F-15N Sea Eagle, United States Navy

[TheChronicOne]

Moving along....


I've done all the work on the IRST that I can. The one from the Phantom won't work if I add anything to it because it will make it jut out from the fuselage/nose. Three options; I could file the end flat then add something the same diameter, file it flat and leave it, or simply leave it as is w/ the rounded tip. Nothing else will work.

That said, I had a Plan-B: Some sort of exhaust or something from some prop jobber, and, I found a small chunk of clear sprue with a rounded end that was about the same diameter.  I can paint it in a fashion as to leave the end clear and it should make for a convincing sensor. Any opinions on this?? Should I use the Phantom one,  or the new one I made??  If I use the new one, I'll leave it off until the end to keep from accidentally covering up the clear part.


Still need to file away that ridge and fill the sink marks.

So that concludes all the modifications. I'm caught back up now with the exception of glossing the landing gear again. I already painted the parts that I added. If anyone is curious why I would gloss them it's because I'll need to CA them in at the end (I know I could scrape the paint off, but ... naah.. ) and glossed parts CA to other glossed parts better than matte latex to other matte latex. Don't ask me how I know this..

Now that I'm back "on track" and to where I was the other night when the transfers went tits-up I have naturally decided to address the issue. Luckily I have the very same kit but in a much newer boxing with much newer transfers so I decided to look at those just now and they do indeed look quite usable:



The picture doesn't really do justice, and this time I mean the old ones. It just doesn't show how damaged they are. Looking at them it would appear they spent many a season in a non-climate controlled storage space subject to wild fluctuations in humidity and temperature, especially HEAT.

So anyway, I have these new ones now so that's what I'll be doing next on this one.

Also, I think I might not have quite enough weight in the nose cone. Instructions call for three grams. I'm not too awfully good at estimating such measurements but I'm confident enough to proclaim that I think it's not enough weight. Thankfully, there is a @^$&#%^-ton of space forward of the cockpit to put whatever I need inside. I might even throw a rock in there or something to save my BBs and lead for other things. 



EDIT: Oh yeah, I was wanting thoughts on the refueling probe as well. I'm going to leave the Air Force style transfer for it out as that would be dumb to still have but I was thinking of simply..... . .. doing nothing.  To keep from having to make anything sticking out of the side of this I figured it would be a fully retractable probe on the side of the fuselage. This sound alright?? I guess I could look at what the F-14 has and maybe duplicate it on this using transfers? I'm not wanting to scribe anything though....   

[TallEng]

I'd use the new IRST, it looks more like the Tomcat one.
And transfers, or maybe a slightly different shade of your grey paint to show the retracted re-fuel probe panel?
Coming along nicely

Regards
Keith

[TheChronicOne]

I'd use the new IRST, it looks more like the Tomcat one.
And transfers, or maybe a slightly different shade of your grey paint to show the retracted re-fuel probe panel?
Coming along nicely

Regards
Keith

Thanks Keith!! 

Good lead on the fuel door!  It's a conundrum and that's a good solution. I'm going to start with a bit of research before I commit to anything.....  I might find that the whole affair is so subtle as to not need to replicate it at all.


In the meantime.... I can report success as far as the newer sheet of transfers is concerned!     THANK GOD!! If these didn't work I was going to start throwing things out the window and stomping mudholes, etc.       




I didn't forget more nose weight:



I'll probably cram some more in there.


I forgot to paint the new hubs on the nose gear so I'm about to do that then I'll go ahead and gloss all the gear like I mentioned earlier. At this point, I am indeed officiallt caught up and even ahead a lil bit seeing as how the cockpit tub is glued in! 

[nighthunter]

So, a suggestion on fuel probe placement, opposite the M61 Cannon.

[TheChronicOne]

Thanks for the tip, bud!!   That's going to be one of the first I address on this one today.


Back to work on this finally. After sorting the fuel issues I'd like to get the rest of the interior painted and get the fuselage halves together at least, and then put on the wings. If I can get these done I'll consider it a good day. I imagine I'll be feeling sluggish and lazy today after work so I'm not making much plans.

[TheChronicOne]

OK. I have the fuel stuff figured out.

Working with what I know and the advice I've been givin I've done some mental gymnastics to explain the probe. OK... so....  the kit has the refueling doors molded so that's good... they can stay exactly as-is. The only problem this presents is that the probe is BEHIND the cockpit which is no-bueno in a probe and drogue system. Pilot shouldn't have his head turned backwards staring at the probe so I got to looking around again and noticed that the F-8 Crusader has a similar set up with the probe originating quite a ways behind the pilot. The difference being is that the thing extends far enough forward that the pilot can simply glance to the left to watch it and still be able to keep an eye on the panels inside. SO, I figure this one can be like that.  The probe itself is just long enough to reach a bit past the RIO so when it comes time to re-fuel, the RIO takes command of the airplane and flies it during refueling. This solves the problem pretty handily I do believe. It's a bit unorthodox perhaps but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work. Right? Has the merit of being easy to do because I won't have to do ANYTHING aside maybe from painting a lil bit of red down in the panel lines.

Honestly, I'm not wanting to do any more mods to this, either. I'm trying to streamline my modelling efforts for the rest of the summer because with how busy I am just want things to go smoothly, be easy to handle, and not take up precious time.  Sounds hokey, maybe, but eliminating the "mental clutter" and doing away having to even brainstorm on such things will be a load off.

SO, with all this addressed, I think now I can get started on the rest of the interior paint work.


......   Ooops... I forgot to post this.        This is like half an hour later. I started painting and just left this sitting here. 

So, now, the cockpit is nearly finished and I've glued in the control panels. There's a HUD that needs to go in and some sort of cross member type deal. It may attach to the canopy, though. I guess it's time to look at the instructions again...   

[TheChronicOne]

Ground to a halt, once again, thanks, once again, to my wishy-washy nature and inability to make up my mind.

This time it concerns the paint job. The plane I'm taking decorations from is a grey wrap-around affair. Nose, bottom, everything... all one solid color of grey. BUT, back in the 70's (until sometimes in the early 80's I guess...) the Wolfpack F-14s had a white/light grey underbelly and a lot of white/light grey "accents." "Yellow" colored nose, too, on some, which I always liked.

So, to be "correct" I should paint my F-15 all grey like the 1991 F-14 I'm making it after. Of course, I'm retro-ing it back 2-3 years to fit more in the timeline we have to work with. I assume the paint job probably was the same in '89 as it was in '91 but even if it wasn't, being alternate history means it is easily explainable. This said, I rather like the white/light grey stuff. See for yourself... which one do you think looks better?


The stock kit version from 1991:




The "End of the Era Where We Didn't Need No Stinkin' "camoflauge" on Our Planes" version:





Plenty of time still to make up my mind but I'm curious what others think about it.

[TheChronicOne]

Wrapped up all the cockpit stuff and glued the canopy and wind screen on. I did this before the fuselage halves were glued so I could flip it upside down and let any fumes exit the model with as much ease as possible.




After I let that dry a bit I went ahead and checked the fit of the fuselage halves and glued those together. Everything is looking good so far. I'll need to let it all dry before I do some filing/sanding on the wing roots to get a snug fit but we're well on our way to a complete airframe now!



There's other things I could do to this right now but I'm going to put it away and have a look at a little jet liner. I don't want to suffer burnout or anything and I've been meaning to get the lil BAC 111 started so check me out over in the blogs for that. 

[NARSES2]

"Out of sight, out of mind". It does sometimes help to put a project out of sight for a while 

[zenrat]

... which one do you think looks better?


The stock kit version from 1991:




The "End of the Era Where We Didn't Need No Stinkin' "camoflauge" on Our Planes" version:





Plenty of time still to make up my mind but I'm curious what others think about it.

The top one.  It looks like it is all white with coloured patches.  If not, it should be.  Drop the grey and go for white with colours.

[TheChronicOne]

While I'm probably one of the hugest critics of grey paint jobs around this joint, this time around I want it.     Nothing says "US Navy" like GREY and I'm definitely driving home the point that this Eagle is Naval.    How much grey is a conundrum but this time around I'm showing my least favorite paint job a little love.


ANYWAY, while I'm here.....  uhhh.... I got to thinking about my new nose gear. ....    Maybe you can already guess where I'm going with this.. . . .      or maybe not. But uhh, yeah, it would no longer fit in the gear bay! Geat wider than the gear bay is no bueno. I'm going to have to do something to address this and I came up with an effective, albeit lazy, solution. I'm simply going to cut the nose gear door into two pieces and the piece up front where the double wheels would be will be glued on alittle bit to the outside of the other to give the illusion that the gear bay is wider at this point. It won't be, but the gear doors will say it is and until someone picks it up and looks under her skirt, no one will be the wiser. 

Score!! Lazy people are the best at coming up w/ solutions. 

[zenrat]

While I'm probably one of the hugest critics of grey paint jobs around this joint, this time around I want it.     Nothing says "US Navy" like GREY and I'm definitely driving home the point that this Eagle is Naval.    How much grey is a conundrum but this time around I'm showing my least favorite paint job a little love...

Your model, your way effendi.

However, I also have a Hasegawa F-15 for which I have no current plans so I may come up with a white and colours scheme for it.
Prolly not USN though.

[TheChronicOne]

While I'm probably one of the hugest critics of grey paint jobs around this joint, this time around I want it.     Nothing says "US Navy" like GREY and I'm definitely driving home the point that this Eagle is Naval.    How much grey is a conundrum but this time around I'm showing my least favorite paint job a little love...

Your model, your way effendi.

However, I also have a Hasegawa F-15 for which I have no current plans so I may come up with a white and colours scheme for it.
Prolly not USN though.

That would be totally glorious. 

I have a couple in my stash that get the white and red treatment OOB. Edwards AF base test planes and such. I almost built one not too long ago, kinda what lead to this one. I, too, want to see a white Eagle with colors but it'll be awhile. Still, it's on the way!

[TallEng]

While I'm probably one of the hugest critics of grey paint jobs around this joint, this time around I want it.     Nothing says "US Navy" like GREY and I'm definitely driving home the point that this Eagle is Naval.    How much grey is a conundrum but this time around I'm showing my least favorite paint job a little love...

Your model, your way effendi.

However, I also have a Hasegawa F-15 for which I have no current plans so I may come up with a white and colours scheme for it.

Just to put my tuppence worth in: Nothing but Nothing says USN to me more than Lt Gull grey over white with white control surfaces. Just saying....
However, your whiff, your call.

Regards
Keith
Prolly not USN though.

[TheChronicOne]

90% convinced to do that. It looks so good!!  I guess I was trying to give myself permission to be lazy with the all over grey scheme but it's just not as nice as the other.     

Anyway.... a good deal of the body work PSR is out of the way and I'm currently working on getting the wings glued on. Working in the BAC 111 in the meantime.