Academy F-15E Mud Hen
Comments
16 21 January 2017, 01:11
Gary BrantleyWow! What a great looking scale model, man, it's really nice Derek. Fine work indeed. 👍
21 January 2017, 02:33
Michael PhillipsAwesome! Your weathering on this is superb! I am seeing lots of great Mudhens lately!
21 January 2017, 05:09
Derek Jordanthis is Academy's F-15E. It is a combination of their new and old kits. Long story that I won't bore you with but I had to combine the two. There is no doubt the updated tooling in the new kit is worth the extra cost.
The weapons, except for the JDAM, are Eduard Brassin. The JDAM is the kit part.
I used about every bit of Eduard PE (interior/exterior) for this kit. The wheels, nozzles, and exhaust plugs are resin upgrades. The intake FOD covers are pre cut nylon by Steel Beach accessories. The AOA sensors are turned brass. Remove before flight flags are fabric additions by Eduard. I also used Eduard pre-cut mask set for this kit, which supplies two sets. The first is to mask off for the rubber seal around the glass, the second is to mask off the camo color. I think the rubber seals are a nice detail that doesn't stand out but adds some extra pop.
One of the things that took the longest was the lights. There are formation, anti-collision, navigation, and landing lights. Each has been created as correctly as possible using all of the references I could find.
I found two great tools during this build. One is bondic (UV sensitive glue). I used it to make lenses for the landing lights, the lights on the tail, and the lenses for the targeting pods (barely visible in any shot). Thanks u/nicely11b for the tip. And, bare metal foil. The heat shielding around the nozzles is all bare metal foil with weathering done with alclad. The foil was also used as a mask for the jdam that has some complicated painting required around the midsection. It was easy enough to get to conform to the complex curves and made a clean line once cut.
All said, this build took about 2.5 months. Granted, the first 1/3 of the time I was also building a P-38, but this was a long and involved process which is astounding given the paint job was so simple and easy. I'm glad it is over and I am fairly proud of the results.
Once u/nicely11b gets his Monogram Hen built, we will compare notes. I'm inclined to say that the Academy version is much nicer in the detail department but is not anywhere near as easy to build. Per hour invested, I would say that his hen is nicer than mine. But, we can compare notes later.
21 January 2017, 21:04
Bryn CrandellExcellent work! Love the FOD covers. Are they an aftermarket item or scratch built?
24 January 2017, 17:31
Donald Dickson IIGreat work Derek! I have that kit sitting in the stash. Having built the Revell kit, I am interested to see how this one compares. I will say that at first blush, the Revell has it beat. I can see several things in the Academy kit I will have to go to after market to improve. The only after market I used that the Revell kit NEEDED was pe belts and weapons.
24 January 2017, 18:05
Derek JordanBryn, those FOD covers are from Steel Beach accessories and are pre cut vinyl.
26 January 2017, 01:56
Alain BrshlHi Derek ! You can be proud of this one ! I just started it and I have one question : did you have to weigh the nose ? By the way, it seems that we like the same plane but I would like to reach your results !
2 March 2023, 18:10
