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

I am up to the ends of my last two (and most favorite) hair follicles in Skyhawk parts right now, almost done with those

Pencil me in for a Fujimi 1/72 Phantom, and I will get details on just what it will be when I get a chance to pick a decal sheet, if you would,,,,,,,,I know that is sort of open ended

I've wanted to do an RF in Berny's memory, and an SEA EF-4C with the Two Bob's sheet, and just got an OOP Aeromaster sheet of Jarhead stuff,,,,,,,so, I can't pick while staring at Scooter wing tanks by the almost dozen

I wanted to say,,,,,,,,those seats look really great,,,,,,,they fit into the "model you can use for reference" category,,,,,,great work

Rex

Rex -- no worries, have listed you provisionally for a Fujimi, details to follow. I would love to do some Skyhawks, colourful Scooters would look great among the (also-colourful) Rhinos and Slufs!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

You know, I'm still waiting on an answer to the question asked further back...what was the "craft glue" used to put canopies temporaily in place?

Dying to know!!!

BH -- "Post-a-note Glue," IIRC, is a stick version of the same glue as on sticky notes, very low-tack and almost like a dry wax, and which wipes off easily...

M/TB379

Beckyhead

You know, I'm still waiting on an answer to the question asked further back...what was the "craft glue" used to put canopies temporarily in place?

Dying to know!!!

BH This is the product I used:

Found these at my local Wal-mart. I am sure Elmers and others make similar products. Be sure it's 'washable'! In other words, it won't mess up your kids clothes and also easily is removed from canopy parts with a damp Q-tip!

Ok, still working when I can find the time on all the bits that hang down. I still haven't attached the canopies or the stabs yet as I will most likely break them off if I do too soon.

I used advice you guys suggested to paint those yellow markings, painting the yellow first and then inserting the nose into a hole drilled into a flat sheet of stock, followed by the OD. The results weren't perfect, but I managed to touch up here and there with a small brush. The fuses were painted with a mixture of 60/40 gold/silver paint as suggested by Hasegawas instructions. The weapons instructions also would have me placing tiny decals on the bombs and the MER. Not sure if I will as they would be hard to actually see when mounted.

I don't know if you can see them, but I lengthened the flare and chaff dispensers on the pylons, plus angled the outer ones down as they should be. Not exact, but closer to the way they should look.

Also, you can see I mounted the wing tanks, and I need to add some stripes to the Sidewinders. Not sure if I will use kit supplied decals or paint them on.

This picture is blurred (sorry) but in front is the centerline pylon I copied from a Fujimi kit to hold my rack of bombs.

Jim

Great work, Jim, and great persistence, your F is nearly there! She looks fantastic!

M/TB379

I picked up the Tamiya 1/32 F4-C/D today. This is a BIG kit. Although nothing is quite as big as the 1/24 Sea Harrier I'm working on now

But this thing is massive. I had to have this kit after I read that the fuselage was molded in one piece. Tamiya fits are usually outstanding but this is going to look great with no putty cover up job and a smooth unblemished finish. I plan to build this in the F4-D variant.

I have purchased the Eduard Brassin ejector seat set and the Eduard exterior set only. The office is very nicely detailed and a few extra wires added will save me on blowing cash on an Aires replacement or something.

Cheers

Fantastic, Caspar! You have me drooling! What was the price? I was looking at one last week at my LHS, Aus$162...

Cheers, M/TB379

Try Great Models - US$105 less 15% if you buy today + postage???

Tempting! Very... But postage to Aus might undo a large part of the savings. I have over 80 Phantoms in stock, I guess I'd better build a few of those first!

M/TB379

Thunderbolt379

Fantastic, Caspar! You have me drooling! What was the price? I was looking at one last week at my LHS, Aus$162...

I paid AU$185 for this kit. I don't mind a little extra. It's in stock, no postage and close to home. Also a very cool shop and the staff are passionate about their hobbies!

Cheers

A couple quick camera phone shots of my 1:72 Airfix F-4B.  Did some decaling last night to kill some time during the red flag period during the Daytona 500. 

Switching  back and forth between this build and my 1:196 Revell Constitution.

Had a little bit of a tear in the left side "eagle" decal.  Not too noticable (except to me), but will see if some more Micro Sol will help. 

Mark

Looking good, RC! I'm looking forward to some grey/white birds myself!

M/TB379

Still decaling.  Got most of the left side done.  Have to a little repair job on the "eagle".  Fortunately have a spare sheet that I can use to patch it.   

Mark

The weapons are almost done:

The stripes on the AIM's are not quite like the kit instructions say, but it is difficult to do at this scale in any case. Bottom line: it's good enough for me. The Mk-82 bombs seemed to have turned out well, and the rack for them came out ok also. Above them is my manufactured center pylon and above it is the Fujimi original I copied it from. I just need to figure the correct placement of it. That tab will have to come off as the Hasegawa kit doesn't have a slot for it-I copied it so I would be able to use it for a reference point.

Jim

Nearly there, Jim -- it's been a marathon! These stores look excellent and should be just the part slung under that beast!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

your bombs came out real well, and I bet you are glad you aren't doing Naval stripes, lol

please don't shoot the messenger, but, that belly pylon is for the USN version,,,the USAF types, and the F-4K/M types used a rack that matches the centerline gunpod pylon in the UK Fujimi kits, and Monogram USAF kits

the USAF pylon mounts so that the MER is in line with the fuselage,,,,the USN mounts so the the front of the MER dips towards the ground

in Rhino II, there was a photo comparison and discussion about the different pylon types for all three stations,,,,,,and Berney pointed out the differences between USAF and USN centerlines,,,,,,,fyi, the center tanks can be mounted with the attached pylon fairings that come in the kits,,,,,it is only the ordnance pylons that differed

I'm hoping that Gene K reads this group build thread, he posted the pylon and loadout TO's online somewhere, both USAF and USN types,,,,,but, I have no idea where on the web they are located

Rex

TarnShip

your bombs came out real well, and I bet you are glad you aren't doing Naval stripes, lol

please don't shoot the messenger, but, that belly pylon is for the USN version,,,the USAF types, and the F-4K/M types used a rack that matches the centerline gunpod pylon in the UK Fujimi kits, and Monogram USAF kits

the USAF pylon mounts so that the MER is in line with the fuselage,,,,the USN mounts so the the front of the MER dips towards the ground

in Rhino II, there was a photo comparison and discussion about the different pylon types for all three stations,,,,,,and Berney pointed out the differences between USAF and USN centerlines,,,,,,,fyi, the center tanks can be mounted with the attached pylon fairings that come in the kits,,,,,it is only the ordnance pylons that differed

I'm hoping that Gene K reads this group build thread, he posted the pylon and loadout TO's online somewhere, both USAF and USN types,,,,,but, I have no idea where on the web they are located

Rex

Rex, you have just given me chills up my spine and the whole bit! I sat here tonight, cementing bombs to the MER and then attached the pylon to the top of the MER. I then set the whole assembly in place (it's held for now by a couple of brass pins I drilled in for alignment purposes).

I looked at this, thinking it just didn't seem right that those bombs should be pitched nose down! I decided to jump on-line and ask friends here at the FSM forums about this and it seems that my question was answered before I even asked! I found a discussion over at ARC that said much the same thing. The author there also aid most kits available have the USN pylon where it is even provided. Another forum talked about this and the author there said that the stubbier centerline pylon from a F-15E would be a closer match. I couldn't find any photos to back this up, though I did find some of somebody's WIP photos of a Tamiya 1/32 Phantom that shows a shorter, straight pylon. I have several F-15E's that I may be able to use as a scratch guide to reproduce a similar one. Here I thought I was nearly done! HA!

From what I saw, the bombs would be mounted more forward than what I did here. I would post the photo of the Tamiya kit, but seeing how it came from somebody else's work at another forum, I didn't want to offend or step on toes.

Jim

I'm a bad, bad, boy. Just acquired Revell's (of Germany) F-4F simply because it was on sale. Was selling for around 30 bucks at Squadron (close to $40 at my LHS!) and on sale at Sprue Bros for about $24. Squadron price: $17.99. Didn't need it it but.......

Hey phantom phreaks!

Build update. FINALLY finished the cockpit tub. Took forever, but I hope you all like the results. I didn't glue the seats, just placed them inside for photographic purposes.

I think I will start on the engine exhaust/afterburners,  'keel' and horizontal stabilators (I think that's what they are called), so my question to you is this: I will be using Alclad, so what would you suggest for color combinations, especially the inside of the cans.

Very nice, Jim. Solid work.

I've had to resort to the Dremel tool and improvising with toothpicks, etc, to get consistent stripes.  Yours look awesome!

Beckyhead

Very nice, Jim. Solid work.

I've had to resort to the Dremel tool and improvising with toothpicks, etc, to get consistent stripes.  Yours look awesome!

Don't let the scale deceive you. If you were to focus real close, you would see that my stripes are a bit un-even and splotched a bit. Hard to see those errors at 1/72 scale, esp. with my eyesight, so I can get away with a bit of fudging.

I like your tub-looks great compared to small scale stuff! I would love to tackle a 1/32 scale bird someday, but the expense and the greater detail scare me a bit!

Jim

Some awesome work guys - beautiful job on the weapons Jimbot and that office looks real good Beckyhead 

No news here sorry, with big hours at  work and trying to get my dysfunctional kids functional again.........

Such is life, work will slow up a bit soon and kids will be kids - oh, I also need to replace my camera (my eldest son tried to change the batteries  ) before I can post any work.

Keep up the top work , I enjoy reading the updates and will be back at it soon ......hopefully

I cemented the wing pylons in place, almost missing the 5 minute mark for my 5 minute epoxy, trying to hold both in place at once!. (Note to self: next time just do one at a time!) Also scrapped the USN center pylon, and started sculpting a new one modeled after an F-15 pylon as suggested at some other forums. This is made from a couple of layers of sheet styrene laminated together. I'm not overly concerned with the details of it as it will be barely visible when covered with the MER with its MK-82's attached.

I have had little success locating info on the pylon and even less as to where the MER should be positioned in relationship to the front or back of the pylon.

I did find this:

This was from another forum for large scale models, but now I can't seem to find my way back there. So I give credit to the original poster, whoever he is and only post here as a reference. This would suggest that the MER should be mounted forward. I can't seem to find any other photos to support this.

Jim

Great builds you guys!

I keep pulling my big RF-4C out from under the couch to play with...going to have to wait until after the spring shows, though, as I've got some other contest builds that need finishing up first.

Jim -- your perseverence and dedication to accuracy are exemplary, and this model will be a treasure!

Dupes -- can't wait for the show season to be "over, over there" as the old song went, then we'll see some Phantom action!

I'm getting close to being ale to turn to matters Rhino myself and look forward to some completions as our own winter approaches in the south.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Thunderbolt379

 

I'm getting close to being ale to turn to matters Rhino myself and look forward to some completions as our own winter approaches in the south.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Mike, are you saying south as in "Down-under?" We are headed the opposite direction here with the warmest temps we have had since October of last year. Even saw a few young things out in their skimpy clothes, which somehow these days just seems to remind me how I'm just getting older, and older......

Any-who......

I did manage to re-find that Phantom post over at Large Scale Planes, a modeler named nigelr32 doing a Tamiya F-4E. He mounted his bomb rack to where the fuses of the MK-82's just overlap the tails of the Sparrows. Right or wrong, it was the only references I was able to locate, so it's how I'm going to do it. Maybe he knows more than I do. (more than likely!) They have a section there titled as "Phantom Phever" and if I could post the link, I would. Lots of reference photos and some insane guys doing some insane detailing on all 1/32 scale Phantoms.

I managed to create my pylon (sorry, no photo tonight) adding stretched sprue posts to mount in the holes in the fuselage, and cutting notches to match the MER mounts. My "F" won't be getting any Sparrows as they were not equipped to launch them. Many of the F models were later upgraded to carry AIM-120's, but the missiles were not available at the time of the upgrade. I just decided that my F just do without them as I couldn't confirm if this plane was included in the upgrades.

I'm not a rivet counter by any means, but I want to at least make an attempt at being somewhat accurate.

My RoG F-4F should be hitting my door sometime in the next few days, leaving me with another choice:

Could be an interesting build, or should it be another Hasegawa project......I can't just pick one!

Well gang. this has been a week for me!

First off, it seems that F-4F won't be joining me after all. Seems that my bank account was a bit "underfunded" when I tried to order it, and well.....

Thursday and Friday have blended into one continuous bad dream! I went in to my dentist for an assessment (this was a follow up after having to have a broken tooth repaired last week) and was told that I need extensive work done that I will never be able to afford! (See above!) I went off to work a bit depressed for a typical day of h*ll in the sweat-shop. Then things went worse!

I went by Mom's house on the way home, who is 81, suffers with COPD after being a smoker her whole life, and is on oxygen (and still smokes!) I found her in extreme distress, and having trouble breathing. I ended up calling paramedics to take her to the hospital!

The ER was very busy that night, with people lined in in the hallways waiting for treatment. As I suspected, Mom has pneumonia and had to be admitted. They do believe she will recover and be home in a few days.

I did unfortunately,  happen to be in the wrong place while at the ER and was witness to them bringing in a man in cardiac arrest, and saw the efforts they made to save him.....however, he didn't make it. It was sad to see.

It took awhile for them to find a bed for her at the hospital, and by the time she was settled into a room, the sun was up. I had to head to my house to take care of somethings, take my medications, and then back to Mom's to look after her dog. I was up for almost 30 hours! I did finally get about 5-6 hours of Z's, but now I find myself unable to sleep this evening/morning!

I ended up in the hobby room to work on the Phantom and added those tiny sensors in the intakes, cemented the burner cans in place and attached the bomb rack. I also began assembling cockpit for my next Phantom build, which I will announce later when current situations calm down. I will say that this build will not require me to head to the weapons set! (That is a hint!)

For now, I should go lie down and see if the sandman will visit.........

Jeez, Jim -- hell week isn't in it... I can truly understand where you're coming from as I've been in a few spots like that myself. I remember my mom needing admission once, this would be about eight years ago, with chronic dehydration and all the attendant problems, and it took an entire night and most of the following day, I ended up going nearly 40 hours and then sleeping seven on the floor, so you have my total sympathy. It's great you were able to get some bench time in to ameliorate the real life stuff.

I look forard to all your builds and I'm sure whichever project you start next will be a great pleasure to see unfold.

Cheers, Mike/TB379