1/32 Tamiya F-15E Strike Eagle
By Danny Attree
Additional Parts
- Squadron Signal F-15 Eagle Walkaround, a real waste of time, most pictures are in black and white, about as useful as a chocolate fire guard.
- Wolfpack Design, AN/AAQ-33 Sniper XR Pod.
- Quickboost/Aires Seats.
- Eduard Ejection Seat detail set.
N:B, The Aires seats do not come with the ejector seat guide rails so the original ones from the Tamiya parts have to cut off and glued in place, the Eduard set makes up for the missing seat placards, warning signs and ejection handles.
I had waited quite a while until I built this kit with the hope I would do it justice, I actually run out of patience, far too good a kit not too build.
In hindsight I should have waited for the DACO reference book to come out as that would have saved me time on the PC hunting for pictures etc. It's due to go to print in the next year or two so if I build another that will be the way I go for reference material.
As I have come to expect from Tamiya the kit assembly was superb, no need for masses of filler as it has been designed in a way that the joins match various panel lines. Very crisp and clean as it should be for the value of this kit.
There are a few defects, the pin marks in the engine nozzles, they could have done better there, Two Mikes now do a set to replace these, if they were available at the time I would have bought a pair.
Slime/navigation strips, the Tamiya decals are a rich yellow and they do not look correct they should be a pale green/lime. Fortunately I got some replacements from Steel Beech which have now been added.
Canopy seam line, this was sanded out and polished to remove the moulding seam that runs down the middle of the canopy.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy, a vary pleasant way to spend a few months.
© Danny Attree 2013
This article was published on Tuesday, June 11 2013; Last modified on Monday, February 29 2016