The "F-15 E Strike Eagle" is the two seat version of this very well known ground attack fighter (probably the best in the world).

The first prototype was created based on the second F-15B (71292) and had its first flight on August 1981 as a part of the "Advanced Fighting Capacity Demonstration", and in 1982 the new F-15B was equipped with "LANTIRN" and "FLIR" night flight and attack capacities. Although its exterior appearance doesn't show it, 60 % of the F-15 original structure was redesigned in order to get the new F-15 E denomination; new avionics, new turbine engines, and ECM pods (the very questioned AN/ALQ 135B), were the cause for this structural redesign, among other things.

The model

The model for this article is the great Tamiya 1/32 scale kit. It is built almost "out of the box" and shows one of its most colorful and heavy configurations. It depicts an airplane belonging to the 336FS, 4th wing, fighter based at Seymour Johnson, North Carolina.
This squadron began its operative cycle in 1989, and saw their first operation during the Dessert Storm campaign, being the first of its type with an exceptional success. During the war, these fighters had their base at "Al Kharji" in Saudi Arabia.
This formidable attack fighter was created for long range deep interdiction missions, all weather day night operations, retaining all its air-air combat capacities. No doubt that all these characteristics makes it one of the best airplane fighters in the world.
For this model, Jorge used Model Master paints adding only minor detailing to the cockpit, such as small bits of clear green plastic for the radar screens.
Due to its excellent fit, the model was built with almost no putty, only a little MEK was applied to the joints in order to eliminate minor gaps.