Academy SJ F-15E

[vyper1]

Well I decided to take the plunge and start this beast of a kit

[vyper1]

A little bit more done

[AchtungPanzer]

Good start & Good luck !

[HistoryRider]

Can't wait to see more progress!!

[UKguyInUSA]

Sweet! Looking forward to watching you bring this baby to life!

[vyper1]

A little bit more done, not decided on intakes up or down yet

[Gav0909]

I have this kit on the shelf now in decalling stage. Had some fit issues in places, and the kit decals are crap. I would seriously consider an aftermarket set.

Looking good though mate.

[vyper1]

I have this kit on the shelf now in decalling stage. Had some fit issues in places, and the kit decals are crap. I would seriously consider an aftermarket set.

Looking good though mate.

I have a set of replacement decals in mind but I can't find a UK source at the moment. All I know is that mine wont look as good as yours when finished as your painting skills blow mine out the water

[vyper1]

Some more done. Forgive me for not knowing names of stuff the left-hand integrated fuel cell thing was a pain to put on, the right-hand was a dream. The Intakes are a shocking fit and will require plenty of sanding and filling. I decided to do all the ordnance and one of the fuel tanks has a big hole in it which looks like it's been melted Almost ready for primer

[Gav0909]

Yeah I had that on my kit. One of the conformal fuel tanks fitted fine, the other was a bit of a pain.

I am sure yours will turn out just fine mate. I got my AM decals from Hannants, its an Xtradecal set I think. Seems to be working well. There is very few stencils on it, and no ordnance decals, but I can live without them I think.

[Scottwba]

Agree with the intake fit, spent about 2hrs trying to get them close but still needed sanding filling.

[Gav0909]

Turns out if you want to get the kit decals to conform to irregular surfaces, then use some Klear or other varnish as a base, put the decal on, blow over it with a hairdryer for a few seconds, then roll a cotton bud over the decal. This seems to soften them enough to conform. Slightly time consuming, but does mean the kit decals aren't as useless as they first seem.

[vyper1]

Cheers for that bit of a tip Gav but it sounds like too much hard work I might give it a go or I might just order a new stencil set along with the decals when I get round to them I'm having nothing but problems with my airbrushing lately. It seems that so far, I was better off using my Chinese cheapie as this H&S has given me nothing but problems since day one I tried to put down some primer and this is the result, the airbrush also clogs all the time and it doesn't spray straight So I have got a new nozzle cap for it and given it a seriously good clean with the stuff that the postman delivered today. I will see how I get on otherwise it will be a new nozzle for the Chinese AB and I'll be back on that

PS. Any ideas what's up with the primer or my technique? I tried both Vallejo and AK primers and both results were the same, well shaken primer, AB clean, model clean, tried psi @ 14, 18, 20 and 22 yet

[EagleOnyx]

How long is your air hose? If it is really long you can end up with a pressure drop by the time it gets to the nozzle; 22psi indicated on the gauge could equal 15psi at the nozzle (I made those numbers up but you get the idea). Don't be afraid to turn the pressure up a bit or lower it if need be. It looks like your paint wasn't atomized well. You could also try thinning the primer. I have had issues with paint doing similar things when the model surfaces were contaminated by skin oils, etc. I'll get the occasional part that paint just doesn't want to play nice with. Wiping that part with some acrylic thinners and drying it before spraying take care of that.

[Gav0909]

Hmm are you thinning the primer? The Vallejo and AK primers are designed to be sprayed neat I think. I have found that even a little bit of thinner can ruin the surface tension of the primer.

Also, mist a coat on first, which will look odd, but then as that starts to dry, spray on a heavier coat to fill it in. That seems to work, and helps stop you putting too much primer on in one go.

[HistoryRider]

I had the SAME issue just a little while ago on my F-102! There were any number of reasons, I am working on narrowing them down. I also started developing condensation in my air hose even WITH a moisture trap! I'm going to take a look at all the suggestions here as well and see how they work

[vyper1]

How long is your air hose? If it is really long you can end up with a pressure drop by the time it gets to the nozzle; 22psi indicated on the gauge could equal 15psi at the nozzle (I made those numbers up but you get the idea). Don't be afraid to turn the pressure up a bit or lower it if need be. It looks like your paint wasn't atomized well. You could also try thinning the primer. I have had issues with paint doing similar things when the model surfaces were contaminated by skin oils, etc. I'll get the occasional part that paint just doesn't want to play nice with. Wiping that part with some acrylic thinners and drying it before spraying take care of that.

My hose is 3 metres and it does look like it wasn't atomizing very well. I've started to make sure I wipe down after handling and making sure I'm wearing gloves to eliminate any contamination.

Hmm are you thinning the primer? The Vallejo and AK primers are designed to be sprayed neat I think. I have found that even a little bit of thinner can ruin the surface tension of the primer. Also, mist a coat on first, which will look odd, but then as that starts to dry, spray on a heavier coat to fill it in. That seems to work, and helps stop you putting too much primer on in one go.

Not thinning the primer, using it neat from the bottle. Lately I am just having a nightmare with primer and paint. Personally I think it's the new AB, so I am experimenting with different pressures using the .2 needle.

I had the SAME issue just a little while ago on my F-102! There were any number of reasons, I am working on narrowing them down. I also started developing condensation in my air hose even WITH a moisture trap! I'm going to take a look at all the suggestions here as well and see how they work

I do have a problem with moisture build up in the hose if I use the AB for prolonged lengths of time but I wasn't doing that at the time. I also have an inline moisture trap and one on the compressor which I vent regularly. Like you I'm still trying to narrow it down. I must admit after a deep clean and changing to the fineline nozzle it does seem to be spraying better.

Also does anyone now if I can use this Aires nozzle set on the Academy kit as I have had a bit of an accident which the supplied fiddly kit parts

Cheers

[EagleOnyx]

I have that Aires nozzle kit and I am putting it on my Tamiya F-15J. It is not listed as being compatible, but it didn't take much effort to adapt it to mine. I had to enlarge the holes in the jet a little bit but they do fit. I might have had to remove about 1 to 2mm all the way around.

What did you do to your kit nozzles?

[vyper1]

I have that Aires nozzle kit and I am putting it on my Tamiya F-15J. It is not listed as being compatible, but it didn't take much effort to adapt it to mine. I had to enlarge the holes in the jet a little bit but they do fit. I might have had to remove about 1 to 2mm all the way around.

What did you do to your kit nozzles?

I don't know how the nozzles are done on the Tamiya but on the Academy kit they are made up of 6 separate pieces which don't really fit together nicely so you have to do a bit of fiddling. Let's just say I wasn't paying attention to my sanding and now they definitely don't fit I think I will order the Aires kit and see how it goes

[EagleOnyx]

I remembered that I just happen to have both the Academy kit and the Aries parts you are wondering about. I opened my Academy F-15 and stuck it together and put the engines in there. they fit perfectly, I don't think you will need to mod anything to fit them.

[vyper1]

I remembered that I just happen to have both the Academy kit and the Aries parts you are wondering about. I opened my Academy F-15 and stuck it together and put the engines in there. they fit perfectly, I don't think you will need to mod anything to fit them.

Those pictures are very helpful I will get the set ordered as soon as I see how the re-primer goes. I got it all off with a toothbrush after letting it soak it Fairy Power Spray overnight

[UKguyInUSA]

Oh, she's coming together nicely since I last checked in on this build

[vyper1]

OK it has been re-primed and painted. I never thought that the Fairy spray would also remove the plastic putty and weaken the tamiya extra thin joints so my hard work of filling the intakes has all gone and I had to reglue the starboard wing and nose section back on There's a few silver fingerprints from the buffable paint all over the model but they should wipe off without causing an issue (hopefully).

[Tiger131]

looking quality like your spray job

[cib2265]

lovely! keep it going!

[Eric]

Paint job looks great! The F-15 is such a striking bird...looks good in just about anything. Top notch work on the cockpit, too!

[HistoryRider]

Hi vyper!

It's looking great!

[UKguyInUSA]

Oh my, she's looking sexier with each post!:)

[grover]

Nice Vyper. It's looking really nice. Do you have any photos of the masking of the engine area? I'm looking forward to my next project

[vyper1]

Nice Vyper. It's looking really nice. Do you have any photos of the masking of the engine area? I'm looking forward to my next project

Hi, I didn't really take many pics of the masking as I suck at it but I found these hope that helps. Landing gear and a few bits on so now onto painting all the weapons

[grover]

Thanks man. I'm doing the Revell F-15E next.