nubaba Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 They say that there is a first time for everything. This certainly the case here as I have never built an F-4 before. It is also the first time that I have participated in a forum of this kind. So I am not sure of the rules of engagement and it took me ages to work out how to get pictures on the screen. Anyhow: This is the kit Late 80s kit I am told in 1/48 scale of one of the most famous F-4Js BuAer No. 155800. It was this aircraft that Lt. Randy Cunningham and Lt.JG Willie Driscoll became the first aces of the Vietnam War. I picked the kit up for a few dollars from another modeler with the wings glued together, but, otherwise untouched and all the bits there (fingers crossed). I found the above picture in Squadron/Signal Publication F-4 Phantom II in Action Special - Aircraft Number 65. It showed Showtime 100 (155800) when it was attached to CVW-9 (NG), VF-96, CVN-65 USS Enterprise between 6 January 1969 to 2 July 1969 (don't know where photo was taken). The boxart and decals depict the aircraft later in life while onboard the USS Constellation. From what I can tell the markings are the same except for 'USS Constellation' in an italic font needs to be 'USS Enterprise' in non-italics, so I am going to have to find or make some new markings. Help would be appreciated: 1 - There is a heap of photos and build reviews of 155800 while it was onboard the Constellation, however, I have found just 2 references (1 colour and 1 B&W photo) while it was onboard Enterprise. Are there any other pictures out there? 2 - Does anyone know what type of FOD covers this aircraft would have worn while onboard the Enterprise? The intakes suck so I am looking to do a cover up job. 3 - Is there is anything that I really need to be aware of i.e. traps for the unwary, hints and tips? Looking forward to getting started Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Welcome to ARC ... That photo was taken at NAS Moffet Field near San Fransisco ... Nice idea for the Enterprise GB ... Gregg Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Not only am I involved with the Enterprise group build but I have built the Hasegawa phantom once or twice over the years. If your going out of the box, close the canopies. The cockpit is lacking. Early editions come with an air force rear cockpit instead of a navy version. The nice thing about the phantom is the small canopies aid in hiding the major errors. Especially if you add the rather acceptable pilots in the model. If you go with out the fly-guys the only REALLY needed aftermarket is for the seats. The intakes. They take practice. I can get them to sit nice and behave now , but that comes with the benefit of building the phantom well over a hundred times now. I find having the intakes in place before attaching the wings works best for me, but your mileage may vary. Really the Hasegawa phantom is one of the earliest super kits. Apart from the intakes its really very simple and should give you no problems. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rampage55 Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Welcome aboard Nubaba! Excellent choice of kit for your first F-4 build, it's one of my favorites. Cool choice of markings too. :lol: Mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nubaba Posted October 22, 2009 Author Share Posted October 22, 2009 Welcome to ARC ...That photo was taken at NAS Moffet Field near San Fransisco ... Nice idea for the Enterprise GB ... Gregg Gregg Thanks for that. I have updated my references as it was not mentioned in the book. :lol: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
C-130CrewChief Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Yup, Moffett! Here,s a view from the back of my shop as it is today... Unfortunately Showtime 100 isn't there... Curt Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nubaba Posted October 24, 2009 Author Share Posted October 24, 2009 Yup, Moffett!Here,s a view from the back of my shop as it is today... Unfortunately Showtime 100 isn't there... Curt Just need a time machine. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nubaba Posted October 24, 2009 Author Share Posted October 24, 2009 Not only am I involved with the Enterprise group build but I have built the Hasegawa phantom once or twice over the years.If your going out of the box, close the canopies. The cockpit is lacking. Early editions come with an air force rear cockpit instead of a navy version. The nice thing about the phantom is the small canopies aid in hiding the major errors. Especially if you add the rather acceptable pilots in the model. If you go with out the fly-guys the only REALLY needed aftermarket is for the seats. The intakes. They take practice. I can get them to sit nice and behave now , but that comes with the benefit of building the phantom well over a hundred times now. I find having the intakes in place before attaching the wings works best for me, but your mileage may vary. Really the Hasegawa phantom is one of the earliest super kits. Apart from the intakes its really very simple and should give you no problems. Thanks for the info.You are spot on regarding the cockpit. I will have to do something with it and the seats if I am to leave the windows up . I found a partial P/E set in the box, which I think came from a Hasegawa Hi-detail set, so it will help a litlle if I do leave the canopies open. On the plus side, all but finished the reference gathering (ARC site has a lot on stuff on F-4s) and I am on holiday for a week (Labour Day holiday on Monday in NZ). Will be starting the build when I get back Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nubaba Posted October 31, 2009 Author Share Posted October 31, 2009 Was able to get going on the F-4J this weekend. I have recently come back to model building after a 20 year break and have built a number of Revell, Monogram, ESCI, Fujimi and Italeri kits. This is the first Hasegawa kit I have tackled and first F-4 (albiet have started an old 1/32 F-16A kit as well). First impressions of the kit after washing and studying parts was very good. I loved the external detail and overall look of the kit and parts. But, internal detail is rather weak and there are some issues with the cockpit that need to be addressed if canopy is to be left open. Despite my better instinct and skill level, I decided to have a go at leaving the canopy open. I also thought that I would build air intakes. I will reserve the right to close it up and add air intake covers if things don't work out as planned. Photo of progress to date: As you can hopefully see from photo; I have: - Removed the formation lights on fuselage. - Opened up air intake trunks with dremel and made forms for inside of air intake trunks - Scratch built details to fuselage side walls - The sidewalls have very weak raised details and some bits are missing. I added ribbing, wiring etc with styrene and stretched sprue. It is not all that accurate as I have just tried to duplicate (more or less) the basic shapes from references. - Scratch built details on cockpit bulkheads - Bulkheads were just flat with no details at all. Used sprue and styrene to duplicate basic shapes using photos of the Blackbox Cockpit as a reference. Did not bother too much with detail that would be covered by the jump seat. - Removed flaps from wing and filled gaps with styrene and filla to prepare for sanding. -Fixed and filled bits on wing: kit had been started when I got it - did not notice damage to wing and other bits when I brought it Still trying to figure out what to do with the instrument panel as kit parts better represents a late F-4J or F-4S not what I want to build....any ideas? Thats all for now. Time to watch the All Blacks play the Wallabies (Australia vs NZ Rugby teams for the uninitiated)...go NZ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 This is going to be one nice Phantom ! Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nubaba Posted November 5, 2009 Author Share Posted November 5, 2009 Camera skills are not very good, but, here is an update of where I am at. Scratch building in cockpit and sidewalls to replicate some of the main shapes. Seat does not look much like a real one. So decided to cut it into bits and hopefully rebuild it better than new. Starting to put together cockpit, though still got a lot of work to do on it (NB: took a lot of photos but this is the best of a bad lot...how do you do it :) ) Looking at the standard of stuff on this site I have a long way to go with modeling skills, but, really enjoying this build - the parts go together nicely Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nubaba Posted November 21, 2009 Author Share Posted November 21, 2009 (edited) A bit of a mission to get looking anything like a real seat using kit parts, styrene, toothpaste tube and stretched sprue. But, getting closer and here are seats after painting and dry brushing, front view and side view Still to add some decals, seal and complete wash. Edited November 21, 2009 by nubaba Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nubaba Posted November 21, 2009 Author Share Posted November 21, 2009 Photo of intake before final cleanup and painting. A real mission and totally incorrect shape if you look too far down the intake. However, I think it looks better than looking at a blank plate and there are compressor blades down the end if you use a torch. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nubaba Posted November 21, 2009 Author Share Posted November 21, 2009 Ready to go to the paint shop for priming... ...the bits... ...and the body Panel lines were quite faint in places and all but disappeared when cleaning up parts, particularly on the spine. Have rescribed and redrilled drilled rivets where detail was lost. Decided not to attach exhausts till later and will use gap to hang model for painting Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 Nice work ... I'm looking forward to seeing those intakes finished ... Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 nubaba, WELCOME to ARC and HELLO.. Love PHANTOMS so this is nice project you have chosen and the work is looking good so far..Yayyyyyy another PHABULOUS PHANTOM to DROOOL OVER Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nubaba Posted November 26, 2009 Author Share Posted November 26, 2009 Main coats are down using my trusty Pasche airbrush and a bit of hand painting. Had a bit of a false start after rechecking references. Photos showed my bird without DECM antennas. Some cutting, grinding, sanding and repainting was the order for the day. Bit of a pain after paint is down, but, glad I spotted it before the finish line. Photo shows white going up alongside intake, but, it is grey like the rest. All the photos did that and I have no Idea why. Still to add HUD and paint hood black. I used Humbrol 129 for the main colour. This looked ok on the plane and matched the colour photo, kit reference and FS reference that I have. Tamiya paints were used for blacks and whites. Still have to seal and wash panel lines, although very little weathering will be done as the aircraft was pretty much 'out of the box' when it joined the Enterprise. Also managed to get onto the ordinance. Will be arming my Phantom with 4 Aim-7E Sparrows, 4 Aim-9D Sidewinders and 6 MK-82 GP bombs on TER's from a Hasegawa weapons set. Photo show some of the completed air-to-air missiles. Working on the feet at the moment. :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 Looking great. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 Paint looks sharp ... :) Bummer about the antennas but I bet all is well now ... Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
imatt88 Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 (edited) Love those missles! What markings did you use for the stencils? BTW, building the exact same kit at the moment, except it will be VMFA-321. Cheers, Ian Edited November 26, 2009 by imatt88 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
C-130CrewChief Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 Looking really good! Curt Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nubaba Posted November 27, 2009 Author Share Posted November 27, 2009 I made up all of the stencils myself using Coreldraw and printed them on a laser printer. The Aim-7E markings were based on photos off the internet and other references that I have. Sizing was roughly based on the Hasegawa kit stencils, but, I think that they ended up slightly overscale when I finally printed them on the decal paper . The Aim-9E markings was a real hassle as I could find very little in the way of close-up photos on the net or in anything that I had. In the end I have based them on some computer drawings I found. Thus I have no idea if the Aim-9s markings look anything like the real thing. It is the first time that I have had a go at making my own decals and overall I was happy with the result <_< Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nubaba Posted December 1, 2009 Author Share Posted December 1, 2009 Bad, bad day Getting through towards the finish line with decals on when I stupidly decided to seal everything with Glosscoat clear gloss laquer before highlighting panel lines. I usually use Future, however, thought I would try the laquer as I was told that it is easy to use and dries quick. Thats when the trouble started. The Humbrol paint started bubbling and the Tamiya paint started seeping/weeping along the lines where paint changed colour. What were nicely clean lines are now messy, my beautiful paint job sucks and all in all it is a rather deflating experience. I could understand this happening if I had not primed the model with laquer and top coats of paint had not cured. My paint has been down a week and it also had a layer of future over it as a bed for the decals. Going out of town for a week, which is just as well as the model almost came to a horrible end :lol: . By then I should have cooled off a bit and can get on with fixing my stuff up. Moral of the story, if it ain't broke why change it :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 I sure hope your able to fix it back up next week. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PNW_Modeler Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 That's why I hate Tamiya paints. They are too fragile. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.