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that big Tamiya P-51 do look tempting in the box...

Anders, it's a real gem and will be beautiful in your hands. One of the better things about the kit is it does n't actually need that much in the way of aftermarket so It can be a simple, quick and enjoyable build. Let us all see how you get on with it when you begin please.

Always good to see an Eagle build, especially a big one! Good start Guy.

Hi Richard, good to see you. Thanks for stopping by and your encouragement is much appreciated, cheers.

I'm not getting as much time on this build as I'd like unfortunately so progress is only moderate I'm afraid. Here are a few little things I've been working on lately.

First up, I looked at the side walls of the rearmost part of the main gear wells. Happily, not much is seen on the F-15s as most of the gear doors are kept closed when parked.

Tamiya have molded in hollows for the oversized gear door hinges which look odd compared to reference photos.

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I made a plasticard template then fabricated a pair of inserts from card and Evergreen extrusion.

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I also added the three prominent round caps which will be painted in an anodised red shade eventually. You might also notice the two vents inboard and behind the gear bays in the centre of the fuselage. These are not present on the kit and were added.

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Leaving these bay walls as removable inserts may help with masking during painting. There is alot more to add in the way of gear door linkages but that'll wait until later in the build.

One tip to consider during construction is thinning the edges of the gear doors. In the image below, the door on the right has been thinned, the one on the left is stock. See if you can spot any difference.

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I think I've solved how to fit the intakes neatly too.

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Sanding the interior intake trunking allows the mouth of the intakes to fit better. This join is covered by the CFTs on the Strike Eagles and is much less noticable.

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There is still plenty of tidying up to do in this area but the fit is better than it was.

Whilst I was tinkering with those intakes I noticed the ACACS intake was different from reference photos.

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It's possible that these small auxiliary intakes were originally this shape on early Eagles but current birds have larger intakes. To modify the kit part I removed a small amount of material.

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I will make a piece to fit in the opening to include the horizontal bracing web with it's lightening holes once I've established exactly how large the mouth of the intake should be. If anyone has any good photos of this area I'd appreciate seeing them. It's difficult to judge the size from the photos I've seen so far.

512e86d08602b.jpg

Edited by geedubelyer
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Next up it was time to tackle the JFS exhaust chimney on the upper rear fuselage before I could close up the two halves. If you're building a "-C" you might wish to replace the six small chimneys with a single, larger one.

I filled the left over Strike Eagle chimneys then studied the photos in the Modern Eagle guide and carefully drilled out the new chimney before fitting in some mesh.

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It was only when I was looking at images of the airframe that I'm hoping to build that I noticed a slight issue. The chimney on my bird was in a different place......

After filling the first chimney I moved the position to suit the aircraft I want to depict.

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No real sweat but it's worth taking note if you're building one of these.

The final item that I've managed to dabble with is the gun and gun doors. So far all I've done is assemble the gun...

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.....and open out the grilles in the gun door and fairing.

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Although I'm keeping the gun door firmly closed I'll still need to install the weapon as it can be seen through the mesh if the light is right and you squint and there's an "R" in the month.

I have been considering using the Master M61 barrels for this build but only the last few mms of the gun can be seen on the Eagle so it seems to be a bit of a waste. Instead, thanks to a suggestion by daywalker (thanks Frank) I may use the Quickboost resin version if it is an improvement over the kit item.

So that's all I've managed this week but I hope to do a bit more soon. Back with pics when I have.

Cheers.

Edited by geedubelyer
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Really impressive sir!!!!!!!!!

Some of you guys have the ''charisma'', the gift to be very talented. It is a pleasure to me and to my eyes to keep tracking your builds. A lot to see and a lot more to learn :salute: :salute:

John

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Nice work on the big Eagle, Guy!! I will toss in another vote for an opened gun panel to show your work.

The Modern Eagle Guide is a bit ambiguous as to JFS chimney placement on the light Grey Eagles. The placement does vary a bit from early to late jets. That's one item that will be rectified when it is reprinted.

Keep up the great work!

Jake

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i know I'm jumping way ahead into your build, But I was watching the F14 build you did and I had a question. Do you prime the model before you lay down the paint? Because when I look at your threads and Chuck's I never see you guys prime the model before you guys lay down paint and I was wondering if you prime the model before painting? Sorry, it was just a question that I had in my head.

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Hello everyone. Alexander, John, I appreciate all of the kind words, cheers guys.

Really beautiful, how about leaving the panel open so you can see the gun?

Plus one.

I would like that too but he is closing it.

Looking good so far.(sorry for the non technical post}

It does seem a bit of a shame to keep the gun doors closed but it would n't fit in with the pose I've got in mind for this jet, sorry. I have to confess that I'm not a big fan of open panels on models as it can be difficult to make them look realistic and it breaks up the lines of the airframe.

HOLMESY, no need to apologise for posting a comment of any kind. I appreciate the input, cheers

That looks REALLY good! ... I should have done that on my E...

Marcel

That's what gave me the idea Marcel. I wish I'd done that on my first "-E". I remembered to do it on the second one but did n't know about the mesh. This time I got all of the elements together. :phew:

Nice work on the big Eagle, Guy!! I will toss in another vote for an opened gun panel to show your work.

The Modern Eagle Guide is a bit ambiguous as to JFS chimney placement on the light Grey Eagles. The placement does vary a bit from early to late jets. That's one item that will be rectified when it is reprinted.

Keep up the great work!

Jake

Hey Jake, thanks bro'. No problem with the book, it was all my fault.

There are images of both positons and I chose the wrong one. 50:50 chance and I got it wrong :rolleyes:

:D

i know I'm jumping way ahead into your build, But I was watching the F14 build you did and I had a question. Do you prime the model before you lay down the paint? Because when I look at your threads and Chuck's I never see you guys prime the model before you guys lay down paint and I was wondering if you prime the model before painting? Sorry, it was just a question that I had in my head.

Hi Richard, it's a good question. I use mostly acrylic paints so primer is important.

I use the Citadel Miniatures spray primer available in the Games Workshop stores. It comes in white or black and lays down very smoothly if sprayed in the warm. I use it everywhere.

The primer is designed for use under brush painting on GW figures but works equally well under spray on larger areas. HTH

So this update is a quick look at the regenerative heat exchanger exhaust.

Regenheatexchexhaust_zps289c546d.jpg

If you are building an F-15 pay attention to your references as this vent has been deleted on many airframes. I chose to go back and fill it in on my last F-15E but this aircraft still has the exhaust.

I began a quick and dirty modification by drilling out the opening and filing it round. Next I sanded the raised panel flat then glued a thin circle of brass cut from a tube into the interior of the hole.

Regenheatexchexhaust1_zpsed74299d.jpg

I placed a shelf of plastic inside the fuselage and glued on a strip of metal foil scribed with parallel lines that run perpendicular to the opening to represent a radiator. Lastly I filled the remainder of the gap with a length of tube to create the rounded appearance of the top of the interior structure.

With the internals sorted out I had to replace the gills of the vent. This was tough! Getting them all to line up correctly in the right orientation and with an even spacing was too much. <_< In the end I settled for the best I could manage.

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It's far from perfect but at least the interior is visible from the rear but not from the front as per the full sized grille.

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Regenheatexchexhaust4_zpsaf5eac8e.jpg

More soon.

:cheers:

Edited by geedubelyer
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hey Guy - sorry - just relaized I didn't answer your decal question.

I used a lot of setting solution applied multiple times, and just accepted they would not fully snuggle down. I used Microscale solution, perhaps something stronger would work if you run into the same situation

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With the internals sorted out I had to replace the gills of the vent. This was tough! Getting them all to line up correctly in the right orientation and with an even spacing was too much. In the end I settled for the best I could manage.

I had the very same problem with the grills on my F-4E next to the engine nozzles, which look very similar- and mine weren't done nearly as nicely as yours. Paint and weathering is our friend Guy, because you can hardly tell they suck anymore! :D

Edited by chuck540z3
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  • 2 weeks later...

hey Guy - sorry - just relaized I didn't answer your decal question.

I used a lot of setting solution applied multiple times, and just accepted they would not fully snuggle down. I used Microscale solution, perhaps something stronger would work if you run into the same situation

Its best to use the DACO decal solution for DACO decals. I also had trouble with them in the past, they need a very smooth gloss surface otherwise they silver badly

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Its best to use the DACO decal solution for DACO decals. I also had trouble with them in the past, they need a very smooth gloss surface otherwise they silver badly

Just for the records: it all depends on which DACO decal you have.

As I've been releasing decals for almost 25 years, using three different print companies, the printing quality between them and within these companies themselves has improved significant over all these years, so a decal released 20 years ago is not the same as a decal released last year...

Microscale prefered to put three layers of varnish on a decal, resulting in a thicker (stiffer) decal while Cartograf uses two very fine layers of varnish, resulting in decals which for some are too flimsy...

BUT as said: my DACO Decalsetting solution takes care of all these differences, the Strong / Red labeled bottles for the stiffer and the Medium / Orange labeled ones for the later released decals will do its job well. Just don't try it Microscale Sol & Set...

And yes I know there are several sceptic modelers who don't believe a small company like DACO can have the best decal setting around, but let's say I'm very happy my hometown Antwerpen has a big chemical industry in the harbor who developed a chemical formula for me.

Danny

DACO Products

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi guys, just a quick update for now. I've been away for a couple of days so not much to show but I wanted to share an experiment I tried.

hey Guy - sorry - just relaized I didn't answer your decal question.

I used a lot of setting solution applied multiple times, and just accepted they would not fully snuggle down. I used Microscale solution, perhaps something stronger would work if you run into the same situation

Hi Ken thanks for the input and thanks also to 31Tiger and Danny for the tips. I will endeavour to follow these instructions to the letter to get the best from the decals. I attempted to order the newest version of the decals but they were out of stock so my set appear to be the middle ones. I do have some of your decal solutions Danny so I'll be sure to use them when the time comes.

Paint and weathering is our friend Guy, because you can hardly tell they suck anymore! :D/>/>

lol, sounds like a plan Chuck, cheers. :thumbsup:

I managed to get the main fuselage halves together. To get a neat seam at the rear of the joint I glued in some short lengths of plastic extrusion to align the kit parts more accurately.

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I'm still left with a bit of filling and sanding to do and this area along with the wing seam on the upper fuselage are some of the worst fitting parts of the model.

Whilst that was setting up I had a look at the gun again. Frank (daywalker) offered a brilliant suggestion as an alternative to the Master brass barrels in the form of the resin Quickboost gun muzzles. A quick comparison with the kit parts shows a higher level of fidelity than the plastic version.

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The Tamiya gun protrudes out of the fairing a smidge too far. To combat this and give a more accurate appearance I cut the end of the barrels off the plastic parts at the point where they glue to the fuselage.

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I tweaked the gun mouth a touch by deepening the opening.

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I followed that up by mounting the resin muzzles in the fairing using two pack putty to get the correct position.

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This gives a better look.

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Now for the experiment I'm trying.

When I built the Tamiya P-51 I opted to close up the nose permanently so I had some of the magnets left over.

The F-15 that I'm hoping to depict was used as a show bird at the RIAT in 2006 and was completely clean of pylons and ordnance. However, many reference photos of the same airframe show her sporting wing pylons with a selection of inert A2A weaponry fitted. I'm lucky enough to own a Zactomodels AIM-9X and want to show it off so I do want to be able to mount the pylons when the mood arises. This is where the magnets come in. ;)

I used two of the smallest diameter magnets and glued them into the pylon mounting holes in the lower surface of the wing. I then cut the plastic mounting nubs off the pylons, made a couple of suitably sized holes in the pylon and glued a pair of the largest magnets into the plastic. Using the fuel tank connection point at the rear of the pylon as a guide I can now mount the pylon quickly and easily.

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So far so good. The only thing I have yet to try is a fully loaded pylon. I have my fingers crossed that the magnets will be strong enough. :unsure:

I wonder if the magnets are available to order seperately :hmmm:

As an aside, I also managed to score a head mounted magnifier whilst I was away so that might ease the cockpit painting in the future..... :)

Thanks for taking a look guys.

Cheers.

:foof:

Edited by geedubelyer
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Magnets for pylons. Brilliant!- and I've got a few left over from my Mustang build as well. I just might steal this idea on my Hog! :D

Here's a couple of F-15C Aggressor gun pics to add to your collection, just in case those bottom doors are going to be open.

F-15C_AGG60.jpg

F-15C_AGG53.jpg

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Hey Guy smile.gif-

I missed your latest update somehow,...cool idea w/ the magnets

Although I'm betting the Tamiya ones will work just fine, I thought I'd share this link for you or anyone else reading your thread:

http://www.kjmagneti...ries.asp?cat=86

K&J sells high strength neodymium magnets in a ton of sizes. I'm planning on getting some of these myself for future projects.

Nice work w/ the gun so far....I'll stay tuned!

Happy Easter to you and yours,

-Rob

llama-banana_zpsf407559c.gif Banawner Llawmer!!!

Edited by Rraab
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Here's a couple of F-15C Aggressor gun pics to add to your collection, just in case those bottom doors are going to be open.

Great photos Chuck, thanks. What it shows is that the main part of the gun is not black but more a graphite grey. I'll try to remember that in future. Unfortunately, I'll be keeping all the gun doors closed on this model, sorry. ;)

Hey Guy I thought I'd share this link for you or anyone else reading your thread:

K&J sells high strength neodymium magnets in a ton of sizes. I'm planning on getting some of these myself for future projects.

Happy Easter to you and yours,

-Rob

Hey Rob, great to hear from you and a very Happy Easter to you guys too. That link you provided will prove extremely useful in the future, much appreciated amigo.

With r/l issues claiming much of my time just now I have n't been able to do as much modelling as I'd like (we all know how that feels <_< ) but, I have done a little something.

The Tamiya kit provides the older rounded antenna "bullet" on the tip of the right rear empennage but the airframe that I wish to depict has a newer, slightly squarer profile. Using a short length of sprue from around the wings and tails I carved a new version. While I was at it, I also attempted to create some of the other alternate styles fitted to different Eagle models. You never know when they might come in handy, right?

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From the left (or at the rear) is the original kit part.

The second from the left is the style fitted to the left hand empennage of the "-E" and "-I" models.

Moving along, the third style resembles the bullet fitted to the right hand empennage of the "-E" & "-I"s.

The style at the front (or on the right) is the one that is fitted to my bird.

So not much to show but some forward progress nevertheless.

Cheers.

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