F-15C Eagle by Hasegawa

1/72 scale
Kit No. 04025 (alternately K25:1400)
Price: $30.00
Decals: Four versions, all U.S. Air Force
Comments: Engraved panel lines; center line and wing-mounted external fuel tanks; two-piece canopy; detailed cockpit and jet exhaust fans; no missiles included

History

Designed as a pure air superiority fighter, the F-15 Eagle was the result of a 1965 Air Force study and a development program that got a kick in the pants in 1967 with the appearance of the Mach 2-capable Soviet MiG-25 Foxbat. In nearly 45 years of service, the F-15 has scored over 100 victories in air-to-air combat with no losses — a record unparalleled in the history of military aviation. For this reason, the McDonnell-Douglas F-15 has been called the ultimate air superiority fighter.

The F-15 began as a multi-year effort that in many ways was a guerilla campaign within the Pentagon, led in no small part by maverick individuals who made up the “Fighter Mafia” like Major John Boyd — a campaign to move away from the orthodox thinking that had created ever larger, more powerful, missile-dependent jet fighters not built for dogfighting — in short, to completely re-think jet fighter design from the ground up.

In the mid-1960’s, as the air war in Vietnam began to reveal the painful truths that neither guns nor dogfighting were obsolete, and that missiles alone would not make for an effective fighter, military planners in the Pentagon slowly began to look toward a new fighter design that would acknowledge these realities. They reluctantly turned to Boyd, an outspoken, hard driving active duty Air Force pilot, Korean War veteran and former instructor at the Air Force Fighter Weapons School who had devoted his life to the study of air combat and effective fighter design.

One of the ugly truths that Major Boyd got the Pentagon to face was that a number of military aircraft had been deployed to Southeast Asia and given roles for which they had never been designed, with less than optimal results. A case in point was the McDonnell F-4 Phantom, a superb fighter that had nonetheless initially been designed with no thought of gun armament whatsoever, being entirely reliant on missiles. F-4’s frequently encountered the more maneuverable MiG-17 in the skies over Vietnam, an older generation yet still lethal fighter that could turn inside a Phantom and bring to bear its devastating armament of 37mm and 23 mm cannon. The F-4’s armament, the AIM-7 Sparrow radar guided missile and AIM-9 heat-seeking Sidewinder, were sometimes ineffective in a turning fight (which F-4’s needed to avoid anyway when up against MiG’s), and could be completely ineffective at close range, since they needed a certain amount of time in flight before they armed themselves. The Sparrow in particular had a high failure rate. Pilots who ran out of missiles often had no option but to head for home, fast.

Attempts were made to remedy the problem with field modifications such as the 20mm gun pod sometimes fitted to the center line of the F-4’s belly in lieu of a fuel tank. This was a welcome but imperfect solution, giving the F-4 a badly needed gun but one which lacked accuracy and had a tendency to spray ammunition all over the sky — often ineffective except at close range. It was not until late 1968 with the appearance of the F-4E in Southeast Asia that the Phantom had an integrally designed 20mm gun, and then only on the Air Force versions. But the fact remained that the F-4, while highly capable as a multi-role aircraft, had not been designed as a pure dogfighter.

From the outset, the F-15 was designed to be highly maneuverable, so that there would be no question about its dogfighting capability; to provide improved visibility over aircraft such as the F-4 and F-106, particularly to the rear; to track and destroy targets beyond visual range; and to fly at Mach 2 if necessary. The F-15’s cockpit had traditional instrumentation, but unlike the F-4 it also had a head up display (HUD), which projected onto the windscreen flight, radar and weapons information, visible in any light and literally allowing a pilot to keep his “head up” and maintain situational awareness at all times. Radar, weapons, and communications functions could be controlled by buttons and switches on both the throttle and control stick, the first application of hands-on-throttle-and-stick (HOTAS) that allowed pilots to keep their eyes on potential airborne threats, eliminating the need for them to periodically look down into the cockpit.

Armament was the same as that of the F-4E Phantom — improved versions of four Sparrow and four Sidewinder missiles, along with the M61 Vulcan 20mm cannon. Ground attack capability was a distant and secondary consideration – “not a pound for air to ground” was the mantra. Avionics equipment was made as accessible as possible to facilitate maintenance and minimize resulting down time, designed so that they could simply be pulled out and replaced if a fault were detected – not unlike a car stereo unit.

The F-15 flew for the first time on July 27, 1972. While it officially entered service with the U.S. Air Force in November 1974, it was not until January 1976 that the F-15 was operational at squadron strength. Due to the high thrust-to-weight ratio produced by its pair of Pratt & Whitney afterburning F100 turbofans, the Eagle was the first jet fighter that could actually accelerate in a 90 degree vertical climb. With a maximum speed of Mach 2.3, it would soon seize back from the MiG-25 all time-to-climb records that the Soviet interceptor had established.

The subject of this kit, the F-15C, entered service with the USAF in 1979. Among the improvements were 900kg/2000 lbs of additional internal fuel and provision for conformal fuel tanks which fit flush with the fuselage. Israel was the first export customer of the F-15 and also the first nation in whose service the Eagle would see combat. On June 27, 1979, in an encounter between Israeli F-15’s and Syrian MiG-21’s, the Eagles shot down five of the MiGs with no losses as the latter attempted to bounce a flight of Israeli F-4’s as they returned from striking a target on the coast of Lebanon. F-15’s would go on to destroy several more MiG’s during the June 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

In the 1999 Balkans conflict, American F-15’s destroyed four Serbian MiG-29’s. As part of Operation Desert Shield, American F-15’s were among the first assets deployed to Saudi Arabia in 1990 following Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, initially given the specific mission to protect Northern Saudi oil fields from advancing Iraqi troops. During the Gulf War, F-15’s were pitted against the largest air force in the Middle East, which included the MiG-29 Fulcrum, and emerged victorious with 36 confirmed air-to-air kills. While two F-15’s were lost in action during the Desert Storm, it is unknown whether they were downed by anti-aircraft missiles or enemy aircraft. Officially, the F-15 maintains its record as the world’s premiere air superiority fighter.

An F-15C over Fresno, California in 2003. Photo by Master Sgt. Roy Santana, US Air Force.

The Kit

Released by Hasegawa in 1988, the F-15C Eagle is injection molded in grey plastic and consists of 141 parts, including five clear plastic parts for the canopy, gunsight and nose wheel lights. Although decals are provided for the main and side instrument panels in the cockpit, they are unnecessary as these panels all feature exquisite raised detail that can be highlighted with patience and skillful dry brushing. Although a second ejection seat is provided for the F-15D model, the instructions do not acknowledge it.

The kit has three major assemblies, one for the nose section, a second for the fuselage, and a third for the wings and tail units. Detailed faces are provided for the jet intake fans, and each intake consists of two halves which will require seam-hiding. Separate inlet ramps are also provided. The kit does not include intake trunking, but at 141 parts is quite detailed for the scale, and the mold includes faithful recreations of the “turkey feather” exhausts for the jet nozzles, consisting of nine parts each.

The F-15’s canopy and large dorsal dive brake can be displayed open or closed. If open, detailed hydraulic units supporting the canopy are also included. The kit includes three large drop tanks for the center line and wing hard points, but curiously there is no missle armament of any kind. Hasegawa makes explicit reference in the instructions to its aftermarket weapons set (can you say marketing?), and while these sets are both affordable and on average, more detailed than those that come with stock kits, it does not speak well of Hasegawa that they chose this path. The sheer level of detail of the kit will induce some, but not all, modelers to forget about this effort to extract a little more money from their wallets.

Markings

The kit decals are average in quality and appear yellowed as Hasegawa markings often do after relatively little oxidation. They are best replaced with aftermarket examples. Markings are included for four versions of the F-15C, all appearing in an identical two-tone camouflage scheme of grey and light grey, with light grey under surfaces. The versions are as follows: 1) F-15C of the 57th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, based in the U.S.; 2) F-15C of the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing of the Pacific Air Forces (headquartered at Hickam Field, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii); 3) F-15C of the 32nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, U.S. Air Forces Europe; and 4) F-15C of the 36th Tactical Fighter Squadron, U.S. Air Forces Europe.

Conclusion

This is a very well detailed example of the pure fighter version of the thoroughbred single-seater F-15. Outstanding despite the lack of missile armament. Highly recommended.

References

• Jet Fighters Inside Out by Jim Winchester; Copyright 2010 Amber Books, Limited; London.
• Fighter by Ralf Leinburger; Copyright 2008 Paragon Books, Limited; Bath, UK.
• Combat Aircraft Since 1945 by Stewart Wilson; Copyright 2000 Stewart Wilson and Aerospace Publications Pty Limited; Fyshwick, Australia.
• A Handbook of Fighter Aircraft by Francis Crosby of the Imperial War Museum Duxford; Copyright 2002 Anness Publishing Limited; London.
• Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War by Robert Coram; Copyright 2002 by Back Bay Books/Little Brown and Company; New York.