Mud Movers GB - July 1st - Dec 31st 2008

To keep the thread alive and provide some info for us all, I'm going to attempt putting up profiles of each of our aircraft.  This won't be an in-depth dissertation, just quick profiles with a couple of pics.  Some of info may not be new for us, maybe it will.  The goal is just to get us a little more in-depth in our GB and maintain the interest level.  Perhaps later I'll jump into ordnance profiles.

I'll start at the top of list and work down, so first up is the F-15E Strike Eagle!

Length: 63'-9"

Height: 18'-5 1/2"

Wingspan: 42'-9 3/4"

Wheelbase: 17'-9 1/2"

Powerplant: (2) PWF100-PW-229 with 29,000# thrust each 

Max takeoff weight: 81,000#

Max speed: Mach 2.5+

Range: 2,400 miles (with external tanks and conformal tanks)

Weapons carried:

(1) 20 mm M61A Gatling gun with 512 rounds

AIM-9 Sidewinder

AIM-120 AMRAAM

AIM-7 Sparrow

AGM-65 Maverick

MK20 Rockeye

MK82

MK84

BSU-49 & -50

GBU-10, -12, -15, -24

CBU-52, -58, -71, -87, -89, -90, -92, -93

LAU-3A Rockets

Alternate nicknames: Mudhen, Beagle (Bomber Eagle) 

Wikipedia has some good additional information on the F-15E Strike Eagle if you wish more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-15E

If anyone has additional information, pics, corrections etc. please don't hesitate to chime in! 

Kilo,

Are the D model's avionics bays open?  If they are, are you going to leave them open or close them up?  If you're going to model them closed, get some plastic rod and drill several holes in the bays and use the rod to support the doors.  There's not enough plastic around the edges to keep them flush with the fuselage surface.

I got the seams filled and wing joined with fusalage, but pics will be a little bit, cause I am going out of town.

No laziness allowed!

I actually had a very productive weekend, albeit on other builds.  Looking forward to see others progress. 

Sorry to say that I was a bit lazy this weekend, and didn't get any modelling done, nor did I get out to my LHS to get some white paint to line the A7's intake duct with.  Will continue with the madness next weekend.

I trust everyone else's projects are going well? 

Doh!   My misunderstanding. 

Hah! I wasn't even thinking about the inside of the intakes...just that seam on the OUTSIDE! Which, it turns out, I need to get rid of.

Looks like I have a bit of filling and sanding ahead of me this weekend.

Dupes,

Try www.airliners.net for some pics.  If you can't find what you need, you could always scratch some FOD covers.  Not much done on my Frogfoot, looked at the decals as I left for work this afternoon, a couple of more days and they should be ready to come out of the window.

Another good solution is white latex paint.

You build your intake tunnel, then cap it with tape on the end the compressor face should be. Then, pour white latex paint into the intake so it covers the sides. When it dries, pull off your tape and any paint that dried at the bottom should come with it. You should have a nice looking seamless intake

dupes wrote:

Have a sneaking suspicion that the intake pieces are supposed to be a single smooth cylinder all the way back...

Yeah, typically they are although I'm not 100% sure for the Frogfoot.  Welcome to the world of jet modeling!   Virtually every modeler who builds jets complains about seams on intakes.  Which explains the numerous seamless resin AM intake replacments that have come to market.  Unfortunately, I doubt that resin replacements exist for this particular kit. 

Good luck, I've faith in you.

Alright, got something to look at, anyway. Pit is done and the fuselage is sealed up, now I need to figure out which seams from said fuselage can stay, and which ones need to disappear. Doing a bit of dry fitting on the wings - they don't attach the same way. Heh. Going to have to pick one as the "right way" and get the other one to match.

btp2k2 wrote:

Hey guys, I want to join in! I will build a 48th scale Italeri A-10A

Ahhh...love that avatar! Lol!

Take off you hoser! 

Hey guys, I want to join in!

I will build a 48th scale Italeri A-10A

Great to hear some of you have started.

I'll be following behind with my F-15E within the next couple of weeks.  

Well I've finally begun.

The cock pit tub and ejection seat built, painted and coated in a black ink wash, so once that has dried I'll move on to drybrushing it.  No pics at this stage, once I have something recognisable, I'll post some shots. :)

Hey Buddy.

I'm about to crack the seal on the D this weekend.  Would have started a little earlier but between some bad health and me wanting to get a little extra done on my Navy Airwing build F-14 before starting this.  :)

I apreciate the pics though bro, shows me what is in store.

Kilo,

How's your  D coming along?  I'm working on my H right now (kinda off topic I know) and thought you and whoever might have a Hobby Boss A-7 in their stash might like to see the pit.  It's a whole lot better than the Italeri, Esci and Fujimi OOB offerings.

http://www.public.fotki.com/lewbud/group-build/groupbuild7.html

http://www.public.fotki.com/lewbud/group-build/groupbuild8.html

http://www.public.fotki.com/lewbud/group-build/groupbuild9.html

The question this year isn't who looks good, but who's the best out of the guys that are allowed to race. The governing bodies of cycling (at least, the ones in charge of the Tour) have decided that team Astana (amongst others) is not allowed to compete this year because Vino got caught doping last year - which means that last year's winner Contador, and last year's 3rd place finisher Levi Leipheimer are not going to be there, because that's the team they ended up on after Discovery pulled their sponsorship. 

That's the same Levi Leipheimer who's been winning all kinds of races in the lead-up to the Tour. Too bad a) for us, not getting to watch him, and b) for Levi. He's getting up there in years, and only has one or two chances left before "old age" (that means 33 or so in cycling) catches up with him. He's a really good guy, I'm quite bummed he isn't able to ride.

So you've got to think that Cadel Evans (Australia) is a pretty solid favorite, last year's number 2, and a lot of top fellas out. It certainly will be a dogfight with no clear pre-race faves. So, Saturday morning, 8:30 on Versus. Get your couches ready, fellas!

dupes wrote:

Tour De France (to which I am highly addicted) starts on Saturday, so I'll be spending a lot of time in front of the TV for the next three weeks...I anticipate a LOT of model assembly getting done in that time - SU-25 included.

I don't get the chance to stay up with cycling as much as I'd like, so who looks good this year Dupes?