The Official F-4 Phantom II Group Build 2011

I know what you mean Rex -- so many models to build, so few decades of life left...That famous photo of the plywood and fibrelgass mockup on the standjacks for brass inspection, complete with her Dark Sea Blue scheme is so evocative. It also underlines by just how little the Phantom missed flying in Blue!

M/TB379

speaking of Blue aircraft,,,,,,nice little Corsair you're doing

the timing is a bit funny, just before your first blog about your's,,,,,,,I had shown my poor ole Black Sheep that needs a bit of a resto,,,,over on Hal's site

got a bit of a laff out of seeing your's so soon after I started working on mine

okay,,,,,,,,,back to topic, lol,,,I did feel I needed to mention the good job on your's,,,,,,,,and it's great that those old decals held up so well,,gives me hope for some of my decal stash,,,,,,,,,one of my Phantom decal sheets is Microscale #72-75, bought back when it first came out,,,,,,,,Superfilm should have a big Red S on it for those

Rex

BIG GRIN -- good heavens, somebody read my blog! Yes, I suppose it could be counted being AWOL to build off-topic (well, with  six or seven models actually receiving attention at the same time, what is topic?), but this lil guy just called me with a pathetic "finish me please!" and I couldn't ignore it...

Yes indeed, those old decals are excellent, which is just as well as I have so many sheets I'm sure they'll take me the rest of my days to work through... 72-75, I have that one, bought in the 90s. I bought every Phantom sheet I could find in the days when Squadron used to weed their stock on 99c sales...

Thanks for the kind words -- always appreciated! Oh, and my contributor's copy of Science Fiction and Fantasy Modeller #20 just arrived and my review of Fantastic Plastic's Convair XAB-1 nuclear bomber has the lead spot, four spreads -- looks pretty good if I say so myself!

You can find info about it here:

http://www.scififantasymodeller.co.uk/English/welcome.php

Cheers, M/TB379

I have made a little bit of a start on my F-4 Phantom's...

I airbrushed the fuselage insides , cockpit tub , instrument panel and control sticks Gunze acrylic H-57 [aircraft gray] . The intakes and landing gear , door insides , struts and wing centers I airbrushed H-1 white on the ROK RF-4C and F-4E .

On the USAF F-4C/D/E I airbrushed H-311 on the landing gear and associated parts ...

I gave the seats a few coats of black all over and tomorrow I paint the seat cushions olive drab and a little black around the grips of the control sticks .

I'll then add the decals to the cockpit tub and get ready to glue them in place and close up the fuselage .

I have a Fujimi RF-4B USMC Bicentenial which is partly built lying in the spares box , so I may as well get her out and finish the build along with the others .

Hopfully by tomorrow night I have some things glued together .

BTW , I ordered two F-4 Phantom books from Amazon books , Osprey F-4 Mig Killers 65-68 and 73-75 , they should arrive in a couple of weeks ; I also ordered some 1/72 TwoBobs F-4C 'first of the Weasels' decals .

                                 John .

A little bit? Wiow, John, that's what I call production lining! That's most impressive coordination, and dedication to the art of Rhinography!  I look forward to seeing them come together very much indeed. Do I have all of these of the main list???

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Eegads..  Man, I was never that organized..  We need to think up an award for just sheer organization in the Model Building Arts...

Helo H-34

I have made a little bit of a start on my F-4 Phantom's...

This will be my 1st GB ever, can I still join? If I still can, put me down for a 1/32 Tamiya F4-J Marines Warlords

John,

That's an impressive way of getting those Rhinos to the flight line!

Glenn

El Taino -- welcome to the Wing! You'll be interested to know yours is the sixtieth proposed build! Page 1 is updated.

Gents, we've been building for 31 days, we are 8.5% of the way through this GB, and we already have 39 pages of posts. This is one of the larger Group Builds, and I thank you all for making it such a huge success already!

Mike/TB379

Thanks a lot Mike, now we need the badge. I want to use it in my Blog linking to this thread.

Cheers!

Hi

 Ive got "True Details" seamless intakes and can any one tell Me If their correct with the intake blades they have molded in with them? Are the intake blade to close to intakes?

                                                                                        Thanks

                                                                                      Arthur

Hi Everyone,

Well the snow and sleet is really coming down right now.  Just as well, since I would rather stay inside and work on my paint booth.  As I promised, here is a picture of it so far:

The lens on the camera makes it appear that it is not straight since I was so close to this end, but trust me, it is square.  All I have left is put the top and sides on, cut a hole for the exhaust fan, mount the fan, wire in the switch, make a window insert for the exhaust outlet, and run the hose.  I am going to line the inside with aluminum foil so that the light will reflect and make it brighter while painting.

My helping hand octopus showed up today so as soon as I have the paint booth done, I will start on repairing the cockpit.  Rich, has yours showed up yet?

Ken

Ken -- great work on that spraybooth, that's being a handyman in every sense!

Guess who just scored a Hasegawa 1:48 FGR.2 on eBay? Now all I need are those AM decals to replace the kit sheet, and maybe invest in some seats... Ladders... FOD shields... We'll see! That brings the Phantom tally to... 82.

Cheers, M/TB379

Nice work on the indoor spraybooth Ken

82 Phantoms in the stash Mike , that's quite a collection 

Today I added the decals to the cockpit and did a little glueing ;

A little more glueing , the fuselage halves went together well ;

Latter on some more glueing , I drilled out the holes in the bottom of the wings for the drop tanks and weapons pylons before fitting the wings in place ;

Tomorrow I'll fit the intakes into position and then sand the seams for a little tamiya putty .

                                                 John .

Wow John, those F-4s are looking good!  That is quite an impressive assembly line you have going.  At the rate you're going, your squadron of F-4s will be flying soon!

Today is a "snow" day!  All of Lafayette Indiana is closed down.  And with the weather forecast, tomorrow will be more of the same.  That gives me some extra time to finish my paint booth today!

Ken

John -- looking very good! It's marvelous to see a production line! Five from you, six from Rex, many other folks are aiming at twos and threes... I think this GB will turn out more Phantoms in one hit that any institution since McDonnell-Douglas!

Keep up the good work, gents!

Mike/TB379

I'm still working on the ejection seats and the stock intakes. Found the FOD covers but can't find the nozzle covers. Any pointers to the right direction will be appreciated. My 1st time working with PE although I'm not new to resin.

Looking really good.  Our storm is a no show so far...  And I rescheduled my eye appointment for nothing..   Anyways, no my Octo hasn't shown up yet.  But our mailman comes later in the afternoon.

Rich

Son Of Medicine Man

Hi Everyone,

Well the snow and sleet is really coming down right now.  Just as well, since I would rather stay inside and work on my paint booth.  As I promised, here is a picture of it so far:

 

The lens on the camera makes it appear that it is not straight since I was so close to this end, but trust me, it is square.  All I have left is put the top and sides on, cut a hole for the exhaust fan, mount the fan, wire in the switch, make a window insert for the exhaust outlet, and run the hose.  I am going to line the inside with aluminum foil so that the light will reflect and make it brighter while painting.

My helping hand octopus showed up today so as soon as I have the paint booth done, I will start on repairing the cockpit.  Rich, has yours showed up yet?

Ken

Get them at...

http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/index.php?search=FGR.2 

They also seem to have a ton of AM resin for the FGR.2

Rich

Thunderbolt379

Ken -- great work on that spraybooth, that's being a handyman in every sense!

Guess who just scored a Hasegawa 1:48 FGR.2 on eBay? Now all I need are those AM decals to replace the kit sheet, and maybe invest in some seats... Ladders... FOD shields... We'll see! That brings the Phantom tally to... 82.

Cheers, M/TB379

Either those are tongue depressors or he eats a LOT of popsicles. lol.

How bad is the storm you are getting?  I ask because we are in Toledo and will probably be getting the same storm tomorrow.  They already closed my Daughter's school.

Rich

Son Of Medicine Man

Wow John, those F-4s are looking good!  That is quite an impressive assembly line you have going.  At the rate you're going, your squadron of F-4s will be flying soon!

Today is a "snow" day!  All of Lafayette Indiana is closed down.  And with the weather forecast, tomorrow will be more of the same.  That gives me some extra time to finish my paint booth today!

Ken

El Taino, very nice job on the seats.  If you wouldn't mind a little suggestion, tack up the shoulder harness.  Refer to the pictures I posted on the seats on how they look. 

berny13

El Taino, very nice job on the seats.  If you wouldn't mind a little suggestion, tack up the shoulder harness.  Refer to the pictures I posted on the seats on how they look. 

Thanks a lot for the pointer Berny, I don't mind suggestions at all. That's how we learn!

Cheers!

El Taino

I'm still working on the ejection seats and the stock intakes. Found the FOD covers but can't find the nozzle covers. Any pointers to the right direction will be appreciated. My 1st time working with PE although I'm not new to resin.

Don't worry about exhaust covers.  The only time they were used is when a very bad snow storm or sand storm was expected.  I can only remember two or three times in my twenty plus years on the Phantom that they were used.  Intake covers, yes, exhaust covers no. 

berny13

 

El Taino:

 

I'm still working on the ejection seats and the stock intakes. Found the FOD covers but can't find the nozzle covers. Any pointers to the right direction will be appreciated. My 1st time working with PE although I'm not new to resin.

 

 

Don't worry about exhaust covers.  The only time they were used is when a very bad snow storm or sand storm was expected.  I can only remember two or three times in my twenty plus years on the Phantom that they were used.  Intake covers, yes, exhaust covers no. 

Thanks again for your tip Berny. I searched around a good 45 minutes this morning and couldn't find a set. So I will scratch it of the list. Now I'm expecting the PE canopy set.

YIPPEE!  Wifey got me a nice Zona razor saw as a pre Bday present.  Now I can start more work on the seats...   I think she was trying to placate me to not strangle her cat after the great semi-gloss black paint incident.  I was thinking of picking up the whole cockpit detail set on Hannants but it's about as much as I already spent on the kit and I would be in the dog house for a year. lol

Rich

El Taino: Very nice job on those seats.  Very well done!

Rich:  Apparently we have lucked out so far.  We are situated right inbetween the freezing rain and the snow, so we are getting mostly sleet so far.  Which means not a lot of accumulation so far and no downed power lines!  But the forecast is still calling for 7 to 11 inches of snow tonight.

Ken

We got about 3 inches last night andd there is supposed to be more tonight but no one can agree on a figure.  Either way it's going to be a mess.

Son Of Medicine Man

El Taino: Very nice job on those seats.  Very well done!

Rich:  Apparently we have lucked out so far.  We are situated right inbetween the freezing rain and the snow, so we are getting mostly sleet so far.  Which means not a lot of accumulation so far and no downed power lines!  But the forecast is still calling for 7 to 11 inches of snow tonight.

Ken

Ive got a few seats for 1/48 F-4's

Howdy Rascal 1957,

did you get signed up alright?

If you did I'm not seeing your moniker on the billboard. I didn't see Eatthis' either.

Dominic

Mike ;

There is a sixth 1/72 Fujimi Phantom that's been lurking in the shadows , a USMC RF-4B "Spirit of America" VMFP-3 . A previously started build she went together the same as the other five Phantoms .

If it's okay , I'll add her in as well ?

                                     John .