USMC GB : Now until Sept 2015

I know what you mean, I'm finishing up 2 other GB's right now. I'll get back to the Phantom soon.

Steve

Speaking of Phantoms: Back from vacation, back to work on the Phantom. Got the FS16440 down and the insignia white detail bits, and, the white underbelly. After she sets up overnight, I will clear coat:

Glad to see you back Rob! Hope the vacation went well, the Phantom is looking pretty sharp

Sweet looking Gull Gray machine Rob! Can't wait to see the decals.

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The "Bus" is a really big vehicle which means a lot of clamping and long seams that I'll have to address here shortly. I left off all the side rails and smaller parts in order to make space for tape and clamps, but once resolved I have but a few parts left then decals and weathering. I've tossed around the overall base color because of all the different versions, from IJN Green/Blue to Olive Drab, so this is a custom mix of colors that closely resembles one good photo I found, but I'm still going to have another look at it when the seams are finished and everything installed. I left it so I can still change the overall color. Terry 

That 'bus' is looking great Jib!!

I got some bench time today, but, spent most of the day bringing back rivet details that I had previously sanded off. Also, I had an interesting time highlighting the panel lines. Because I had the primer, pre-shade, enamel Gull Grey and then two-coats of Future, I decided to re-scribe all the panel lines. Well, lo-and-behold, the re-scribing came out almost as though I did a pin-wash, SO, I decided to go with it. I will have to pin-wash the white underside, though. The biggest pain was pin-vice twisting hundreds of rivets. They were so shallow, no amount of pin-washing would have brought them out, so, again, the colour came out dark enough to allow them to stand out, if, however, they are a bit largish (I find the Hase rivet details are bit big in 1/72):

Decalling and oil pin-wash detailing starting tomorrow and then on to landing gear.

Rob, the panel lines look great and she's looking to be a fine aircraft. So I thought dealing with a couple dozen wheels was a pain but dealing with all those rivets gives me a rash.

Awesome stuff Rob. Great job with the scriber over the painted model. I woulda slipped a hundred times and would have been repainting. I usually deepen some panel lines before I paint...(if I remember too). Only thing off I see is you forgot to remove the boiler plates on the stabs. No Navy jet had them. Did Hasegawa's instruction show them to be removed?

Hey thanks Nathan...you know, now, after the fact, I believe I see what you are talking about. What are 'boiler plates' anyway? Yes, the Hase instructions did have the 'cut me off' symbol, but, I really didn't notice...my bad 

Boiler plate is a slang term for that triangular shaped doubler on the top of the stabs. There were cracks developing in that area which I think is where a gear box is located...? The doubler was a temperary external fix until a later internal mod could be made. Only certain AF Jets had them.

Here's a quick update of just a 'few' of the hundreds (it seems) of decals. This is just the large decals...there are TONS of micro small ones to go. Also, I am in progress of sanding off the boiler plates as I missed that during assembly...oh well, thanks for the tip Nathan...I gotta pay closer attention . I considered saying to heck with it, but, it would bug me :

Rob... That Be Lookin Goood!!! Amazing detail...

Doug

Beautiful lines, thats a nice aircraft.

It looks fantastic. I love the F-4.

ALMOST done this build! Because it's xmas leave period (and I'm still at work for the week), and, there's literally nobody around, I got tons of bench time this week so far, thus, this F-4B is one step from done. Poured tons of time into the massive weapons load, weathering and the final matt coat (decanted Testors Dull Coat). For the bombs, each was painted Olive green, then I made a jig out of an old biplane wing with a hole drilled into it to mask each bomb's yellow nose ring. Anyway, it was great to have so much free time:

Each bomb (18 of 'em) got this treatment with the 'wing jig':

I couldn't resist doing this layout!!! (Note: NO canopy intalled yet, that's yet to come)

Bombs slung on left side:

Boiler plates successfully sanded off:

Here's what's to be done today: Canopies and windscreen to be finished and installed:

Cockpit close'er up..posted these pics now as it will be harder to see after canopy install:

Full weapons load:

Final pics, with neutral background will be up after I finish, thanks for lookin'!

Rob,

The Phantom looks awesome !!  I wish you guys would stop building those up so nice, I want to add one to my builds but I must resist. Not enough time, must resist. AH CRAP, guess I'll start looking to add one or more to my stash. Thanks for the motivation. 

Come on Brandon...give in, join the 'Phantom' side, LOL...Anyway, got some time today to finish mine off:

Rob,

That is SWEET looking man! Fantastic job!

I really like the panel line shading.

Steve

Rob, that is a phreaking phenomenal phantom! Great work on the decals, walkways, paint, weathering. Just everything looks right. Nice choice on the loadout too. You made all that 1/72nd scale details look right on!

Many thanks guys, my first ever Phantom. Dunno why? I've build hundreds of planes over the years and for some reason always looked over this one. It was a great kit, with the addition of a few AM parts. Highly recommend.

Excellent build Rob! Very nicely done and as Nathan said Weathering... Everything, Just right! Bravo!!!

Doug

Hard to believe that's a 72nd scale model, Rob. It reads larger in the photos - really excellent all the way around!

I'm still a TBD on the opening page, and will probably stay that way until after the first . In my wife's house there are only eleven months, January thru November, and then there's Christmas. Seriously, lot's of great work going on in here; looking forward to getting involved.

Happy Holidays to all!

Mike

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Josiah I'm calling my LCTP5A1 completed. I had two major problems in this build, the first is when the entire vehicle fell off of my turntable onto a dirty surface in my paint booth while I was spraying that completely screwed up one of the sides and the second, one that I think is inexcusable, was I cut the track short on the sprockets. I showed a picture previously where I pre made the track but because the sides cover most of the wheels, and actually connect each of them, I failed to take into consideration the larger opening for the sprocket and once the side were on and track installed I couldn't repair it. Lesson learned. But overall the Bus came out all right, I tried to use pigment where I thought it would settle and "wash" up, this was based on dozens of color photos of AFV's in Nam. This was a big kit with a lot of plastic and a lot of wheels, I custom mixed the paint and the pigments to be as close as possible to my reference photos. 

Wow Jibber,

That thing looks awesome!! Fantastic work.

Looks great Terry. Fantastic looking Bus, VERY Marines!!

Terry... Outstanding! Beautifully done. URRRAH!

Thanks but I feel sick I couldn't fix those pieces of track and I tried everything. Stupid mistake...  

I feel bad because I dedicated this one to my cousin who's a retired Gunny, he's a great guy so i'm sure it'll be ok with him. Love the Marines…...  

Rob and Jibb great jobs!! That phantom is awesome! I especially liked the bomb paitning jig, might have to try that since taping is so tedious (especially in 1/72). That anphib looks like a beast and the anchor and globe is great!

I should have some pics up of my m-60 tomorrow. Finished to hull and wheels last week. I was also waiting for my Black Dog set to arrive for the stowage. Now I have all the pieces in place so the building can pick up a little.

Thanks Travis..I couldn't tape off the bombs anyway due to the taper of each, so, that necessitated the quick jig.