Thanks guys.

I went back and touched up any areas that needed attention so both Phantoms are ready to be glossed up in prep for decals.

I started assembling the weapons and decided for the VF-84 one to go clean with a CL tank, Sparrows and Winders while the VMF 235 one will ready for mud moving work having a CL MER with Mk. 82's, two TERs with Lau- 10s on the inner stations with Winders, followed by wing fuel tanks and Sparrows. I think it makes an interesting payload.  

VMFA 235 transitioned from F-8s to F-4s soon after completing their Nam deployment and were stationed in Hawaii. VF-84 completed deployment in Nam and was sent to the Med by the time this paint scheme was used.

The Winders are left overs from Ademy F-4 kits and are excellent. The LAU 10s are from the Hasegawa Weapons Set B. I will probably go with the Acedemy AIM7s which are better than the old Monogram ones. I still have to work on the Mk.82s and TER so lots of gluing ahead.

I think someone said on the aircraft forum that cold war/modern jets take so much longer than their Second World War brethern is because of all the extra stuff hanging off them. But they can look so much more badass for it, that's gonna be impressive PJ! 

BTW: My Viper is still sitting there with the cockpit almost done, I haven't touched the thing in over an month now... 

Gamera

I think someone said on the aircraft forum that cold war/modern jets take so much longer than their Second World War brethern is because of all the extra stuff hanging off them. But they can look so much more badass for it, that's gonna be impressive PJ! 

 

BTW: My Viper is still sitting there with the cockpit almost done, I haven't touched the thing in over an month now... 

 

That is a fact. The underwing weapons take a long time to put together and detail but look badass as you said. I wanted to go with 3 TERs on the Marine Phantom but man that's 18 mk 82's to assemble, paint, decal and detail. Then hanging them from the racks which takes a lot of time , patience and alignment. I think the LAU set up gives some variance to the usual loads.

I think all these modern kits are gonna look so cool with all that armament hanging under the wings.

BK

BrandonK

I think all these modern kits are gonna look so cool with all that armament hanging under the wings.

BK

 

Mine won't. No weapons, just fuel tanks.

PJ,

I'm looking forward to seeing those 2 phantoms loaded out! 

Gentlmen,

I am done with the Predator, but, I still have to finish the base. Here are the pictures:

In my haste, I forgot the add balast in the front so it's a tail sitter. And one evening I over sprayed the Testors flat lacquer and it ran.  I know I'm a better modeler than that, so, I'm still a bit upset with myself. Other than those mistakes, I'm happy with the results. 

I'll look to finish the base in the next week, then take the final shots.

Also, how do you like the pictures? I purchased a new portable photo studio, and a point and shoot camera on the cheap. But, I do know the back drop needs to be changed. 

Comments and critiques are welcome! 

Nicely done.  Wire down the gear on the stand and that solves that problem, or if you show it just off the base in flight.

The pics are great, good detail in them.

Thanks, GH! 

I was thinking of glueing the wheels to the base. But, I think I will investigate wiring the gear down. Thanks for the suggestion! 

That looks really nice Bruce, i do like the look of that.

I used to just glue my models to a base, but there is to much risk of it knocking off if jolted. So now i just drill a hole in the bottom of one wheel and glue a piece of brass rod in there, then a hole in the base and glue the rod into that. I have not had one come off yet and with a tail sitter it helps counter any pull on the glued front wheel.

For a backdrop i use a large piece of white card.

Thanks, Bish!

Adding brass rod does sound like it would re-inforce the wheel much better. I have some brass rod, looks like I'll be creative this weekend.

Wow, Bruce!! That is really amazing. I love it. I love it so much I think I'll add one to the stash. Awesome sauce!!!

BK

Bish

 

 

BrandonK

I think all these modern kits are gonna look so cool with all that armament hanging under the wings.

BK

 

 

 

 

Mine won't. No weapons, just fuel tanks.

 

Man the fit on thos kit is lacking! I wonder why they didn't just have 2 fuse halves instead of the 3 they have here.

I managed to wrangle the fuse together but I will have to do allot of filling and sanding on the bottom. Lucky for me I got a new re-scribing river tool so it should be OK.

I am starting to think my odea of folding the rotor and the tail was to optimistic for this kit, I am not sure all that work will add to the overall improvement of the final result. Maybe just build it and move on.

Theuns

Bruce: Hey, she turned out sharp, nice work! I like Bish's idea there about the rod, I've stuff like that to keep models from sliding around on a base though not yet to keep a nose wheel down. 

Theuns: Ouch, that does look like a pain. Well, at least it's on the bottom where it won't be seen unless they pick up the model and flip her over. 

Gamera

Bruce: Hey, she turned out sharp, nice work! I like Bish's idea there about the rod, I've stuff like that to keep models from sliding around on a base though not yet to keep a nose wheel down. 

Theuns: Ouch, that does look like a pain. Well, at least it's on the bottom where it won't be seen unless they pick up the model and flip her over. 

 

As i am sure you have noticed, all my models, whether dio or not, are on a base. I used to add nose weight to tail sitters and glue all models down. But most of the time i found i had not added enough weither to tail sits and glue alone was often not enough. So started adding rod to all aircrfat builds, both nose wheel and tail draggers.

Of course, it tok me a hand full of builds to realise i was still adding nose weight even though i was going to use a rod to hold the front down.

For tail draggers, i just add a rod to one of the main wheels. For those with a nose wheel, i add one to the nose gear and at least one to the main gear.

BrandonK

 

Bish

 

 

BrandonK

I think all these modern kits are gonna look so cool with all that armament hanging under the wings.

BK

 

 

 

 

Mine won't. No weapons, just fuel tanks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

AWWWWW that almost makes me want to dry.

Don't worry, i am sure i can make up for it.

Bish

 

 

BrandonK

 

Bish

 

 

BrandonK

I think all these modern kits are gonna look so cool with all that armament hanging under the wings.

BK

 

 

 

 

Mine won't. No weapons, just fuel tanks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AWWWWW that almost makes me want to dry.

Don't worry, i am sure i can make up for it.

 

BK

Theuns

Man the fit on thos kit is lacking! I wonder why they didn't just have 2 fuse halves instead of the 3 they have here.

I managed to wrangle the fuse together but I will have to do allot of filling and sanding on the bottom. Lucky for me I got a new re-scribing river tool so it should be OK.

 

I am starting to think my odea of folding the rotor and the tail was to optimistic for this kit, I am not sure all that work will add to the overall improvement of the final result. Maybe just build it and move on.

 

 

Theuns

 

The kit is looking really good by the way.

BK

I was close to putting it in the box again. The problem is that I made a commitment to myself that I will not start another kit till it is done ! 

Theuns

@Cliff and BrandonK,

Thank you for the comments.

@Thuens,

I feel for you on the fit issue, but, it looks like you have it sorted out. Great job! 

I would like to submit my EA-6B Prowler. Just finished it in July so I think that fits the bill?

TheMongoose

I would like to submit my EA-6B Prowler. Just finished it in July so I think that fits the bill?

 

BK

Just shot several coats of Aqua Gloss on both Phantoms. I usually brush on several coats of Future but that takes a lot of time specially working on two F4s. I also got all the weapons painted.

Decals and weathering will be next.

Ok, I'll take an honorable mention on this one! Will pick something from my stash after  I finish the F-82 Twin Mustang I'm working on now. Something from the Thunderbirds I think...

TheMongoose

 Something from the Thunderbirds I think...

 

BK

Ok, an Honorable Mention for Mongoose on his completed, seperately, EA-6B. Very nice work. 

Finally, today I began work on my F-4B VF-111 Sundowners. As soon as the pit is painted I will post up some pics.

BK

"Just shot several coats of Aqua Gloss on both Phantoms"

How does the Aqua gloss compare to brushed on future? Usualy I also do the future thing but over matt enamel it takes allot of coats and sanding to get smooth.

Theuns

Theuns

"Just shot several coats of Aqua Gloss on both Phantoms"

 

How does the Aqua gloss compare to brushed on future? Usualy I also do the future thing but over matt enamel it takes allot of coats and sanding to get smooth.

 

Theuns

 

Aqua Gloss goes on smooth and even when sprayed. For some reason, when I spray Future it goes on pebbly so I hand brush several coats for a glass smooth finish.

BK

Are you doing the Academy F-4B?

Mongoose: Nice work there on the EA-6! You sure you don't have anything else you could join us with? Would love to have you along. 

That's interesting PJ, I've had the same results with Future sprayed, it always created horrible orange peel with me as well. Spraying it on more heavy and it ran and I ended up with big drips on the bottom of the model. I haven't tried brushing it on. It's great stuff for dipping canopies but otherwise I avoid using Future for anything modeling related.