Reviews : Tamiya McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle Jet Aircraft

I have only recently began building larger scale aircraft,and I was excited to be able to tackle this one on for a client who commissioned me to out it for. The most notable thing to recognize is that this thing is big. It's very big. Please be mindful of that before paying the price tag. Would be a shame to have more model than free space to display it. As far as the build itself, I really can't say enough. My biggest fear with the larger scale was that there was going to be tons of extra work. To be honest, I've probably built a couple dozen 48th scale planes with less parts. They're just bigger. The fit is tamiya quality for the most part, although there are a few sections that will require some elbow grease to look right. My first attempt at one had a short shot lower fuselage to offer, and I was highly disappointed by this, as the shortage was right where the forward fuselage mated to the fuselage itself. The wonderful folks at tamiya had a replacement part expedited in no time at all and all was better. Outside of that, the wing roots will require some strip styrene to close the rather obvious gap that's left behind. There's also a pretty awkward step where the wings sink a bit below the main body. I've tried everything to try to figure out if it's something on my end, but there's simply no way to figure out why. Tamiya provides screws to help you bolt the aircraft together in all the right places, and it really does help to ensure the structural integrity of the build. Just be sure not to torque them too tight or you'll start running into funny bowing issues. Outside of that, the cockpit details are all there and very nicely replicated. The seat doesn't have seat belts, but some quick scratch building with foil tape did the trick for me. The gear are metal, so it's tested and expected to withstand the weight of this monster. The decals are a bit of a let down. Typical tamiya thickness, and a bit cloudy around the carrier and. They'll work in a pinch, but without some very good decal prep, you can expect some very severe silvering if neglected. The down side is that there not a very vast selection of aftermarket decals. All in all it's a very good kit and we'll worth the money. I've built three since September thanks to the outpouring of support for folks who support my work and it comes out a champ every time. Highly recommended.

this a great kit lots of detail no engines other that nice that there are screws to help hold kit together