1/72 Hasegawa F-15 by Ken Middleton

1/72 Hasegawa F-15

Pilot for a Day Program

102^nd Fighter Wing – Massachusetts Air National Guard

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The Pilot for a Day Program

I got the idea to make displays for the Pilot for a Day program after reading an online article about it. The program brings seriously ill children to Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod for a day of tours, demos and presentations. The child is paired with a pilot and gets picked up in a HUMVEE, too. The event occurs 3 or 4 times per year, and one child is present with his/her family. They even place his/her name on one of the F-15 jets under the canopy. Reading the article both melted my heart and gave me inspiration. The obstacles these kids have to deal with is enormous compared to the things that many of us “make” into big issues. I am fortunate to have the ability to make models in my spare time.

I offered to make the displays, free of charge, and would include a special label and the child’s name on the F-15. The unit “promotes” the child to a Captain, so the title goes along with their name on the model. I was ecstatic when the unit agreed, especially since I am not a member of the unit. I made it clear that I did not want to be present at the day’s activities. That was not my purpose for making the displays – I just wanted to help brighten a kid’s day.

Note the Let’s Roll noseart in picture above.

This particular display was made for 14 year old Doug Bognanno who has leukemia, and was presented on his day – June 27, 2002. The 102nd Fighter Wing took all pictures with Doug in them. As you can see, it is an impressive day – just look at that stage!

The Kit

This is the 1/72^nd Hasegawa F-15C kit “Okinawa ZZ” markings. Though the kit is labeled as a C, it can represent a modern A if the antenna probe is not applied on the right-rear boom by the engines/stabilator.

This makes the 11^th F-15 I have made for the 102^nd FW in both 1/72^nd and 1/48^th scales. However, as mentioned above, this one by far is the most gratifying. Because of the deadline on it, I had to rush through some steps (including my photos) that I hope to spend more time on for the next model.

It is the first Hasegawa F-15 I have built and I was unaware of the build of it. It is a very nice kit, though no weapons are included. Ironically, it includes 4 external fuel tanks. The exhausts are very nice with individual rods. I studied the individual rods, and thought they would be a hassle to remove and clean up. They are attached on the sides to the sprue, so a lot of trimming was necessary. I bought some plastic rod as replacements and used those. I had a tough time with the burner can sides, and there is actually a gap on each nozzle. They were very challenging to say the least and I did a so-so job on them.

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The seam that is produced by attaching the forward and rear fuselage is a little tricky, and on the left side it is MUCH more noticeable than on the right.

Painting the camouflage was done with paper masks taped onto the model and I used Future for decal prep. The pictures make the darker camo look like to tones, but it’s one. The kit decals are the MOD Eagle variety and include minimal stencils. It appears that not many stencils are being applied on the real jets. I was not too impressed with the color of them, but they applied fine. I also used a few stencils from the Superscale MOD Eagle data sheet. As mentioned above, I made Doug’s name on the computer and printed on clear decal sheet using an HP laser jet printer, though it’s hard to see in the picture. I use the Brush Script font for all nameplates. The 102^nd FW markings are from the ones I made on the computer, and the tail numbers and letters are from various spare decal sheets.

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For weapons, I attached only 2 training Sidewinders – mostly because of time limitations.

The display stand is a simple wood base from a craft store. It is finished with stain and sealed with Future. Plastruct acrylic rod supports the model, and is inserted into brass tubing inside the model and the wood base. The label was made with Power Point, laminated and finished with a picture frame mat. Black felt was then applied to the bottom of the base.

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Regards

Ken

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