F-15E Strike Eagle
4th Fighter Wing, 75th Anniversary,
Seymour Johnson AFB

DXM, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by David Couche

HyperScale is proudly sponsored by Squadron.com

The 4th Fighter Group was activated Sept. 29, 1942 in Debden, England during World War II. The Eagle Squadrons consisted of American volunteers, until the 4th FG became part of the Army Air Corps and drafted members. 

Aircraft flown by the 4th Wing include the P-51 Mustang (several versions) in the European Theatre with the Wing having 1016 credited kills and 37 aces to be the top fighter group the the European Theatre. It converted to the F-80 Shooting Star at the start of the Korean War, and then flew the F-86 Sabres, destroying 502 enemy aircraft and having 24 of the 38 aces from the war. After the war, they again changed to the F-100 Super Sabre and a couple of years later to the F-105 Thunderchief. With the advent of the Vietnam War the 4th tranisitioned to the F-4 Phantom and remained flying them until 1988. The Wing became the first unit to receive the new F-15E Strike Eagle in 1988 and became the first operational Wing in the USAF in 1991. They still fly the F-15E Strike Eagle today.

The 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina celebrated their 75th anniversary in September 2017, and unveiled a new heritage paint scheme on one of their F-15E Strike Eagles to honor the milestone and achievements throughout their history. Members of the 4th Equipment Maintenance Squadron spent more than a month painting the anniversary scheme for the jet, and the paint job will remain for an entire year.

This decal set, produced by DXM, is another of their incredibly interesting schemes they keep releasing.

The decals are printed by Cartograf, so you know they are of the best quality and will ultimately go down well on your model. There are 2 A5 sheets of decals for the one aircraft which is Bu No. 87-189 of the US Air Force.

Detail is crisp and appear to be in perfect register. Many of the decals are quite large and will need care in their placement to ensure minimum moving to reduce the risk of tearing.

The instructions have most adequate detail on them, with colour call outs for Gunze Mr Color, Humbrol and where possible FS Standards numbers.

The decals are not sized for any specific Strike Eagle kit, so I presume they would fit the venerable Hasegawa kit(s) as well as the Revell, Academy and Italeri kits.

A top anniversary USAF F-15E scheme that really lifts an all-over gunship grey aircraft to new heights with quality decals, what a combination. Well done DXM on another stunning set of decals.

Bring on the next exciting set DXM!

Thanks to DXM for the samples.

Text and Images Copyright © 2018 by David Couche
Page Created 26 Septembert, 2018
Last updated 26 September, 2018

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