Bucking the trend,......not a WNW build

[geedubelyer]

Index

p1. Intro and aft fuselage mods including JFS exhaust.

p2. Chaff/flare buckets. Primary heat exchanger exhausts. Modifying the fuselage to engine feathers using metal foil.

Air intakes.

p3. Air intakes continued. Fod guards.

 

 

Hello LSPers,

 

It's about time I sunk my teeth into another large scale build. My stalled F-14 is sucking the mojo out of me so I'm hoping that by getting stuck into this project, my modelling fire will be re-kindled.

Never fear Tomcat fans, I will return to the big 'Cat in the future once I've gained a bit of momentum.

 

Until then, I've opted for another big offering from Tamiya. This time, it's the F-15C Eagle. I've already built two of the F-15E kits but this "C" model is a first.

Setting my stall out, I hope to attempt one or two other firsts along the way. I intend to use Alclad II for the BMF engine panels which I've never done before. I'll try to install the Aires late model resin cockpit (winging it's way to me via Hannants as we speak) and adapt a number of kit elements in an effort to give a realistic finish to the completed model.

 

There is a gap in my display cabinet. The two Strike Eagles depict aircraft from the 492FS and the 494th FS based at RAF Lakenheath in the UK. Can you guess which squadron I'm choosing to adorn this kit?

So the cammo will be "Mod Eagle" but I will have to source the squadron insignia from a custom decal supplier unless anyone knows of a sheet that gives the current 493rd unit markings.

There are known areas on the kit that will require attention and other areas that I expect to discover along the way.

 

With the intro out of the way, here's a small update to get the ball rolling.

 

My first task could raise an eyebrow or two. In my attempt at realism I've chosen to take the unusual step of filling some panel lines. Considering how many folk dilligently rescribe their kits I'm sure some will think I've lost my marbles. However, this stems from photos I took of one of my previous models where the unmodified panel lines appeared quite pro-nounced. By comparison, photos of the actual aircraft rarely show panel lines unless they are close-ups or they show regularly opened maintenance panels.

Whether this gamble pays off remains to be seen. I'll be the guinea pig and together we can view the results on the finished model.

The typical Tamiya panel lines are crisp and even but much deeper than the real version.

I'm using Vallejo putty to fill many of the lines as shown below..

 

 

This filler sands easily with wet and dry used wet but it is prone to shrinkage. This might work in my favour in some ways as I can control how much I fill the panel lines by how many layers of filler I use.

 

Whilst I'm at it, another thing that I'm attempting is to impart a certain amount of texture to the airframe skin. Real aircraft of this era are rarely completely smooth. The Eagle uses a large amount of composite material in it's construction but equally, it still uses a great deal of meatl too. This metal is subject to a great deal of loading during flight so it flexes creating some distortion to certain panels. In addition to that, access panels are opened and closed regularly adding to the punishment the metal endures. On a jet aircraft the ripple effect is often quite subtle but nevertheless it can be seen in certain lighting conditions.

My technique is to draw a curved blade along the surface of the plastic creating a shallow graze or scratch. I then buff the scratch out with the range of micromesh sanding pads until it becomes smooth again. Catch the airframe in the right lighting and the subtle ripples become evident.

 

 

I must make sure that I don't overdo it though. Restraint is the order of the day.

Edited October 1, 2017 by geedubelyer

[geedubelyer]

In order to continue this effect on the engine access panels I am forced to remove some detail. The two largish blade shaped drains (1) are deleted on the "C" Eagle so need removal. A number of smaller drains are molded into the plastic (2) and I felt that removing them would give me more room to distress the surface. I'll replace them using small diameter capillary tubing later. The JFS (Jet fuel starter) exhaust has the earliest vent (3).

 

Modern airframes just show the open mouth of the exhaust so I'm going to share how I fabricate one.

 

To begin with, some internal bracing needs to be modified.

 

 

Cutting the centre section out allows access to the exhaust opening. "Chain drilling" makes short work of the plastic.

 

On the real aircraft this area is a single skin so we can imitate that by chamferring the edges of the plastic

 

 

Next up, the exhaust. I have a tried and trusted method for this. Brass tubing is used to re-create the two layers of metal seen on the full sized article. I chose sizes that telescoped into one another and made sure that the larger size fitted snugly in the opening.I then filed away the edges to leave a gap. On the larger diameter pipe I took a bit of each edge, for the smaller diameter I thinned the brass from the outer edge to create the gap.

The fit is tight but does look quite effective.

 

You can see that the end of the tubes is angled. This is because the exhaust on the real aircraft exits at an angle but the mouth of the pipes is flush with the outer skin of the arframe.

The new part will be fixed in place once it's painted....

 

 

I'm looking forward to getting stuck in again so I'll be back with more at a later date. Thanks for stopping by.

 

Cheers.

Edited October 1, 2017 by geedubelyer

[Guest Peterpools]

Nice start on the Eagle and I have to admit, you sure are bucking the trend.

Looking forward to following along and seeing how it all comes out.

Keep 'em comin

[Daywalker]

Guy- I am REALLY looking forward to watching this one. Seeing modelers going against the grain with new ideas is how this hobby stays fresh. You are not only one of the most talented builders I have the pleasure of watching, but seeing you work your magic on the F-15C is incing on the cake.

 

Bring it on!

[Kagemusha]

Nice start Guy, looking forward to more - not least to pinch wholesale your tips for a future F-15DJ...

[Qvarre]

Yep,l'm a Wingnutter but this machine is just awesome.I'm almost order this kit several times but is wottied that can't pull off and do have all to many shelf boxes.I will follow this build cloosley,kepp the pics comming.

LarsaQ

[crobinsonh]

Very nice work. I look forward to seeing your progress and pinching as many ideas I can - particularly for the F-15J I have in the stash.

[LSP_Kevin]

Very nice start Guy. I'm not much of jet man, but I can already see that this thread will be well worth watching!

 

Kev

[Shawn M]

ooooooo

Nice start so far

[stusbke]

Hi Geedub!

 

to bad to have you lost the mojo on the kittie cat but I can relate its tough to keep going on her, there loads to do and the list is quite extensive!

 

Anyway looking forward to this eagle though you sure do know your way around these by now don't you? I hope this will restore the mojo mate, I love the engine stressed panels! Looks spectacular! and will do great with some subtke shading painting and weathering!

 

Have you decided yet which cockpit set your going to use Avionix or the Aires pit after all?

 

Cheers mate

Frederick Jacobs

[DougN]

Looks great so far, really like your stressed skin effect!

Doug

[Cees Broere]

Brave man, but how are you going to tackle the rigging?

 

Oops

Cees

[geedubelyer]

Hi guys, many thanks for all of the kind comments.

Nice start on the Eagle and I have to admit, you sure are bucking the trend.

Looking forward to following along and seeing how it all comes out.

Keep 'em comin

Hi Peter, thanks. I'd very much like to build a WNW kit just for the experience if nothing else. They look like a great deal of fun so who knows, maybe one day.

 

Guy- I am REALLY looking forward to watching this one. Seeing modelers going against the grain with new ideas is how this hobby stays fresh.

 

Bring it on!

Hi Frank, good to see you. I'm glad you're planning to stick around so I'll try not to disappoint. I really enjoy seeing other guys use differing styles and techniques so hope this works out.

 

Nice start Guy, looking forward to more - not least to pinch wholesale your tips for a future F-15DJ...

Hi Andy, cheers. I'm planning on showing the bits I stumble across that might benefit from a bit of tweaking but from past experience, Tamiya created a pretty good starting point.

 

Yep,l'm a Wingnutter but this machine is just awesome.I'm almost order this kit several times but is wottied that can't pull off and do have all to many shelf boxes.I will follow this build cloosley,kepp the pics comming. LarsaQ

I know what you mean LarsaQ, these are a big piece of plastic once they're complete. I think you'd get three WW1 fighters in the same footprint of shelf space.

 

Very nice work. I look forward to seeing your progress and pinching as many ideas I can - particularly for the F-15J I have in the stash.

Hi crobinsonh, glad to have you along for the ride. If I spot anything that I can tweak I'll post it up. Some of it (most of my mods probably) will be minor so it'll let others decide whether or not to do something similar.

 

Very nice start Guy. I'm not much of jet man, but I can already see that this thread will be well worth watching!

 

Kev

Hi Kev, I'm pleased to see you along for the ride. One of the most pleasurable aspects of life here in LSP land is the huge variety of subjects. I can't see you learning how to paint wood in this thread or apply lozenge decals but there might be something of interest at some point....(if we're lucky....)

ooooooo

Nice start so far

Hi Shawn, thanks man. Now the trick will be to keep up momentum.

 

Hi Geedub!

 

to bad to have you lost the mojo on the kittie cat but I can relate its tough to keep going on her, there loads to do and the list is quite extensive!

 

Anyway looking forward to this eagle though you sure do know your way around these by now don't you? I hope this will restore the mojo mate, I love the engine stressed panels! Looks spectacular! and will do great with some subtke shading painting and weathering!

 

Have you decided yet which cockpit set your going to use Avionix or the Aires pit after all?

 

Cheers mate

Frederick Jacobs

Hi Frederick, yeah, I made a rod for my own back. By adding so much extra detail at such an early stage of the build it means that I'm commited to a similar level of detail until completion of the project. I'll get there eventually. It's not a sprint and is supposed to be fun, right? Never fear, Nickel 103 will rise again....

I've chosen the airframe that I'd like to build and she's a dirty girl. Plenty of scope for the use of pastels and powders in the latter stages. As for the cockpit, see below.

Looks great so far, really like your stressed skin effect!

Doug

Hi Doug, thanks. I hope it looks ok under a coat of paint. It's possible it will disappear but nothing ventured, nothing gained eh?

 

Brave man, but how are you going to tackle the rigging? Oops Cees

Lol. Good question Cees. I'm thinking EZ line..what do you recommend.

 

....Exemplary start to your Eagle.

Hi MARU, thankyou for the very kind words. You are always so positive and complementary it's a pleasure to have you view the build.

 

Now, another reason for this update. I had a visit from the postman today and he delivered a package from Hannants. Yep, my Aires cockpit set arrived.

Here are a couple of images showing some of the detail. See the remaining photos here: http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=43107&st=0&p=439622

 

The level of detail has to be seen to be believed. If it's ok with the mods I'd like to post a mini review in the LSP forum with more photos and some thoughts on the parts.Once that's done I'll link back to it here for anyone looking for more information.

 

I've been restrained and put this back in the box for now but at least it's in my possession and waiting for some careful painting.

 

Cheers.

Edited January 31, 2013 by geedubelyer

[ladder4boy]

Guy.. glad to see you back at it! I've got my Tomcat sitting in it's box in the corner staring at me, and i've sworn i won't start on it till Chris gets his intakes done. Glad to see you taking on this build.. the eagle is on my short list of "want to do's".. and your builds are always inspiring! I'd love to see you do a cockpit mini-review.. especially on the FIT! i'm at the point that i've all but given up on most resin cockpits and wheel wells as the amount of work needed to get the danged thing in the hole and then repair the damage done to the kit isn't worth it.. they sure do look good tho

 

Love how the ripple effect came out as well.. nice and subtle.

 

cheers!

Jerry

[geedubelyer]

Hi Jerry, thanks for the kind comments buddy. I'm sure the Zactomodel Tomcat intakes will be well worth the wait and will improve the look of the Trumpy Kitty enormously. I look forward to seeing your build when you get around to it.

I'll add a few thoughts regarding the aires cockpit over in LSP discussion along with some more images then, when I get to the fitting stage I'll be sure to let folk know how it goes. It's a big chunk of resin and I've read a number of horror stories. Then again, some lucky folk have the tub drop right in without issue. I hope my experience falls into the second category.

 

I got off early from work today so played with plastic a bit. I'm trying to work around the main parts of the kit and finesse the Tamiya detail where I think the effort is worthwhile.

One area where I'm getting some help in the detail department is the chaff/flare buckets. The kit parts look pretty good.

 

The airframe that I've got planned was used as an airshow demo bird back in 2006 and she had blanks fitted in the chaff and flare buckets. Luckily, "Uncle Eduard" came to my rescue. A pair of blank covers are included in their F-15E exterior detail set.

 

I cut the parts from the etch with a curved blade on a sample of marble using a rolling action. It blunts the blade quite quickly but removes virtually all of the stub leaving next to no cleanup necessary and the solid base does n't deform the remainder of the fret.

 

Eduard indicate that the modeller should apply the etch to the surface of the plastic.This looks neat but it is n't completely authentic.

 

When the blanks are fitted, they sit fractionally below the surface of the fuselage. (Three's a great photo of this on p116 of The Modern Eagle Guide). My first thought was to remove a layer of plastic from the kit parts and sit the etch into the space.

 

However, the Eduard parts are larger than the molded in detail. Since the kit hinge detail looks ok to me I cut off the blank covers then cut a hole large enough to accept the metal. With nothin behind the etch I was free to position them as I pleased. I opted to set the aftermarket part slightly below the level of the plastic.

 

 

With those dealt with I turned my attention to a couple of small inlet details at the rear of the wing root area. The rounded on is a ram air inlet for auxiliary engine cooling and the square one will become the Primary Heat Exchanger inlet. (Can you tell I've been reading the book......?)

 

 

The kit parts are a tad crude in this scale so I'm hoping a small level of tweaking will improve their look.

Upto this point I've hollowed out the ram air intake and then used "green stuff" to re-model the shape.

 

 

More on the PHE intake next time.

 

Cheers.

Edited October 1, 2017 by geedubelyer