1/48 Revell F-15E Strike Eagle

by Greg Leszczynski (lgl007)

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I used to love building model airplanes and haven't built one in about 20 years.  I finally decided to take the plunge once again and get my feet wet in a hobby that I've missed for too long.  But this time I would do it right - with the right kit, the right paint, using an airbrush, and using all the helpful guidance this site provides, and hopefully some wisdom that comes with age ;-)  I decided on the 1/48 Revell F-15E - reputed to be one of the best 'shake & bake' kits on the market.  Not just 'the best' because it goes together easily, but also because of its high level of accuracy in representing the real life aircraft.  The only changes that needed to be made to the Revell kit was to replace the kit's launcher rails with LAU-128 launchers to accommodate AIM-120's that F-15E's currently carry (to be in line with the markings I've chosen to go with).  I have to thank Aaron (strikeeagle801) for not only pointing out that the kit launchers are incorrect, but also for the correct LAU-128 launchers and AIM-120's that he graciously donated to my project.  Also thanks to F-15CrewChief for checking on loadout configurations for me.
The kit went together like a dream.  I could not imagine better fitting parts in a kit.  I only had to use the most minimal amount of putty at the rear just in front of the rear horizontal stabilizers.  The only place that requires any real amount of 'elbow grease' is in the removal of the seam down the centre of the canopy.  I first scraped the seam with a hobby knife, then used various grits of sandpaper from 1000 to 24000 and finally gave the canopy a good polish using Tamiya's Polishing Compound. 
I used a few aftermarket items to enhance the kit.  I used Two Bob's excellent F-15E Mountain Home Avengers (48-026) decals (thanks Aaron) for the jet itself and Two Bob's US Air-to-Air Missile Markings (48-086) on the AIM-9's and AIM-120's.  The Two Bob's decals are crisp, clean, in perfect register, and unbelievably thin.  I really wanted to go for the 'painted' on look and these decals certainly went a long way towards that end.  I also wanted to display the model with a full weapons loadout and since I could not find the Pro-Modeler version of the kit that comes with a flotilla of ordinance, I had to buy Hasegawa's Weapon's Set D to get LGB's for the kit.
I have been known to compare fighter aircraft to Ferrari's... and to me displaying a fighter aircraft without a full ordinance is like displaying a Ferrari without it's 20's inch rims and tires... one is not complete without the other and in both cases each is needed to carry out the job the machine was designed for.  The one thing that I do regret not doing is picking up an aftermarket cockpit detail set... this would have complemented the build nicely.
I used Gunze Sangyo Acrylics for the exterior of the jet and any airbrushed parts and Citadel Acrylics for small parts and interior parts.  Citadel paint is designed for hand brushing and goes on with almost no streaking and hardens to a bullet proof finish.  The Citadel paints were also used for the panel lines and to accentuate any raised details on the kit.

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The painting, decaling and detailing process I followed was:
1) I airbrushed on the base color(s) (I used Gunze Sangyo Acrylics - Acqueous Hobby Color)...
*        I put in about 5% Tamiya Acrylic Paint Thinner to each batch of Gunze Acrylics I airbrush on.
2) I airbrush on clear gloss (again Gunze Acrylic) - not too heavy because I don't want to seal too many of the panel lines with too much paint;
3) I use Citadel acrylics and mix my own panel wash (approx 80% water 18% black Citadel paint and 2% dishwashing detergent - I kinda eye this bit and add more paint if the panel lines are not coming up as vividly as I like)...
*        I don't apply the wash too liberally in fact I try to get it in the panel lines as much as possible... let dry for 2-10 minutes then I rub of excess with paper towel (Citadel paints dry very quickly)... apply a bit of
moisture to stubborn spots on the paper towel... you may need to re-apply wash if you rub it out of panel lines. The clear gloss coat ensures that the excess panel wash comes off quite nicely;
4) Apply another thin coat of clear gloss to seal panel lines in preparation for decaling;
5) Apply decals with Micro Set and Micro Sol;
6) Apply matt coat (Gunze acrylics again)... actually I applied 3-4 coats.
But I let the model dry at least 24-48 hours between any coats... again I was going for the painted on look of the decals.
I used a slightly different technique for the landing gear to get a different effect.  The landing gear was just aibrushed matt white (Gunze) then panel washed (Citadel - as above) into crevices, then dry brushed with
Citadel white... allowing maximum control of the amount of darkness coming through the white. The effect is quite good for landing gear on aircraft that are for the most part relatively clean... the resultant shading looks
grey... more like layers of dust as opposed to dirt and grime.

I just want to thank the ARC community for being so very helpful and patient in answering my multitude of questions.  Without all your help, guidance, and tutorial/reference materials on this site I would not have been able to build this kit to a level that allows me to proudly display it as an accurate representation of the real deal.  Thanks everyone =)
Greg 
PS:  for additional photos on the early stages of the build see my update in the forums at:
http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=124667&hl=lgl007

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Photos and text © by Greg Leszczynski