Skinny_Mike Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Hello everyone! I started this F-15 for the “Bad Boys” group build, but unfortunately I just didn’t get it finished in time. I’ve kept working on the aircraft and will continue posting here. For those of you that didn’t see the build so far, here is a link to the progress. F-15 Aggressor Build Picking up where I left off, we are dealing with the fit problems. First up was the gap behind the cockpit. I installed the turtle deck and then to close up the gap I added some plastic strip that was the same thickness as the gap and sanded it to shape. Then I brush painted the interior blue green and finally sprayed interior black. It’s not perfect but will be mostly hidden by the canopy. Next up was the seam where the forward and aft fuselages are joined. I used some squadron white putty along this seam and wet sanded it. Then I turned my attention to the new antenna mount on the right aft tail. (Yes I was procrastinating on doing the intakes!) I used some 5 minute epoxy to fix the resin piece in place. After letting it sit overnight, I covered the seam in milliput. And then sanded it to shape. Then I had to finally start on the intakes. Part of my procrastination was waiting on some appropriately sized Evergreen strip to arrive. Unfortunately my local hobby shop closed a few months back, basically with no warning that I can tell, and my next closest is about an hour from here, so now pretty much everything has to be mail order. I started with the right hand intake. This had by far the biggest gap. I built up the back end with the Evergreen strip, using CA glue and the Tamiya model glue with the orange cap, to make sure I had a good strong bond. I let it sit overnight and then I sanded to shape. I also eliminated the seams on the inside using CA glue and milliput. And I did the same thing on the left hand side intake as well. Once all the inner seams were cleaned up I painted the interior and the inner faces in the lighter blue, following my reference pictures. I’m using MM Enamel Flanker Medium Blue. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skinny_Mike Posted July 11, 2014 Author Share Posted July 11, 2014 Then the intakes were installed on the aircraft. There were still some seams to clean up, but luckily the seam here is in a location on the airframe that doesn’t have any panel lines. So out came the milliput again and the sanding sticks to blend everything together. Overall I am pretty pleased with the outcome of the intakes. This was an incredibly difficult part of the kit and I think it turned out really well. I tried to take some pictures down the intakes to show that you really can’t see the joints on the inside, but I just couldn’t get the camera to focus. But it is really hard to tell and I’ll be comfortable leaving intake covers off this Hase F-15! Next I added the airbrake. It needed to be persuaded to fit in the closed position. Honestly the fit issues don’t shock me with this kit any more. And finally I added the wings. And of course the fit at the wing root is poor. I guess that the next thing to go ahead and clean up. I'm moving along. Hope you keep following! Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Just4kiks Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I'll be watching this build... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skinny_Mike Posted August 26, 2014 Author Share Posted August 26, 2014 Hello everyone – I’m back with a small installment on my F-15. I haven’t had a lot of time to work on this lately and my progress shows. Well let’s get into it. For an F-15C aggressor, the antennas need to be updated from what is included in the Hasegawa kit. The first changes are on the bottom of the nose. The first was the little nodule located just aft of the radome, then the swept blade antenna was added in place of the straight blade antenna that was molded onto the fuselage. The small antenna, which I believe is for the TACAN was installed next and the straight blade was kept from the molded on kit parts. Next up was to add the upper nodule on the top of the nose, just aft of the radome. This was followed by a clipped antenna just aft of the canopy. On the particular aircraft I am going to build, this is supposed to be a straight antenna, which is what is already molded onto the kit, but I accidentally broke that off. Thanks for the spare part Wolfpack!!!! Continuing aft I next installed the GPS antenna. I first cut out a square of .010 inche plastic then mounted the antenna to the plastic and glued it down. Wolfpack’s kit doesn’t really give you any placement instructions for the GPS antenna, so I had to go off reference photos and other peoples builds. Next stop was the tail. First off I added the tail hook and the new structure around it.I drilled a hole in the plastic sheet, cut it out the area for the hook to extend and then glued the hook into the drilled out part. Super easy. I also added the RWR antenna to the ne section of the tail. These parts are all from the Wolfpack kit as well. Next up – I needed to repair a broken AOA sensor. The kit sensors were molded onto each half of the nose and one was damaged out of the box. To fix the sensors, I shaved off both of the molded AOA sensors and replaced them with the AOA sensors from an Hobby Decal F-16 pitot and AOA set that are turned metal. Much more refined. Drilled a 0.5mm hole where the ghost of the molded probe was and inserted the new turned aluminum one. Popped in and looks great. Didn’t even use glue. Really happy with this save. Now I need to work on the glare shield and then get the front canopy on. Started by adding the photo etch pieces for the HUD. These are from the Aires cockpit set. I’ve since gotten the glare shield repainted and detailed, and now I’m wrestling with a front canopy that doesn’t seem to fit, but that’s a story for next time… Thanks for looking in! As always – comments and critiques are always welcome. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Just4kiks Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Nice update. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Air-to-Air Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 I agree. I like the work you are doing here, it's coming together nicely. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 very nice updates. Make sure you add it to the finished BAd boys GB page when its done. No prizes left but I still look forward to the completed model. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skinny_Mike Posted August 30, 2014 Author Share Posted August 30, 2014 (edited) Thanks for the kind words guys! I really appreciate it. I have run into a bit of a dilemma. I am working on the front windscreen and according to the Aires cockpit instructions I am supposed to attach the mirrors and the compass to the front windscreen part of the kit. All the reference photos I could find however show that part of the real aircraft to be empty. I found a cool video looking over the pilot's shoulder in flight and it looks like the mirrors and the compass are maybe on the canopy itself? Anyone know for sure? Thanks for the help! Next update will be soon! Mike Edited September 2, 2014 by Skinny_Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jmel Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 Mike, the mirrors are mounted to the canopy itself. I have no idea why the Aires instructions would say otherwise. Jake Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skinny_Mike Posted September 2, 2014 Author Share Posted September 2, 2014 (edited) Thanks Jake! I'm glad I asked instead of just following blindly! Not sure what was up with Aires here. Ken Middleton posted a pic that help clarified where the mirrors go as well (Thanks Ken). I really appreciate the help from both of you. Ok - lets get right to the progress! As I alluded to in my last build post, fitting the front windscreen was looking to be a challenge. The clear part was just too small to fit the fuselage. Im not sure if the pictures show the problem very well. I had this same problem on an F-18 I build a few years ago and I didnt do anything to fix it. The front canopy is kind of a focal point and now every time I look at it I see the misaligned canopy and it bothers me. So this one I am going to fix. The first step was to measure the inner dimension of the fuselage, right at the end of the glare shield, sort of in the cockpit, using a set of calipers. Then I cut a piece of tooth pick to the right length and forced the canopy to the right dimension. Next I went to the stove and boiled a small pot of water. After getting the water to a good boil, I shut off the heat and quickly dipped the windscreen into the hot water. I was terrified it might melt into a gooey mess, so I dipped it several times and didnt leave the plastic in the water very long. When I was done, I had a steamed up window, but one that was the proper size to fit the fuselage! So the fogging…. I wasnt really sure what happened there, but I guessed that because I had already futured the plastic, after I removed the mold seam, that it was just a reaction between the future in the hat water. I was a little nervous that I had just wrecked the stupid thing, so I cleaned it all off with some Windex and then I dipped it in future again. The result was a clear canopy! Im really happy that this all worked. While the future was drying, I finished up the glare shield. First was a dry brush with MM RLM 66 dark gray, I painted the HUD projector with MM Chrome Silver followed by Tamiya clear green and finally attached the HUD glass from the Aires cockpit. Once the future dried on the canopy, I masked it using the Eduard mask set and sprayed the inside and outside frames in MM acryl interior black, and attached it to the fuselage. The fit is so much better now. Then I added the vertical and horizontal tails which completed assembly of the airframe. Next step is to mask the cockpit and the intakes and we are on to primer! Thanks for watching, and as always comments and critiques are welcome. Mike Edited September 2, 2014 by Skinny_Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shaka HI Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 That took some balls, dude! Surrrrprised that no stress cracks formed. Very nice. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 (edited) Just a really well organized and presented update. It was easy for me to catch up on your build and follow along. I must admit that I wouldn't have tried the boiling water fix, as with my luck the windscreen would have melted or at least warped. Still, it's a method that sooner or later I'm going to have to use as i keep on encountering windshields seem to be just too narrow. Looking forward to your next up, as the F-15 should have some primer and paint on. Joel Edited September 2, 2014 by Joel_W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skinny_Mike Posted September 25, 2014 Author Share Posted September 25, 2014 That took some balls, dude! Surrrrprised that no stress cracks formed. Very nice. I am still surprised it worked myself! Could have been a disaster! Just a really well organized and presented update. It was easy for me to catch up on your build and follow along. I must admit that I wouldn't have tried the boiling water fix, as with my luck the windscreen would have melted or at least warped. Still, it's a method that sooner or later I'm going to have to use as i keep on encountering windshields seem to be just too narrow. Looking forward to your next up, as the F-15 should have some primer and paint on. Joel Thanks Joel! Appreciate it! I have a small update for you today and I am hoping to get a little feedback. The model was primed with Tamiya Primer straight from the rattle can. Then I painted the radome. I used Model Master Enamels for it. FS36176, F-15 Dark Gray, and FS36251, Navy Aggressor Gray. Next I painted the metallic areas near the engines. I used Alclad Duraluminum For the base Titanium color and then I post shaded that with a 2:1 mix of Alclad Duraluminum and Jet Exhaust. Top: Bottom: I’m not entirely sure of the look. I wanted to get some feedback from the masses before I masked it off to start painting the blues. So what does everyone think? Look good or is the post shading too dark? Thanks for the help! Talk to you all soon Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aigore Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Gorgeous work there, Mike :D Well, yeah the post shade is a tad too stark. I think you'd get a better result with using Tamyia pigment set (yeah, I really like it and I've used it for hot metals for years) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
andrew.deboer Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 That. Is a sweet model. Makes me want to scrape everything off the worktable and pull out my F-15. Glad you had the fortitude to fix the canopy! Having parts fit without being forced makes a huge difference in the quality of a build. Spot on with the details, too! The metallics look great. Since you asked for feedback, I'll say that I don't see panel edge shading like that on the real thing. Individual panels may differ from each other slightly or a lot, but as seen in the linked photos, the individual panels don't exhibit tonal shading like that except by a heat source like the APU exhaust. http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/5/0/6/1486605.jpg http://kenmiddleton.net/real_aviation/F-15/walk/images/F-15_102ndFW_BBB_7788.jpg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Mike, After comparing your bare metal exhaust post shading to those two pictures, your post shading technique really isn't what your trying to accomplish. Lightly air brushing on Alcad Yellow and blue should yield the effect quite well. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skinny_Mike Posted September 26, 2014 Author Share Posted September 26, 2014 Thanks or the advice guys! I wasn't really sold on the dark post shading and that just cemented my opinion. So I tried again, this time with a little blue/duraluminum mix. Top: Bottom: I think its better, and will blend in with a bit of a wash. Thoughts? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aigore Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 It looks better but I still recommend the Tamiya Weathering Master set You can do astonishing hot metal weathering with it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 (edited) Skinny_Mike, Looks much better, but it's the post/pre-shading effect that I think is wrong for the NMF exhaust areas. The panels should be stained from the heat transfer, which would be more of a discoloration in the middle of the panels. Joel Edited September 26, 2014 by Joel_W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skinny_Mike Posted July 9, 2015 Author Share Posted July 9, 2015 Hello everyone! Not here with any progress on this build, ust looking to bump the thread up to this year! There has been some big life changes that have unfortunately sidelined the F-15. My wife and I moved to Florida in November of last year and we've been living in an apartment so there has been pretty limited modeling and no painting at all since. Our house is finally built and we are moving in next week so the man cave (and the model bench) will be fully operational again in a couple of weeks. I've been really itching to get some stuff done so there should be progress as soon as I can get to it! Be back soon! Skinny Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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