F-15DJ Kai or Eagle Plus- Finished!

[DocRob]

Looking good, Carl and quite profitable to have a look into the toolbox once in a while . Is the paintjob borrowed from the anime? I would have thought something more flashy would suit the futuristic design better. Anyhow, the Plus-Eagle came out splendid and it´s good to have a good story about no stenciling.

Cheers Rob

[BlrwestSiR]

Thanks Rob! It does help to pay attention from time to time. 

Best for that was when a friend and I were changing the timing belt and water pump on my Honda Beat. You have to loosen the flywheel but try as we might, we couldn't get the nut off. After a couple hours we called it a night. My buddy then says it's too bad we didn't have a compressor for a pneumatic impact gun. I then pointed to the corner of my garage and said "like that one there?".

 

Next morning it didn't even take 10 seconds to get it off with the impact gun. 

[BlrwestSiR]

Tiny bit of progress. 

The ejection seats are now painted. 

Need to add the belts. 

[Peterpools]

Carl

The bang seats are looking mighty good and you're well on the way to crossing the line now.

[DocRob]

On 6/19/2024 at 4:56 PM, BlrwestSiR said:

Thanks Rob! It does help to pay attention from time to time. 

Best for that was when a friend and I were changing the timing belt and water pump on my Honda Beat. You have to loosen the flywheel but try as we might, we couldn't get the nut off. After a couple hours we called it a night. My buddy then says it's too bad we didn't have a compressor for a pneumatic impact gun. I then pointed to the corner of my garage and said "like that one there?".

 

Next morning it didn't even take 10 seconds to get it off with the impact gun. 

How to loose friends .  If you haven´t anyone anymore, you can post your troubles in the Car thread and we will help debating .

The ejection seats are looking good, Carl. 

Cheers Rob

[BlrwestSiR]

3 hours ago, DocRob said:

How to loose friends .  If you haven´t anyone anymore, you can post your troubles in the Car thread and we will help debating .

The ejection seats are looking good, Carl. 

Cheers Rob

Thankfully I didn't lose my friend. More like he laughed and said he should've mentioned it sooner. He's a bike mechanic (has his own shop) which is how we met. 

Thankfully once that bolt was undone the rest of the belt change was straightforward. 

[BlrwestSiR]

Bang seats are done. 

Almost forgot the seat rails but added those in. 

Followed by the seats. 

[Peterpools]

Carl

Nice work on the ejection seats - looking mighty good.

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Thanks Peter! Originally I had broken off part of the seat but since this is a whiffer, it didn't matter so I made use of them. 

[BlrwestSiR]

The canopy is up next. The kits I had were and early release an a much later re-release. One of the changes they made was the canopy in the later version came in clear plastic rather than tinted dark grey.

First thing to deal with is the huge mould seam. That sprue connection has to have some of the thickest flash I've ever seen on a part. I had to use a razor saw to cut it off. 

The mould seems to have deteriorated a bit. The framing on the clear one washes out in places. 

Here's the fit of the tinted one which is older. 

Now the more recent clear version. 

You can see the poorer fit compared to the tinted one as well as the much fainter to non existent framing. 

 

[Peterpools]

Holy smokes, hard to believe there is such a fit difference. Pretty sloppy work on their part changing the mold.

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Peter, I'm not sure what happened but I think the mould may have either gotten damaged or is worn out based on the flash present. 

Anyways, I sanded off the huge seam lines.

Then I polished out the sanding marks. 

I think I'm going to mix and match the canopy parts. Used the tinted front section and the clear rear one. 

The rear still needs some trimming to make it fit better but it doesn't have the sink marks that the tinted one does. 

[DocRob]

looking very good, the decals crept beautifully into the panel lines, the shape and quality issues with the canopy are strange though.

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Carl

Nice work on the canopy and surely like your idea of mixing and matching the 'glass'.

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Getting close to the finish line. 

I got the canopy painted. 

I put the canards back on. 

It will be most likely in the up position so the less than perfect fit won't be noticed. 

For armament, I assembled the Eduard AIM-9X missiles. This went better than the AIM-54s on my F-14. 

Ness to do the detail painting. 

 

[DocRob]

Looking good, Carl, the Canards alter the whole appearance of the bird.

Cheers Rob

[CANicoll]

Carl,  The Canards are an inspired choice and definitely add to the uniqueness of the aircraft.  Nice job on the missiles - I'm looking forward to seeing how you finish them.  The canopy fit is frustrating as that is so much a focal point of the aircraft but you did a terrific job on the sprue attachment and the polishing.  The seats look terrific, especially how the belts sit differently on each seat.  The molded-in seat belts on the plastic or resin seats just doesn't look right.

[BlrwestSiR]

Thanks Chris! Identical belts on the seats is always a bit annoying so I do like to make them slightly different wherever possible. Just adds a bit more life to the model. 

I've had a change of plans with the missiles. They're AIM-9X which is the most current US short range middle and what was available. Of course Reskit has just come out with JASDF AAM-3 missiles which would be more appropriate. So I'm going to set the AIM-9s aside and get a set of the AAM-3s. I've drilled the middle rails in the same spot on all four when once I have the new missiles, I can just add them to the build. 

[BlrwestSiR]

With the last minute switch on armament, I've finished the rest of the build. 

This was basically adding the remaining gear doors, and the underwing pylons.

   

This gave me the chance to go and sort through what was left of the 2 (1/2) donor kits. 

A big ole pile o' sprues. Lots of bits for future builds. 

A sneak peak at the next project...

...just kidding . I use the box to store leftover bits. Like that pile above. 

 

Edited July 2, 2024 by BlrwestSiR
Fix typo

[Martinnfb]

Almost there Carl! 👍

[Peterpools]

Carl, you surely almost got me but then I remembered your B-24 build and all the fuselage fit issues you had and resolved. That's some pile of leftover bits and parts for future projects.

!

[BlrwestSiR]

After getting back from Chicago, I finally got a bit of bench time. 

I started on the Reskit AAM-3 missiles.

They're nicely printed and well protected for shipment.

Assembly was fairly quick too. 

Next up was a coat of flat white for primer and then gloss white. 

Time to let them dry a bit and then decals. 

[Martinnfb]

Purdy

 

[CANicoll]

Looking good!!!

[Peterpools]

Carl

Those Reskit Sidewinders look mighty good.