Airfix 1/72nd Phantom FG.1 Completed (ish) page 3

Bish

Now got a little bit of detail painting to do and some light weathering. Not sure what to do on that, especially the white underside. Any ideas?

Well, except for a vodka martini, shaken not stirred... no ideas.  That and finding a 1/72nd figure in a tuxedo... 

(Sorry, that "007" on the forward fuselage kinda forced me!)

Gary

I was woundering if some one would pick up on that.

Not sure if i have ever mentioned it, but my middle name is James, and my last initial is B, just sayin

Shoot some clear acrylic flat and use some burnt umber oils for streaks along with some dot filter here and there to dirty up the underside. Over the clear flat the oils blend very easy. Over the gloss I find they just don’t blend that well.

You  can go light like my F-4 here:

You can go heavier too since they got pretty dirty specially on the undersides.

Cheers PJ, would you go for the same on top or just underneath. I did some fadeing on the upper colour, but i want to avoid going heavy on the panel lines and the pics of these do show them pretty clean.

I'll shoot some microscale flat and give it a go. About time i used some oils on an aircraft build.

Top too but the bottoms got more dirty cause of the white color shows up more filth. When I eventually get to do my two Brit F-4s I may make one with light and the other moderate weathering.

Thanks again PJ, that makes a lot of sense.

You are welcome Bish. The oil paint fades out really nice over the acrylic clear flat as you can see in the picture. I can't get the same effect over a gloss coat. Click on the picture for a closeup.

It looks really nice in that pic. On armour i use oils on a gloss coat but i am after a different effect. Yours looks spot on. I'll get the touching up finished tomorrow and get the flat applied on Fri, that will give me the weekend to weathering up and finish it off.

Sounds good! She’s looking fantastic 

Time to call the Phantom done, sort of. I wanted to add some light weathering and after getting some more advice from PJ i added a Acrylic flat clkear coat and used some oils for some streaking. I normally do this on armour but this is a first for an aircraft. I was a bit wary as i have had a few issues in the past useing oil washes over enamels as on occasion the paint has been damaged no matter now many acrylics coats i apply. But this worked fine. I mainly applied them underneath with some lighter streaking on top.

I then added all the underside stores. While i have used the full stores points i have left those empty that would carry bombs and rocket pods.

One thing to add, i don't add nose weight to my builds as i secure them to a base anyway. Airfix gives no indication as to how much to add, which i know bugs some people. But this kit doesn't need it. I don't know if that normal for phantoms, but even if you put the tail right down it still drops back onto the nose wheel.

Then it was a coat of Alclad light sheen, all the masking was removed and the canopy and other final bits added and time to add it to the base.

Now the more observant will notice a lack of figures, including a driver for the tractor. This is not some early form of self driving vehicle, us Brits are good but not that good. I have once again been hit by the bain of aircraft dio builders, a lack of figures. I did look at the MJ-1 loader driver from the hasegawa set but he would need a lot of modification. There was a company which produced a set of RN carrier deck crew which included a driver but they went out of buisness a couple of years back. But another company, Air Graphics Models, are set to release a set of figures which i believe are the same ones produced by the other company. So rather than try and convert a figure and probably botch it up, i am going to wait until these are released, hopefully in the not to distant fututre. So, until then, i am calling this done. But i won't be happy until there are some figures on there.

And there you have it. I have to add that i don't normally like pre made bases, but this carrier deck one is really nice, i would deffinetly get another.

A huge thanks to PJ for all the help and advice, on this my first ever Phantom. I am still awaiting the release of the FGR.2 which has been put back yet again until the end of Dec. I will deffinetly be looking forward to doing that at some point in the future and can carry over a few lesons learned form this.

Thanks for looking and all comments welcome as always.

Very nice Bish!  The Phantom was always one of my favorite fighters.  And each country that operated it had a different “flavor”.

A lack of figures is an ongoing problem.  Hopefully 3-D scanned figures will soon fill the market.  The Reedoak figs are eerily lifelike!  You would think there is a market for post war RAF and RN figs.

I thought it strange that Airfix did not supply aircrew, since they have parts for a launch configuration.  That jacked up nose gear looks so cool, but it only happens when the  engines are running. 

You are welcome and just glad to help out and pass on info. As for the nose weight, I haven’t come across one that needs any. I’m guessing you pin the tires on to the flight deck? I need to secure the big 1/9 BMW to a base and was thinking of pinning the wheels.

Wow Bish she looks stunning! That base and tractor really adds even more interest to that beautiful Phantom.  Hard to believe it’s a 1/72 scale F4 with the details it has.

Good idea to wait for figgies to come out but for now it can be as it is. Again great job 

That's an amazing amout of details in that scale. Well done!

Real G

Very nice Bish!  The Phantom was always one of my favorite fighters.  And each country that operated it had a different “flavor”.

A lack of figures is an ongoing problem.  Hopefully 3-D scanned figures will soon fill the market.  The Reedoak figs are eerily lifelike!  You would think there is a market for post war RAF and RN figs.

I thought it strange that Airfix did not supply aircrew, since they have parts for a launch configuration.  That jacked up nose gear looks so cool, but it only happens when the  engines are running. 

 

Thanks G. Even German WW2 figures are not in great supply and they are the most represented. I have notice some 3D figures on shapeways but most of those are WW2, hopefully some modern ones will follow. Its really annoying especially when you look at all the ground equipment thats on the market but very limited supply of figures to go with them.

And your right, it is odd that Airfix have not added flight crew given the options. I have seen that mentioned a few times on the Airfix site.

PJ, so i am guessing that Phantom modles are just naturally nose heavy. I always secure my models to every base, with aircraft i will drill a hole through at least one wheel and insert a piece of wire and then pin that into the base. I think even if you went for the folded nose option it would still be ok as you would have the addd weight of the radar.

And thank you, coming from you with your Phantom line up, that means a lot.

Hopefully i won't have to wait to long, and i will be looking forward to seeing what you can do with it.

Thanks Ole, the kit is very well detailed, certainly a step up from the Airfix kits i grew up with. I am deffinetly looking forward to doing some more next year.

Thanks Clint, i owe PJ for that one, he gave some great ideas for that.

    Great build there Bish, just curious wouldn't the tractor and tow bar be enough to hold the nose down? AMAZING all the decals...in 1/72nd yet WOW.

Cheers armor. It probably would, its a tight fit, though it doesn't need it. I secure all my models to the base, including tail sitters and armour, more to make sure they stay in place on the base when i move it.

With or without figures, the whole scene looks great!  This would’ve been a great addition to your airfix group build!

Cheers MM. I did think about it but i was really keen on doing this one. But don't worry, i have a few others lined up for next year.

Very nice, Bish. That is a very good looking Phantom. The scale is deceiving, it appears much larger than it is. Well done.

BK

Thanks Brandon.

Fantastic work Bish.  Wish I had seen this thread earlier.  The plane looks great, as does the display.  Well done!

Cheers, Mark

Thanks Mark, you know what they say, better late than never

Great job on the Phantom Bish! If I recall, most modern jets are somewhat nose heavy to make them easier to recover if something goes wrong inflight. 

lewbud

Great job on the Phantom Bish! If I recall, most modern jets are somewhat nose heavy to make them easier to recover if something goes wrong inflight. 

 

Thanks lewbud, and i didn't know that. Airfix seems to have got that into the model.

tempestjohnny

Bish. For someone who hasn't built a Phantom this one looks phabulous. Well done

 

Thanks TJ, i think it must be the patrotic streak i have gotten in the last few yearsthat meant i just had to add a Phantom when the chance came up.