Tamiya F-15E

[geedubelyer]

 

I would imagine that with a fairly modern jet subtlety would be key?

I know the F-15E is quite a seasoned weapons platform by now but it could be easy to overdo things. 

I'm confident that you'll get the look you want with patience.

[Stokey Pete]

I’ve got the load out finished off yesterday. They’ve since been dull coated and are ready to assemble. 

round 2 of the paint work. 

…and round 3 last night. 
mom thinking maybe one or two more will have all that pre-work just peeping through enough to make it worth the effort. 

 

[Stokey Pete]

….rounds 4 & 5

Im leaning towards that being enough now or I obliterate the pre paint work. There’s enough subtle difference showing through. I’ll knock it back a tad further, and add depth by randomly  mottle spraying a different shade of FS36118 later. Other than that, I think the base painting is just about done.

 

[Out2gtcha]

Well done on the blending, I almost invariably go not far enough with it, then go too far with it and obliterate all the work I've done. The bombs look grand as well!

[geedubelyer]

Fascinating techniques Pete. I'm learning alot. Thanks for sharing the process. 

Cheers

[Stokey Pete]

A last couple of bits of painting housework before I get into the business of wash and some oil paint weathering.

Masked off the grey to get the metallics painted. All achieved with MRP metallics. Titanium, hot metals, and a final top layer of smoke to change the overall tone. The.  camera has made it look a tad more orange than it actually does. I went for a bit more heat worn than is probably seen on a regular line jet. 

 

I had a little lightbulb moment randomly. I was gearing  myself up to do a final misting and random patchy layer of lightened 36118 to bring all the other layers together, when I found (random again) a couple of old kitchen scrubbing pads. I pulled them apart into thin layers and came up with my own mottling mask set. 
 

Here’s an experiment before I put it on the model…

 

 

and the result…

 

I’m gonna give it a test drive on this build. 

[Stevepd]

Hey what a great idea, very resourceful indeed.

[Stokey Pete]

21 minutes ago, Stevepd said:

Hey what a great idea, very resourceful indeed.

Thanks, it was a bit of lightbulb moment. I’ve always struggled with making a single colour paint job look interesting, and freehanding it never really worked out for me. 

[Stokey Pete]

Subtle Payne’s grey wash applied, misted base coat to blend it all together, and I think I’m gonna call it done. Time for a few decals.

 

[geedubelyer]

The kitchen pads look like a really smart idea. Nice one

[Stokey Pete]

1 hour ago, MARU5137 said:

I know that the scouring green pads are quite rough...

 it is Good idea, but do you think it will leave small slight scratches on the model?

just thinking.

Maru, they’re sat with no weight on the surface and the MRP paint is so tough it would have to be scrubbed on to leave any scratches. I suppose you could always just hold a piece above your area of work too. 

[Stokey Pete]

Well, ridiculously, I’m nearing the end of this now. Just the clear parts, metal parts, stores, and exhausts to paint/install. For me this has been one of my quickest and more enjoyable builds. 

The TwoBobs decals are an absolute joy to work with on top of the MRP paints. No gloss coat required. All I did was ‘polish’ the paintwork to a smooth shine using a kitchen paper towel. There’s a drop of Mr Setter under each decal for extra adhesion, and a coat of Micro Set over the top. I shall spray a very fine mist of base colour over the entire airframe now, to blend and dull the decals a tad. It’s dedicated to my 3y/o daughter who has a small obsession with Toy Story, she picked the ‘Bullseye’ nose art out from the sheet straight away. I wanted ‘Deadpool’.

 

 

Looks like this one will be going in the finished gallery long before the deadline which is a real rarity for me. With this nearing conclusion, that brings my build count to 4 for this year. Ridiculously productive by my usual standards. 

[Stokey Pete]

A bit of final housekeeping before I call this one done. I meaned it up by hanging the explosives. 

 

There was almost a disaster. Before I applied the satin varnish coat. I misted a base colour coat over the decals to knock the contrast back a tad. I spilled MRP paint onto the wing! Cue frantic scramble for tissue to mop up before it attacked the surface, and a little bit of touch up work to hide the mischief. I didn’t fancy trying to sand it back and re-paint. 
 

So, I’m left with a couple of clear parts, a couple of brush painting of antennas, and then I get into the exhausts to wrap this bad boy up. 

[Out2gtcha]

Well isn't that a lovely bit O kit!

 

The decals really did come out beautiful. These days I call it a major victory when you can get decals with larger carrier sections like that down and make them look invisible. Well done

[Stokey Pete]

And that’s a wrap!

Im calling this one done, apart from the temporary base solution. I’ll try and get some better photos in the daylight.

But for now….