The Official F-4 Phantom II Group Build 2011

cml -- no worries, but it would have been nice to follow those paint jobs as they went on! Nice airbrushing! Great work, and page 1 is updated -- you have our 5th and 6th completions.

It would be appropriate at this point to mention that we're approaching the midpoint of the build, it seems like only yesterday I posted that we were on 25%. This year is sure racing by! There are many great models underway out there and I look forward to more completions as the second half of the year goes by.

I have five Phantoms on the bench myself, at one stage or another, and when we're into July and real life gives me a bit of a break, I hope to bring a couple to completion too.

Cheers,

Mike/TB379

cml

Further to my last post, this is a 1/72 Fujimi in RAAF scheme.  Same issues as above - lots of raised panel lines, but a better fit overall.  Between the two that I built, I rate this as the better kit.

I kept this one nice and clean as it's a gift for my uncle.

Again, thoughts/comments welcome.

Thanks for looking.

Chris.

jimbot58

Good God I would love to be able to join you guys at the museum, but unfortunately, finances, distances and responsibilities here prevent it! Maybe I will make a trip to the Wings Over The Rockies Museum here that weekend and thereby be with you in spirit! Tell us all the details, ok?

Anyway, I am this close to being done:

I managed to mount the AGM-45, the AGM-78 and the air sensors in the intakes. Those went well, though I was really expecting to drop them into the nether regions of the fuselage!

I also mounted the ALQ-119 ECM pod:

I also finally got the rear canopy repaired that was missing the little tab on one side. I plan to wait until the very last to mount the canopies to hopefully avoid any last minute accidents! They will be mounted open! I think I need to change those pitot tube ends to a steel color as the silver just looks wrong to me!

Perhaps I will be able to announce its completion within the next few days! It will take me a bit to produce a decent photo for the honour wall as I will need to load up the old SLR, wait for a day at home to catch the best outdoor light, and then then off to the developers! (Yes, it's true! An actual 35mm film camera!) I already have a roll of film and also plan to take a few shots of my other builds.

I still pan to be in the build as that "F" is still there waiting for me to return to it!

Hi Jim,

Real nice work!    I look forward to those pictures too!  I have an 35mm SLR film camera as well so I would be interested in how those turn out.

Ken

Berny.  A couple more questions.  You said the frame around the canopy was the same blue color used on the tail?  The entire frame or just a thin line around the glass?  I'm just having trouble visualizing it.  I also wanted to ask another one.  I have seen images of E models  and some of them have a half nmf stabilator and others are all camo.  Which should I do on this particular bird?  She's coming along nicely.  I used a cut off section of a metal tube from a model masters cement bottle to replace the pitot tube that snapped off and I snipped the fuel dump port off of a dead kit and used it to replace the one I lost on the E.  Looks good.  You can't even tell it wasn't original.  Since pretty much the entire bottom surface including landing gear and doors is supposed to be white, I decided to just install all of the landing gear components before paint, except for the wheels themselves.  I did notice one issue I think I can fix by cannibalizing one of the other kits.  The little door strut for the back part of the front landing gear door is missing from the thing it is supposed to be a part of.  I'll just fab or cannibalize.  It looks like a simple fix.

Rich

Jim:

You will be there in spirit man, oh....glad you got those deadlies turned around...lol...yeah, Incoming!!!!

Uh, is that an old Russian grenade on your desk?.....

HHmmm....

Hmmm........

Ken:

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to make sure that everyone understands that this is an open invitation to meet with Berny at the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton Ohio on July 8 through July 11!  As soon as Berny knows he is up for the trip we will confirm the time and place for everyone to meet.  We will keep everyone posted.  If you would like to join us, just send Berny and I a private message so we can start a roster.  I know Berny would like as many of you to come as possible.  And if we have a sizeable group, we can see if it is possible to get to see the museum after hours as a group.

Ken

Bockscar

Ken:

 

I love it!

Ken

Dom and I are also keeping track of invites so why not just have folks post here on the forum Or start a new thread.  Dom and I are working out details to get everyone at the right place at the right times.  I'm probably the closest, but I am not sure if we will be able to do more than a day trip.  Funds and the need for a house sitter are kind of an issue.

Rich

Son Of Medicine Man

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to make sure that everyone understands that this is an open invitation to meet with Berny at the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton Ohio on July 8 through July 11!  As soon as Berny knows he is up for the trip we will confirm the time and place for everyone to meet.  We will keep everyone posted.  If you would like to join us, just send Berny and I a private message so we can start a roster.  I know Berny would like as many of you to come as possible.  And if we have a sizeable group, we can see if it is possible to get to see the museum after hours as a group.

Ken

Sparrowhyperion

Berny.  A couple more questions.  You said the frame around the canopy was the same blue color used on the tail?  The entire frame or just a thin line around the glass?  I'm just having trouble visualizing it.  I also wanted to ask another one.  I have seen images of E models  and some of them have a half nmf stabilator and others are all camo.  Which should I do on this particular bird?  She's coming along nicely.  I used a cut off section of a metal tube from a model masters cement bottle to replace the pitot tube that snapped off and I snipped the fuel dump port off of a dead kit and used it to replace the one I lost on the E.  Looks good.  You can't even tell it wasn't original.  Since pretty much the entire bottom surface including landing gear and doors is supposed to be white, I decided to just install all of the landing gear components before paint, except for the wheels themselves.  I did notice one issue I think I can fix by cannibalizing one of the other kits.  The little door strut for the back part of the front landing gear door is missing from the thing it is supposed to be a part of.  I'll just fab or cannibalize.  It looks like a simple fix.

Rich

Only the bottom part of the canopy frame was blue.  The blue did not continue up the canopy bow or back to the center windshield.

The horz stab inboard section would be unpainted metal as well as the leading edge slots. 

The bottom was not white but FS36622 gray.  Inside of the gear doors, wheel wells and speed brake well was gloss white with the speed brake inside painted red.

Thanks for clearing that up.  Just goes to show that you should never follow kit instructions when you have a more reliable source of info. lol.

Rich

berny13

 

Sparrowhyperion:

 

Berny.  A couple more questions.  You said the frame around the canopy was the same blue color used on the tail?  The entire frame or just a thin line around the glass?  I'm just having trouble visualizing it.  I also wanted to ask another one.  I have seen images of E models  and some of them have a half nmf stabilator and others are all camo.  Which should I do on this particular bird?  She's coming along nicely.  I used a cut off section of a metal tube from a model masters cement bottle to replace the pitot tube that snapped off and I snipped the fuel dump port off of a dead kit and used it to replace the one I lost on the E.  Looks good.  You can't even tell it wasn't original.  Since pretty much the entire bottom surface including landing gear and doors is supposed to be white, I decided to just install all of the landing gear components before paint, except for the wheels themselves.  I did notice one issue I think I can fix by cannibalizing one of the other kits.  The little door strut for the back part of the front landing gear door is missing from the thing it is supposed to be a part of.  I'll just fab or cannibalize.  It looks like a simple fix.

Rich

 

 

Only the bottom part of the canopy frame was blue.  The blue did not continue up the canopy bow or back to the center windshield.

The horz stab inboard section would be unpainted metal as well as the leading edge slots. 

The bottom was not white but FS36622 gray.  Inside of the gear doors, wheel wells and speed brake well was gloss white with the speed brake inside painted red.

Sparrowhyperion

Dom and I are also keeping track of invites so why not just have folks post here on the forum Or start a new thread.  Dom and I are working out details to get everyone at the right place at the right times.  I'm probably the closest, but I am not sure if we will be able to do more than a day trip.  Funds and the need for a house sitter are kind of an issue.

Rich

 

Son Of Medicine Man:

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to make sure that everyone understands that this is an open invitation to meet with Berny at the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton Ohio on July 8 through July 11!  As soon as Berny knows he is up for the trip we will confirm the time and place for everyone to meet.  We will keep everyone posted.  If you would like to join us, just send Berny and I a private message so we can start a roster.  I know Berny would like as many of you to come as possible.  And if we have a sizeable group, we can see if it is possible to get to see the museum after hours as a group.

Ken

 

I like the idea of starting a new thread.  I will get going on that.

Ken

This is how the stab should look as well as the shingle panels and blast panels.

Thunderbolt379

cml -- no worries, but it would have been nice to follow those paint jobs as they went on! Nice airbrushing! Great work, and page 1 is updated -- you have our 5th and 6th completions.

Thanks Thunderbolt379!  I wish I had taken some WIP photos too.  I'll be more diligent with my future builds, that's for sure

Bockscar - thank you, being Australian, I do love building RAAF planes. 

Chris.

Well, the Geasel has it all hanging:

Starting to look fierce, eh!

All that's left is the canopies and I painted the actuator rods tonight, and set them aside to dry. Hopefully I won't lose one.......

...again!

By the way Bocks, what I think you see is a stack of photographic filters-a couple of which are close-up lenses which I have to hold up in front of my little cel-phone camera in order to get it to even give me these not-quite-so-blurred-but-still-not-the-greatest pictures. Without them, I have to move quite a bit away to get a picture.

JIm

Looking very, very good, Jim -- all the more so for you having overcome the fight it's given you!

M/TB379

Five different Fujimi Phantoms starting at $4.95 here...

http://shop.ebay.com/stupidtoy99/m.html?_trkparms=65%253A12%257C66%253A4%257C39%253A1%257C72%253A5057&rt=nc&_ipg=200&_sticky=1&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_sop=1&_sc=1

M/TB379

Jim:

Fierce alright!

Thanks for the tip on the lenses, good idea.

Chris, nice looking RAAF Phantom.  Looks very good.  Nice to see an RAAF aircraft for a change. 

Jim, that Geasel looks real good.  Look out SAM's and RADAR sites, a Geasel is on the prowl. 

cml

Howdy all,

Embarrassingly, I completely forgot I had signed up for this group build.

Anyhow, I have finished my two builds (sans pitot tubes which i normally leave off) and thought i'd post them here.

This one is a Tamiya 1/72 scale finished in German camouflage.  I understand it's actually a repackaged Italeri model.  Overall, it was ok, but it does have raised panel lines which i'm not a big fan of.  I encountered some fit issues around the nose resulting in most of the panel lines being sanded off.  I'm not dedicated (or experienced enough) to try rescribing, so the nose looks quite plain.

My main motivation for building this model was just to try out the paint scheme.  I've never painted a splinter scheme before and was pretty keen to try one.  I was quite happy with the result, but wish I had used more contrasting grays on the tail - there are two different shades there, but they're hard to differentiate, even when holding the model, let alone in the pics.

I wanted it to look pretty dirty, so I used pastels and artist oils to dirty it up a bit.

Thoughts and comments welcome.

 

 

Chris.

I like it.  Looks well used but still in good shape.  Nice build. 

Here's a link to an F-4 at the NMUSAF:

http://www.sr-71.org/museums/usaf/modern-north/index.php?aircraft=F-4C

Looking forward to being there Berny!

The original:

Link:

http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/f4/images/spook.htm

Berny:

Is there any way could get a bigger version of your PhantomPhixer avatar? -just wondrin'

Thanks Berny!!!

Well....it beats the alternative.....lol...barbed wire, ummm, what, no golf clubs?

Bockscar

The original:

Link:

http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/f4/images/spook.htm

 

Very cool Dom!  Thank you for sharing!

Ken