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F-15C Build (4/3/11 Update) Finished


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Thanks for the kind words gents.

Mike, I'm in Benicia which is a small town closer to San Francisco.

Kasatka, thanks for the ideas for the picute editing. I think I need to upgrade to Leopard to have this as an option on my Mac which may push me in that direction.

-Cliff

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  • 5 weeks later...

Thank you for all the continued kind words and support. The project is moving along slowly but surely. The conversion work is essentially complete and I'm working on the final fine tuning of panel lines and seams before it goes into the paint barn. Here's a few pics of the latest progress:

F15C27059.jpg

F15C27058.jpg

The most time consuming part of the build by far was rebuilding the cockpit and bay 5. Turning the airplane from a 2 eater into a single seater was not that difficult although it required the assistance of a Hasegawa "donor" kit.

Here is the rear fuselage missile launch and attachment point. This is another area of the kit where the manufacturer seems to have been thinking more about an F-15C than an E. This area would be hidden under the fastpacks typically carried on the E version but the model includes the detail. I chose to use the Verlinden photo-etched pieces to build up more detail and depth on the two rear stations and significantly reworked the small fin (?) on the fuselage side to be thinner.

F15C27056.jpg

Here is a pic of the modified gun access door on the bottom:

F15C27057.jpg

and finally, here is a shot of the tails installed.

F15C27060.jpg

Thanks for taking a look.

-Cliff

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Loved watching this. For a free Mac photo editor that will do all you want (and more besides) look up GIMP. It's completely free and very powerful. I'm an all Snow-Leopatrd household now but I did have it on Tiger as well.

Edited by Dmanton300
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Loved watching this. For a free Mac photo editor that will do all you want (and more besides) look up GIMP. It's completely free and very powerful. I'm an all Snow-Leopatrd household now but I did have it on Tiger as well.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll defenitly give it a look this weekend.

-Cliff

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  • 1 month later...

Cliff - this is a just awesome.

:nanner:

I have some questions if you don't mind..

1. How did you make that vent on the bottom (Gun vent)? Im thinking about casting the one on the hasegawa kit and fairing that in.

2. How did you paint those tires? Those look just spectacular!

Anyway - Im planning on doing this conversion myself so this is a huge help. I feel much better seeing this done so that I won't have to experiment too much.

your photos of the sides are awesome -that's gonna help me tremendously. I would be quite happy to help you compile this into an singular reference if you want some help with that.

I think this is something more than a few people would like to know how to do!

:cheers:

Regards,

Frank

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Cliff - this is a just awesome.

:worship:

I have some questions if you don't mind..

1. How did you make that vent on the bottom (Gun vent)? Im thinking about casting the one on the hasegawa kit and fairing that in.

2. How did you paint those tires? Those look just spectacular!

Anyway - Im planning on doing this conversion myself so this is a huge help. I feel much better seeing this done so that I won't have to experiment too much.

your photos of the sides are awesome -that's gonna help me tremendously. I would be quite happy to help you compile this into an singular reference if you want some help with that.

I think this is something more than a few people would like to know how to do!

:worship:

Regards,

Frank

Hi Frank:

Thanks for the nice comments. I posted some comments on the thread you started in the jet section and look forward to seeing you jump in on a similar conversion. Any help you would like to provide cataloging the changes would be great. I've envisioned making some type of list once I finish the build. At the movement, the kit is getting painted and slowly moving to completion.

As for the gun vent, it actually came from an old hasegawa kit that was fatally injured after a fall from its shelf. If I had it to do over, I think I would just cut the opening and then use styrene to build the detail. For the wheels, my standard process for modern jets is the following:

White

Paint the white with a satin finish

Black pin wash on the recessed areas

Very thin coat of gloss white (only 10% paint) airbrushed over everything to tone down the wash

Pin wash of black on select areas such as oleo joints for landing gear and around bolts

Black Tire

After painting the white, do a pin wash of black around the rim to set the demarcation line

Paint the black by hand - I typically prefer Vallejo paints thinned with water

Cut two masks slightly larger than the rims and then spray very thin coats of grey or tan to tone down the tread area of the tire

HTH-Cliff

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here are the resin covers and updated tail available through TwoMikes.

http://www.twomikesresin.com/index1.html

untitled27382.jpg

untitled27383.jpg

The casting is flawless and I really like the way they will add some color to a grey bird.

untitled27379.jpg

The exhausts are from Aires and a nice improvement over the kit. I didn't bother with the afterburner section or interior detail since I was adding the covers. The turkey feathers were painted Alclad II dull aluminum and steel with a black wash.

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Thanks for the positive support. I feel like my photo work is getting better but I still struggle with getting the colors accurate and capturing subtle shadows. The camera I use is a Nikon DLSR D200 with a 60 MM lens.

I'm starting to paint the fuselage and hope to wrap this project up before too long. With all the subassemblies now complete it should move a bit faster. OK, a bit faster for me at least.

Thanks for having a look!

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