Heller 1/72 McD.D. F-15A/B Eagle

HELLER 1:72 MCDONNELL DOUGLAS F-15A/B EAGLE
'INBOX Review'

Reviewer: Myself (carlos_giani2002@yahoo.de)

Kit: Heller 1/72^nd scale MDD F-15 A/B Eagle (Kit N° 80336 ). Produced in France. (I actually believe this may be a reboxing of the Airfix 1/72 F-15A/B Eagle when the two companies formed an alliance and were owned under the Humbrol brand - Ed)

Aircraft: The F-15 has been reviewed all around the modeling world. It is a very important airplane. Enough.

Parts: In a sturdy, top opening box there float around unbagged 4 sprues containing 78 light grey styrene parts, two thin and transparent (but badly scratched) canopies, the instructions and a decals sheet. The parts are cleanly molded, with the typical raised detail of the 80´s and having a smooth surface. There are neither flash nor any onerous ejector pin marks present, but unfortunately some sink marks can be seen here and there. All in all good traditional Heller quality.

One or two cockpit tubs with side consoles (depending of which version you build) are trapped between the horizontally splitted fuselage halves. Only generic seats and control columns decorate the office, but at least you get instrument panels with some raised dials (I would recommend to use Aeroclub seats). For the single-seat A-version a “generic thing” is trapped in between instead of the second tub, only to be later completely covered by a blanking. Next the two-part intake trunkings are glued to the fuselage, and a dry test reveal the usual fit and gap problems associated with this sections. Each wing consists of an upper half molded “wrapped” around the edges and a lower insert, the trailing edges being acceptable thin. Next the one-piece fins and tailplanes are glued on, with the nose and two exhaust cones (which have a fan represented inside) completing the main plane.

The landing gear bays are boxed-in but rather shallow, showing basic structural detail, with the landing gear legs also being rather basic. The bay doors are a bit on the thick side. Depending on which version will be built, there are two different frames and canopies to be used. Each wing gets a pylon which carries two missiles and one fuel tank. Another four bigger missiles are placed on the fuselage sides (sorry, but myself lacking of any knowledge in this field I cannot comment anything about the accuracy of the ordinance). A couple of small bits will finish the job.

Instructions: One folded A3 sheet containing 10 absolutely easy-to-follow construction steps. A further folded A3 sheet shows on one side 4-view colouring/decaling diagrams for two versions, with colours coded for the Heller range. The other side of this sheet brings a “general modelling advice” in 8 languages and a Heller-to-Humbrol conversion chart.

Versions:

1) F-15A, 318^th FIS, McChord Air Force Base

2) F-15B, 32^nd TFS, Soesterberg Air Base.

Both in boring two-tone grey scheme.

Decals: Printed by Heller, they are on blue paper and also contain a good amount of stencilling. My experience with Heller decals says that you don't know what they are until you use them, their quality varying from kit to kit.

Detail: Very good for the 80´s, by no means state of art for 2009.

Options: Canopies and dorsal airbrake can be displayed open. I presume a wheels up version will also be possible without major surgery.

Impressions: It's a typical Heller kit, don't await Tamigawademy quality here.

Recommendations: Hey mate, stop it, you don't need to say that; I know that the Hasegawa offering is eons better (or should be). Recommended for Heller fans and for the uncomplicated enthusiastic underdogs like me.

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