Hasegawa F-4E Phantom II

So this stuff I'm using is bondo. I can thin this with laquer thinner and brush it on!?? Holycrap I gotta try that..........as for the rest, I don't know. What's the difference between an F-4E and an RF-4E?

We didn't have RF-4Es either.

We only had F-4B, F-4N, F-4J, F-4S and three flavors of RF-4B.

If you only want to have a Light Gull Gray over White aircraft, the Japanese operated the F-4E, as the F-4EJ, with the USN paint scheme for a number of years when they first got them.

You could build it as a What If in USN or USMC markings,,,,,,,,,,or as an Aircraft Gray USAF aircraft,,,,,in addition to all of the other USAF color schemes.

The one major difference between all of the USN variants and the F-4E was that the nose was different and we didn't get the gun.

Here's the link, Sarge, to the USMC GB:

cs.finescale.com/.../160457.aspx

The work in progress is a few pages back. It was my Marines tribute build.

You are the freekin' man! What a build. I could learn a lot from you too......

Thanks Sarge...I dunno if you noticed but, I did use a set of after market seats, cockpit detail set and Hase weapons set...made a big difference in the quality of the outcome, IMO.

Thanks for the correction tarn. I thought the photo-recon F-4 was an E conversion because of the nose extension. I think the Germans also flew Es, anyone?

Yes, the Germans had RF-4Es, and F-4Fs (in case you meant the gunned version)

Ugh.....ok, so now that I'm thoroughly confused....heheheheh........this thing has a nose cannon. AND, after attaching the shroud, I found another one in the box....longer.....and I've also seen photos of F-4's with probes extending from the nose......I don't know that the nomenclature is, but there is no nose probe in this kit.......I suppose I could stretch a sprue out.....but it does have a TAILHOOK tho, ....hehehehe....guess I'll be tossing that into the spare parts tub.

All phantoms had a tail hook. And long noses had the pitot tube up front

SargeUSMC

Ugh.....ok, so now that I'm thoroughly confused....heheheheh........this thing has a nose cannon. AND, after attaching the shroud, I found another one in the box....longer.....

The short muzzle fairing was used on earlier aircraft. The longer fairing was a later upgrade (to reduce engine ingestion of gun gases), utilised in new-builds and retrofitted to earlier aircraft. 

Ok, so is this a "long nose?" If so I need to fab a pitot tube for the nose. In 1:72, how long should it be? If I have to do one for the nose, I might as well do the one for the tailfin that I broke off too.....how long should that one be....does it have any shape or is it just a straight needle point.

Re the gun shround, lemme see if I can do a "retrofit"....

Sarge, you are looking to make your nose pitot look like part number P-13 at the bottom of this page (it is the newer Hasegawa 1/72 kit)  www.1999.co.jp/.../3

I measured one of mine, and you want it to be .436 inch long, with that thick part at .282 long. 30 thou thick, with 15 thou thick on the thin part.

hope this helps

Rex

As far as I recall, there's a nose pitot tube in the kit. It may be a little heavy but it's in there. 

Thank you sir. I stretched out a sprue to those numbers. That'll work fine. There may have been one in the kit that I scrapped with all the trimmed sprue pieces, but this will work ok.

How long does the pitot tube on the tail need to be? Also, I have seen photos of F-4's with 2 pitot tubes on the tail...this kit has just the one I broke off. What's the difference?

Time to start thinking about color scheme. I wanna do a Marine jet (OohRAH)...why in the world would the Navy and the Marines not get the version with the gun?!?! I've never done a cammo paint scheme.....guess I'll give it a go.  What are the different metallic finishes used on the rear of the fuselage and the stabilizers? Silver...steel....titanium....burnt metal....?

Working on the ordinance......gotta get some paint for the fuselage.

Anyone know what these are? Instructions say the whole back half of the missle and the nose are red...and the bomb is brown. That doesn't sound right....

The top is an AIM-4 Falcon, used by the USAF, and they were indeed White on the Front and Red on the rear.

The bottom is supposed to be a M 117 750 Pound bomb, used mostly by the USAF, and occasionally by the USN and USMC, that color is Olive Drab. Those noses are more correct for the front of the blunt nosed style of SUU-30 Cluster dispensers,,,,,,,,,and that is what I save them for. Hasegawa makes better M 117s in their weapons sets.

Save the "little fuel tanks" that came in your kit, they aren't really fuel tanks like the 3 bigger ones, they are the Travel Pods, made in real life by recycling Nape shells and adding a door. If you can save up enough of them, you can cut off the ends and turn them into Mk 77 Napes.

Rex

In the real world, ordinance rains the pain, but in the scale modeling world, building and hanging the ordinance is a pain!

More bad parts? The orientation of the door looks as it should according to the instructions, but the notch for attaching it to the main strut is in the wrong place, right?

So very true about the ordnance!   I've started using rub-on dry transfers from Woodland Scenics (They have letters and numbers of various fonts and sizes, but also straight strips of varying thickness) for the bands on bombs and missiles, it's so much easier to get a clean result.  Also very forgiving (you have plenty more than you need and if you mess up you can just pull it off and reposition or start over).  They are a bit thick but nothing a toothpick can't solve if needed.  

Groot

ya I bought pinstripe tape for the yellow and black bands on the missles....I'll have to check out woodland....

Anyone ever built this kit that had this prob, or am I doing something wrong?

Looking good so far, Leatherneck! Keep up the good work! Semper Fi!!

Color scheme........the instructions call out for light gray - FS35622, but that number is a light blue. Does anyone know what shade of light gray I should use......"aircraft grey" FS16473 maybe?

TarnShip

Sarge, you are looking to make your nose pitot look like part number P-13 at the bottom of this page (it is the newer Hasegawa 1/72 kit)  www.1999.co.jp/.../3

I measured one of mine, and you want it to be .436 inch long, with that thick part at .282 long. 30 thou thick, with 15 thou thick on the thin part.

hope this helps

Rex

Rex...can I get a measurement of the length of the tail pitot tube?

Sure, Sarge

This is the original size from your kit, .4175 or 27/64 inch long (10.6mm),,,,,,,and 23 thou thick. (or around the thickness of a sewing pin)

As for your Gray, that depends on what you are going to use for decals.

16473 is for an overall USAF Gray aircraft, 36440 is for USN/USMC (or Japan for an F-4EJ), and 36622 is for the bottom of USAF in the South East Asia color scheme (35622 is the bottom for Israel's F-4Es)

Do you need some decals for this build, Sarge?

Rex

Thanks.....i have the kit decals......and the kit shows a camo scheme....with the light gray undercarriage

TarnShip

Sure, Sarge

This is the original size from your kit, .4175 or 27/64 inch long (10.6mm),,,,,,,and 23 thou thick. (or around the thickness of a sewing pin)

As for your Gray, that depends on what you are going to use for decals.

16473 is for an overall USAF Gray aircraft, 36440 is for USN/USMC (or Japan for an F-4EJ), and 36622 is for the bottom of USAF in the South East Asia color scheme (35622 is the bottom for Israel's F-4Es)

Do you need some decals for this build, Sarge?

Rex