
  • From: New Braunfels, Texas
Posted by Tanker-Builder on Saturday, August 24, 2024 11:29 AM

Jeaton011

     Hi! that's exactly what it is. Although it is only on the one part. Short shots can be repaired. When it's shattered it's worse! The deal with "Short Shots"is they have rounded edges so any repairs blend easier!

  • Member since
    January 2016
Posted by suomi39 on Monday, August 26, 2024 12:41 PM

Tanker, this is an excellent write up of that technique, which I've never thought of! Sounds like a good solution, especially if the damaged clear bit is hard to get a replacement for!

I opted for the $15 solution, but I am definitely filing this away for future catastrophe avoidance!

  • Member since
    January 2016
Posted by suomi39 on Tuesday, August 27, 2024 1:36 PM

Got a second kit quickly assembled the other day, and did the initial sanding/filling. Fit on this one was a little worse than Eagle #1, but nothing awful. Yesterday I had a spare half hour and got a coat of primer on, to use as a guide coat. 

I did not expect the dark grey primer to bring them to life this much! They look just about ready for decals. I tried a new-to-me primer: Stynylrez from Badger.

I can report that it sprays easily from a .5mm Iwata airbrush at about 25psi with no thinning. A small amount of dry tip, but periodic cleaning of the needle tip prevents it.

The Stynylrez dries to the touch in about a minute, and is (reportedly) ready to topcoat in under 10. It is tough and sands well (which was my main reason for switching, since the Vallejo poly primer which sprays and covers so beautifully will NOT sand, and tends to roll and peel). Plain isopropyl alcohol cleans the airbrush easily. 

It also did its job as a guide coat, and it revealed plenty of seams and sanding marks to re-touch up. Back to the sandpaper and filler...

So, not quite ready for decals just yet. But they are ready and waiting. 

Speaking of waiting, so's that third kit! Off to the bench!

  • Member since
    October 2019
  • From: New Braunfels, Texas
Posted by Tanker-Builder on Wednesday, August 28, 2024 9:37 AM

Hi!

 I have used that paint before on projects at the Rail Museum. It is great for those projects too .It sure made your two planes pop! Flaws and all. Looking good!

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