F-15C Eagle, Italeri (Dragon) 1/144 scale model

Continuing the trend set with the A-10, here is the second inbox review of ours:

The McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle

Many books have been written about the F-15 so far, so saying something new about the history and usage of the type is a daunting task. A task, I rather not even attempt, but I do would like to list a few basic facts.

As it is widely know, the F-15 is a response to the Soviet, MiG-25 Foxbat. As the story goes, spy pictures appeared of the MiG-25 and these showed a potent, twin-engined fighter. One, that could outclass all of the then used USAF fighters. After a MiG-25 defected to Japan, the threat of the Foxbat was reduced, mostly because Western experts realized that it is a high-speed interceptor rather then an air-superiority fighter. In the end however, the F-15 became an excellent design, first used in its destined fighter role, and later on used as a fighter-bomber.
In the world where Wikipedia exists I wouldn't waste more time on the history of the Eagle.

Lets talk about the model:

The kit is in a small box that looks like all the typical Italeri boxes of the late 1990's. The boxart is very attractive and it shows an Eagle of the 1st Fighter Wing from Langley AFB, Virginia.

F-15C boxart

The back side of the box serves as the instruction sheet and it has the painting instructions too. As usual for Italeri, the colors are given in Model Master codes.

Assembly and painting instructions

On the top left hand corner of the box, there is a Dragon Models logo present. This indicates that the kit inside the box is actually not an Italeri kit, but a Dragon one!
I personally loved this cooperation between Italeri and Dragon. These kits were widely available here and at a lower price than their Drgaon counterparts. As a bonus, they even had better decals, but usually only one decaling option was provided.

The Dragon logo

Below is the first of the two grey sprues. This one contains much of the armament and the nose section amongst other small bits.

The first sprue

A close up on the nose section showing the fine, engraved panel lines. Also visible on the left is the centerline fuel tank.

The nose section

The second close up picture shows a pair of AIM-9 Sidewinder and a pair of GBU-8 Electro-Optical Guided Bombs. These bombs however are not needed for this kit, as this is the C version, the air-superiority fighter and not the E version, the fighter-bomber.

GBU-s and Sidewinders

Now, this is a very interesting picture. When our review video was made a year ago, I had no idea what kind of weapon (?) that is. Although we asked for help in the video, no one volunteered to identify it. All I could guess, is that it is an ASM-135 ASAT missile, a very interesting piece of equipment. It is an air-launched anti-satellite multistage missile! Yes, a missile, launched by an F-15 to shoot down satellites!
As far as I know, a successful test was carried out, a satellite was destroyed, but the project was canceled in 1988.
So this is our guess at the Wombats Models headquarters regarding what kind of thing it that. However, if somebody knows better, please inform us in a comment, or send an e-mail. One thing is sure, the instructions don't show these parts, so it is not needed for the assembly of the F-15C.

The 'mistery missile'

here is a picture of the other side of the first sprue. Obviously there isn't any detail inside the cockpit, but that can be forgiven in this small scale.

The first sprue from the other side

Below is the second sprue. This one contains the main parts of the fuselage and the wings.

The second sprue

A close up on the wheels. The front wheel is rather nice, but the main wheels look a bit awkward. This is probably the weakest part of the kit.

The wheels

The other side of the second sprue. The AIM-7 Sparrow missiles are a bit simple, but that is acceptable in this scale.

The other side of the 2nd sprue

Close up on the exhaust nozzles of the Pratt & Whitney F100 jet engine. In reality these are very complicated parts, but these on the sprue are a bit simplified.

Pratt & Whitney F100 exhaust nozzles

The third and last sprue in the box is of the clear part. The canopy is a single piece but it is clear.

The canopy

As there is no instruction sheet or booklet for this kit, only the back of the box shows the painting instructions (that part of the review should follow now).
The single decaling and camo option is given for an F-15 in standard camouflage on the box. However, the instructions show that the upper color should be Model Master 1711 Olive Drab. That is completely false!
The color for the underside is given as Model Master 1728 Light Ghost Gray. That is correct, but I don't really understand, how they could make such a mistake with the other tone.

On a positive note, the decals are rather nice. There are even stencils given, a big plus in the 1/144 scale.

The decals

 In your Youtube reviews, we usually spend the last couple of slides giving a verdict regarding the quality of the kit, the price of it and the availability of it. I would like to finish with that here as well:
Overall, this is a nice kit, especially considering the small scale. With some tuning it can be a winner at scale modeling shows, but if built OBB, it will still be a nice addition to anyone's 144 scale lineup.

Availability however is an issue with this kit. It might can be found in Dragon's own boxing, but it is difficult to find it in the Italeri box. As far as I know, Italeri ended it's partnership with Dragon, so there is no chance that the Dragon 1/144 models will be released again in Italeri boxes.

Back when I purchased this kit, the price of it was good, around 5 EUR. It is difficult to say how much such a kit costs now.

This wraps up the review of the F-15C. If you are interested in our Youtube review, you can watch it here:

I recommend watching it, it might not be exactly the same as written here.

Also there are plenty of other inbox reviews on our channel, and we keep adding more and more, so make sure you check it out and subscribe!

Wombats Models Youtube Channel

Besides this, we have a fine Facebook page too, so make sure you visit that and hit 'like'. We have our decal products listed there too. You can order those using our e-mail address.

Wombats Models on Facebook 

We are on Twitter and on Deviantart too:

wombatsmodels.deviantart.com

WombatsM on Twitter

Thank you for reading this review! As more and more of our reviews appear on YT, we will try to keep up and post more here too. So stay tuned!

(written by Jozsef)