Subject: Re: Tamiya 1/32nd F-15E Strike Eagle
From: "Steve Bamford ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "Louise and Guy" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 7 Dec 2004 04:56:49 -0800

Hi Guy,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks for sending it in.   

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com
 
Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Louise and Guy 
  To: [email-masked] 
  Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2004 11:06 AM
  Subject: Tamiya 1/32nd F-15E Strike Eagle

  Hi Steve, 
  Many thanks for getting back to me. I know you must get hundreds of e-mails from all over the world so I appreciate you taking the time to reply.
  I thought I might send you a couple of e-mails detailing the build and send a couple of pics with each, so here goes!....

  The F-15, in all its guises, has long been my favourite aircraft. I had hankered after the large Tamiya offering for some time, having built a few in 1/72nd and 1/48th, but I always found the cost to be a bit off-putting. As luck would have it I stumbled across a model at half price so could n't afford not to buy it! I was very impressed with the detail at this scale and realised why Tamiya and other manufacturers have to charge so much for models of this calibre.
  I decided that to try and do justice to the model I would use aftermarket detailing sets and improve the already excellent kit by some super-detailing. Inspired by models on ARC and F-15E.com and using the wealth of reference material on these sites I set about the task of creating a mini-Mudhen.
  The place to start for me was definitely the cockpit. I poured over every possible photo I could an decided to create a sheepskin effect for one of the seats as I saw that on the sites and thought it would add a little interest and realism. This was achieved by coating the seat cushions and backrest with a thin coat of filler and then teasing the texture out with the bristles of an old toothbrush. Seat straps were added from the Eduard F-15E cockpit detail set, RBF tags were adapted from the kit ones and from Verlinden.
  For the coiled up oxygen hoses I wound fine wire around thicker wire and added cable from even more wire, secured by strips of lead foil. The map lights were coiled wire again and the throttle quadrants were beefed up using "Greenstuff" available from Gamesworkshop stores. For the instruments I filled each dial with white paint, drizzled black ink into them (which left the details showing) and then finished them off with some Klear. The CRT screens were cut from film negatives and aligned slightly closer to the front of the panels before being washed with blue and brown inks to give the impression of slightly smeared t.v screens. To finish the cockpit area I cut out the sidewalls and added pipes and hoses for effect before assembling it, added the available switches from the Eduard set and detailed the sidewalls of the fuselage. I also spent quite some effort detailing the nose wheel undercarriage leg before I completed the nose section.
  For the HUD I had been very impressed by the models of Douglas Chan and Massa Narita on F-15E.com but decided to go a slightly different way. From the pictures in the Lock-on book the HUD seemed to have a pinkish tinge so I opted for that. I mixed some Citadel Magenta ink with Johnsons Klear, dipped the kit part in it and let it dry. I was very pleased with the effect and I think the colour is about right.
  I had decided that my Eagle would be modelled to appear as if it was on static at an airshow and so the covers were modelled over the ejection seat pitot tubes and the decals were left off the CRT displays as they would be switched off. The front section was assembled and the instrument shrouds added to complete the nose.
  I was staggered by the size of the model and decided to build up sub-sections first and then complete the kit by assembling the sub-sections together. If anyone can suggest an easy method of dealing with such large models I'd be interested to hear them.
  I'll continue in the next e-mail with a few more pics.
  Best regards,
  Guy Wilson