The Official F-4 Phantom II Group Build 2012: Rhinomania III

TB, I have another Monogram F-4 that I plan to build as a Happy Houligan.  I had the pleasure of playing with those guys while I was a B-52 Navigator.  They chased us all the way into Canada one day.  Lost at 400' over Manitoba with my Radar Navigaitor puking his lungs out!  Ah, those were the days!

One more time into the model box!

Shes a beauty  Jim  

And that Luftwaffe bird is looking pretty sharp too Jimbot58 - Not far to the finish line now!!

Nice start RedCorvette - I love watching the different paint schemes as they come along 

I'm very tempted by this. I usually don't have any double ups on models, I have only one of each aircraft I have built so far. Having completed a F-4N for the last build I am very tempted by Tamiya's offering in 1/32 of the F4-C/D

Put me down and hopefully I can get it done in time.

Cheers

A bit of progress: finished painting the metallic areas around the exhaust. You can't see it here, but the bottom is sprayed with a darker color, plus I added a bit of thin flat black to simulate the sooty exhaust stains.

Also added is the decal warning here of the arrestor (spelling???) hook and I cemented in my turned brass replacement for the broken pitot tube on the tail. A bit of paint will be needed here.

Looking good, Jim! Your masking is a whole lot sharper than mine was, and your paint looks nice and smooth. Which shades did you end up using? I remember you mentioning it but I can't locate the post. I'm thinking my own Luft RF should be back on my agenda before long, and your is an inspiration!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

it's time for my first post since there's a lack of free time!!!!My project was to build a Greek F-4E P.I. 2000.So i used the 1/32 revell kit since it is my opinion the best choice... Although there are some inaccuracies in some points(closed aux doors,taller vertical fin and unslotted stabs for the E versions) the kit is very good with nice detail and it has 4 aim-120 which are used now by the greek phantoms and the correct shape of the radome due to the installation of the APG-65 radar.I also used the flightpath exterior set for the F-4E which includes a great amound of detail(formation lights,hook,chaff-flares dispensers,nozzles,stabilators,rbf tags,detailed gear bays and lanfing gears) the legend cockpit and the opened aux doors with the engine bay and the corrected fin

Finally re-opened the front offices. I tried to get some decent photos with my camera-phone and these were the best I could do after editing the results.

Wish I could get a bit better fill around the wind screen. The edges are still visible to me.

I don't remember who it was that suggested using the craft glue stick to temporarily tack the canopies in place, but it worked like a charm and the glue was easy to remove after popping the canopies loose. Thanks a bunch!

Jim

Looking fantastic, Jim! Your paint looks so smooth!  Yes, will definitely be completing mine too -- I have a black panel wash on its way, after my Meteor camo experience I know the Dark Dirt is not dark enough to develop a clear effect over colours as deep as these.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

All my Phantom kits are in storage and inaccessible at the moment.  I will have to see if I can pick up something for this build.

Mike,

Let's call this one complete.  Time to start on the next Phantom.

Craft glue stick for tacking canopies on? And it worked out well for you?

Can you take a pic of the product in question? I'd love to find something new (and improved) to try temporarily attaching canopies while painting.

Jim -- looking great! Congratulations on being the first completion for Rhinos III! Sorry I didn't get back to you yesterday but I was having some connectivity problems at this end, plus couldn't log into FSM overnight. I'll get your build onto p1 right away.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Great news here guys. Jim (Buffirn)  offered me his Hasegawa F-4S as a replacement for my original which crashed and burnt at the end of Rhino 2. We arranged a trade and when the package arrived today I found Jim had also slipped in a Italeri RF-4C/E.

Thanks Jim, your a top bloke!

Mike could you adjust my entry on page 1 to include both of these 1/72 birds please.

RAG -- adjusting your listing right away. The cameradie in this squadron is top notch, I salute you guys!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

The RF-4 looked lonely sitting on the shelf and I thought it would like to see the world.

I went into LHS today, they have 2 of the Tamiya F4-C/D kits on stock. I'm picking mine up in 2 weeks.

I had a look inside. Massive fuselage, the things as long as my forearm. And it comes in one piece. The office slots in underneath. Details are very good. I think I'll do this kit OOB with some scratch. Not much around for this anyways, was thinking about a bit of Eduard but may be nice to leave this one alone.

Cheers

Lucky you -- have wanted to do this bird since it came out! looking forward to the build pics! Will add it to the build roster,

Mike/TB379

Ok, I've decided to add the Brassin ejection seats and the Eduard exterior set! No more!

Cheers

PS. Don't hold your breath waiting for this build, Mike. It's probably going to be at the end of the year!

 Well, the "F" finally stands on its own now, with the attachment of the gear! Also added were all the gear doors and some of the bits that stick out, like blade antenna and such.

I did have one minor accident as a drop of cement from my Touch-and-Flow got away from me and landed on the lower wing surface. It did damage the finish and started on the underlying paint before I was able to remove it. I was able to do some fine sanding and re-sprayed the area with my finish coat. It's still a little visible to me, but it is on the bottom of the wing and unlikely anyone will ever see it.

Still to go is adding the tanks and pylons, (and of course the canopies!) and whatever weapons I decide. It will have sidewinders of course, but what else I can't decide. Early F's were not capable of using  AIM-7 Sparrows, but a later upgrade allowed them to carry the AIM-120 AMRAAM's. I read that these were not available anyway, after the upgrade, until much later on. As I mentioned before, I may go ahead and hang a MER under the centerline with 6 MK-82's bombs to do something different.

As to the next build, I still haven't decided on what to add next, though I do find Hasegawa's F-4S sitting on my side desk and the instructions in my hand more and more. It may be time to do something other than an Air Force bird. But should it be one of the Navy versions or perhaps the Marine version.....? Decisions, decisions, decisions. It would be interesting to hang one of those gun pods I have several of under this one. Maybe some bombs in an attack role

That's a fine looking bird Jim, looking forward to seeing it with canopy, stabs, and cans.

As long as that little glue spot on the bottom wing looks like weathering, it's all good.......it was a dirty bird....

Finally, I am finished with the ejection seats. The second one went a little quicker when I got some PE techniques down. I used Eduards Brassin Seat for the Tamiya 1/32 Phantom. The only qualms I have are with the seat cushions...I wish they were cast separately and it would have made painting so much easier.

I didn’t want identical seats, so I made each one a little different form the other to give them some character. When I was building the seat, I used the excellent,  “The Modern Phantom Guide: The F-4 Phantom Exposed”. The photos in that book were a life saver, and ensured accurate placement of additional cabling, painting, and attachment of all the PE parts.

Next up: the cockpit. Now, I actually get to touch the plastic model for the first time! I could use some suggestions as to adding more detail, especially in the areas behind the ejection seats, and between the ejection seats.

Beckyhead -- they look absolutely fantastic and I hope one day to do seats that look like those when I have the chance to do the big Tamiya bird. I have some Verlinden seats in this scale so I can appreciate the work that went into these.

One word of advice, though -- please do not change the title in the subject line (enthusiasm notwithstanding!). Otherwise in all subsequent replies to your message the name of this GB would have changed to "Ejection Seats Are Done!" I've changed it back with this post.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Great seats! They look ready for me to plant my backside in and...... well, maybe not!

Kind of a strange weekend as far as getting much done. Saturday involved a trip to the doggie beautician for Mom's Pekinese pooch. Half the day gone there, but then I developed a horrific migraine which took me out for the rest of the day. After sleeping away the afternoon, I finally felt well enough to sit down at the hobby desk. I separated all the Mk-82 bombs from their sprues, cleaned up mold separation lines and ejector pin marks from all of them. I then drilled tiny holes in them so I could insert a toothpick for a handle. Taking out the airbrush, I opened my bottle of Olive Drab and..... discovered I actually had a solid, rubbery mass of goo in the bottle instead of paint! Grrrr! End of work for that day! Oh, I also did manage to hang the outer wing tanks a set it aside to dry for a while.

I ran and got a replacement Sunday morning but spent most of the day catching up on house work and cleaning fish tanks! (Messy little buggers!) I finally sat down and painted my bombs and also cleaned up and painted the rack for the bombs and the Sidewinders as well.

I would have done a few pics, but it is late and must go off to work in the A.M. I'm not looking forward to it as the tyrant boss is supposed to return as well.

P.S. Mike/TB: You can also eliminate the multiple Re:Re: in the title by doing a quick reply to the first post at the beginning of the thread. Sometimes those Re:Re's start to stack up.

Well, at great personal risk to myself (if my Wife finds out), I have acquired a 1/48th scale Monogram Black Bunny F4-J which will hopefully get here soon.  I've never done a Bunny before.  At least the paint scheme is going to be easy.... lol

Rich

Ok, friends. I want to hang a few of these:

Or some Snakeyes:

The problem is creating that yellow band at the front. I am working in 1/72 scale, as you know, and what a pain that is. Tape won't work because of the curvature of the front of it, dipping the nose leaves me with too thick paint. I can't work it in a moto-tool because of the simple fact that the tool has three fingers in the chuck and the bomb with four fins-it doesn't add up. (pun intended!) I tried a circle template but had a hard time holding the bomb perfectly straight- proved just impossible for me. plus just trying to do that with six of them.

Any suggestions that are workable in 1/72nd scale that is also compatible with mid-fifties eyesight and finger dexterity?

Jim

This is a good one, Jim -- I have similar eyesight and dexterity going for me, and want to add them to a 1:72 -J Marine bird carried over from Rhinos I. It sounds like you've done the rounds of the techniques... How about painting the tips yellow first, then mask them with thin strips of flexible Tamiya tape that can conform to the incidence of the surface so long as it is on the down-slope (taper) of the cone, and then zap them into OD?

Cheers, Mike

A couple of things come to mind.  You could make a mask using a section of straw, a hole punched int a piece of stiff cardboard, a washer, even a piece of macaroni tube.  You just need to find something the right size.  If you have access to something like a Lathe, or one of those gizmos that kids use to hold easter eggs in place and rotate them, you could do that with a paint marker...  Just some ideas.

Rich

jimbot58

Ok, friends. I want to hang a few of these:

Or some Snakeyes:

The problem is creating that yellow band at the front. I am working in 1/72 scale, as you know, and what a pain that is. Tape won't work because of the curvature of the front of it, dipping the nose leaves me with too thick paint. I can't work it in a moto-tool because of the simple fact that the tool has three fingers in the chuck and the bomb with four fins-it doesn't add up. (pun intended!) I tried a circle template but had a hard time holding the bomb perfectly straight- proved just impossible for me. plus just trying to do that with six of them.

Any suggestions that are workable in 1/72nd scale that is also compatible with mid-fifties eyesight and finger dexterity?

Jim

 

Jim, as a fellow 1/72 scale builder with a fondness for Skyhawks,,,,,,I will share my solution with you for doing multiple bombs, keeping in mind that I have to do each bomb 3 times in order to get double stripes on the noses

measure the diameter of the back side of the yellow stripe,,,,dig through all your kits until you find the diameter of sprue you need, allowing for the thickness of tape that will be wrapped around the sprue, creating a tube with a handle, and a sticky part to shove over the yellow part of your bomb nose

make 6 , 12 or whatever of these at a time,,,,,,you can re-use them until the ends get a little worn out,,,,,,but, just for advance notice, making one, and trying to do a complete load won't work, they don't last that long

I have to have one for the biggest end of the first stripe, paint the OD, then one for the smallest end of the second stripe, paint yellow, then one for the biggest end of the yellow stripe, paint some of the OD,,,,and then,,,,,,,COVER the finished area with low tack tape while doing the main OD area

trust me again,,,,,,you don't want to have to re do these because of overspray,,,,,,and in this scale, I just hand paint Vallejo Acrylic Bronze for the fuses

if you hit a "standard" dimension for the diameter, you might be able to find plastic rod or brass tubing to put your tape rolls onto

oh, and I am 55, about as "mid" as you can get in the fifties, lol

Rex -- good to see you around the Phantom assembly plant! That's a pretty intensive technique but sounds like it'll deliver the goods.

Hangar's always open if you wanna re-field that squadron of Fujimi builds at any time!

Cheers, Mike/TB379