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

Well, gang.....

I am happy to say to say that Mom is doing much better, and is due to be released Wed. to a rehab. center, so she may increase her strength, balance and stamina, and help avoid the possibility of a fall or injury at home. Although good for now, the fact remains that her lung disease is very advanced with the inevitable outcome still there. I will have to teach her that her walker is not for hanging clothes on and has another purpose.

In spite of all this, I still manage a little time for modeling, as it is actually a bit of a stress reliever for me to retreat to my man cave and work a bit.

The "F" is almost done:

Burner cans in place, and so are the canopies. The stabs are still just stuck in and still need cementing, and a few sensors and other minor details to be finished. I will be ready to call this bird done! I have it perched here atop its original box, but when I'm done I'll see about a better photo for the wall of fame page.

In the mean time, I'm making the next Rhino build entry to be Hasegawas 1/72nd scale RF-4B Phantom II 'VMCJ-1' as an OOB build.

This will be a change for me as there will be no camo patterns to fret over and no weapons to build.3 possible aircraft markings are included but I don't know which will be the lucky winner, but all are Marine aircraft:

The version pictured on the box art with the black tail and yellow tail code looks interesting, though the version with those eyes near the camera windows might be fun.....

The unit, VMCJ-1, did fly their aircraft over Vietnam (so I read) up until the end in 1975, so I guess this will be another SEA aircraft without the camo. A change of pace for me to do a monochromatic aircraft, and not yet another USAF aircraft. (Di-chromatic I guess if you count the white underside and gray topside as two colors?)

Lots of parts:

And a bit of a weak start:

I'll do more photos of the "F" later on, and try and make a decent one for the wall.

Oh, an added note: after more than a week, I just got notice that Squadron is shipping that  RoG Revell F-4F kit. Kind of odd service from them.....

Jim

By the way, I just read that the red band across the center of the fuselage is a warning: most of the loose engine parts would exit the fuselage at that point in the event of a major engine failure....

Hi Jim,

The F looks absolutely fantastic and I look forward to immortalising it on the Honour Wall! It's sure been a long slow burn, but a well cooked meal can be the tastiest of all! The new RF-4B should be a sweet build -- I've just got back to my own Has Marine RF, which will be the VMFP-3 bicentennial bird. I hope to bring the main structure together over the weekend, and might tackle it and the Fujimi -J side by side at the painting stage.

BTW, the red band was parallel with the main compressor, I believe, which in engines of 1950s vintage had a disturbing habit of exploding out the side of the aircraft... Even as late as the 70s it was just standard practice to put the warning stripe on planes, so ground crew knew where not to stand, just in case!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Hi all,

Does anyone know if Hasegawa has a parts service? I've been doing some work on my RF-4B (Ka9) and have just discovered that it seems to be missing a sprue... It's probably around here somewhere, but right now half the landing gear is AWOL...

Cheers, Mike/TB379 (who just heard that his PhD has been awarded!)

Thunderbolt379

Mike/TB379 (who just heard that his PhD has been awarded!)

Congrats Dr.Mike!

Cheers

Thunderbolt379

Hi all,

Does anyone know if Hasegawa has a parts service? I've been doing some work on my RF-4B (Ka9) and have just discovered that it seems to be missing a sprue... It's probably around here somewhere, but right now half the landing gear is AWOL...

Cheers, Mike/TB379 (who just heard that his PhD has been awarded!)

All I know is that Hasegawa is distributed by Hobbico, (side note: Hobbico has acquired Revell Germany? Looks like another company out to own them all!).

Following the link to their tech support page gives you contact information:

http://www.hasegawausa.com/techsupport.html

I don't know any thing beyond that, good or bad. Best of luck!

Jim

P.S. Congrats Mike! Do we have to call you Dr. Thunderbolt379?

Thanks, Jim, I'll check them out and see if they can help.

GRIN -- Dr Thunderbolt? I'd sound like a Marvel character! Mind, if the thematic material is ever German, Herr Doktor might be appropriate...

Cheers, M/TB379

Well, I am declaring the 'F' as officially complete! In any case, I've done all I'm going to do:

Looking at this photo, I see my rear canopy is a different angle than the front, so I need to tweak that a bit......

This last bit was a pain as I attached the canopies first, the went to the stabilators. In the course of handling the plane with the thick, clumsy, sausage-like appendages that I have for fingers, I managed to knock both canopies out of place and even lost the rear actuator rod to the carpet monster! I made another with stretched sprue. As you can see, the length seems to be a bit off....

I'll work on a decent photo for the Wall of Phame hopefully later this week, time permitting with all that's going on.

As to the RF-4B:

I continued the assembly of some of the cockpit parts and shot on one of the colors-other parts call for black on some of the instrument panel areas. Decals to follow that.

The instructions also call for a "Sail Color" (Mr Color 45, I think) for the side panel in the rear cockpit where the refueling probe is housed. I can't figure a match for it with the references I found. Any clues?

Mike, I guess you can update the first page when you get a chance.

Jim

P.S. No one has ever commented on the color of my work area counter top-all I will say is that the price was right at the time. (FREE!)

A test:

The planes in the 2012 badge sort of match my next build.......

Dr. Thunderbolt could be a 007 bad guy. You know: Bond! James Bond!

You're psychic, Jim, I'm watching a Bond right now! The F looks fantastic and I look forward to the final pics. Oh, for the "sail colour" I use Tamiya XF-55 Deck Tan, it looks pretty good on my big -J...

Cheers, M/TB379

"sail color" in Phantom modeling means "Radome Tan",,,,,,if you look at a Hasegawa F-4B for example,,,,you will see the radome for the ECM on the tail is Radome Tan if it is unpainted

and "Radome Tan" is really just "unpainted fibreglass" in real life,,,,,,but, since the parts are gray on our's, we have to paint our unpainted parts, lol  (radome tan is sold as 33613 by model paint companies)

Thanks for the clarification, Rex! The inside right rear cockpit on the -J is molded to look like fabric, though, rather than a solid panel -- was it fibreglass too

Oh, drama over, the missing sprue turned up -- phew! Now I can get on with this Bicentennial Marine bird, my first "Spirit of '76" build ever!

Cheers, M/TB379

it was a "tufted" mat,,,,,I don't remember if fibreglass or canvas,,,,,I only remember the pulled in areas like Gramma's quilting with yarn

some kits call for those to be a gray color,,,,,and I would bet that some were the gray and some the "sail color",,,,,,and maybe another variation I don't know of,,,,,,,,canvas can be had in any color you want

it is funny, in a way,,,,,,,,Sail Color is an old Fujimi and Hasegawa color call out,,,,,,and Gunze has added Radome Tan to there paint line,,,,somewhere in the numbers up above H-300,,,,,so some kits call for Sail in one spot and Radome in another, on the same instruction sheet

well, I am doing it again, typing about models instead of working on a model,,,,,I only have 3 on the bench right now, which is cool for me,,,,,,,,,,usually there are more boxes "in action" stacked up over there,,,,,,,and 1 model is a "repair",,,,I don't think that counts as a model in "production" status, lol

take care, I will get a Phantom out soon and join in here

Rex

Radome Tan it shall be! Saves me from going out to find a bottle of paint to apply to one single part less than an inch square!

TarnShip

it was a "tufted" mat,,,,,I don't remember if fibreglass or canvas,,,,,I only remember the pulled in areas like Gramma's quilting with yarn

some kits call for those to be a gray color,,,,,and I would bet that some were the gray and some the "sail color",,,,,,and maybe another variation I don't know of,,,,,,,,canvas can be had in any color you want

it is funny, in a way,,,,,,,,Sail Color is an old Fujimi and Hasegawa color call out,,,,,,and Gunze has added Radome Tan to there paint line,,,,somewhere in the numbers up above H-300,,,,,so some kits call for Sail in one spot and Radome in another, on the same instruction sheet

well, I am doing it again, typing about models instead of working on a model,,,,,I only have 3 on the bench right now, which is cool for me,,,,,,,,,,usually there are more boxes "in action" stacked up over there,,,,,,,and 1 model is a "repair",,,,I don't think that counts as a model in "production" status, lol

take care, I will get a Phantom out soon and join in here

Rex

The covering on the wall of the right rear cockpit was a quilted fabric.  When new it was gray, somewhat lighter than the dark gull gray of the rest of the cockpit and had a bit of a "sheen" to it.  In service it would get dirty, stained and frayed a bit around the edges.

Mark

Here's some WIP stuff on my Hasegawa 1:72 RF-4B. This is the kit:

The last time I posted anything, back in Rhinos II, I had the cockpit done, here's where that was:

And here's where she is now:

Well, I must say Hasegawa, for all their vaunted supremacy over Fujimi in Phantom engineering, are struggling with exactly the same aspects. Note the wingroot gaps. The intake engineering fits better than I expected it to but it'll still take some fancy adzing and filing to make it look flush.

I'm hoping to do this one and the Fujimi -J in Red Devils markings back to back, as they are both grey over whites. The seats were only dropped into the cockpit before, they need some straps and the grips doing, but hopefully I can move along fairly smartly to the masking stage.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

fantastic artwork on that box, Mikey!! Love that painting on the pit also.

Cheers

Thanks, Casper! Actually the cockpit is mostly decals, I sprayed the Dark Gull Grey, then brushed on clear where the instruments would be and laid on a large number of very small decals, none of which actually fit and all of which had their edges trimmed with a blade afterward. It looks pretty good for a process which, in retrospect, could be more exact.

Yep, the old Ka-series kits are pretty darn good, and the current/recent boxings with photo boxtops have essentially the same guts.

Cheers, Mike

Ok Mike, since we both seem to be building an RF-4B, I am trying to figure out the clear part (W-16) which has the windows for the cameras. My instructions are mono-colored and don't clearly show which panels should be clear and not painted over. The forward facing opening is a no brainer, and the triangular, peaked one in the center is as well. What I'm not sure about is any other possible windows. I could find few if any photos, but some kit instructions over at Hobby Search would suggest the square panel between these two would remain unpainted and clear. What I am not sure of is the large panel towards the back of the part, behind the "peaked" window. It looks like it might be clear as well, but this seemed to vary between the different schemes. Instructions for other recon versions are not helpful as a different shaped part is used.

Well, Jim... My solution was not very scientific -- I was going to open the Eduard mask set and see what the instructions said. I think it has masks for both camera bays, probably identified by part number, so I'd match the masks to the part.... Unfortunately, I can't find the set right now!

M/TB379

I just went to Eduards website and looked at the instructions for the mask set. There are 5 openings with the addition of a small window off to the side of the piece!

Hope you find you set soon!

Jim

I know other models are not the best source for a reference but I couldnt find any good photos of the camera bays. I also know that this is a C model not a B but if I remember the differences between the two were all about the aircraft not the cameras. Anyways, maybe this will help.

http://forums.europeanmodeller.com/lofiversion/index.php?t651.html

there are six camera windows, one on each side,,,,and the four along the bottom

that model pic in the post above shows 3 windows along the bottom, and a spot for the clear prism that goes there,,,,under that prism should be a clear area

on the "round" nose RF-4C, E and last 3 B,,,,,there was a wider, curved, actual window across the same area as that prism

the Hasegawa kits show those four areas on the bottom piece, marked out with a raised line around each one of them

if needed, I can "silver Sharpie" with black around the outside one of each type of those clear parts, for modeler's reference on here

ps,,,,,,as an aside to other "blue box" collectors,,,,,,Ka series have art instead of photos, that is true,,,,but, they also give more and wider options in each kit than the photograph boxings,,,,,,,,,Ka9 has one scheme on the decal sheet that I have refused to use,,,,,the bright Red "photo strip" marked aircraft,,,,,I would build it, but even though I have photos, it stills looks too much like a "made up" markings scheme, lol

Hey Tarn,

is the camera bay by the nose wheel bay a side-by-side?

If not where dose the fourth camera go?...tx

Thunderbolt379

Here's some WIP stuff on my Hasegawa 1:72 RF-4B. This is the kit:

The last time I posted anything, back in Rhinos II, I had the cockpit done, here's where that was:

And here's where she is now:

Well, I must say Hasegawa, for all their vaunted supremacy over Fujimi in Phantom engineering, are struggling with exactly the same aspects. Note the wingroot gaps. The intake engineering fits better than I expected it to but it'll still take some fancy adzing and filing to make it look flush.

I'm hoping to do this one and the Fujimi -J in Red Devils markings back to back, as they are both grey over whites. The seats were only dropped into the cockpit before, they need some straps and the grips doing, but hopefully I can move along fairly smartly to the masking stage.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

but if I'm reading the styrene right, it is an earlier wing without the wider Navy wheel and the spec for the wheel bump on the wing....

Did I get that right?

Hi Bocks,

Yep, that's my reading. I know no two Marine RF-4Bs were entirely identical and the recon fleet contained many of the major variations, but the photos I have of the two planes painted up in the VMFP-3 bicentennial scheme seem to be showing the thin wing. Luckily the kit contains the sprues for both thick and thin wings to cater to the variety of RF-4Bs that existed, so it's a case of matching the wing, recon chin and tail tip fairing options to the photos...

Cheers, M/TB379

Thunderbolt379

Hi Bocks,

Yep, that's my reading. I know no two Marine RF-4Bs were entirely identical and the recon fleet contained many of the major variations, but the photos I have of the two planes painted up in the VMFP-3 bicentennial scheme seem to be showing the thin wing. Luckily the kit contains the sprues for both thick and thin wings to cater to the variety of RF-4Bs that existed, so it's a case of matching the wing, recon chin and tail tip fairing options to the photos...

Cheers, M/TB379

Nice to know the kit accounted for that.......selling the thick wings on ebay pal...?

If you need the thick wing, Bocks, you're most welcome to it! PM me...

M/TB379

Thunderbolt379

If you need the thick wing, Bocks, you're most welcome to it! PM me...

M/TB379

I hate seeing good styrene put on the curb.....and yes......it happens.

I'll get in touch.....

Now I'm thinking that the mask set might be worth having.....

A couple of things:

Looking at a couple of kits at hobby search, Hasegawa RF-4 builders in 1/48 scale are instructed to paint the side panel we discussed earlier a grey color instead of the 'sail color'.

My RF-4B kit was provided with thin wings, but the kit instructions call for use of the wider tires. Looking at the box photo, it appears that the thinner wheels and tires would be correct. An error on Hasegawa's part?

On of the kits I looked at actually came with both sets of wings. It depended on which version you were to build....

The "cameras" provided for the kit are nothing more than painting the ends of plastic parts silver and nothing provided at all for last camera bay. Not sure if I can make something better at this scale, but I can try. They might not even be visible at this scale due the thickness of the plastic.

A lot of variation on the pylons as well. Some kits show not using the inboard pylons at all, others have them added, but no Sidewinder rails. My kit shows pylons with rails in place. Did RF versions even carry Sidewinders at all?