Danstream

Thank you gentlemen! Your company was very much appreciated.

It was an enjoyable model to build and to experiment with. I appreciated your support along with your comments. Warm greetings, Dan

Thank you Andrew, much appreciated. Dan

Thank you gentlemen for your comments, I am glad you like it. It was good to have you following. 👍 To the next build, Dan

McDonnel Douglas F-15 C 'Eagle' Tamiya 1:48 32nd TFS 'Wolfhounds' USAFE, Soesterberg (NL), 1992 Dear all, this is the last instalment with the final photographs of my F-15 model. As it can be seen by the build log attached above, it was a rather long build, as it is usual for me. I chose the markings of the The 32nd TFS that came to the Netherlands (Soesterberg AB) in the early 50's. The color scheme depicts one of these Eagles as it appeared in ca. 1991. The model kit is the old Tamiya 1/48 scale which I bought in 1991 and I built it mainly OOB with the few exceptions listed below. I used the following materials and aftermarkets: Tamiya acrylics for most of the surfaces; Vallejo Metallic for the nozzles and the panels around the engines; Eduard resin ejection seat; Dutch Decal decalsheet for the Wolfhounds markings. The Tamiya kit is old with some shortcomings, but it is still an enjoyable one and it builds into an impressive model. I did not used aftermarket accessories (beside the seat) and I chose to build it all closed up. I used the jet nozzle parts provided with the kit trying to add interest by using various metallic shades only. The model was painted with gray mixes on top of a black basing with white marbling and it was finished with a not fully mat finish. The panel lines were accented by using oil colors diluted with white spirit. The various stains and trails were also made with brushed oil colors. The metallic panels on the lower side were weathered with oils and shades of Tamiya smoke and clear yellow. The fins sport the orange banners with the crowns which are the symbols and colors of the royal family of the Netherlands. To show the real shades of the camouflage colors, which is meant to reproduce the 'Compass Ghost Scheme', I took some pictures under the natural sun light. Another picture under sun light showing the closed cockpit with the Eduard ejection seat: The pictures were taken with a Nikon camera D3100 set on its aperture priority mode. To conclude, I really enjoyed building this awesome and powerful jet fighter which I had never built before. I would like to thank all those that followed my long build and that provided suggestions, comments and appreciations. Again, any comment and suggestion that you might have are appreciated. Best regards, Dan

Hi all, please find a small addendum to my last instalment because I just managed to put on all the remaining parts. I have only to paint few small details, glue permanently the canopy and the vertical surfaces and I can call my Eagle finished. This is how she looks now: Next instalment will be the final one with pictures properly done with my camera. Thanks for visiting, see you soon, Dan

Thank you very much Ken for your reply, I am glad you find them acceptable. As far as the gyros on the tips of the Sidewinders, I noticed these details although I did not figure out that the small wheels at the corners where gyros (I presume they are span by the relative airflow). However, the prospect of masking and painting 4 x 4 = 16 small squares at the corner of each fin did not appeal me greatly. Hence, I plainly omitted them (shame on me). I hope I will be forgiven 😌. Kind regards, Dan

Hi, I am back to the F-15 model trying to get the last bits done. The missiles are basically completed with the various stripes as seen in pictures. Various colors have different meanings, I chose a combination which I hope makes sense. I have done the stripes cutting them from scrap decals. While I had a yellow and grey decals, the brown was obtained by painting brown a piece of white decal. The work was quite tedious and they are not the best which can be seen around (f.i. the fins are very thick, but I did not feel like replacing them with thin scratch built ones) and this is how they look when installed: Next to it, the large center-line tank can be seen. I added few shadows brushed with a black oil color. Then, with the tank mounted in place: Meanwhile, the pods carrying the sidewinders and the other tanks have been prepared, ready to be installed: Only few steps are now missing, comments or suggestions are welcome, Best regards, Dan

The Sabre looks very good. Keep posting. I am following, although sometimes in a silent mode. Dan

Hi Mike, @Egilman already provided a viable solution 👍. In my case, I use drops (thouch-ups) of Vallejo masking fluid. After painting, the canopy can then be displaced easily by inserting a blade between the canopy and the sills and the remaining residuals can be easily peeled off. Clearly, in many cases a canopy that fits well provides a very practical way of protecting the cockpit. I do the same with LG doors when they have a good fit with the wheel bays. Kind regards and good luck with your Buffalo, Dan

Very nicely done, Craig. It is an imposing and complicated aircraft, you have done a great job. Also the three tone camo does not look too easy. Love the sharp looking canopy. Kind regards, Dan

As already said by others, the matt finish came out very nice and the transparent parts look busy and tidy. It is a lovely model. Best regards, Dan

I have followed your build in silence from the back row. Time to comment it, you got a remarkable result from this old lady. Best regards, Dan

Thanks for your appreciation and compliments, Mike! I am glad that you like my job. Sorry for my late reply, I am just back from my trip to Italy and going through my mail backlog and the progresses of this site. I will reconnect with people of this blog soon. Best regards, Dan

Very nice, clean and accurately done. Very nice subject. Congrats, Dan

Hi all, very small progress, but I would like to post something before my summer break. I am taking a couple of weeks leave to drive to south Europe and visit family. So for a while I will not post but I will learn of the progress of your builds. I painted all the external loads according to schemes which I think should match the period of the livery of the plane. This is the present state of affairs: I still need to add the numerous colored bands to the missile bodies, but that should not take long. I have not decided whether I will paint them or use decal stripes. After that, these and the last things need to be put together in the final stretch. Happy modeling and enjoy the summer, for those on this side of the planet, for the others have a good time anyway. Dan

As said by others, it looks like a real thing. 👍 Dan

As Canute said, the green-blue color is pretty common for modern jets, see f.i.: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cockpit_of_Sukhoi_Su-27_(4).jpg Never trust color callings of kit's instructions without at least a sanity check. Kind regards, Dan

Unless the numbering system for sandpaper is different across the pond, I fear that 320 grit might be way too coarse. I wouldn't go any less that at least 600 and using it wet. Maybe you have different experience, but you can make some tries before committing the obtained result. Kind regards, Dan

Hi Gary, thank you, I am happy for your appraisal. Hope to post something soon, kind regards, Dan

Impressive model display and beautiful cabinets! 👍 Dan

Beautiful model without reservations. Cheers, Dan

This is also valid for me. I have fun in building, painting and reading about the plane and the model, but once done, I hardly look at them any more. Actually, my latest models are in permanent loan with my LHS. He is happy so he can show them as examples of what can be done with the stuff he sells and I am happy because I do not clutter shelfs with them. Also for this reason, I keep a very limited stash and I build only the ones that I really like and that mostly I buy on the spot. At any rate, anybody has his own way to enjoy the hobby and in the moment you do not have fun anymore, you should stop with no remorses and do other things that in that moment you feel are better for you 😉. Kind regards, Dan

You got a clean, sharp looking, head turner model there. A very complex, multi-colors scheme that looks very well done which, as I said above and in the title, it is a beauty. Well done! Dan PS: I am also impressed by the short time that you needed to build this model. Compared to my glacial pace you are extremely fast. 👍

As you prompted, I am firing my opinion here. It looks like a realistic structural bare aluminium finish. As Mark said in a post above, it has the look of a used airframe which, in many cases, I prefer to the buffed shiny finish mostly used for displays, because I like the machines that are there to do a 'work' (but this my opinion). In the picture from 3/4 from the tail, where you see the fuselage shortened by perspective, I can see the texture variation made by the panels and the image of fuselage which is softly reflected into the upper wing, all things which I find realistic. As you used to say, go onwards and make justice to one of the most graceful airframe ever designed. 👍 Cheers, Dan