1/32 Early F-15B Eagle - 58TTW

[RichieB]

Many thanks everyone. Most photos of that age are quite difficult to get in high enough quality to copy directly so I've just used a general pattern from more recent images and A LOT of artistic license! 

[Neo]

Wow that pre shade is a work of art on its own

[RichieB]

With the pre-shading done it was time to load up the cockpit. Seats and pilots went in easily though it was a bit of a fiddle to then add the Oxy and G hoses and joysticks.

A few highlights were added with grey pencil and some shading with oils. The helmet markings are a bit of artistic license but based on the Sqn's tail fin markings.

 

The HUD was part of the Aires set but quite fiddly and I ended up cutting my own HUD glass from acetate sheets. I also had to lower them a tad as the Revell front canopy is a bit 'flatter' than the Tamiya one which this set is designed for.

With the crew safely in it will be time to seal it up for the final coat of Air Superiority 

 

The Canopy had some extra detail added in the form of grab handles, mirrors and a small compass. I also added a thin strip on the canopy rail to bulk up its appearance when closed. 

Hopefully get to spend some time on it over the Xmas period - well that's the intent at least!

Edited May 5, 2022 by RichieB
Reloaded images.

[Stevepd]

Wow that’s fast work indeed. Looks great RB.

[geedubelyer]

Very cool Ritchie

 

I'm sure I've seen pics of helmets from the 555th "Triple Nickel"  with those markings. 

 

Getting closer to the Air Superiority blue. It's very exciting 

[RichieB]

Many thanks for the kind comments everyone. Unfortunately Stevepd, its not as quick as I'd like, the pilots and seats were actually completed 2 years ago! My how time flies.

[RichieB]

Happy Blue Year everyone! (see what I did there), hope 2022 is a good one for your modelling mojo, I might even finish this one this year!

Finally got the main camo scheme down. Not a difficult scheme as its just Air superiority blue overall, but I love this scheme - shame they didn't keep it.

I've used MRP lacquer paints which are superb and give a fair amount of control in terms of colouration.

 

Tried to keep as much of the pre-shading visible as I could but its a fine balance between adding too much top colour (looks toy-ish) or too little (looks a boneyard wreck).

Interesting how the black-basing panel lines come out quite distinctive. Might have to tone those down a bit.

 

Finished off the airbrake and elevators while I was at it.

 

Underneath had a darker pre-shade but judging from this photo I may need to add a little overspray of the AS Blue to blend it all in better.

 

In  other news, the AIM-7Fs have been painted up and decaled. They are the Eduard versions should come up quite nicely with a bit of weathering.

Not that these birds flew with many live weapons for real but it should look cool all tooled up.

Back to the spray shop for some touch-ups I guess but hopefully then onto the final stages of painting.

 

[themongoose]

Looking beautiful. I see what you mean about the panel lines. If they show up bold in the pictures they’re probably really strong to the naked eye. The way you did depreciating with those colors really gives a cool effect to the final paint job. Just nicely put together!

[aircommando130]

Looking good! I saw the F-15A air superiority test birds at Edwards 

and some AS Blue ones from Luke at airshows. Then they went to

the ghost gray paint and you'd see one like that with a AS Blue

centerline tank! 

 

Cheers...Ron

[RichieB]

Many thanks gents, yes will have to lesson the effect of the panel lines. I think it is because the Revell kit has quite large panel lines which are difficult to cover-up with the MRP top coat and black shows up too well against a light colour. I'll try to tone it all down a little but am conscious that the stripes and other weathering will help add to the overall effect,

[geedubelyer]

It's cool to see the blue going down Richie and I'm heartened to hear you planning to tone down the pre-shade some as all of the pics I've ever seen of Air Superiority blue aircraft have been pretty fresh and clean looking. 

 

Good job. 

[Out2gtcha]

The weathering and pre-shading show through beautifully. I can only hope for as much on mine! It gives a very nice impression of new equipment but used very well.

[RichieB]

Thanks for the comments chaps, much appreciated. I think I'll need to tone the contrast down a bit just to create a more subtle effect and remove any 'black' patches. The panel lines will have to be tackled in the weathering stage.

[RichieB]

At last, the paint job is (mostly!) complete. Took a while and some extra touch ups but she's definitely looking blue with more than a hint of candy cane.

 

I've toned down some of the pre-shading so that it's a little less obvious. 

 

Luckily with MRP paints you can control the depth of paint colour to give a nice patina effect.

 

The metallic areas are painted using various shades of Alclads including burnt metal and aluminium.

 

I also added some polished aluminium to the upper surface which often seems quite shiny and this is theoretically a relatively new aircraft.

 

Next up is a bit of a polish and a gloss coat before decal time!

[RichieB]

Thank you Maru, it's taken a lot of patience to get this far but the end game is tantalising close!