"Iraqi Freedom
Nose Art"
An all-weather
ground attack strike fighter, the F-15E Strike Eagle has won its place of
respect in recent conflicts such as the First and Second Iraq War and
peacekeeping missions over Afghanistan. It is designed to do the work of several
aircraft, as a high-speed long range interceptor or bomber without needing
fighter escort or electronic warfare aircraft. As with most modern aircraft the
F-15E excels in a multitude of missions, from close air support to bombing, to
long range patrols, and is always a welcome sight to friendly troops with its
distinctive dark grey camouflage and conforming fuel tanks under the wings.
Hasegawa has
released a few F-15’s over the years, and the latest to join the eyrie is the
F-15E Strike Eagle featuring Iraqi Freedom nose art, which in contrast to the
deep gray of the aircraft is actually quite colourful, and would compliment a
collection of modern warfare kits quite nicely!
There are two
aircraft options this kit has to offer: Firstly Dragon Betty II, a US Air Force
4th Fighter Wing F-15E of the 336th Fighter Squadron (Rocketeers), And secondly
an unnamed F-15E featuring Taz, the cartoon Tasmanian Devil also of the 4th
Fighting Wing, 336th Fighter Squadron (Rocketeers).
Click on
images below to see larger images
The kit comes on 9
grey plastic sprues with one clear sprue for the grand total of 199 parts. The
canopy comes in two parts, so the modeller can either have it open or closed,
and is thin and clear without any issues.
Cursory glance of
the grey sprues shows them to be of a high quality, the panel lines are recessed
(albeit perhaps a little too subtly) and so makes it an entirely different beast
from the past issue with raised panel lines that modellers have complained about
for so long! The detail on the various parts is really excellent in some areas,
especially the cockpit, which has a lot of very fine detail especially on the
instrument panels. There is no photo-etch for this kit, so you will have to
source some belts and harnesses for the ejection seats. The decal sheet has
decals for both instrument panels, as well as the instrument consoles on either
side of the two crew. Overall the exterior detail is similar to the
Academy 1/72 F-15, so the panel lines are all present but a lot of the fine
rivet detail is absent. The engines come with separate afterburner nozzles which
was a really nice touch and again makes the kit very appealing, with good detail
on both sides. As mentioned before some parts do have light flash but there are
very few prominent ejector pin marks so you will not have to be sanding for
long!
The weapons supplied
in this kit are substantial but by no means comprehensive, there are LANTIRN
pods, external drop tanks and a large quantity of Rockeye cluster bombs, but no
other armament, so for those of you interested in anything else it will have to
be aftermarket!
The decals are of
very high quality: thin, with extremely fine printing, legible warning
instructions to ground crew, and the register on the decals is spot on. The only
complaint i can make is that they have for some reason decided to make the
cartoon character Taz’s face orange instead of his usual beige, making him
look rather bizarre!
All up an excellent
kit and a huge improvement on the past offering, and definitely will become a
favourite with those who love the “Mudhen”!
Special thanks to Hobbylink
Japan for supplying this
review sample.
Dean Reynolds
Click on
images below to see larger images
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