As promised, here is the new 1/72 Academy F-15E presented with my first out-of-the-box impressions here. Assembling the kit was a real pleasure. As I mentioned previously, this is mostly a Snap-Tite model kit. The kit is branded as MODELERS EDITION stock number 12550. As with many Academy releases lately, this plastic kit comes with 2 fold type manuals. Construction starts with the air intakes on step 1 and finishes with the clear canopy, drop tanks and air brake. When we work with Cartograf decals we know that we are working with a high quality product and I’m glad that Academy didn’t spoil a good model with cheap decals. If you have to have every single stencil on your kit, the decal sheet will keep you busy, they are all there.
The cockpit is well detailed for the scale. Instead of using decals, I painted all the knobs & switches with the tip of a toothpick and Vallejo paints. The same with the ejection seats on which I used Vallejo Khaki Gray 70.880. No pilot figures are included and I don’t find the ejection seats that ”plain” either. With some masking tape we can add the seat belts. Since these seats are not glued but rather pressed-on, we can always come back with more detailed resin counterparts.
My only issue with the kit is the one piece canopy. It could have been even better with a separate front windshield to display this beauty with its canopy open instead of entirely removed. We can always cut ut but *I* don’t have the guts. In case you’re wondering, I used Model Master Acryl Dark F-15 Gray FS36176. A lighter coat was added of the base color to fade the paint away. As you can see on the pictures below, I used the washes included in the US NAVY GREY SET A.MIG 7419 from Ammo Mig.
The new Academy F-15E 333rd USAF is a wonderful kit. Personally my scale of choice is 1/48 but with this kit at 1/72 I’m IMPRESSED! You might want to give it a try. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
My sincere thanks to Model Rectifier Corporation for this production sample.
Also, many thanks to our folks from AMMO by MIG JIMENEZ for providing us with their awesome weathering products.
