1/144 Academy F-15SG Conversion

Gallery Article by S K Loh on Feb 28 2012

 

 

There were posts about conversion of F-15SG and after-market accessories for it. I have been building 1/144 scale kits for some time and I thought it would be great to do one in this scale.  As stocks of 1/144 kits are limited here I had to do with the Academy kit.  The conversion kit here is mainly scratch-built using styrene rods/tubes. As for the canopy, I had to shape it out with acrylic rod.  I did some research on the specifics of various sensors and weapons deployed by the F-15SG.  The thumbnails depicted the modifications done i.e. the antenna/sensors, CFT and the pylons and the extended tail fairing.  I had to scratch-built the AIM120s and AIM9Xes employed on the SG too ( the original missile from the box were AIM7s for the F-15A).  From the research, I came across numerous pictures of F-15SG stationed at Mountain Home Air Base Idaho under 428th FS “Buccaneer”.  I decided to built 2 models; one of  RSAF 149SQN (tail number 8322) and the other of 428th FS “Buccaneer” (tail number AF0007).  I dispensed with scratch building the drop tanks and the gamut of weapons on the kit as I want it neat.  I had a custom built base for both kits.

 

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I wanted the two kits in the flying position, thus I cut out the cockpit and added in the Pilot and WSO (the original kit comes with the cockpit sealed).  I scratch-built the instrument panel and the ejection seats based on images found.  There are no after-market decals for this scale that I know of.  Hence I made them out from plain decal sheet.  I scaled down the decals as accurately as possible to fit the kit.  I must admit that the RSAF roundel is a little too big after application and setting.

As for painting, I use basic white and black acrylics to create the right shade of the gunship gray to match the decals created.  The original gunship gray from Tamiya or Mr Hobby is a tad too dark for such scale.  The kits were coated with clear satin before the decals were applied for better adhesion.  A light wash was applied on the panel lines after which a final flat coat was applied.  Overall, I was glad I took up the challenge to do a conversion in this scale.  While there could be room for improvement, I was pretty happy with the finish.  This scale afforded me the much needed space to display them.

S K Loh

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Photos and text © by S K Loh