Craig Baldwin

Wing mould production. May seems like a long way off, but it seems the progress is steady.

They look nice, but hoping they will give a closed speedbrake option as well. The March 2022 issue of J Wings magazine features a four page detailed breakdown of the F-2 landing gear with a mix of actual photos CAD images with what looks like a technical analysis.

For those of you who have invested in the Model Art Profile book, the answer in Japanese is on page 30/31. On the right side of cockpit external skin, an aft facing vent. As well as a couple more sensor differences.

Although HLJ and HobbySearch now show release is May 2022, nothing is mentioned elsewhere of the change from Feb. Here is the latest mould update.

It's all starting to have a Pokemonish feeling about it.............

A fair likeness of Miss Piggy.

Fuselage half and intake. February is fast approaching.

@BillS Thanks Bill, so many nuances in modelling the F-4 make building the subject a joy for us. 👍

Possibly the definitive build may be this one...... http://soyuyo.main.jp/f4e/f-4e-2.html#last People can't seem to take their eyes off the Phantoms rear end!!!

Seems I have too much time on my hands today. Two more pictures of 87-8407 from 1982 found on @TROUT92241176's Twitter feed. Appears I've been bitten by a Shark, and the only remedy is to build!!!

Looks like the decal sheet for 72737 has the light grey behind all those stencils to give an accurate representation. Mine is en route now and looking forward to this release.

First test sprue shots done.

A breakdown of the main parts. @GeneK already has this kit modified to a B but time will tell how a swap of Hasegawa parts will work. Hopefully that long snake of an intake will be easy to hide any seams.

From seeing comments on the speed brake inside colour, white was used in initial production and the blue was applied post-production maintenance. I have not researched the differences but inside that Model Art Profile 7 would likely have the answers.

You can build and finish a kit in entirely with Tamiya products. Their quality is top shelf and prices I think are reasonable considering the value for dollar. Any Hobby Shops near you? Tamiya's entire line are rarely carried by many shops. I've struggled with some of the different types of paints and now going back to Mr Color as it is getting easier to find again for me. Good Luck, Happy Modelling.

Inside colour difference of the speed brakes blue vs white. Although one aircraft if an A the other a B.

Oh such a joyous sight. Google's translation left out the dates that Finemolds provided but from the looks of all those boxes I would say things are looking on time, December 13th.

Thank you @Bob Beary and @Inquisitor for those notes. I had only purchased one other DXM decal before but not used them yet. Since these were made for the Hasegawa kit, I expect some hiccups.

My DXM decals arrived yesterday and look to be an outstanding addition to this kit, a small correction decal was included. The small stencils are included but only enough for one aircraft and are printed by Cartograf. The Finemolds decals will likely be the standard well printed but thick style we have become accustomed to. I am not sure if DXM do reprints so if your heart is set on them don't wait too long.

With the exception of a couple of airframes, all were painted in the same scheme. Mr Color has made it easier with these colours, the lightest grey being for the radome. They package these as a set too.

Found these on Twitter showing a slightly zoomed view. A lot going on there.

Here is 47-8335 in the time period that the decals would depict. This and other images are here http://nabe3saviation.web.fc2.com/aF42j.html . They all look to be shot using Kodachrome slide film and the colours look very good. To me the greys look consistent on the three aircraft.

407 the sharkmouth most likely (I see no reason to limit myself to one build, I'm a dreamer too). Less than a month a way, maybe time to add a few items to the warehouse to fill the box.

Follow up with 17-8440 taken at the same period. Conclude on colours as you wish. The other aircraft 47-8335 had no photos from this period on flyteam. These photos could have been scans from slides but don't look to me like from Kodachromes. Possibly Fujichrome which do have a more blue/green hue to them generally. Added the second photo, same time period but slightly less contrast.

Found these on flyteam page. I made an account using Chrome to translate and able to download a larger image than a GUEST view. Comparing their side profile it appears they are using the 36440 grey as the lighter colour but in the actual photo the grey is much bluer than the paint on the intake ramp? I will correct myself after examining the higher res image of FM's profiles I see the intake ramp is the 36440 while the lighter blue grey is a different shade. Never afraid to admit mistakes.