tam 1/32 F15C cockpit sets

[archer]

Hello everybody.

First of all i would like to tell that i enjoy this forum very much.

I check it almost every day and the treasure of information in this forum is incredible.

I also like the in progress pics of all the kits that everybody is building.

So my question is that i bought the tam eagle & i would like to know what i need?

I was looking at the eduard prepainted photo etch cockpit set and was thinking of buying that one.

What do you think about the eduard prepainted sets?

I also saw the blackbox resin cockpit set but i do not know if it is any good?

Should i buy both items or just buy the eduard and use it in the kit cockpit?

Or should i just buy the blackbox set?

If i want to add the aim 120 is it ok if i take the launcher rail & the missile of the academy f18?

THX

[Dave Williams]

My personal feelings on the Eduard color PE sets are that they look nice, but the detail is just too flat. It may be OK for something like 1/72 scale, but the lack of any depth is really noticible in 1/32 scale, especially if you have the canopy open. Also, their colors, like the grey for the panel, don't match the real colors, so you are left on your own to find a matching paint for the rest of the cockpit, as well as for any touchup of the metal parts. Finally, there is going to be a slightly visible edge where the PE part lays on top of the plastic. On the plus side, the instrument faces are very nice and it is easy to use.

The BB resin set is quite detailed and has the proper 3D representation of details. There is quite a bit more work involved in removing the excess resin, fitting the set and painting it up, but if done right, can be quite stunning.

For mixing the sets, the only advantage that I could see is using the Eduard IP and instruments faces over the BB panel after sanding the detail off the resin part. Most of the other details are better represented in resin. However, you still have the flatness and color matching issue, although the flatness is less of an issue on the IP than it is on the side consoles. A slight potential complicator is that the Eduard and BB panels represent slightly different variations. The Eduard panel is the original F-15C panel like the kit, while the BB panel represents the later MSIP panel, like in the F-15J release. If you are doing a specific aircraft and are worried about using the right panel, this may be something to consider.

For using the AIM-120s and rails from the F/A-18 kit, that would work partially, however the F-15 has a small adapter pylon that goes between the rail and the wing pylon. You would have scratchbuild it, or CE includes it with their AIM-120s for the F-15 set. The adapter is seen here.

http://www.f-15estrikeeagle.com/weapons/adu552/adu552.htm

HTH.

Edited January 23, 2007 by Dave Williams