F-15E Strike Eagle: Build Review w/photos
The Model:
Italeri 1/48 scale Strike Eagle F-15E
Decided to build a strike eagle so I picked up Italeri’s kit in 1/48 and boy did I go to work…
Out of the box, the eagle looks well designed, directions are clear, and the parts are free of flash.
Opening the box and checking on the parts was the last simple thing the kit had to offer however.
The Build:
Building this model was very complicated due to the abundance of design flaws and fit problems…Italeri should
call their kits sand and fill instead of paint and build because that’s mostly what you’ll do if you build one of
their aircraft.
From start to finish almost every piece on the aircraft did not fit well at all…Some noticeable areas included
the jet intakes, canopy area, the wings, fuselage, cockpit, well just about the rest as well…After hours of sanding
and filing…the model was finally built. I used a variety of fillers and the like including squadron’s white putty,
elmer’s white glue, but the majority of the work was done with super glue.
The overall ordinance load was poor, the cockpit used decals to detail the panels, and none of the flaps or rudders
are positionable…You can model the airbrake, landing gear, jet intake covers, canopy, and ladder up or down, open
or closed…as well as the nose and radar assembly…
I used photos provided from www.f-15estrikeeagel.com to detail the nose radar and added some styrene parts
in the nose and to attach the bomb load…
It was also necessary to fill the nose with some weight so I glued together a couple of pennies and placed them
behind the radar…
Painting:
Model master enamels or acrylics are referred to in the instructions and although I used model master paints and some
tamiya acrylics, I did not follow the paint recommendations because they were inaccurate…Reference photos
guided me. A word of advice never trust the Italeri’s paint references…every kit i’ve seen has had questionable
suggestions.
I like to prepaint, then go back and touch up if necessary…I painted the wheel wells white first…masked them over
and then the rest of the plane…I used model master metalizer gunmetal for the nozzles…and a custom mixed blue
metalic blue to paint areas around the radar…I washed some of the panels and screens with black and highlighted
areas with steel.
I used model master gloss before decaling, then model master acrylic flat clear to finish it up.
Decaling:
The decals provided were of good quality, but were basic…Three different schemes were provided including the
bold tigers and another european based at lakenheath, UK. I checked aftermarket decals for the f-15e and some
are provided for ODS or OIF but since Italeri’s are decent I used the box stock ones.
They needed a bit of solveset and then an overcoat of flat…The overall adherence was good.
Conclusions:
The overall quality of this kit and many of the Italeri aircraft kits I’ve built or read about are poor. As a result I
contacted Italeri by email and spoke to the people at Testor’s over the phone…Although the Testor’s people said
they would only replace damaged parts or decals free of charge or an entire defective kit if the original was sent
back…when Italeri responded they had a different tone. It seems people from Italeri Europe emailed Testor’s in
Illinios (the American distributor) and told them to offer to send a new kit of my choice free of charge…
It is now up to the people at Testor’s to email me back with good news…I’ll
keep you posted.
I guess although I’m disappointed with the build because of fit problems and the overwhelming time it took to fill
gaps and sand…I’m satisfied with the result…Although the kit’s not perfect…It’s decent and I like the way some of
it looks. I would not recommend Italeri aircraft to build at present, but if I’m sent another kit I’ll give it a shot
and report on the build…I have my doubts, but as I told Italeri, maybe I haven’t seen their best stuff yet.
Dedication:
Since the planning, several individuals in our forum have helped in many ways to get this just right…especially
with the painting.
I’d like to thank Chaseblake99 and Eagle334 for the pics, references, and sites…and all the other guys at finescale
forum who chipped in…
I have to admit, there were a few times that I thought of scrapping this thing, but rather than that, I used it as a
learning experience.
Hope you guys like it especially all our men and women out at Moutain Home AFB, ID with the 391st Bold Tigers.
And everyone who flies eagles and keeps the skies safer for Americans and her allies throughout the world.
Well that’s all from me for now.
Thanks guys…and let me know what you think.
Tank
