The Official F-4 Phantom II Group Build 2011

Go ahead and list her with an indeterminate F4J R/M kit in 1/48.  I am trying to convince my Wife to let me get her a set.  There are two on eBay I am watching.  But she kind of freaked when I told her the price.

Marissa usually uses the UID IguanaGirl, but I don't think I can register more than one UID here.  Since my subscription to FSM is attached to my ID, she wouldn't be able to post under her own anyways.  So I guess she will be having me post for her.

Rich

Thunderbolt379

Rich -- I actually have two sets of the Yellowhammer 1:48 Blue Angels markings, but I can't find them! I've been trying to remember where they are, they're not with my main decal collection... No luck so far... That's why I held off adding her build to p1. Should I go ahead and list it at this time while markings are in flux?

Cheers, M/TB379

Rich -- I actually have two sets of the Yellowhammer 1:48 Blue Angels markings, but I can't find them! I've been trying to remember where they are, they're not with my main decal collection... No luck so far... That's why I held off adding her build to p1. Should I go ahead and list it at this time while markings are in flux?

Cheers, M/TB379

Yes, I know,

I'm just getting started but....

Does anyone have any good (close) reference pics, from the 30th Anniversary Phantom? I have good pics of the cockpit.

These are really the only 2, I've come across:

Well, a bit more progress.  I have the intakes on and all I need to do now is some filling with plaster and/or CA.  Here's a few images before filling..

I didn't think the pre-filling fit would be as good as it was.  Persistnce and a sanding stick sure do pay off.  I did have one small scare.  The back side of the intakes is very very thin resin.  The port intake cracked a little, but some CA and paint inside completely hid it.  If anyone else uses this kit, be careful when sanding the back area which you WILL need to do to get a good fit.

I will send up more images as things progress.

Rich

Thanks anyways.  The 1/32 Phantoms are way too much for her at this point. lol  I have never run across a set of decals so hard to find before.  Only a couple on eBay and they are pricey, and even Hannants doesn't carry them in 1/48.

Taps88

 

If she were doing a 1/32 kit, I have those in my stash (Yellowhammer)

Sparrowhyperion

Does anyone know of any sites that have either the CAM or Yellowhammer 1/48 F4J Blue Angels decal set for less than they are raking people over the coals on eBay for it?  I just got sniped on the set I was going to get for my Daughter, and she is gonna be ticked when I tell her in the morning.  The only other sheets I see on eBay are for over $20 which is an amount my Wife would hang me up by the privates for if I spent that much on a sheet of decals... 

Rich

Sorry Rob,

If she were doing a 1/32 kit, I have those in my stash (Yellowhammer)

Rich, try camdecals.com, they have them in stock last I saw.  I hope that helps.  I haven't ordered directly from them before, but I was going to order some Blue Angels decals in 1/72, but I managed to get a Fujimi that comes with them.  They also have the super cool VX-4 Bicentennial decals! which I will probably still order.

Cheers,

Greg

Does anyone know of any sites that have either the CAM or Yellowhammer 1/48 F4J Blue Angels decal set for less than they are raking people over the coals on eBay for it?  I just got sniped on the set I was going to get for my Daughter, and she is gonna be ticked when I tell her in the morning.  The only other sheets I see on eBay are for over $20 which is an amount my Wife would hang me up by the privates for if I spent that much on a sheet of decals... 

Rich

Not 1/32, 1/48th.  She is going to do them with some AM Blue Angel F4J markings if she wins the auction in a couple of hours.

Sparrowhyperion

I think she will probably post under my ID.  Yeh, those are a couple of nice kits.

 

 

Thunderbolt379:

 

Rich -- I would be more than delighted to have your daughter join the GB! Is she setting up her own identity, or posting on yours? No worries, that's the only bit of info needed for me to update p1. Oh, IIRC, the Revell double if the Rhino and MiG was 1:32 -- is that right? I used to look at that kit with longing eyes when I was a kid!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

 

 

I think she will probably post under my ID.  Yeh, those are a couple of nice kits.

Thunderbolt379

Rich -- I would be more than delighted to have your daughter join the GB! Is she setting up her own identity, or posting on yours? No worries, that's the only bit of info needed for me to update p1. Oh, IIRC, the Revell double if the Rhino and MiG was 1:32 -- is that right? I used to look at that kit with longing eyes when I was a kid!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Rich -- I would be more than delighted to have your daughter join the GB! Is she setting up her own identity, or posting on yours? No worries, that's the only bit of info needed for me to update p1. Oh, IIRC, the Revell double if the Rhino and MiG was 1:32 -- is that right? I used to look at that kit with longing eyes when I was a kid!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

68GT

Made a little more progress but now that its one color I think I want to go and reconfigure some more things.

That is a very nice looking Phantom.  It seems the Germans have the best looking paint schemes.  The Canadians were the same way with the Voodoo.  They had some real nice looking birds too.

Ken

redraider56

That gash in the cockpit and the holes you speak of in the seat are most likely due to casting imperfections.  Every so often bubbles form in the resin and cause an incomplete casting which results in holes or open spots on the finished item

I totally agree with you.  And since the first cockpit didn't have any, I am hoping to get a replacement that is without those imperfections.  I would be more accepting of them except that I don't plan on painting the grey on the cockpit since it is already so close to the right color.  It would be nearly impossible to repair that spot and be able to match the color exactly so that it didn't show.

Ken

Made a little more progress but now that its one color I think I want to go and reconfigure some more things.

That gash in the cockpit and the holes you speak of in the seat are most likely due to casting imperfections.  Every so often bubbles form in the resin and cause an incomplete casting which results in holes or open spots on the finished item

Hi Everyone,

Well, just as I was about finished with the insulation blanket, I noticed what looks like something gouged a spot in the cockpit.  Here is a picure:

Also, the handle of the front control stick was broken off as shown in the next picture:

Now I didn't bother taking pictures of the other problems, but the ejection seats have several holes in addition to the problems shown above.  I am going to ask Sprue Brothers for a replacement, seeing as this cockpit cost $40.  So I am holding off until a new one arrives.  The first cockpit did not have any of these problems, so I am hoping this is just a fluke.

Ken

Sparrowhyperion

Well.  Some more progress today.  I finally decided to bite the bullet and modify the fuselage to accept the new intakes and then install them.  Stage 1 was rather simple but scary.  I am not the most coordinated person in the world and I winced with every stroke of the razor saw.  But it finally started to shape up the way I needed it.  They really understate how much cutting and sanding you need to do on the Intake instructions.  I had to take off way more than shown in the image.  Here are a few WIP images during the modification process.

I didn't stop to take any while I was doing the majority of the cutting but here you can see the holes opened up in the fuselage before final sanding and fitting.

The fitting took about 45 minutes for each half since I am slow as molasses nowadays, but I like the way they came out. 

After fitting I masked the entire outside of the intakes and applied a nice flat white interior to them.  I'm still not convinced that the British Phantoms had white in there, but without good images to go by, I decided to just do the white like the US birds have.  I used Testors Flat White rattle can because it wasn't worth the hassle of setting up the airbrush and compressor, and then having to clean the airbrush after spritzing 2 relatively small parts.  Here they are drying in my desk vise.  Oh a word of caution to those with desk vises.  If you have your vise attached to a desk which is less than a foot from the edge of your bed, be really careful if you have to get up in the middle of the night for a nature call....  Getting your bells rung at 2AM is most definitely not fun.  Anyways... Here's the last image of them drying.

Now all that remains is some CA and puttying, then probably a bit of rescribing to get the parts recessed panel lines to link back up.  Wish me luck.  The tricky it is next.

Rich

 

Oh Yeh.  My Daughter just ordered herself a vintage Monogram/Revell double kit with a MIG21 and an F4J in it.  She would like to do the F4J for the build.  I just wanted to check with the powers that be to see if that's OK.  The kit should be here by next Saturday.  Let me know please.

Hi Rich,

Very nice job!!  Looks like it was made for it! 

Ken

Well.  Some more progress today.  I finally decided to bite the bullet and modify the fuselage to accept the new intakes and then install them.  Stage 1 was rather simple but scary.  I am not the most coordinated person in the world and I winced with every stroke of the razor saw.  But it finally started to shape up the way I needed it.  They really understate how much cutting and sanding you need to do on the Intake instructions.  I had to take off way more than shown in the image.  Here are a few WIP images during the modification process.

I didn't stop to take any while I was doing the majority of the cutting but here you can see the holes opened up in the fuselage before final sanding and fitting.

Here are a couple of the fitting process.

And a closer look

The fitting took about 45 minutes for each half since I am slow as molasses nowadays, but I like the way they came out. 

After fitting I masked the entire outside of the intakes and applied a nice flat white interior to them.  I'm still not convinced that the British Phantoms had white in there, but without good images to go by, I decided to just do the white like the US birds have.  I used Testors Flat White rattle can because it wasn't worth the hassle of setting up the airbrush and compressor, and then having to clean the airbrush after spritzing 2 relatively small parts.  Here they are drying in my desk vise.  Oh a word of caution to those with desk vises.  If you have your vise attached to a desk which is less than a foot from the edge of your bed, be really careful if you have to get up in the middle of the night for a nature call....  Getting your bells rung at 2AM is most definitely not fun.  Anyways... Here's the last image of them drying.

Now all that remains is some CA and puttying, then probably a bit of rescribing to get the parts recessed panel lines to link back up.  Wish me luck.  The tricky it is next.

Rich

Oh Yeh.  My Daughter just ordered herself a vintage Monogram/Revell double kit with a MIG21 and an F4J in it.  She would like to do the F4J for the build.  I just wanted to check with the powers that be to see if that's OK.  The kit should be here by next Saturday.  Let me know please.

Hey Ken;

Sounds great to find the like minded, I'll look for Hoosier Hotshot.

Man we are learning as we go...now I'm getting concerned my cockpits are total trash...After that repair and plastic rhino-plasty, my kit suddenly looks authentic....more of a reason to keep plugggging away...sirens calling me to the shore!

Hi Everyone,

Last night we had our local IPMS monthly meeting.  Don gave me a disc with his pictures of his plane, "The Hoosier Hotshot".  Very cool!  I can't wait to get started on his plane after this build.

Speaking of "this build", I am going to get started on the "new" cockpit, knowing I now have a much closer resemblence to the F-4E cockpit than the last one.  And with the lessons I learned from my mistakes on the first one, I feel confident that this one is going to look a lot better.  I will post some pictures this evening.

Ken

Hi Jim,

I am glad to see you have returned to the bench.  After all that frustration, I know you needed a break!  The detail is looking really good. 

Ken

Hi Dominic,

"Never say Die" should be your slogan!  That is a fantastic job you are doing.  I can't wait to see the next stage. 

Ken

Well, I fixed my broken wing tip. It's not perfect, but good enough for this build that has gone on far too long (Not seen here!)! I also have been painting under wing stores (tanks, bombs, etc.) and actually dropped a few decals in place on the lower wing and some data decals on the gear doors! (Oh, Yeah! I have also been working on the gear itself as well!)

This is the opposite of the repaired wing. It has been patched, painted, and re-clear coated, but I wait for it to dry more. This side actually has a crack in it as well, but it is a bit hard to see from this photo.

Gear door data decals:

These decals actually belong to the Italeri kit and seem to go down very well. The decals then are better than the kit they were supposed to go on!

Thunderbolt379

It's only 6pm in Aus, just coming in dark... Nachos won't be ready for another half hour!

Must throw off the chains and fetters of real life responsibility and get back to styrene... Somehow!

Cheers, M/TB379

Blimey,

no one's told me youzz colonial, mate! (or I wasn't payin' attention)

Funny thing Mike, Berny was complaining about the retooled Revell kit away back on page hither, last yesterweek, and I realized the build was a sham. After all of the time I had sunk into the kit, I was going down with the ship! 

Hey, a bit of work yes, but the same relief so many of us feel when someone let's us know how it is supposed to be done, so I blame it all on PhantomPhixer!

Yeah, nachos would go great right about now, that styrene swarf is way too sweet first thing in the morning!

It's only 6pm in Aus, just coming in dark... Nachos won't be ready for another half hour!

Must throw off the chains and fetters of real life responsibility and get back to styrene... Somehow!

Cheers, M/TB379

Thunderbolt379

Jeez, Bocks, it's a privilege to witness such engineering and determination -- in a way it's a shame that all the effort ends up invisible under a pristine Phantom when it's all finished, but these photos are testimony to your input. Gold stars, mate, all the way!

Cheers, M/TB379

Holly bat, Thunderman, never expected a decent human would be up so late, gonna call the cops on you!

Many thanks Mike, forget computers, I think I invented cut'n'paste!

Gents sorry about the repeating pics, they were supposed to look like this:

and like this:

Sorry it was late, but hey, I still have two days to go.

Jeez, Bocks, it's a privilege to witness such engineering and determination -- in a way it's a shame that all the effort ends up invisible under a pristine Phantom when it's all finished, but these photos are testimony to your input. Gold stars, mate, all the way!

Cheers, M/TB379

It's Friday, so I continued and added more plastic, finish 'plait' 1:

Then i added another layer, trying to make up that 1.57mm for each side, finish 'plait' 2:

Here's the other side:

That's why the old folks called it "plaited", first layer:

And second Layer:

Easy does it port:

Easy does it starboard:

Final 'plait':

and port chevron:

and starboard chevron:

and:

Here' proof of concept, 3mm:

Here's the base line and gauge:

So I think I have approximated the width, and at the same distance from the tip of the nose.

So here's why I do it, the same as all of you, that's a very sleek bird, even in it's bones:

and:

and, uh, yeah, messy desk, the staff went home to drink beer and watch TV, see that Philly container at the end of my desk, that's breakfast:

and:

Last one, sorry if it seems repitititititititious, 

Oh yeah, for those of you machinists who love swarf, as an ex-CNC programmer, yeah, I love swarf, especially on my Cherrios in the morning, with'a bit cuttin' sauce, mmmmm.....

So that's all folk's, gotta let that toluene dry, maybe by Sunday my neuron (last one left) will have recovered and I'll post some more. Gosh I can hardly wait to get up and sprinkle that swarf on my cereal!

berny13

After letting the resin parts dry overnight, I sprayed primer on it this morning.  The primer is dry to the touch but I am going to let it dry for a full day before I start painting the gray and black on it.  Don't want to take any chances on this one. 

Well Berny, you do not lead a charmed life after all! Of course, having fixed a few Phantom setbacks in your time, I think the Big Guy sends this stuff your way just to keep your axe sharp!

When and if I ever get that cockpit going, I will need you to critique that for sure. Did you have a specialty area in mechanics/electronics, or, I'm not sure I'm even asking the right question here, what kind of procedure did you follow and how did you know what t fix?