Crazy bug strikes again (no. 2) - F-15D Rebuild

mchoo2005 · April 10, 2011, 01:02:15 AM

OK.... In addition to the F-22 (see this thread: http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,32227.0.html), the crazy bug also "made" me rebuild my Academy F-15E (more like F-15D with FAST PACK actually) that I built around 2 years ago. Apart from the build quality, one other major factor that influenced my decision to rework this model was that the front wheel broke off on its own due to Academy's poor design.

Even before I started, I knew stripping paint off this model would be a challenge. Reason being, back then I didn't have an airbrush. I was still using predominantly rattle cans. For this particular model, I used FS36118 Model Master enamel in rattle can and Tamiya AS-12 for the aluminum/silver bit near the exhausts.

First off, I used mineral turpentine to try to remove some of the parts (wheel bay doors, weapons). Most came off after 2-3 applications. The FAST PACK didn't come off until I started stripping off the paint.

When I started the work to strip off the paint, at first, I tried using mineral turpentine but found it was too hard. So, I decided to use nail polish remover. I used a stiff-bristled brush to brush on the nail polish remover until I could see the paint dissolving, then quickly wipe off with tissue. While doing this, I made a mistake of letting some of the nail polish remover mixed with mineral turpentine, which slightly melted some of the plastic. Luckily only on the surface which I could fix by simply wet-sanding the surface with 600 and 800-grit sandpaper.

While stripping the paint, more and more bits fell off, including the jet intakes, exhausts, vert stabs, elevators, and the sensor pods (LANTIRN and LITENING?). The problem with my paint stripping method was that it still left quite a bit of paint residue (looks like large dust particles) on the plane. So, when I finished stripping the paint, I gave the plane a good sanding using 600 and 800-grit sandpaper.

Here are some pics of the model after sanding.

mchoo2005 · April 10, 2011, 03:13:01 AM

Used Tamiya basic putty to fill gaps. I also decided to fill the holes where the sensor pods used to hang. I also sanded off some bits of melted plastic left over when the CFT fell off.

At this point, I'm thinking of rebuilding this Eagle as a WHIF Navy bird. I'm thinking of using the spare decals for VFA-2 Bounty Hunters squadron on it.

bobbo · April 10, 2011, 03:23:54 PM

VFA-2 sounds OK, but I would really like to see someone do a Whiff w VF-11 "Red Rippers" 1950's style colors on a navalized F-15 . . .

bobbo

mchoo2005 · April 10, 2011, 03:57:12 PM

Quote from: bobbo on April 10, 2011, 03:23:54 PM
VFA-2 sounds OK, but I would really like to see someone do a Whiff w VF-11 "Red Rippers" 1950's style colors on a navalized F-15 . . .

bobbo

Sorry dude... I've only got spare VFA-2 decals. I wouldn't have minded redoing the F-15 in Red Rippers colour, with the blue tail (I try to do only colourful birds nowadays), if I had their decals.

bobbo · April 10, 2011, 04:37:49 PM

Hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do! And I'm anxiously waiting to see this one finished!!

bobbo

mchoo2005 · April 23, 2011, 04:46:44 AM

Things have been going a bit slow... I was close to running out of steam, actually.

Been doing lots of puttying and sanding since last post. I also spent a lot of time rescribing most of the panel lines.

Sprayed some primer today. I used LifeColor's FS36320 as primer. One reason for that is I didn't want to waste my precious Tamiya White Fine Primer on this junk. The other reason is the FS36320 "primer" can/will act as post-shade, since I will most likely use lighter grey (either Tamiya's Sky Grey or Gunze's Light Gull Grey) as overall coat later.

Here are some "before" and "after" pics. Note that I stuffed up installing the covers for the main wheels. Oh well....

I also sprayed the canopy with a concoction of several different clear paints, mixed with a couple of drops of Tamiya Titanium Gold, then a good layer of Tamiya Smoke.

mchoo2005 · April 29, 2011, 06:16:22 AM

Here's where this thing is at since the last update.

I've also been "fixing" the gas bag a bit (i.e. puttying seam lines). But since this plane is in such a bad state anyway, I didn't try to be too perfect. Just sprayed another layer of gloss clear coat tonight. I'll weather this with oil wash this weekend some time (I hope!).

mchoo2005 · May 03, 2011, 05:48:24 AM

Right-o.... Applied some oil wash over the gas bag and pylon last weekend... May have to retouch the weathering a bit at a later stage before "sealing" it in with flat coat...

Now, I don't know what the heck happened. I thought the basecoat/"primer" was FS36320, but I couldn't be sure anymore. Because when I sprayed FS36375 over it, I couldn't see any difference in the shade at all!! What the...?! Anyway.... I decided to post-shade the bird using FS36320 (LifeColor) tinted with LifeColor's Schwartzgrau, then sprayed semi-randomly. The top looks OK. The bottom needs some touch ups.

Thanks for looking!

Old Wombat · May 03, 2011, 06:29:32 AM

That's a bucket-load of work, dude!

So far it looks like it's going to be worth it.

Taiidantomcat · May 03, 2011, 08:49:17 AM

I think you nailed the paint job. That screams "Ship board use"

mchoo2005 · May 03, 2011, 03:26:07 PM

Quote from: Old Wombat on May 03, 2011, 06:29:32 AM
That's a bucket-load of work, dude!

So far it looks like it's going to be worth it.

Yeah... It's been quite a lot of work. Good thing is, since this thing started off as a junk anyway, no matter what, the end result of this "little" rebuild project will still be an improvement over the original!

mchoo2005 · May 03, 2011, 03:27:39 PM

Quote from: Taiidantomcat on May 03, 2011, 08:49:17 AM
I think you nailed the paint job. That screams "Ship board use"

Thanks.

I'm becoming quite a bit more confident with my airbrushing now actually.

mchoo2005 · May 05, 2011, 03:48:28 AM

Managed to put in a bit more work on this tonight... Sprayed Tamiya X-18 (Semi Gloss Black) around the cockpit and the spine, then touched up the paint a bit due to overspray...

Thanks for looking!

mchoo2005 · May 06, 2011, 06:29:23 AM

Sprayed the metallic part near jet exhausts with Mr Metal Color Aluminum, buffed, then sprayed Tamiya Gloss Clear over all of the plane to prep it for oil wash/panel highlight.

I've also been working on the centreline gas bag.

Dang! The gas bag looks much filthier on the photo than in real life!

Thanks for looking!

mchoo2005 · May 22, 2011, 12:40:59 AM

Finally finished rebuilding this pile of junk into something *slightly* more respectable than its original state.

The sextuplet Mk-82 were original from the Academy kit, so are the two AIM-9 Sidewinders ("L"?). The AGM-88 HARM was spare from Italeri Hornet that I trashed sometime ago, while the HARM launcher was from Hasegawa's Super Hornet E18 kit. The two AIM-120C AMRAAM's were from Italeri Raptor

I couldn't be bothered working on the Mk-82's, so they still look somewhat crap, complete with visible seam lines etc.