Mountain Home F-15E Commission build
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April 3, 2024Hollow LH CFT from the kit vs. the RH CFT with the scratch built back side details. I will eventually get the CFT and CFT Dolly scanned for 3D printing, as well as the CFT sitting on the dolly.2
April 3, 2024Back side of the RH Conformal Fuel Tank (CFT). Still a few pinholes and scratches to fill and some fine-tuning to do, but I think it looks the part.3
April 3, 2024Initial mock-up of the CFT maintenance dolly. still a lot of details to add but it's coming along nicely.4
April 3, 20245
April 3, 2024PW-220 engine trailer. The wheels are from an AeroBonus flightline trailer, but everything else was scratch built. Still a little finishing to do, but I'm very happy with how it turned out! It will look awesome sitting behind the Strike Eagle in the commissioned maintenance diorama.6
April 3, 2024The wheels are from an Aero Bonus flight line trailer. Everything else is scratch built.7
April 3, 2024Steering linkages and tow bar8
April 3, 2024$28 Chinese knock off of the $120 Black Dog “Big Set” for the GWH F-15. #1 engine bay, all forward avionics bays and the gun bay will all be exposed. I found it on Aliexpress.com listed under "1:48 resin cockpit" - A couple of the parts came warped, but a few seconds under the heat gun straightened them right out.9
April 3, 2024Initial fitting of the fwd engine bay bulkhead.10
April 3, 2024GWH kit engine vs. resin engine, which has a LOT more detail!!! I'll have to scratch build all the detail for the kit engine that will be sitting on the engine trailer.11
April 3, 2024Still have a few more ring segments and other structural pieces to make, but it’s turning out great so far.12
April 3, 2024#2 engine bay scratch built. The panels are scratch built copies of the resin kit for the #1 engine bay (mirror images, of course). I will glue in the resin walls and details in the #1 bay, but I won't have to add nearly as much detail because the resin engine will be filling the bay.13
April 3, 2024I'm nearly halfway to my goal of cutting open the engine bay(s) for display.14
April 3, 2024Now to install the resin walls and resin engine in the other bay15
April 3, 2024More details of the resin detail kit.16
April 3, 2024Avionics bays. SO much surgery up ahead!17
April 3, 2024Kit engine vs. resin engine (top).18
April 3, 2024The forward half of the resin engine SOLID RESIN! It's really heavy so I’ll have to drill / dremel out the center to remove most of the weight, and add nose weight to compensate for the rest.19
April 3, 2024Open (scratch built) bay vs. the Black Dog Resin (BDR) side. The engine bay panels for the open bay will have to be scratch built mirror images of the right engine bay panels. The surgery begins…20
April 3, 2024I found that the BDR resin walls were too short in height and width, so I added onto them. Somehow, the Evergreen styrene actually fuses to the "resin" parts with Tamiya cement! I was glad to discover this, as it makes a much stronger bond than just using super glue.21
April 3, 202422
April 3, 2024One down, five more to go!23
April 3, 202424
April 3, 2024Resin replacement panels for the #1 engine bay. I will have to scratch build mirror imaged duplicates for the other side.25
April 3, 2024Close enough match to the resin wall detail, I'd say.26
April 3, 2024The engine bay wall "blanks" I traced and cut from .020" Evergreen sheet styrene.27
April 3, 202428
April 11, 2024I’ve got the walls, wiring and plumbing installed, now I’m using.005” styrene to make the panel attachment flanges.29
April 11, 2024The upper ring segments glued in, waiting to be trimmed.30
April 11, 2024A heat gun helped me form structural ring segments around Dad’s old aluminum cane.31
April 11, 2024The resin kit walls were too small to display the engine bays completely open, so I scratch built extensions for them.32
April 11, 202433
April 11, 202434
April 11, 2024Center walls installed35
April 11, 2024Test fitting the resin engine36
April 15, 2024Structure and details are complete and now it’s in primer. Time to move on to opening up the gun bay for display.37
April 15, 202438
April 18, 2024Cutting the massive pour stubs off of the resin parts with my trusty Trumpeter saw.39
April 18, 2024Rotary filing close to the panel lines. Jeweler's files and a really sharp OLFA X-acto knife were used afterwards, to get everything crisp and precise.40
April 18, 2024Resin Avionics bays glued-in with homemade "Sprue Goo". Once it was half-cured, I pushed the bays inward by 1/64" for that proper recessed look.41
April 22, 2024FWD Avionics bay rough cut42
April 22, 2024FWD Avionics bay cut / filed / sanded and ready for the resin insert installation43
April 22, 2024Initial cuts for the exposed gun bay44
April 22, 2024All three resin replacement Avionics bays are now installed (glued-in from the back with Sprue Goo). Thin .005" and .010" styrene shims were required to get the proper look and fit.45
April 22, 2024Cutting the pour stub from the long, right side Avionics bay insert. The saw blade that came with this new Japanese "OLFA" brand knife is unbelievably sharp and cuts much better and faster than my old Trumpeter saw. The OLFA knife blades are very, very sharp as well.46
April 22, 2024RT Avionics bays being rough cut47
April 22, 2024Time to start opening-up the gun bay!48
April 18, 2024Glued-in; waiting to be shimmed and finished-up.49
April 22, 2024Kit + resin gun bay parts ready for fitment50
April 22, 2024Gun bay walls and ribs installed with styrene reinforcements, super glue and Sprue goo.
Коментарі
22 3 April, 13:24
![](/profiles/img/user-s.jpg)
Hi Sergej! How come everything is empty here with such fine modelling going on? Ok, first row center for me. That will be fun to watch.
11 April, 16:00