494th Fighter Squadron F-15E Strike Eagle
 Aviano Air Base, Italy
 April 1999

    Alright, this is the much talked about, highly praised Revell F-15E Strike Eagle.  It sure does live up to the hype.  It's the finest model I've had the pleasure of building (this being the second one in my humble collection).  There of course is little to talk about in terms of the build, seeing as it is just about flawless!  The only downside is the fact that I didn't know at the time of building how to correct the fit of the wing sections to avoid the sagging effect.  Now I know, and the next kit can only be better.  And a great example of a bonehead mistake:  I forgot to apply the landing lights, and by the time I noticed this, the clear sprue was long gone.  I guess this bird just can't partake in night ops.
    The paint job is quite easy, seeing as the entire jet is FS 36118 Gunship Gray.  Model Master Acrylics were used.  I really like how the monotony of the paint scheme can be broken up with a radome of slightly darker color.  To achieve this, the radome was masked off and a coat or two of FS 36081 Euro I Gray was applied.  Looking at it now, a coat of semi-gloss probably should have been given to the Euro I Gray.  Still
 looks good, I think.
     The Strike Eagles of the 492nd and 494th Fighter Squadrons really were the workhorses of NATO during Operation Allied Force over the Balkans in 1999.  They attacked communications facilities, underground bunkers, and everything in between.  There probably wasn't a task they couldn't perform.  Quite the fighter!      

Click on images below to see larger images

  The markings are a mix of the Astra decal sheet and the sheet that came with the kit (this being the Pro Modeler offering).  A few minutes at the U.S. Air Force website produced aircraft 91-0306 as a jet that participated in Allied Force from the beginning of the conflict.  So serial numbers were swapped to model this 'Beagle.'  Crew Chief and Pilot/ WSO names were left off, as they were painted over during the conflict for
reasons of security.
      With the United States' heavy emphasis on precision weapons, it was kind of cool to find a picture of a Strike Eagle in Allied Force loaded out with dumb bombs.  My guess was that it was for an attack on a massive target:  barracks, tank farm, refinery, etc.  So twelve Mk. 82's from the Hobbycraft A-4 were used, and it sure makes for a mean looking U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle!  Another picture that caught my eye was of one of these jets from the 494th carrying the light gray drop tanks of an F-15C.
 So the tanks were painted Mod Eagle Light Gray, and the loadout was rounded out with two AIM-9M's and two AIM-120's for self-defense.
       Well, that's about it on this kit.  Sorry about the brightness of the pictures.  Next time, I'll be sure to take the pictures when the sun is not at it's highest intensity.  Who would have thought I took a photography class in high school?

Tom