Here is the Great Wall Hobby F15E Lakenheath in 1/48.
Being my first GWH build I didn't know what to expect, as there are very mixed reviews online, but I'm happy to say that this kit fit with perfection. It was easily as good as any Tamiya kit I've done.
Now these kits aren't the cheapest, but for what you get in the kit, such as fully moulded missiles, and multiple ordinance options, and just the overall fit, in my eyes, its 100% worth it.
Moving onto building, as always you start with the cockpit. The interior detail on this aircraft was great out the box, however I'm a sucker for Eduard upgraded cockpits, so with a cockpit set applied, I was super happy with the look.
Next came actually putting the front section together, with the landing bay installed, with super easy locator pins, and the 2 front half's married up, she was there. Once again, the fit was superb. I did also add weights to the nose, as the model is a tail sitter. With the interior pained black, and then the canopy on, she was looking superb.
Sadly I forget to take more pictures of me building the Eagle (I'll do better next time, I promise), rest assured the kit went together flawlessly and without any issues at all.
With the kit together it was time to prime and pre shade. Mr Finishing Surfacer black 1500 with Mr Colour Levelling Thinner to a 50/50 ratio. This is my usual way of priming aircraft, or anything in that matter, as I get a perfect finish every time. Then onto the pre-shading, where I take Tamiya XF-2 white and spray it onto the exposed panels on the top, as this will give a sun bleached look when the paint is down. I ONLY do this on the top, as the bottom would not get sun bleached.
With that done, its time to get a coat of paint on. I've tried so many paints that I cant keep track, never finding the right set, until I tried Hataka Orange line. They blew my socks off to be honest. The paint is super easy to spray out of a H&S Airbrush and the finish once dried is super smooth.
A quick tip if you do use the orange line, add 3/4ml of Mr Colour Levelling thinner to the dropper bottle, and you're away.
With multiple light passes over the model, I built up the paint layers so the colours underneath could not be seen, however still keeping the lightened panels visible. Looking at some pictures online, some F15e's are fitted with different coloured flaps (probably from the C variant) from when they have been repaired, so I took some creative license and did the same.
Now came the varnish and decals. Pairing the orange line paints, with the Hataka orange line gloss varnish was a dream, once applied and left for 24 hours to fully cure, the gloss surface was like glass. Again, the best varnish I've used to date.
Now the biggest let down of the kit, the decals. They were awful, just way to thick. I really didn't want to ruin this bird on the last hurdle so I grabbed myself some aftermarket f15 decals.
They were printed by cartograf, need I say more?
Below are the GWH ones, can you see how thick they are?
With the details pained, decals applied and the weathering done, we now have a finished F15E! Other than the decals, this build was a dream. Not one fit issue, not one broken part. I would highly recommend this kit to anyone. (If you can get your hands on it)
See you next time.
Oliver.