Subject:
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Re: F-15E Strike Eagle
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.build.military
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Date:
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Tue, 30 Jan 2007 08:10:38 GMT
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Viewed:
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4629 times
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In lugnet.build.military, David Simmons wrote:
> Hey Ralph,
>
> VERY impressive! As a younger man, I was very into plastic model kits of jet
> fighters, and the F-15 is still one of my faves. I can tell it is one of yours
> too! The attention to detail throughout is superb, especially on the angle of
> the intakes, the different sized antennas/pitots or whatever they are on the
> tips of the tailfins, and the speed brake on the back. Are those
> stickers/decals from a kit or did you make them? They're aces as well. I
> especially appreciated your adherence to using bricks and plates whenever
> possible. The inherent challenge in that makes the success of your model shine
> all the brighter.
>
> Now if we can just get TLG to do a set like this . . . I love the new F-14
> Tomcat set for it's functions and parts, but I'm getting tired of the
> flag-waving color scheme of red, white and blue. All that dark gray looks
> beautifully bada**!
>
> Dave S.
Hi Dave,
Thanks for the comments. I too was into building model kits, as well as building
with LEGO. I'm not much of a painter, so the model kits rarely turned out quite
the way I wanted them to, so actually building planes with LEGO was a very nice
alternative.
The stickers were home-made, the old-fashioned way with pens, pencils, and some
adhesive tape. Most USAF aircraft don't have all that many markings -certainly
Strike Eagles, so it wasn't all that hard. The actual building had quite a few
challenges, especially the nose section. Initially it was longer, but in a
review on MOCpages somebody pointed out that it was a bit too long. I measured
it, compared it to a 3-view drawing I have of the real aircraft, and had to
conclude that he was right. It was two studs too long. Shortening it gave me a
lot of trouble. There is a lot of stuff in that nose section, in a small volume:
the bay for the nosegear, the cockpit interior, formation lights, pitot probes,
and to make matters more complicated and to remain true to scale, the whole
thing is only five studs wide. It was quite a puzzle.
The angled intakes are a standard feature of he Eagle. They actually tilt down
for low speed flight, and I simply had to include that feature in my MOC. I've
often been told that I use fairly conventional building techniques. I'm no big
fan of SNOT building. To me it seems that there are quite a few people who use
SNOT simply for the sake of it. I try to avoid it if I can, because it tends to
make models -especially those of aircraft- very fragile. Of course there are
some bits where it really cannot be avoided and helps to improve the look of the
aircraft, in this case on the tailfins, the sides of the intakes and the nose
radome.
The Eagle isn't quite my favorite aircraft, although it does look good in dark
grey. It also was a lot of fun to build. Over the last few years I've been
trying to build models of all of the so-called teen fighters, all built to the
same scale. The F-15 completes this `project'.
Most of these were at one time shown on lugnet, but here's the list and the
links to their respcetive brickshelf folders:
F-14 Tomcat:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=127826
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=127281
F-15 Eagle
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=228206
F-16 Fighting Falcon /Viper
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=195584
F/A-18 Hornet
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=208079
My favorite aircraft, by far, is the F-14 Tomcat. I too like LEGO's Tomcat-like
aircraft, but the colour scheme indeed is terrible. Fortunately there are plenty
of sets, mostly in the Star Wars range, that provide suitable parts for building
jets with somewhat more realistic colours than red, white, and blue.
Cheers,
Ralph
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: F-15E Strike Eagle
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| (...) this particular plane at least twice! I remember how I thought that it was just so awesome that the skull & crossbones logo was sported on the tailfins. Your appreciation for the decals in plastic model kits is very evident here, and gives me (...) (18 years ago, 31-Jan-07, to lugnet.build.military)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: F-15E Strike Eagle
|
| Hey Ralph, VERY impressive! As a younger man, I was very into plastic model kits of jet fighters, and the F-15 is still one of my faves. I can tell it is one of yours too! The attention to detail throughout is superb, especially on the angle of the (...) (18 years ago, 30-Jan-07, to lugnet.build.military)
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