F-15 Eagle Group Build 6/01/06 - 1/17/07

hey zone v aafterburner. i am goijn to have to drop out of this gb i see no way that i can finish my -f15c on time. ihave the ga deer season fast approaching an i wont have the time to either start it or finish it. by the way all builds are looking good. take care rob.

Wow!...your brush painting looks better than some air brush work I've seen. Nice job!!

Jerry

P.S.  Looks like we finally have a little activity on this GB

Just looking at those gorgeous cockpits makes me envious for a 1/32 model or resin cockpits. But I have to work with what I've got.

The worst part of the 1/48 Tamiya is the intakes. I had to use a huge amount of filler and even more amounts of sanding and sandpaper just to make them look right.

The gun port is a terrible mold design so I filled that up and sculpted a better gun port.

FYI, my plane is brush-painted. Here's how the first few layers go on:

Here's how the paint should look like after about 4 coats:

My experience is using the widest brush is not the right thing to do when brush painting a plane. I used a 1/2 inch flat brush, dabbing the paint on a rag before applying the paint stroke. I don't overlap my paint strokes either. Using Tamiya thinner in the paint in a 50-50 ratio is a good starting point for the right consistency.

I have painted the inner intakes a darker gray to simulate shadow on the final model later on. The white in the gear bays is just the white primer. I hate painting white so I just used the spray-on primer.

 

Well...I don't know about advice, but here's a pic of my masking. The Aires CP has protrusions that were a little tedious, but you just have to get everything covered the best you can.

Jerry

hey guys,

i want to start painting the model, but i cant seem to get a proper job on masking of the cockpit!.. any advice here?

 

thnx sponder.

 

Hey a little late but here I am.

So this is my second model and I've just started it. My first is an A380 that there is pics of in the aircraft fora. That thread is how I ended up here, thanks for the invite Zone!

So I have just started the Tamiya 1/32 with Bunker Busters. This kit will be built strictly from the box. Man two kids+summer+job=no time. I started last week and here is where I'm at now.



It needs more work. I am brushing Tamiya paints and I'm finding them hard to get a nice finish with. So I'm still learning the ropes there. I'm thining with Tamiya thinner. I keep painting one colour, get a few oopsies, and paint the other colour to fix, and going back and forth. This is not finished by any means, I just thought I'd show where I was after just joining this GB.

Oh my other problem currently is I need a compressor for my AB. I was going to get one this week but the car had problems as well as I decided to get new tires with my extra money. So it's pushed back to the middle of the month paycheque next month. Once I'm done the pit that's it for me pretty much untill I get that.

Edit: I think I'm going to make things a little more correct. I took some liberties and just addes a red button here or there what have you. Engines are more my thing...

Thanks Scot....it is Scot isn't it? I used alot of different metal paints on the exhausts, but alas, mostly Alclad.

Your progress is lookin real good, and I can relate to the dry fitting. It's a real juggling match with a resin avionics bay, bulkheads, and cockpit, not to mention the wheel bay is suppose to be glued to the tub.I had to remove a lot of material from the tub and walls to get it all lined up.For some reason I can't figure out, I couldn't get the side walls to extend all the way up and under the fuse. lip. If I would have attatched the walls to the sides first, there would have been a tiny gap with the tub. I chose to glue the walls to the tub first and the gap can't show cause it's up and under out of vision. Also, the avionics bulkhead interfered with the front instrument panel. I had to do some surgery there as well, but alas, it's all closed up and ready for paint.

Keep posting pics guys!

Jerry

dragonfly wrote:

Jerry

Holy cow Jerry.... those nozzles look outstanding! Do I smell Alclad?

   You should be very proud the way those turned out.I hope mine turn out that good.I haven't had the opportunity to try Alclad just yet but this was going to be my first project to shoot it on.

Here are a few pics concerning my progress.This is just a mock-up of how everything is supposed to go together.But there is along way to go as far as cockpit completion is concerned.The large gray rectangle that the resin parts are sitting on is the nose gear bay.I am VERY carefully trying to sand,test fit,sand,test fit,sand some more to get everything ready to be buttoned up.Hopefully when everything is done ,all I will have to do is dab some superglue in a couple of places and then close everything up.I am in the process of test fitting the cockpit sidewalls,so that is why you don't see them.When I put one side in,it makes the cockpit sit at a slant,so I'm thinkin' that I need to sand the bottom of the tubs some more to lower the heighth of the sides consoles.Anyway enough rambling....comments welcome:

I don't think it would hurt anything to use thinned down enamel for primer if you just want to check your seams and such. But if you're looking for a bond coat, some modelers use an auto primer or others like myself,  have had good results using Mr. Surfacer 1200. Both paints are well thinned with laquer thinner and after airbrushed on  the model,  will give your color coat an excellent bond or tooth if you will. I lightly sand the Mr. Surfacer after it's had time to cure, and it buffs up to a very nice silky finish. I then follow up with the final color coat and have never had a blemish from masking. Hope this helps.

I don't think there's much activity on this GB beside you, Zone, and myself, but I'm posting a pic of my finished burner cans. Should be painting soon.

Jerry

got a little impatient, and went ahead with the fuel tanks, had to glue them in place in several stages..at the front, next to the airintakes, i have to do some puttying badly..

i thought i was gonna be ready for paints yesterday, but after a night full of glueing/puttying/sanding, im still not happy with the tanks. hope i get it done this weekend, so i can finally start on my paint job.

really looking forward to that! never done it before, read a lot of articles on weathering and pre-shading, gonna try and do both on this model. like i said, never done it before, so there ought to be a huge learning curve for me here..

one question before i start though, is it advisable to use a very light very thinned enamel paint in several coats as a primer (sanded down after each layer..)? if not, what should i use as a primer?

 

thnx. s.

Dang! Seems like everyone is making progress except me! It sucks that MikeV had to back out.Hopefully he'll come back if he gets the chance.Anyway,I'm moving like pondwater in the Antarctic on this build.I am getting a few things done though.I have the front office pretty much wrapped up except for the space in between the rudder pedals.As I was sanding down the mold plug I got a little too carried away and ended up sanding off the mounting point for one of the rudder pedals(DOH!!).So now I am going back and forth on whether or not to use the kit pieces or the resin.I had started on the WSO's panel only to sand too much of the far right CRT screen.Black Box molded the screen over with resin flash and in the process of getting the kit 'glass' to fit, I sanded some of the buttons on the side of the screen just a bit too much.So now I am backing up and starting over with the kit's WSO's panel.Gotta do some scratch building to bring it up to standard but nothing too bad.All in all everything is going good except a couple of bumps,but hopefully as hot as it has been here, I will stay inside and try to make some good progress this weekend and post some pics.Glad too see everyone posting such good pics.Can't wait to see some completed builds! Later on...

hey guys, need some advice: i would like to add the extra fuel wing tanks, but they dont seem to fit at all! gaps all over, and at the front, it's very hard to allign. did any of you ever saw the same on the revell 1:72 kit? if so, how did you solve this?

i will try to post some pics when i get back from work, to show you what i mean..

 

thnx sponder.

Lookin real good Capt., keep sending pics.

I'm almost ready for paint. Gonna take some pics and post soon.

Jerry

rhnx willuride!

another quick update, she's really starting to look like a plane!

Looking good so far.  I haven't really had much time to be working on mine lately, but I/m slowly plugging away.

hey guys, here a short update..

like i said before, this is my first "real" model, and i must admit, i was quite afraid of seams and gaps, but after hours of putty-ing and sanding, im quite happy thusfar:

 

oh and btw: after a quick look on the box: the model is in 1:72 scale..

gr. sponder.

that really looks great zone! cant wait to see the rest of your plane!(during and after construction / painting...)

Zone, those handles in the center are the emergency brake steer handle the one next too it "the gray one"is the rudder peddle adjustment handle.

On the left side you have the emergency landing gear extention handle next too it you have the tail hook up down switch "hard too see looks like a ? mark". 

On the right you have the j.f.s. start handle,and the far right is the emergancy cabin vent handle 

P.S. The j.f.s handles is black with white letters on a black base.

Hope this helps......

                                                                       Jimmy

 

Welcome to the F-15 Group Build Sponder!

  Well the only thing I can say about my progress is....

 Kids + summertime = no workbench time. I have had a few productive moments but they come in 30 or 45 minute blocks.I am still working on the cockpit.This is where I am concentrating my efforts for now.I want to do it up right.I have added a few things to the instrument panels,then I will begin detailing the side consoles.

So far Ihave added the landing gear control handle and a few other small 'T' handles to the front IP.They are the white pieces of plastic on the panel that I still have to paint.I am not exactly sure what these handles are,because I don't have a listing stating all of the controls.But they are fairly prominent in all of my reference photos like this one...

 

But anyway here is a pic of my progress:

 

Let me know what you think...

Dragonfly,

 Great looking progress on your eagle!!!  I am really missing my kits right now, wish that I could be knee deep into my "E" right now.

Keep up the great work and please post a ton of pics so that I can at least watch everybodys progress until I get back to my kits!!

matt

Well, I have gotten #3 Main body scribed, 10 1/2 hrs, and I've started on #4.  I have most of the top done on that one.  I'm still plugging away at them.  I'll post more pics when #5 is done.  I'll have some time at work to scribe most of #4 if not all of it, and maybe start on #5 tomorrow at work.  We'll see.  Happy modelling!!

Sorry I have been away for awhile as work has gotten long of late.

Just got done with the first color spray of my two F-15A planes.   The kits don't have all of the recorded missle loads that the two were carrying on the morning of 9/11, so I am off to get a box of the Hasegawa Air-to-Air Missle set to add to what I have already.  Does anyone know it the wing fule tanks are available somewhere in 1/72nd scale?

I am planning on mounting these two on a base and using a 1/4" rod for both to give the appearance of flight.  Anyone with a better idea(s)?

Sorry I've been under the radar guys, been busy as heck with low-level missions and mission planning.  I've finally got a few days off and I'm in Dallas visiting the fiancee.  I got my Afterburner Decals 65th Aggressor Squadron sheet and will be doing their F-15D 80-0028 (that's the right tail number IIRC). 

Since I've also got three other Eagles building for the ARC build, and was only able to get my Lakenheath D finished before the end date, I'll offer up my Revell E and Hasegawa A/C here as well.  The E will be in 48th Fighter Wing markings as well and the A will be in 159th Fighter Squadron, LA ANG markings from the Twobobs Katrina Relief sheet.   

hey guys.

thanks for the warm welcome! :)

also, thnx for the links for the tips/tricks, very usefull!!

i will post pictures of progress soon, as i have borrowed a nice digi camera. Also, i have pictures to take from my excelsior starship.

Please keep in mind though, the scale of my F15 is somewhat smaller than yours, or, at least, thats my guess, judging by the pics of the great cockpits found in this thread. Also, as i am a real trekkie, and i'm trying to get some electronics developed (which will take quite some time), i started this F-15 just to get the hang of building more advanced models / dealing with airbrush; so im NOT some huge fan of plains/jets in general, so if the model lacks a certain reality, i can live with it, as long as it looks great, seamless, proffesional.

The progress i made this weekend:

painted and glued the cockpit (doesn't look HALF the buisness as yours! maybe you guys have any suggestions to make it look any better?) including my first ever decals!! (f*cked up the first one, second one was allready a lot better!)

Painted all the parts which need to be white while on sprue. tonight i will give them a second layer, which some parts REALLY need.

Further, i need some advice on how to proceed, but i will make that clear with pics, so that'll be the first job tonight.

gr. S.

 

More progress today. The avionics bay is wired, painted, and installed. No real problems other than the rear bay bulkhead interfered with the instrument panel and a small portion that's hidden had to be removed so I could squeeze everything in place. I'm a little reluctant to close the fuse. halfs just in case I forgot something, but that's the next step. I'm also going to open the cannon bay and expose the Vulcan gun.

Hey guys!.........It's been awfully quiet around here.  Wassup?

Jerry

 

Welcome Sponder! Can't wait to see your build.

It's been kind of quiet here lately. I'm currently wiring the avionics bay since the CP is done. The front wheel bay on the Revell kit is attatched to the CP tub and since I'm using a resin tub, more grinding and fidling was neccessary. It's taking alot of dry fitting, but I'm confident I can get all these extras in place before I close the fuselage.

Jerry

Welcome, there are a lot of tools and tips, the first site I would direct you to is www.swannysmodels.com where you can find a slew of information, just go to the tools and tips at the bottom.  Secondly, I have never built a 1/72 Revell F-15 from Revell, but if it anything like their 1/48 it isn't too bad.  It may take a little work but keep plugging away and take your time.  Also have fun, remember it is a hobby.  As far as color schemes you can look at http://www.f-15estrikeeagle.com/ or go to www.twobobs.net and look at their F-15 decals.  There are a number of foreign color schemes.  Again hth and welcome to the forums.  Post pictures of progress too.

hey guys, let me introduce myself very quickly:

im sponder, a dutch guy who just picked up moddeling as a hobby.

For practice purposeses only, i bought myself a nice level 5 kit, just to get the hang of building models.

take one guess what model i bought? yes, a nice F-15, the revell 1:72 scale kit.

anyway, i also bought (besides other tools/materials) a badger 150 airbrush, and you guessed it: i want the F-15 to be a learning curve, not just for building models, but also for the airbrush.

So here's my question, before i start going beserk on the kit, do you guys have any tips/tricks/things to look out for / do's / dont's i have to keep in mind? Or is it just a matter of jumping into the deep and experience / practice makes perfect?

and oh yeah, i didn't really like the color scheme which came with the instructions, so instead, i bought 6 teints of US Navy-grey. Does anyone have a nice camo-scheme for these colors? or, other suggestions maybe?

 

Cheers, Sponder.

I doubt I will get started on mine.
Work is too long of hours lately.

Very nice, Dragonfly.  Very nice, indeed.