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Mark T Gold Coast wrote:

Lookin good Leon. That looks like a well detailed Phantom kit. I see the aux intake doors in the underside of the fuselage and the speedbrakes open too. What were those things you sanded off the top of the wing? Does this model have the bulges in the wings for the larger wheels? Was this a Navy thing or did the USAF have the larger wheels? Keep up the good work Mark

Well, I'm not sure what it was, that I had to remove off the top of the wings, but I know the USAF planes didn't have them.

They were some sort of fairing/housing, right above the main gear pivot point.

And yes, this kit does have the correct bulged wing that was used on the USAF models.

It also has the correct wider wheel/tire combo.

It also had 4 other antennas on the bottom of the wing, that had to be removed.

All in all, I'm very happy with how its going, and using my memory along with several books for reference, it's becoming an Air Force Phantom.

Thanks,

Leon

Mark and Leon, those large bumps on the top of the wing were actually a reinforcement modification when the larger wheels were introduced to accomidate the change to the main struts. There was not enough room for the larger strut and withouth a major overhaul to the system they went up into the wing resulting in a small hump on top of the wing. How in regard to the Hasegawa kits they are very accurate but this hump was way overstated and too sharply represented. As such it should be sanded down a lot but still show a little. Just thought you would like to know.

SgtBrown, welcome to the build. Looking forward to seeing your work.

Steve.

sidure wrote:

Mark and Leon, those large bumps on the top of the wing were actually a reinforcement modification when the larger wheels were introduced to accomidate the change to the main struts. There was not enough room for the larger strut and withouth a major overhaul to the system they went up into the wing resulting in a small hump on top of the wing. How in regard to the Hasegawa kits they are very accurate but this hump was way overstated and too sharply represented. As such it should be sanded down a lot but still show a little. Just thought you would like to know. SgtBrown, welcome to the build. Looking forward to seeing your work. Steve.

Thanks Steve for the heads up.

I must assume you are referring to the Navy/Marine versions on the F-4, because these pictures show a pretty smooth wing on these USAF Phantoms, in the same area as where the bulges were, that I removed.

RF-4C

F-4E

Hey Leon that is correct, I was referring to the Marine/Navy F-4s. They needed the extra support for carrier landings. Just thought you would like to know what the mysterious bump is. I could not tell ya what the situation was with U.S.A.F. birds was.

Steve

sidure wrote:

Hey Leon that is correct, I was referring to the Marine/Navy F-4s. They needed the extra support for carrier landings. Just thought you would like to know what the mysterious bump is. I could not tell ya what the situation was with U.S.A.F. birds was. Steve

Hey Steve, any info, is always good info!! Thanks!

I plan on using it, too, as I have a few F-4Js I am about to build, so I will have to get the "USAF", out of my head, while doing those.

Cheers,

Leon

sidure wrote:

OOOOOOHHHHHH Mark are you stoking the fires with that one!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You really dont think the F-111 was the best do you??????. If so, then i must counter with the good old F-4J. Everything after that is a dissapointment. Steve

So many fond memories of the F-111. Growing up on a RAAF base with your dad flying them it kind of builds them up to an almost mythical status.

Every time I see one or hear one it takes me right back to those days with the smell of burnt jet fuel and sweat and beer that was dad when we'd pick him up.

I've never seen a Phantom as their short service with Australia was before my time.

It does rank up there as one of my favourite aircraft, something so ugly is just so beautiful, it's just a pity I've never had the chance to hear one.

I've just finished the decals tonight.

Still needs a sealing coat of futre and the canopy and landing gear need fitting.

Ill post some pics later as it's now way past my bed time.

Cheers Guys

Mark

Yes, the F-4 was a sight to see. Remember several times that they past through our base(it is/was a major transit base). What a sight to see a flight of 4 on the runway has they cranked up the power and took-off.

Hope to get my airbrush out this week and gey my build painted.

Hello to all. I would like to say that all of the builds are looking great at this time. As for me I have finally settled down with the new "COLLAGE LIFE" and have started on the E-3. I have the cokpit painted and the wings and tail section together and waiting for putty. Hopefully now that I have settled down I can get some real work done on this bird.

John that is a great looking AH1 you have there. I was woke up today at 0645 with 8 of them hovering over my dorm at 250 feet AGL while a C-5 was taking off from campus. Now thell me that was not a bad wake up alarm. I would have taken pix of it all but by the time I found my cam the C-5 was gone and all of the AH1's had left also. Not for sure what they were doing. 

Hey Mark, know what ya mean about the way you feel about a certain aircraft. Mine just happens to be the F-4. Just a little light hearted joke about the F-111. I never did get to see or hear that aircraft but I can imagine it must have been awsome. I was around F-4 for five years so you can imagine I am impartial.

Steve

I've got a little more work done on the F-111.

It's on hold though as I think my brother gave me the wrong tail number.
This is for a RF-111c, not a F-111c.
The RF-111's were all converted from F-111's so it is possible that it is the aircraft that dad won the 1982 SAC Bomb comp in when it was still an F-111.

Here it is, ready for flat coating and final assembly.

Cheers guys.
Thanks for the encouragement so far
Mark

Awsome work you have there mate. I really like how your build is comming along and when finished will be show stopper. Your Dad is going to love this one. Great work.

Steve

mist glad you finally got those decals you have been waiting for. squadron is awsome i order alot from them and have never had a problem.

so i went out and got me some silly putty gonna try using it as a mask and see how things come out :) hope to get some work done tomorrow and post up some new pics.

have a great weekend everyone.

kenny

Woo Hoo!

Finally done.

Well, almost. I've just a few areas to touch up where I've worn through from too much handling. There are also a few little parts that have broken off that need to be un-broken off.

There was a little set back as the tail number my brother gave me turned out to not only be for the wrong aircraft but wrong squadron and vairiant. It took a fair amount of work to change the decals to the right ones as they were under several coats of clear.

In all I should have a whole heap of pics to post tomorrow night.

I've started work on the display case too so hopefully I'll have that finished as well.

Thursday night my wife and I are going up to Mum and Dad's so Dad might get his Christmas present yet.

Cheers

Mark

Sounds like a lot of builds are getting ready to be completed. Cant wait to see the pics.

Steve

Wow.  Dullcote takes forever to dry when it's cold!  Once it's dry and i put on the canopies tonight, she....will....be...done!!!!  One question for you all.  When i put the decals on the canopies, how do i seal them?  Can i re dip them in future without them coming loose?  Look for pics tomorrow guys

Jim 

DIDO what John said. Thats how I do it.

Steve

Ok.  After what seemed like forever to get my decals, here is my finished F-14A from VF-111.  After i took the pics i noticed that the left side seam by the wing broke open so that's why you don't see the left side of her much.  SUPER GLUE TO THE RESCUE!!!!  Anyway the only aftermarket on this baby is the decals and the TARPS pod.  Other than those strickly OOB.  As always, Tamiya paint, model master Dullcoat and Grimy Black Chalk powder for the weathering.  Let me know what y'all think.  Thank you for letting me be apart of this build, and looking forward to seeing the amazing projects that will be completed.

got some more progress done on the hummer tonight all should be completed by monday night if all goes well this weekend. i will be posting some pics then. hope you all have a great weekend.

kenny

Hey Mist, great job, it really looks excellent. Thats a piece of work to be proud of, congrats. Just have one question for ya, should there be two national insignias on the tops of the wings?. Normally there is only one on the port wing and the other is blank. However, there are numerious cases where they made mistakes and put one on each wing. There was a thread here just about the same situation a month or so ago and it seems to have happened quite a few times.

Great job my friend.

Steve

well i was gonna work some tonight but the boy wanted to model. i went in the closet and pulled out the first tiger i ever built when i was about 10 or 11 years old. so since i dont have any progress pics of my build here is what kenny jr. (2 1/2 yrs. old) accomplished tonight. i must say watching him was much more fun then trying to finish my build tonight. he was so ecited to paint he called his mommy in to watch. so here he is on his first paint job.

kenny 

Great work there Mist.

A very colorful scheme you chose.

It looks great.

I realy like your weathering too. Very realistic as far as the pics of the F-14 that I've seen.

One tip that works for me, when painting your canopy, when it's all masked up. paint it black first. this way when seen from underneath it looks like the canopy frame has been painted inside.

other than that, I think you really kicked a goal.

Hey Kenny.

Good to see you've got an up and comming modeler on the way.

It looks like a great way to spend quality time with your kids.

I've just got home from camping with my Mum and Dad. I got the F-111 finished in tima and the timber stain was still tacky on the display case when I gave it to him.

He loved it! I felt really good with his response. He thinks it's just the greatest model of the F-111 he's ever seen. He was looking at a few things and saying that he couldn't believe that I's even included this and that. It feels really good to give him something that meant so much to him.

I'll post the photo's tomorrow as it's pretty late now.

Have a good day all.

Mark