Profile Photo
Justin Bronk
36 articles

Cursed F-15C Build

May 7, 2020 · in Aviation · · 29 · 4K

This build was cursed. That is all.
Problems were mostly caused by my own clumsiness, not the GWH kit, which in terms of fit and surface detail is fantastic.

Dropped the model, breaking a stabiliser and meaning I had to redo the first camo colour during the large-scale masking work... then a gear leg snapped and I had to drill the stumps out and brass rod repair job the thing, the AK colours I used for the first time on this kit didn't react well to Mr Leveling Thinner, separating during spraying so that each cup sprayed different shades which meant my usual shading technique was impossible. The GWH Decals are almost completely useless due to being extremely thick and with a matt finish that makes them almost impossible to blend into paintwork, even with Agama Hypersol. As a result, I bought some aftermarket decals and made this colourful (for an F-15C anyway) US Air Force 1st Fighter Wing bird stationed at Langley AFB in 2004. This particular aircraft was the the personal mount of (then) Commander Frank Gorenc, who went on to become a four star general and commanded US Air Forces Europe and Africa.

When spraying a layer of varnish to protect the decals, however, the real disaster occurred. I refilled the airbrush cup and forgot to put the lid back on, meaning that I splashed a large dollop of Mr Super Clear III on the left wing, which immediately dissolved the existing varnish, decals and paint layers. Much cursing and fixing required before I could get back to weathering.

Even once nearly done the resin engine replacements kept falling off due to miniscule glueing area, the canopy was dirty and fogged inside when masks came off so I had to cut/lever it off to fix, and the pylons were a job and a half to get settled in place. All in all much more work than it needed to be but I think the result is ok.

Build video here as ever:
https://youtu.be/jctzxycYLkw

Reader reactions:
11  Awesome

8 additional images. Click to enlarge.


29 responses

  1. This is a great result, Justin! For sure this lady tired you the mosts. The end result is super.That is a lovely Eagle. Excellent video presentation, which in reality is a tutorial high class!
    all the best, my friend!

  2. Your F-15 is the best cursed model I’ve seen around...you should see mines, they are forever unfinished.
    Great looking model Justin

  3. OMG you actually finished her. That's what I call perseverance Justin, I would have trashed it and moved on. She actually looks good, well done.

    • Haha, I was honestly THIS close to hurling it at the wall at one point... but turned out acceptable in the end I guess. Thanks for the kind words Tom!

  4. Dude! I have been there. I for one don't understand people that throw the kit in the bin- too much time and money invested (the kit alone!) at that point to give up! You did an awesome job! Congrats!

    • Honestly I'd spent so much on the kit (GWH isn't cheap), Ares nozzles and decal sheet from the States by that point that I couldn't just abandon it but the temptation to do so was real! Cheers Dan! 🙂

  5. Uphill Eagle? Came out great though!

  6. Great Eagle, I'm sure she's happy now all the cursing is over 😉

  7. Great looking jet. I had no idea it flew in this greenish kind of camouflage. Love the comparative photo of the F-4, F-15 and F-35: great study of aircraft design through last 50 years or so. F-35 looks huge!

  8. The result is more than ok that looks great! I think we have all had those kits, ones that were supposed to be easy that just fought us. Mine was the Tamiya 1/48 F-14A. Not as many struggles as you had here, but the whole thing just seemed to not work as well for me as others! Ah well, this Eagle of yours looks really good and is a testament to you modeling skills that you didn't toss it!

  9. Excellent results! Looks great and nice collection! I guess we've all had troublesome builds, One of mine was the Airfix FG.1 Phantom, I couldn't get out of on my way with that one.

  10. Well the end product sure is great!

  11. The end results looks like it was worth the elbow grease! Nicely done.

  12. Looks great, cursed she may be. But you kept at it. Nice job.

  13. Turned out great after all that! Have you ever used the AK colors with their proprietary thinner? If so, do you like them? I like that Israeli Eagle too. What paints did you use on that one?

    • Thanks John! I wasn't a fan of the AK colours as a whole to be honest. Wasn't just the spray issues with leveling thinner (which would probably have been fine with their proprietary thinner) but also it brush-paints a totally different shade again. I normally use Mr Color and Tamiya paints (used both for the Israeli F-15i build.

  14. Nice recoveries Justin. The end result of your work looks great. You could call this a "Heartbreak Ridge" Recovery...you improvised, you adapted, and overcame!

Leave a Reply