1/48 Revell F-15E by Andrew Ludwig

This is the F15E Strike Eagle from Revell. I built it straight out of the box and believe me, Revell is going to open up the eyes of the Japanese model makers when they see the quality of this kit and most of all the low price!

The kit cockpit is pretty decent as well as the Aces II seats. (The resin set as well as the eduard photo-etch set wasn’t released yet.) My next one will for sure! The canopy is quite ingenious as the bottom is a separate piece so shaky painters have no fear! Overall fit was excellent an construction was a breeze. I used almost no filler.

The kit didn’t come with any armament for ground strikes, just amraams and sidewinders, so I added some Hasegawa smartbombs. The entire payload is based on an actual F-15E pilot’s recollection of what his crew carried on a typical ground strike sortie during Desert Storm. I found his personal webpage and he e-mailed me the configuration.

Click on images below to see larger images

The base cost about $8.00 total to build and finish. Brass rod was inserted into the plane and the acrylic rod to depict the in-flight look. (A drywall screw holds the acrylic rod from the bottom). Another note to remember: Use an old drill bit to drill out the acrylic rod because some of it will end up melting on the bit and its hard to get off as it cools very quickly. A typical wood saw of any type will easily cut the acrylic rod so give it a try!

My F-15E is finished with Model Master Enamels and Metallizer, (I will be enthusiastically at last trying out some Alclad II on my next project). One thing I was really impressed with is the kit decals came with all of the markings and stripes for the amraams and sidewinders. It really adds a lot of realism to the model when the armament is accurate, and I applaud Revell and hope that a trend has been started by including exceptional decals for the armament.

So if you are tired of spending $45 or more on a good 1/48^th Scale kit, fear no more and grab a Revell F-15E. I can assure you that you won’t be disappointed, and we all LOVE saving some green backs for more resin, photo-etch, and Two Bobs Decals!!!