Joel_W Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 I've been looking forward to GWH 1/48 scale F-15C MSIP 11 Eagle since it was announced. This is their 2nd Eagle release: the F-15 B/D being their 1st, and has all the needed corrections from the 2nd run. While I'm by no means a rivet counter, with today's computer aided CAD programs, I do expect the finished model to be a close representation. Once I opened the rather large box was that I've never seen so many sprue trees and parts for a 1/48 scale jet before. Needless to say, I'm more then impressed with the kit. The only issue I have with the kit is the decal sheet, as it's rather a uninspiring offering, Don't misinterpret my meaning as poor decals. The 2 sheets, including comprehensive stencils looks fantastic, but rather a somewhat more colorful option of markings, so I just might go with an after market set. One of the few AM parts I've opted for on both my F-4B and A-63 builds was resin ejection seats. The Aces 11 seat in the kit really looks quite nice. I decided to remove the molded on shoulder harness and securing straps and use a combination of PE extras and Masking Tape to replace them. The kit doesn't come with seatbelts, so adding the double set of seatbelts was that much quicker. I grab handles are just painted yellow for now, but once the seat is sealed, weathered with a wash, I'll use a fine tip black marker to add the black stripes. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nicholassagan Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 RAD! Definitely going to follow. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Hooray, another awesome build by Joel! I'll happily be tagging along watching this build. Great work on the seat. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChippyWho Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Not letting up after that crackling Lightning, then! I'll put the kettle on... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted December 8, 2014 Author Share Posted December 8, 2014 Nicholassan, Falcon20driver, and ChippyWho, Welcome to the party. Glad you guys are tagging along. feel free to keep me on track, correct my mistakes, and suggest better ways to get things accomplished. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jgrease Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 As always, I'm all in! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aigore Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Oh, this is gonna be fantastic! Until I can afford my own kit I'll be enjoying it through you :D Go dude!:D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rom Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 hi! I will follow you!! cheers! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted December 8, 2014 Author Share Posted December 8, 2014 As always, I'm all in! John, You've been missed. Hope all is well, and you've finished your attic so you can get back to modeling. Joel Oh, this is gonna be fantastic! Until I can afford my own kit I'll be enjoying it through you :D/> Go dude!:D/> Janne, I'm simply amazed at the detail in this kit. the cockpit is a model all by itself. I really don't think you would gain much with the Aires cockpit, it's that good. Going to be taking my time with this build, as I don't want to screw it up. I'm really glad you'll be following my build. Your in-depth knowledge will be a tremendous help. Joel hi! I will follow you!! cheers! Rom, Welcome aboard. Nice to have you along for the ride. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy Snap Captain Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Joel, Really looking forward to this one! I have this kit and will be taking notes. Nice choice on the markings too! Keep it coming mate! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted December 9, 2014 Author Share Posted December 9, 2014 Joel, Really looking forward to this one! I have this kit and will be taking notes. Nice choice on the markings too! Keep it coming mate! Crazy Sap Captain, Welcome to the party. Grab a seat and join right in. Like I said, the kit looks amazing. I compared the kit interior details to my brothers Aires cockpit, and there just isn't enough of a difference to justify adding it. True, some of the wiring details are thicker, but the overall look and effect is perfect, and so far the part fit has been dead on. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jgrease Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Joel- I just got my workbench up and running Sunday. Working on the F9F-8T currently. John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 Joel- I just got my workbench up and running Sunday. Working on the F9F-8T currently. John John, that's great to hear. Looking forward to following your build. I can't wait for the single seater to be released in a few weeks. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 Thought I'd would do a quick update since I've finished the kit seat. I modified the top of the shoulder harnesses so that where they attach to the seat they look like 4 individual belts. I used a black ultra fine tip marker to add the black lines to the hand grips. Finally, a few washes of Raw Umber enamel paint heavily thinned, and liberally applied to seat cushions and belts. The Aces 11 seat is just loosely fitted into the cockpit. It actually fits between the two support rails, but the fit is very tight, and I didn't want to take a chance on breaking one of them. As you can see I started the cockpit sub assembly, which is about the most detailed kit cockpit I've ever seen. The side walls have almost as much detail as a resin cockpit. And for my display purposes it's more then adequate. Here's the start of the side walls. The main section of the cockpit and the electronics bay are well detailed. And everything fits perfectly. Just amazing. The instrument panel is beautifully modeled with excellent detail. But I was concerned that the instrument faces were just a little too shallow after the instrument decals were added and lenses made from Pledge, so I decided to drill all of them out, then make a back plate from .040 sheet. Finally I test fitted the two sides, and the IP to get a sense of how it would look, and how good the fit is. Well, it looks outstanding, and the fit is 100% perfect. Thanks to all for stopping by. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aigore Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Now that pit is coming together nicely :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nicholassagan Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Nice office so far. Dials are always tricky... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pascal D Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Nice project and very nice progress. Thank you for the very good pics. If you don't mind I will use your pics as reference for my F-15 builds. Sincerely Pascal Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pascal D Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Nice project and very nice progress. Thank you for the very good pics. If you don't mind I will use your pics as reference for my F-15 builds. Sincerely Pascal Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Great work so far Joel. How do you keep your green mat that you work on so clean? Mine looks like a 5 year old was finger painting on it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 (edited) Now that pit is coming together nicely :D/>/> Janne, Thanks. Still a lot to do. The throttles are just a plastic blob. If you look closely at the throttle quadrant, you'll see new ones that I've made from steel wire and White glue. I didn't mention them as yet, since they're not done nor painted, as I didn't want to attract any attention to them. Joel Nice office so far. Dials are always tricky... Nicholassagan, That's the truth. I'm still struggling with all the instrument faces, but I'm going to win this battle one way or the other. :thumbsup:/>/> Joel Edited December 13, 2014 by Joel_W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 Nice project and very nice progress. Thank you for the very good pics. If you don't mind I will use your pics as reference for my F-15 builds. Sincerely Pascal Pascal, Coming from you, that's a huge compliment. Feel free to use any of my pictures if it will be of benefit to you. Although, after following all your builds, you're photography skills are the equal of anyone's I've seen. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 (edited) Great work so far Joel. How do you keep your green mat that you work on so clean? Mine looks like a 5 year old was finger painting on it. Falcon20Driver, Thank you so much for stopping by and having a look. Ok, I'll confess the secret of my nearly spotless Tamiya Green Mat: It's brand new :whistle:/> I've destroyed one Tamiya large Matt and just recently that hideous gray matt that's just not anywhere as good as the Tamiya mat. So saving a few dollars wasn't worth it. With the new matt, I'm being super careful for now. No painting directly on it. I cover it with a few sheets of Newspaper or paper towel, and I never turn it over. So when I do eventually mess up its looked, at least I'll have the backside for pictures. My original Tamiya mat lasted 3 years, and was past its useful work life, so it got retired. The Gray matt made it a little more then 2 years, and just never recovered from all the cuts like the Tamiya mat does, eventually becoming a useless modeling surface, covered with paint and glue stains. One day I tried to clean it, and made its looks worse. So it was retired and sent off to the town incinerator. :wave:/> Joel Edited December 13, 2014 by Joel_W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted December 15, 2014 Author Share Posted December 15, 2014 Well, yesterday I finally finished the cockpit. I added the tops of the electrical boxes, as well as the handles, then I masked and airbrushed them Nato Black. When the paint had dried, I dry brushed everything that had an edge or raised detail with a medium gray acrylic paint, and let it dry for a hour or so. Next up was a wash of Burnt Umber enamel paint, that helped to bring out the details in the electrical compartment behind the cockpit. I finished up the IP and made all the lenses out of Pledge. My biggest issue is that most of them looks completely black in the pictures. It's really a lot harder to photograph then I thought. the seat is just test fitted in, and the flight stick was left out for now. I constructed the front wheel well which went together perfectly, then air brushed on Tamiya Gray Primer, followed by Nato Black, then Tamiya Gloss White. When dry it also received a wash of Burnt Umber to bring out the excellent molded on detail. I was real curious to see how the cockpit shell would fit into the front sub assembly of the fuselage. The fit was perfect. As a matter of fact, I was amazed that the two halves when joined fit so well, that they stayed together without any tape. Lets hope that the rest of the major sub assemblies have this good of a fit. Thanks for stopping by and having a look. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nicholassagan Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 Wow. This is shaping up nicely. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Peterpools Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 JA Nice work on the front office and the part fit looks excellent with superb detailing. Not sure why on the nose wheel bay you indercoated the gloss white with NATO Black. Keep 'em coming Bro Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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