The Official F-4 Phantom II Group Build 2011

While waiting for inspiration to strike as to what to do about the metallics for my lineup of Phantoms, I thought I'd work on the preliminaries for Hasegawa's RF-4B, which I'll be doing in the VMFP-3 bicentennial scheme. I've been working up the cockpit, which was sprayed with MM Acryl Dark Gull Gray. The panels were brushed over with MS Satin and took the eleven instrument decals very well.

There's even a radar display decal, which was treated with a drop of MS Krystal Clear to suggest a lens. I put the forward fuselage together with gel CA and began dressing the joints, and mounted the tub to the nose gear well roof. I have five Phantoms in various stages now, a couple of nights ago I made a start on spraying the missiles. For this one, the wing and rear fuselage assembles are together, the AB cans are sprayed and the drop tanks are assembled.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Thanks Berny and Mike, your comps mean more than you know. Duavall is one of my favs as well LOVED him in Apocalypse Now (all time favorite movie), lot of Napalm dropped from F-4s. Funny how it all come back around. Still got that C comin'!!!!

James

Marvelous Rhino with an Irish twist! She's going onto the Honour Wall as we speak...

Love the panel line accenting, and the decal work is top notch -- she's a real winner!

Grab a badge!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

James, that is a nice looking Marine Phantom.  Great job on the painting and weathering.  Something to be proud of. 

Robert Duvall has always been one of my favorate actors.  No matter what he stars in, he brings that character to life. 

Hey Berny, now that is a Real Stink Bomb!!!!

        Sniffer you got some nice looking birds there!

         Now for the Rest of the story; last week or so I posted the beginnings of this plane, and since I do not have High Speed I had to wait a bit to bring the process and finished photos to ya, so here we go. As stated before I am building this model for the Reels Category at a local show in Roanoke Va on Aug. 13. It is from "The Great Santini" with Robert Duvall. The true squad at Beaufort Sc is VMFA-251, but the only photo i could find to relate to the movie was the one pictured here. All of  the squadron markings and specific no.s are homemade using experts choice paper and microscale fluids and film. This post will be a little photo heavy as I stated before I have dial up so I had to load when I could.

Enjoy!

a close up of the practice pods on the Rails

forgot the step up

THANK FOR LOOKING!!!!

James

the special bomb and decals are in the Hasegawa 1/72 Skyraider kit, too,,,,,,,so, if you want one, they are out there,,,,,the bomb sprue is also included in one of the VNAF or USAF boxings, the Fist of the Fleet decal for the "bomb" is only in the Navy boxing though

LOL!

That is perfect, they even have it bolted to the bracket through the original flange!

Is that a dummy fuse, Berny, or did they put some real TNT in that bowel?

Those shots are 'keepers' for sure....

Thanks for the confirmation Berny!

That is so cool Berny!!!  I would really like to see a video of that dropping and impacting!

Ken

Here you go Dom and Ken.  And you thought I was joking.

Hi Everyone,

About a month ago I mentioned a DVD that was released this week.  I got my copy and I must highly recommend it.  It contains actual footage of gun cameras and aft cameras capturing ordnance exploding.  Also some footage I have not seen before of some aircraft like the T-28 and A-26A (B-26K).  Of course there is a lot of phootage of Phantoms!  And the price is very good, only $6.98.  Here is a link:

http://www.amazon.com/Air-War-Vietnam-1964-1972-Various/dp/B004X60QME/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1311038751&sr=8-7 

Ken

Thanks 'Sniff, great work! Yeah the dual colours on the Mavericks looks good....Have ATG, Will Travel!

Oh that's only a 1 story drop. I don't have cats though so if anything happened it would be my fault.

I don't display anything there, but there was pretty decent light there at the moment.

paintsniffer

I guess since I am a late joiner I can post these in here. I just recently (within the last 2 weeks) finished a pair of long nosed Phantoms. I probably spent less than a month on the pair. I really love how easily Hasegawa kits go together.

 

First, the G.

Weapons are from Hasegawa. I mixed and matched green and white mavericks because I recall seeing that a lot during the Desert Storm. As I always do with Hasegawa Phantoms, the seats are from True Details.

 

 

 

 

The E.

I wanted to build a Phantom in Euro1 and I wanted an early laser guided bomb setup. I am not sure if the paint scheme and the Pave Knife ever saw service together, but I had like 4 Pave Knife pods in the spares box so I decided I needed to give one a home. I also wanted to show a version with the TISEO gear.

 

 

good looking bird......keep the cats away from that ledge.....

BTW; In Italy they say "Scusi, Uzi?"....lol......

I've used the legend, velinden and Aires Mk7 seats, and honestly, I think the Aires is the best deal.  It seems to me to have cleaner detail, and you can get a version without molded in straps.  They do come with a nice simple set of PE straps and buckles.  The ejection loops are also PE, but look great when painted.

redraider56

Have a little dilemma.  I'm walking the line between buying an AM pitt/not buying an AM pit.  Yesterday I found out Steel Beach makes a F-4J update for the Monogram kit that includes pieces for a correct rear cockpit.  I would do this since it is much cheaper than the Legend resin pit.  However, I really do not like the seats in the kits and would like to get a pair of resin ones in there, but the bottoms of the seats are molded to the cokcpit tub, making removal very difficult.  The Legend pit is $20-25 while the update set is 9 and Verlinden Mk.7 seats would be about 7.   I'm kinda leaning towards the Legend pit....

Have a little dilemma.  I'm walking the line between buying an AM pitt/not buying an AM pit.  Yesterday I found out Steel Beach makes a F-4J update for the Monogram kit that includes pieces for a correct rear cockpit.  I would do this since it is much cheaper than the Legend resin pit.  However, I really do not like the seats in the kits and would like to get a pair of resin ones in there, but the bottoms of the seats are molded to the cokcpit tub, making removal very difficult.  The Legend pit is $20-25 while the update set is 9 and Verlinden Mk.7 seats would be about 7.   I'm kinda leaning towards the Legend pit....

I guess since I am a late joiner I can post these in here. I just recently (within the last 2 weeks) finished a pair of long nosed Phantoms. I probably spent less than a month on the pair. I really love how easily Hasegawa kits go together.

First, the G.

Weapons are from Hasegawa. I mixed and matched green and white mavericks because I recall seeing that a lot during the Desert Storm. As I always do with Hasegawa Phantoms, the seats are from True Details.

The E.

I wanted to build a Phantom in Euro1 and I wanted an early laser guided bomb setup. I am not sure if the paint scheme and the Pave Knife ever saw service together, but I had like 4 Pave Knife pods in the spares box so I decided I needed to give one a home. I also wanted to show a version with the TISEO gear.

My guess is humidity.

I have NEVER washed a kit in my life and I have never had paint issues.

I just recently started wiping everything down with alcohol before painting because it does wonders for killing the sanding dust. I assume it also gets the elusive mold release off too.

Maybe try a good primer? I liked Tamiya when I could get it. Then I used spray Mr. Surfacer 1200. Now that I can't get that I am using Krylon Gray.

Good point.  I use Model Masters for about 95% of my painting, never had that issue with a Hasegawa kit (yet).  What about environmental factors?  Heat, hunidity?  You might want to also try cleaning the plastic with a mild detergent and then rinsing it thoroughly, then repeating with a bit of running alcohol, then water and soap again.  Afterwards, quickly wipe the plastic dry with a paper towel and then let sit for a few hours.  There may be a release agent that isn't going away and is interacting with the paint.

Rich

oortiz10

Sparrow,

I've thought that it might be "bad plastic," but I've built only 3 Hase kits in my day.  I'd find it weird that all three Hase kits, the only three I've built, all have plastic issues.

-O

 

 

Sparrow,

I've thought that it might be "bad plastic," but I've built only 3 Hase kits in my day.  I'd find it weird that all three Hase kits, the only three I've built, all have plastic issues.

-O

Assuming you properly washed all of the parts to get the release agents off, it might just be a bad batch of plastic.

oortiz10

Hey gang,

Just wonderin'...anyone out there having issues with Hasegawa plastic and MM enamels?

The reason I'm asking is, during the last Phantom GB, I built two Has 1/48 -Bs and a Revellogram -J.  During painting, two Hase kits had paint lift off during the removal of masking while the Revellogram didn't.  I chalked it up to having some sort of contamination affecting that spot. 

Anyway, I tried painting my Hase -C pit last night, but the paint never totally dried.  It dried in some spots, but most of the paint was just a gooey mess.  I know it wasn't my paint because I sprayed the Revellogram pit and fuse interior with the same batch, and the paint's fine.  Has anyone had problems with Hase plastic and MM enamels? 

Cheers!

-O

 

Hey gang,

Just wonderin'...anyone out there having issues with Hasegawa plastic and MM enamels?

The reason I'm asking is, during the last Phantom GB, I built two Has 1/48 -Bs and a Revellogram -J.  During painting, two Hase kits had paint lift off during the removal of masking while the Revellogram didn't.  I chalked it up to having some sort of contamination affecting that spot. 

Anyway, I tried painting my Hase -C pit last night, but the paint never totally dried.  It dried in some spots, but most of the paint was just a gooey mess.  I know it wasn't my paint because I sprayed the Revellogram pit and fuse interior with the same batch, and the paint's fine.  Has anyone had problems with Hase plastic and MM enamels? 

Cheers!

-O

PS: Thanks 'O' for sharing the photos! They certainly carried a wide assortment of ordnance, didi they not?

Every time I hear CCR and "Run Through the Jungle" I think of Vietnam. (No I wasn't there, I was too young!)

"Whoa, thought it was a nightmare
Lo, it was so true
They told me, don't go walkin' slow
'The Devil's on the loose

Better run through the jungle
Better run through the jungle
Better run through the jungle
Woa, don't look back to see

Thought I heard a rumblin'
Callin' to my name
Two hundred million guns are loaded
Satan cries, "Take aim"

Better run through the jungle
Better run through the jungle
Better run through the jungle
Woa, don't look back to see

Over on the mountain
Thunder magic spoke
"Let the people know my wisdom
Fill the land with smoke"

Better run through the jungle
Better run through the jungle
Better run through the jungle
Woa, don't look back to see"

Song just gives me chills!

In the meantime, I have to report that I seem to have made little progress on the second half of my Group Build. Between the yard, taking care of things at Mum's and the distraction of my F-105G kit, little has been done on the F! I only started to try a few parts together on the Thud and it sort of went from there. I was unhappy with the decals for the cockpit, so sent for a PE set. Then I messed up one of the parts on the PE fret, and decided to buy another! Then, I went to strip the cockpit tub in Testors EZ Lift-off and destroyed it by forgetting it! It literally melted! Now I'm trying to scratch a new tub, which is slow going. I've never built anything on this scale from scratch. The only good thing is that I'm using the extra PE parts to help guide me on placement of the components. Right now, my efforts are trying to duplicate the throttle with the half melted one as my guide. Front and rear cockpits! In 1/72nd scale! AAARRRRGGGG!!!!!!!

I hope that once I get that done, I can then split my efforts between the Phantom and the Thud and be an active part of this group again!

redraider56

Recent activity from Revell over the past several years suggest we could see a re-release of the J, since they just did a re-release of the C a couple years ago.  However, I doubt the molds will be retooled.  Fit problems must be kit to kit because all the major components of my J are fitting very nice when I dry fit it

Red,

I recently built the -J and the fit wasn't too bad.  It was poor, but not terrible.  Honestly, I've been a little disappointed by what I've seen in the box.  The parts have a lot of flash, and none of the few parts I've stuck together have fit very well.  And here I thought I might be getting an easy build compared to my Hase -C...

We'll see how it turns out.

Cheers!

-O

Here's a shot of Berny with an old friend:

Most of my shots from the museum didn't turn out, I used the wrong settings. But this one did!

Sparrowhyperion

I am assuming it was their molds because it is radically different from the Monogram/Revell kits.

 

 

redraider56:

 

Oooooooo, I wasn't aware Revell made a J pre merger.  I have the Monogram kit as well

 

 

Just to see what I could find, I looked to make sure lol.  In the 70s I guess Revell tried to scale down their 1/32 F-4 (which wasnt the best to begin with).  I think this was a C/D and they musta thought they could do a J as well.  As you can vouche for, it wasnt the greatest.

I haven't posted any progress pictures for a while so I have a couple to show.  The color phot-etch that I got is not exactly the same scale as the Aires cockpit.  Working on the rear cockpit's front panel I tried trimming the color photo-etch to fit but some of the dials ended up getting cut off.  So now I have to do it the hard way.  I started by taking the non-color photo-etch that came with the Aires cockpit, masked it off, and sprayed Model Master Arylic flat black on it.  Here is a picture:

I let that dry for a couple of days.  Next I sprayed a coat of Model Master Arylic clear and let that dry.  Tonight I sprayed a second coat of Model Master Acrylic clear.  Here is a picture:

I will let that dry for a couple of days and then I will spray some Xtra Color FS16231 (Dark Gull Grey) enamel on it.  Finally after that dries, I will take a tight woven cotton cloth dipped in mineral spirits and wipe it across the top.  If everything works like it is supposed to, I will end up with a grey instrument panel with flat black gauge housings.

Ken

All the music I like came before my time (70s, 80s).   Lots of good stuff came out in that era

I think my favorite CCR tune is Bad Moon Rising.  But I am more of a Kiss/Def Lepeord/Blue Oyster Cult guy as far as rock goes.  lately I have gotten into some European singers (Mylene Farmer, Alizee, etc...)  More pop and soft rosk.  I must be mellowing with age.

Rich

Son Of Medicine Man

Man, I think all of their songs are great!  It would be hard for me to choose one favorite. 

I think my favorite CCR tune is Bad Moon Rising.  But I am more of a Kiss/Def Lepeord/Blue Oyster Cult guy as far as rock goes.  lately I have gotten into some European singers (Mylene Farmer, Alizee, etc...)  More pop and soft rosk.  I must be mellowing with age.

Rich

Son Of Medicine Man

Man, I think all of their songs are great!  It would be hard for me to choose one favorite.