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Hi guys, it’s been a year
since my Hornet was posted in ARC. I am now back with the Tamiya 1/32 Strike
Eagle. Before I go into detail of the model, I would like to thank CC for giving
me a push to make this model.
I
showed a photo of the Mudhen to my girl last year and asked for her opinion.
Amazingly she said “it is good looking” and she would buy me a model. Woo,
that was really unexpected. So, I got one and built it. Thank you CC, I love you
so much !
Okay,
I know you guys are bored, alright, let’s get to the point…………..
The Kit
There
are several kits available in the market. The very common and economic ones here
in Hong Kong are Hasegawa and Academy in the scale of 1/48. However, these two
kits are not accurate at all (bulged main landing gear doors, pylons underneath
CFT, cockpit, etc.). You will need to do a lot of modification on the model.
Then
it is Revell and Tamiya in the scale of 1/32. Revell is neither popular in Hong
Kong. So in the scale of 1/32, the only choice is Tamiya. Fortunately, the price
of 1/32 kits has dropped considerably in this two years. The kit costs only
HK$400 i.e. US$51.
The
box is quite big in size, so make sure you have your love one’s support or you
have her fully informed, because there is no way that you can sneak the big box
pass her.
Opening
the box you will see the upper and lower body; 11 sprues of plastic parts; a set
of screws, nuts, rubber tires, and metal landing gears; one sprues of clear
plastic parts for the canopy and navigation lights; two sheets of decal; and one
piece of RBF sheet.
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The
instruction booklet is of A4 size, 28 pages, which is really informative for
making an out-of-box kit. A better one should be the Tamiya 1/32 A6M5 Zero.
Accessories
I
was not building the Strike Eagle in the out-of-box way. As a matter of fact, I
added every add-on parts I found. These add-on parts included :
(a)
Eduard photo etched parts # 32 031
F-15E
Strike Eagle 1/32 scale detail set for Tamiya kit
(b)
Eduard photo etched parts # 32 056
F-15C
Eagle 1/32 scale detail set for Tamiya kit
(c)
The Gunsmoke Range, Flightpath, GBU-10C Laser Guided Bomb Set
(d)
The Gunsmoke Range, Flightpath, 1/32nd Scale AIM-120 AMRAAM
Missile Set
(e)
The Gunsmoke Range, Flightpath, 1/32nd Scale AIM-9L/M/R/S
Sidewinder Missile Set
(f)
Clear plastic lens of 2.5mm dia.
Construction
Cockpit
As
usual in every model aircraft, the very first thing is the construction of
cockpit assembly. There was no problem assembling the kit parts. The hose on
both sides of the original seat was replaced by copper wire. Seat belts from
Eduard set #32031 was added to the two ejection seats. Pedals and instrument
panel supports from Eduard set #32031 were also added. I’ve scratch made the
oxygen supply hoses, canopy opening handle, and the canopy lock pins in the
cockpit. Also, some wiring, gas hose coupler, and structural parts were added.
Reference was made to the walkaround photos in ARC and Verlinden Lock On No. 22.
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Intake
Ducts
The
intake ducts assembly is of upper and lower half. Once glued there was a
noticeable seam in both sides of the ducts. The only way was to apply putty, let
it dry for a few days, sand it until there was no seam at all.
A
lot of effort will be saved if there was an after-market resin one piece intake
duct. I hope one will make this available. This is one of the two critics I have
on this kit.
The
finished ducts were then sprayed with flat white. When it is completed dried, a
sponge of appropriate length was inserted into each duct to cover the white
color (make sure the one and a half inch length near the intake is uncovered).
Then the body grey color was sprayed. When the grey color was completely dried,
the sponge was removed. This was how I made that two tone color inside the
intake duct. Sponge offered the advantage that it can be shaped easily. By using
it there is no need to do the difficult masking on the inside of the duct.
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Landing
Gear
The
whole model is quite heavy, particularly when carrying after-market resin laser
guided bombs. Therefore white metal landing gear is a must to provide a reliable
support. Also, the white metal landing gears duplicated quite well of the real
thing. I should have added a brake hose for the main landing gears. However, the
main legs are not easily visible as the view is being blocked by the laser
guided bomb. So, I gave up adding the hoses. All three landing gears were
sprayed flat white and then a black color wash.
Wing/Fins
The
main wings, tailerons, and vertical fins fitted quite well. A little sanding was
needed but that was all. They were all sprayed with the body grey color.
Exhaust
Nozzles
Here
comes my second critic. Similar to the induct ducts, the exhaust ducts are also
assembled from a upper and lower half. So there were also visible seams on the
inside of the part. However, because of the recess on the inside of the exhaust
ducts, there was nothing I could do to cover those seams.
The
exhaust nozzles fitted well. It was just a little tired to prepare the 30
identical small linkage and turnkey features. But, it was worth the effort.
The
inside of the finished exhaust ducts and the exhaust nozzles were sprayed flat
white. Then, a black color wash was applied for the effect. When the inside was
readied, it was sealed with masking tape, and then the external was sprayed with
a mix of metallic grey and clear orange. A dry brush of silver was applied.
Radar
The
radar assembly also fitted well. However I did a modification on the radar disk
and the support structure. First the plastic antenna on the radar disk were
removed, the radar disk was then sprayed with Dark Yellow, then the letters
“RADIATION HAZARD” were transferred, the photo etched T-shape antenna from
the Eduard set #32056 were fixed onto the radar disk by CA glue. Then the wiring
around the radar support structure were added by copper wire. After the
application of decals and wash, the assembly looked quite realistic.
Body
After
the installation of the intake ducts onto the lower body, the upper body was
fixed to build up the main body. Because of the variable intake, extra care was
taken, particularly while the forward portion of the CFT was glued. CA glue was
used to save time for curing. Then the forward fuselage was attached to the main
body. Only little putty was needed for the joint, I was quite satisfied with the
result, bear in mind that the model is quite big in size. After that, the wings
were attached to the main body. Again, CA glue was used. For the wing joint,
putty was not necessary. The cured CA glue already served the same purpose. So I
sanded it and it was finished. Holes of dia. 0.5mm were also drilled on the body
to simulate screw marks. Panel lines removed were re-inscribed.
There
should be an air vent near the wing joint. It is strange that Tamiya missed this
part. By the time I built this kit, I had to scratch built this little part. I
used a 3 mm tube, pressed to oval shape, then attached it to a strip. A small
photo etched plate is inserted inside the oval tube as it should look like in
the real thing. However, we now have the add-on part from Cutting Edge Modelwork.
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Equipment
Bay
It
is quite boring for such a big size model if there is nothing special. Opening
the equipment bay will solve this problem. The equipment bay is nicely molded
except the handle for the equipment is molded solid. So, I cut the molded
handle, drilled holes and inserted copper wires to make the handle. The lock
from Eduard photo etched set #32056 was added to the equipment bay door. It is
nice. The equipment bay was colored as instructed in the booklet. Then placard
was added to make it looked more realistic.
Canopy
The
canopy is nicely molded with the frame separately from the clear part. As usual,
there was a seam along the doom shaped part, so I used the usual technique to
remove it (file, sand with #400, #1000, #2000, then rub with #3000 paste, and
then apply a coat of Tamiya wax). Holes of dia. 0.5 mm were drilled to simulate
the screw marks on the canopy frame. The tapered canopy locks from Eduard set
#32031 were attached to the canopy frame by CA glue. The inside of the canopy
frame was hand painted with flat black. The outside of the canopy was masked
with Eduard Express Mask SL011 and then the frame was sprayed with the body grey
color. The Eduard mask proved to be a very good tool.
Douglas
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