F-15X What-If USAF Fighter

[Spino]

Cockpit finished except for the pilot.  Took the ALQ-184 ECM pod that came with the kit, shortened it so that it wouldn't interfere with the landing gear, and hung it under the left intake.  An IRST pod (likely kitbashed from one of my 1/48 LANTIRN pods that's laying around here somewhere) will hang under the right intake.  Dry-fitted the inner wing pylons, the outer ones may have to be 3D printed or scratched up from whatever I can find around the shop.  Also fitted a single AIM-9X to the starboard inner wing rail, will mirror this on the port side.  Engine nozzles are from the Revell 1/48 F-14D, though they are dry-fitted right now and I'm trying to decide between them and the stock F-15C nozzles with the petals attached (the kit has options for nozzle petals and no nozzle petals).

[Spino]

Due to the rather steep price of the Hasegawa Aircraft Weapons E set, I'm probably going to 3D print AIM-120 AMRAAMs for this build instead.  It'll hopefully be cheaper and I can have as many as I need/want.  Probably going to do a lot of AMBER twin ejector racks as well.

[Spino]

Quick update: the washing machine leaked about a month ago and since then the house has been a mess.  Fortunately none of my models were damaged beyond repair, and the F-15X escaped totally unscathed, but it has halted progress temporarily.  I'm also trying to figure out what I'm going to do with it since 3D printed AMRAAMs at 1:48 scale don't work out well, and I just can't justify what it costs currently to get another Hasegawa Aircraft Weapons E set.  I'll get it sorted out eventually.

[NARSES2]

Hope no serious damage was done ?

[Spino]

Hope no serious damage was done ?

Well my Sea Harrier II lost most of its pylons and its canopy, but I still have all the parts so I can fix that easily.  The Eagle got away unscathed, thankfully it was a couple of older models that I'm about ready to consign to the trash bin anyway that got the worst of it.  As far as the house goes, its going to be new flooring and a coat of paint.

[Captain Canada]

Always sucks when those things happen......

[Spino]

Well it gives me an excuse to reorganize my workspace, which really needs doing 

[Captain Canada]

Always a bright side eh ! Cheers

[NARSES2]

"Always look on the bright side of life, da da, da, da di, didi, da" 

[Spino]

My original plan to 3D-print AMRAAMs isn't working out very well, the AIM-120 is just too small.  I think the next best thing will be to try printing AIM-260s, which apparently have similar dimensions but are a bit thicker.

[Spino]

Well I may have solved my AMRAAM problem, discovered I could print AIM-9Xs with tree supports at 1/48 scale no problem.  The same should apply to AIM-120s then...

[NARSES2]

  

[Spino]

Well I got back to the F-15X, it has definitely been a while since my last update on it.  Been printing the outer wing and intake pylons, and an IRST pod (Talon HATE I believe is the name).  AMRAAMs are inbound too, I had to thicken the fins to get them to print right on my Ender 3 Pro (this is one of those moments when I wish I had a resin printer, but that's not in the budget any time soon).  Also added a spray coat to the F-15, completing the grey two-tone scheme I was going for.  I need to go back and correct some rough edges, but it's a great start.  I had an interesting idea for the light grey shade.  Since I can't find a light grey paint that I like for a decent price, I went with a can of grey automotive primer.  Cheaper than model paint, and looks rather nice IMO.  Photos to follow, but for now I'll share links to my AMRAAM and Sidewinder files in case anyone wants them.

AIM-120: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6526599
AIM-9X: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6519253

[Spino]

The promised photos.  Not super great quality, and my two-tone paint scheme needs some touch-up, but it's getting there.  Engine nozzles have been dry-fitted, taken from the Revell F-14D kit that I have been slowly turning into an ST-21.  The F-15 nozzles (the set with the petals) may go on the F-14 with possibly some modification to them, sort of like what if the ST-21 got re-engined with either F119s or F120s instead of the F110s.  Obviously no thrust vectoring there, but 35,000lb of thrust per engine (or more with the YF120).  Due to the geometry of the F-15, I'm going to have to 3D print inserts for the rear to push the new nozzles out to the position of the old F100 nozzles, which are longer and include a "collar" just forward of the nozzle petals.

[Spino]

AMRAAMs are printing rather nicely thus far, but I still have to do the lower wing rails.  I'm not sure about doing AMBERs on the fuselage, since this model has no CFTs there isn't as much real estate under there as on a Strike Eagle.