**WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY**
OK gang,
I’m done with the gaggle of Phantoms I started for the Phantom GB! As with every one of my builds since my re-entry into the hobby, I tried a few “firsts” with these jets. Notably, these were my first Phantoms and my first Hasegawa kits. For the most part, the fit was pretty good on all three jets. The only real problems I ran into were around the intakes, but after following many Phantom builds and reading the posts, I came to expect them. All in all, I didn’t run in to a whole lot of problems.
Anyway, let’s get on to the photos, shall we?
First, is a Hasegawa QF-4N I bought second hand from a private seller, built as an early –B. I used a few pix from Almansur’s website for inspiration. I know, I know, some of you are groaning about it being another “bones” build, but I dig the Yankee Air Pirate scheme.
I think it’s the coolest of the Jolly Rogers schemes and in my opinion one of the best looking in the Navy’s history. So there!
It’s built pretty much OOB in CAM Decals, finished with MM Enamels and MM Metalizers; weathered with Promodeler and watercolor washes, and pastels. I tried a little of the salt weathering technique, but I think I might need to practice some more.
The only aftermarket addition was a set of AMS FOD covers.
The AIM-9s are from the kit, while the AIM-7s are from the spares box.
Finally, the only real mods I made to the plastic were on the tail and chin sensor. I reshaped the chin sensor, removed the fairings from the tip of the tail, removed the slats from the horizontal stabilizers, and “freed” the tailhook.
Also, the “tubes” on the leading edge of the tail were broken off, so I replaced ‘em (as best I could) with some brass.
Next is another Hase QF-4N. On this one I used CAM Decals to build a -N from VF-111.
This was another second hand purchase. Unfortunately, the original owner planned to use a resin ‘pit on his build and removed the sidewall detail from the fuse halves. In response I decided to add some pilots to distract the eye from noticing the missing detail. So, I hacked up a couple of pilots, added scratched hoses to their masks and decorated their bone-domes.
Some resin burners were included in the original deal, so I used ‘em. They’re a little rough looking with some pinholes and not perfectly molded, but they look better than the kit’s offering.
This build was finished and weathered exactly the same way as the VF-84 jet.
Again, brass was used to replace the missing/broken “tubes.”
I know the pic of the real jet doesn’t show any external fuel tanks installed, but one of the jests in the background has its red-tipped C/L tank installed. I don’t like the look of a “clean” Phantom and my VF-84 jet has its C/L tank, so I didn’t want my VF-111 build to look “boring” or have the same configuration. As a result, I opted to use a little artistic license and included some wing tanks too.
The only real problems I came across were with the decals. The mouth wrinkled up on me a little, so it’s not as “smooth” as I would’ve liked. Also, the tail markings ended up a little “short” on the rudder. Funny, when they first went on they fit fine, but after I applied the setting solution, they shriveled up and dried “short.” Oh well. I can live with it.
Last is Revellogram’s –J. Instead of Showtime 100, I decided on a USMC jet from Vietnam. I really like heavy or unusual load-outs, so I chose to do a CAS load you don’t see every day.
Finished the same way as the other two Phantoms, this one wears modified CAM Decals. Basically I cut out the squadron code from the Bicentennial markings and omitted the squadron insignia.
All raised detail that was lost during the build was replaced with Archer details, and the FOD covers, again, are AMS Resin.
The burner cans are actually taken from one of the Hase kits.
The ordnance was mostly donated.
An ex-Phantom fixer informed me that my C/L pylon and MER combo is wrong. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the correct pylon to use, so I took one of the empty pylons from one of the Hase kits. Only the hardest of the hardcore will catch my faux pas, so I’m fine with leaving it. It’d be too much trouble to fix now.
Some of you may also notice that my ordnance is a little “off” and one of the Zuni warheads is missing.
That’s because I had to rebuild the assemblies after they encountered the immovable object and irresistible force that is a Labrador’s tail.
Anyway, I’d like to thank everyone that helped me with my builds. I greatly appreciate all the answers to all my dumb questions, all the helpful suggestions and motivation, and especially the donated parts that saved me and my builds more than once. I really enjoyed building the Phantom and have since picked up a couple more. When it comes time to build those, I hope my experience with these will lead to better results.
Feel free to drop your two cents in the bucket. Comments and constructive criticism on the builds and photograpy are welcome. Thanks for looking!
Cheers,
-O
(Editted for broken links.)