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Thoughts on 1/72 F-15E kits?


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I think the Academy "press fit" kit is great. I built one out of the box for FSM review. All the weapons pylons are included. And you're just one razor saw cut away from having an open canopy; and I guess you'd have to make a retractor piston . . . . 

 

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I believe Chris was refering to the old Academy F-15E. This kit did miss the middle CFT side pylons.  https://www.scalemates.com/pl/kits/academy-12478-f-15e-strike-eagle--211162

Still, better than older boxings of Hasegawa that gave only configuration for a early demonstrator.

I liked this kit very much. The elevators are super thick and the fin rear rwr antennae are sort of overpronounced. And obviously, the kit is for a "B" not a "E".

I loved the lowered intakes option. The fit wasnt good, especially on the intakes.

I'd go with either new GWH, new Academy or perhaps a newer F-15E from Hasegawa. The two latter are a draw, as I hate the stubbed weapons on Academy (much better than their F-4J kit), and too simplified F-15E exhaust. Even old Academy had better ones.

Seeing how the price goes I suppose the most bang for the buck would indeed be new Academy. The E kit has awesome decals, Cartograf printed! GWH has a lot of weapons, though.

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I'd tend to rank the "new tool" Academy best value, even with its shortcomings. You can replace the dreadful exhausts with aftermarket and still have less invested than the GWH typical retails for. The later toolings of Hasegawa's Mudhen that added updated parts for a mostly accurate E (or derivatives) out of the box is also a solid choice.

 

I have yet to see any previews, but Revell Germany has announced an all-new tooling of the F-15E in 1/72 for late 2021.  If it gets the same team that did work like their F-16 family it could easily top this list (the "Son of Matchbox" quality of their F-14 family, not so much).

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2 hours ago, Quixote74 said:

I'd tend to rank the "new tool" Academy best value, even with its shortcomings. You can replace the dreadful exhausts with aftermarket and still have less invested than the GWH typical retails for. The later toolings of Hasegawa's Mudhen that added updated parts for a mostly accurate E (or derivatives) out of the box is also a solid choice.

 

I have yet to see any previews, but Revell Germany has announced an all-new tooling of the F-15E in 1/72 for late 2021.  If it gets the same team that did work like their F-16 family it could easily top this list (the "Son of Matchbox" quality of their F-14 family, not so much).

I am not too happy about the CFT s fit to the fuselage sides.

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9 hours ago, arnobiz said:

Following this with interest, for the day the "Next generation Eagles" BAM conversion sets will be adapted to 1/72 😉 - keen to know what you guys feel would be the best receiving kit!

 

Arnaud


I’d say the best starting point would be the Academy F-15K. Most of the required parts are already in the box. Just need to provide the cheek fairings, tailbooms and antennae on the upper fuselage. 

 

You can view the kit instructions here to get an idea of what is included: https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/7/9/4/930794-56-instructions.pdf
 

Mark

Edited by gb_madcat_sl
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Thanks. If only it were just the cheek fairings 😉

  • MAWS tail booms
  • Instrument panels (for the SA and EX/QA)
  • Coamings + Low-profile HUD (for the EX/QA)
  • New antennas on the spine and left fuselage
  • Vertical stabilator top antennas
  • Station 1-9 pylons

...

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On 9/1/2021 at 3:19 PM, arnobiz said:

Following this with interest, for the day the "Next generation Eagles" BAM conversion sets will be adapted to 1/72 😉 - keen to know what you guys feel would be the best receiving kit!

 

Arnaud

 

Most of the stuff that you're listing could be used for most of the kits mentioned without much adaptation. The only thing that may be an issue would be the MAWS tail booms.

 

That being said, I'm still partial to the Hasegawa kits.

 

I'm in for a F-15SA and SG at least.

 

Cheers!

Hoops

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4 hours ago, Hoops said:

 

Most of the stuff that you're listing could be used for most of the kits mentioned without much adaptation. The only thing that may be an issue would be the MAWS tail booms.

That's true, just the instrument panels too 😉 I'll start with the SG as Miliverse has great decals for 1/72 - SA/EX/QA don't have any decal available so that's a bit less clear... In any case this will probably be an early 2022 release as I have other projects in the pipeline (notably the 1/32 SG!)

 

Arnaud

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15 hours ago, arnobiz said:

That's true, just the instrument panels too 😉 I'll start with the SG as Miliverse has great decals for 1/72 - SA/EX/QA don't have any decal available so that's a bit less clear... In any case this will probably be an early 2022 release as I have other projects in the pipeline (notably the 1/32 SG!)

 

Arnaud

 

The last Wolpak Decals sheet does carry the markings for the test F-15SA, I did the artwork for that one.

 

Kursad has said that he'll scale down the "F-15s the Next Generation" to 1/72 which will provide some of the options. It's just a question of when, and which options are included.

 

Looking forward to a downscale of your products!

 

Hoops

Edited by Hoops
Add info about Wolfpak Decals
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On 9/6/2021 at 3:48 AM, arnobiz said:

Excellent, I was not aware of the Wolfpack sheet and I look forward to the downscaling of the Caracal sheet 🙂

 

I just ordered the Academy 1/72 F-15K 😉

Happy to hear it.  I’d also advocate for the Academy F-15K as the best starting point in 1/72 👍🏻👍🏻

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On 9/13/2021 at 12:33 AM, KursadA said:


Great news - and decals are on the way, too.

 

Looking forward to it Kursad,

On 9/13/2021 at 2:10 AM, arnobiz said:

What a team 🥳🤩

 

Will you be downscaling station 1 and 9 as well?

 

Thanks!

Hoops

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  • 3 months later...

Revell Aircraft kits - RV3841 | Hannants 

 

Sprueshots of the new Revell F-15E are up and have to say I am slightly underwhelmed:

 

-single seat canopy included?

-AIM-7 and AIM-9L/M instead of AIM-120 and AIM-9X?

-Mk.82 freefall bombs?

-LANTIRN pod instead of Litening or Sniper?

 

Seems to be an end-of-90s era Mud Hen instead of an up-to-date one....Missed opportunity.

 

But still; looking forward to F-15EX decals and conversion set!!

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On 12/17/2021 at 4:48 AM, pollie said:

Revell Aircraft kits - RV3841 | Hannants 

 

Sprueshots of the new Revell F-15E are up and have to say I am slightly underwhelmed:

 

-single seat canopy included?

-AIM-7 and AIM-9L/M instead of AIM-120 and AIM-9X?

-Mk.82 freefall bombs?

-LANTIRN pod instead of Litening or Sniper?

 

Seems to be an end-of-90s era Mud Hen instead of an up-to-date one....Missed opportunity.

 

But still; looking forward to F-15EX decals and conversion set!!

 

I suppose this is a "glass half empty" outlook, but from what can be seen in those sprues I see nothing but good news:

 

- The tooling is obviously set up to allow for a full range of single and two-seat fighter and strike variants - not only the forward fuselage but also the belly plate are separate parts, allowing for the various detail differences between versions. I'm confident single and dual canopies will be provided for the respective versions as appropriate.

- Stores may not include all of the latest, greatest options, but an ample range is provided in the box (something many manufacturers neglect), and anything not included is readily available from aftermarket sources (if not already in your spares box).

- The Mk 82s make me suspect a "Desert Storm" era Mudhen is the goal of this first release, so it's very possible AIM-9X, AIM-120, and/or Sniper pod could be on another sprue or added to a future release depicting later service. (The GPS dome is the only post- Desert Storm feature I can see that isn't on a modular part, and that's something that a flick of the Xacto and a swipe of wet-or-dry can take care of).

- The level of detail, modular engineering for multiple variants, and general "finesse" of the parts looks very comparable to Revell AG's F-16 series, which is still justifiably ranked among the best of that type available (I can only hope affordability will also be similar, though it's hard to compare MSRPs from 2012 to 2022 😕)

 

It's still early and those who remember Fujimi's "1/72" Strike Eagle have been burned before, but based on what we're seeing and Revell's track record I am optimistic we're looking at what is likely to become the new best-buy, if not best outright, Strike Eagle, and possibly Eagle of all breeds.

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25 minutes ago, Quixote74 said:

 

- The Mk 82s make me suspect a "Desert Storm" era Mudhen is the goal of this first release, 

 

 

Negative. The boxart shows the 2017 4th FW 75th anniversary bird (which carries the Sniper pod in pictures I've found online). Lately Revell issues kits which often only have a single decal option, that might also be the case here.

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