F15C MSIP II Tactical Fighter

Finally a 1/72 kit has come out for an Oregon ANG F-15! And I couldn't ask for a better company to do it than Academy. The 1/72 Academy F-15 is the best one out there with excellent surface detail and plenty of weapons. You have the option to build either an Oregon Eagle or one with the ZZ Tailcode. Includes parts to create the newer more advanced versions of the F-15C.

I picked this kit up to compliment the F-15e that I have from Academy. That kit had amazing engineering and fit so I had high hopes for this kit. While not as good as that kit this one is not bad. The fit is nice, needing only minimal filling and sanding. I added the Eduard photoetch set for the cockpit so I can display the canopy open. The finished kit is awesome and has nice detailing. I added the kit supplied weapons to finish the loadout. The decals are another story. They were garbage. Some Academy kits have great decals, that take to solvents easily. Not this one. After using way too much microset/sol, mark-fit and solvaset to just get the weapon decals on, I looked for some aftermarket offerings. The paint callouts on the kit sheet, as well as the decal sheet seem really dark to me -but supposedly are right. In some light the stencils and some markings seem to get lost against the paint. All in all it was an enjoyable build. It might not be a first build but if you have some experience it shouldnt be too hard.