Mike J. Idacavage Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 I am ready to start rolling on this great GB. I will be building a 1/72 F-15J in the markings of the Mystic Eagle IV exercise from 1998. I am using the pretty good Hasegawa F-15J kit that came with these markings. I also have a backup aftermarket set of Mystic Eagle IV markings from Rose Ridge if the kit decals don't work out well. Here is a look at the markings for the jet: I plan on using a Platz PE set for some of the cockpit details and some external details. I will also us a set of Eduard PE intake covers to avoid the dreaded intake seems. Anyway, here's to the build! Have fun modeling Mike :cheers:/>/> Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike J. Idacavage Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 Following the usual route, I have started working on the cockpit. As this looks pretty boring right now with the paint only partially completed, I thought I would post some initial work on another sub-assembly along with a build hint. A good friend of mine is working on a Hasegawa F-15C at the same time and he commented on a hassle with the wings. The small underside part is relatively thin and as there is a gap (hollow) in the inside of the wing when the two parts are glued, it is a real pain to get this level and not have the insert collapse and require a lot of putty. I got around that by adding two small strips of evergreen as a support before gluing the two wings halves together. I found that .030 thick plastic strip works out well as a support. Here is the support strip being used along with the two wing parts assembled and not glued. The small insert is resting on the larger wing in the second photo and is level after glue application. Have fun modeling! Mike :cheers:/>/> Quote Link to post Share on other sites
White Wolf Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Mike, that's a great tip about the wings. I had the same problem with my previous Hase Eagle and the smaller insert just looked terrible after gluing it to the wing. I'll be borrowing your technique for future builds! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arnobiz Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Great start and great markings too! I'm building an F-15DJ for this GB (No time to post about it yet, coming soon!) an I found it is actually easier to glue the strip to the other part of the wing: This way it is easy to sand down the strip to the exact thickness required for flush assembly. Just thought it might be useful... Arnaud Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RKic Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Thanks for the tip on the wing. I always wondered why Hasegawa engineered it this way. The joins don't fall on actual panel lines, do they? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike J. Idacavage Posted July 20, 2014 Author Share Posted July 20, 2014 That is a great tip Arnaud! While it is a bit late for me to try your suggestion in this build, I will use it for my next Hasegawa F-15 kit and compare both methods to see what works out the best. Have fun modeling! Mike :cheers:/> Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arnobiz Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 You're welcome Mike, glad you might find it useful. I finally started my own thread and posted some progress here :) I'm looking forward to your progress, Arnaud Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike J. Idacavage Posted August 17, 2014 Author Share Posted August 17, 2014 Hi everyone! In the small amount of time I had for modeling since my last post, I managed to get the cockpit finished out on my Mystic Eagle. Here are some photos of the cockpit as it now looks. I did use the instrument panel from an old Platz PE set for the F-15J (the non pre-painted set). My plan is to have the canopy raised so I needed to do a little work on the equipment bay. Next step is to button this up in the front fuselage and continue to work on the other sub assemblies like the wings and exhausts. Have fun modeling! Mike :cheers:/>/> Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pollie Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 Good looking pit! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arnobiz Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 This looks great Mike, keep up the good work! Arnaud Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lyn Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 very nice Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike J. Idacavage Posted September 6, 2014 Author Share Posted September 6, 2014 While I am working on the fuselage to pull all the main pieces together, I thought I would take a little diversion and work on the dreaded Hasegawa F-15 exhausts. Like most operational Eagles, The JASDF got rid of the turkey feathers and use the open exhausts. This brings up one of the more dreaded features with the Hasegawa F-15 kits. They mold the core of the exhaust in separate petals that you need to glue together and get them in something like a round shape. Here's how the parts come on the sprue: Nice, eh? I found a great tip from another builder on ARC and used one of the drop tanks from this kit as a sort of shaping plug. I glued all of the separate petals together with a solvent type glue and while the whole cone was a bit squishy, I used the drop tank as a plug inside the exhaust to allow the exhaust to set up in a round configuration. Here's how one of the exhaust core looks after drying: Not too bad! I then started to carefully add the tiny control rods around the outside. Here I am at about 75% into the process: Once this step is finished, I'll then paint them using shades of Alclad as the primary color. I know that Aries has aftermarket resin F-15 exhaust that get you around the need to make the center exhaust core (I have a copy in my stash) but I wanted to see what the Hasegawa version would look like as I have a pile of unbuilt Hasegawa Eagles in my pile and the aftermarket resin sets are expensive. Have fun modeling! Mike :cheers:/>/> Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ruud Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 nice work Mike! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fellow Hobbyist Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 That was a great solution to get the nozzles to stay circular. Your cockpit detailing is also nicely done Mike. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spejic Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 I've seen so many people screw that up, and your nozzles not only looks well built, but convincing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
White Wolf Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 That's a great trick for the nozzles. Like you, I was tempted to buy some more of the expensive Aires nozzles for my Eagles because of the ease of assembly, but after seeing your method I might change my mind. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arnobiz Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 The Aires nozzles are great (from what I've seen online) but they cost more than the model itself :(. Properly assembled, as shown here by Mike, the kit nozzles are perfectly acceptable and not that complicated to assemble. Using a tank is a good idea, I personally use the handle of a big brush. Arnaud Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike J. Idacavage Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 Thanks guys for the great comments on the Hasegawa exhaust nozzles! I was on a roll with the exhausts, so I just continued and finished them up while I had momentum. I completed the addition of the rest of the tiny control rods, then shot a coat of Mr. Surfacer on the exterior of the nozzles. This then received several coats of Alclad. I think I used one of the dark Alclad paints, either burnt iron or exhaust. I should have written that down but I forgot. After this dried, I took a silver prismatic pencil and lightly highlighted the exhausts. Like a lot of what we do here in the forums, the exhaust look a bit better to the eye rather than the camera lens! The silver metallic highlights get lost in the camera lights. Here's how they look finished: The three exhaust sub assemblies are just stacked on top of each other and are not yet fitted and glued. After finishing these kit exhausts, I agree with everyone that these are an acceptable alternative to the expensive Aries exhausts. I have a few copies of the Aries exhausts in my stash but don't plan on buying anymore for my Hasegawa Eagle builds. Now it is back to the fuselage! Have fun modeling! Mike :cheers:/>/> Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ruud Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 Looks great to my eyes! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike J. Idacavage Posted September 27, 2014 Author Share Posted September 27, 2014 Now that the exhausts are out of the way, it is time to start to make the pile of plastic parts look like a jet. I now have the front cockpit section put together as a single piece. Before I did that, I added nose weight to the radome. I also got rid of those tiny little plastic AOA probes (I will break those off in handling!) and replaced them with the sharp end of a pin after drilling out a suitable hole. These will look better anyway as they are already metal. Here's the progress so far: You can see the backside of the pin glued in front of the pedals in this shot. You can see the replacement AOA probes (aka pin) in this photo. These will look better and be more sturdy than the original plastic pieces. Now it is on to tackle the main fuselage! Have fun modeling! Mike :cheers:/>/> Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RKic Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Great looking cockpit, and the pins really are a big improvement. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
White Wolf Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Just be careful not to scratch or poke yourself. :P Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike J. Idacavage Posted October 25, 2014 Author Share Posted October 25, 2014 Hi everyone! No, I have not forgotten about this build, just that a lot of traveling got in the way these past 4 or 5 weeks! I am now back and have started to work on my Eagle. I have the main body now completed and ready for the front cockpit section. I noticed that the main gear doors are closed when the Eagle is parked, so I went to add these to the main fuselage. I may have been too aggressive on lightly sanding the gear doors as they were slightly loose and would not stay level with the surrounding fuselage area. They would start to drop back into the wheel well. I fixed this by adding a small support from evergreen square rod to support the front end of the gear door. You can see the support pieces in the following photos along with one of the gear doors resting in place. Next stop is to mate the front and back together and eliminate the obligatory step. Have fun modeling! Mike :cheers:/> Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arnobiz Posted October 25, 2014 Share Posted October 25, 2014 Good job. The front/back step is not obligatory, just take your time and dry fit enough :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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