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Hasegawa 1/48 F-4S & TA-4J Combo build.


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The first real delay was because I really didn't feel like the next step which was fitting the etched cockpit sills and details supplied in the Hi-Grade F-4 kit. I finally had a short burst of enthusiasm and got them done a while ago.

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and painted. Note that between the unpainted and painted shots that I also got rid of the chunky, kit supplied HUD and have replaced it with the etched one from the airwaves set (I forgot it was on there).

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plus I summoned the courage to add the etched frames to the windscreen and center pillar.

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and, again, that was where they stayed for a very long time.

Cheers,

Motty.

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Soooo, what have I done lately? Well, the next big disincentives were;

1/ That I needed to mask the interior of the A-4's canopy (that internal framing was going to be just too visible to "rough" it), and I finally found some enthusiasm for it.

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with some of the internals fitted, including those four, tiny mirrors.

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and the outside done too.

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and 2/ The really big disincentive was the need to apply the Hi-Grade etched canopy frames to the inside of the F-4 canopies. Super glue and clear parts? Yuck!

It wasn't going to be made any easier by the fact that the frames were made of separate parts and not just folded into shape. I thought it might be easier if I could sub-assemble parts of them off the canopies first, so I glued them together with a small piece of styrene strip to help reinforce the joint. I then had to thin these strips down so that the pieces would fit against the angled sides of the kit parts.

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There were also some white-metal parts to be added to the rear of both canopies too.

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Although it mostly went ok, I did end up with some super glue on the inside of one of the canopies so i had to sand and polish it out. :(/>/> But I think they came up ok.

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and then, of course, they had to be masked too.

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And here's everything after painting. The A-4 canopy with the internal masking removed and the center support assembly fitted along with two small instrument clusters at the front and middle of the top beam.

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and the F-4 canopies with their internal masking removed and a bit of dry brushing to highlight the details.

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And that's where I'm at right now. Let's see if I can keep it going for a bit longer? ;)/>/>

Cheers,

Motty.

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  • 1 year later...

G'day All,

Well this is embarrassing. I knew it had been a long time since I'd done anything but I didn't realise it was nearly two years! Crikey! :tumble:

Oh well, in the interests of still trying to "follow this through", I thought I'd update this thread anyway for anyone who may still be interested (or even remember it ;)/> ).

First up; while the kits had been languishing on my bench, there was a bit of a disaster. I keep my aftermarket decals in several, large, ring-binder folders on a shelf above my desk, and one day when I checked in on the modelling room, I noticed one of them laying on the chair (not where I'd left it). Sure enough, a quick look around revealed that the F-4 kit had taken some battle damage. :(/>

Both of the outer wing joins had broken open, the leading edge of the left wing had split and I'd lost the left leading edge slat and some of the mounting rods;

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This was a little disheartening to say the least, but it could have been far worse, considering the size and weight of the folder.

After finding all the bits (which took a while) I eventually repaired the damage and carried on a few months later.

Edited by Motty
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The next thing which had been bugging me was the lack of rivet detail on the F-4s's tailplanes. This is a fairly distinct feature and would stand out under a metalic finish. I eventually struck up the courage to give it a go, and took the opportunity to remove the triangular strengthening plates (which are not present on Navy F-4s) at the same time. I used a Trumpeter riveting wheel for the job and was quite happy with the results (I was after the "effect" rather than absolute accuracy).

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Another few months passed before I found the interest to begin the next, major step; painting! Typically, as I was doing this I thought of more things I should fix, namely the lack of detail on the Sidewinder launch rails. I used the relevant parts from the old, Airwaves etched set that I had also used for a couple of cockpit details (note that I'd already undercoated the parts when I thought of this).

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I also started preparing the Aires burner cans and exhausts that I will be fitting.

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These required a bit of trimming and sanding to fit together but nothing major. The worst part was that I needed to remove some of the area where the bottom half of the Hasegawa fuselage joins together, above the lower wing, to allow the resin bits to fit. This meant trying to snap off chunks of plastic, inside the fuselage, through the exhaust openings. A little nerve wracking.

I also plodded along with assembling the undercarriage of both kits (I'm using the hi-grade, white-metal gear for the F-4)

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Then, finally, at the beginning of this year, some real progress. Painting! After undercoating both kits with Mr Base White 1000, the respective blues were applied to each.

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But, sure enough, even this didn't go smoothly. These kits are the first time that I have used Mr Color lacquer paints (I normally use Xtracolour and Humbrol) and, whilst I expected a learning curve, the biggest lesson I learned was that they need to be thinned a lot more than I'm used to. I actually ended up going through a whole bottle of blue and still not quite finishing the Skyhawk.

Thanks to some help from a friend of mine (thanks again Andrew) I managed to get another bottle and carry on (thinning a lot more this time). It also seems that, although I thought the bulk, automotive lacquer thinners I was using already had a leveling (or retarding) agent in it, the paint still benefited from some dedicated Mr Retarder.

The Blue for the F-4 is a mix of a metallic and dark blue. Although I couldn't tell for sure from photos, Hasegawa has specified a metallic blue for both editions of this kit so I went with that.

No sooner had I finally got some colour onto the kits than they disappeared again under a flurry of masking, so that I could paint the wheel wells, doors and undercarriage on both kits gloss white, the black walkways on the A-4 and some red edging and metal areas on the F-4.

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(I didn't want any overspray. ;)/>

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And so, finally, here's what they look like at the moment, after the coverings have been removed.

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I am quite happy with the new (to me) Gunze paints. I think that, once I lean the finer points of using them, they will be great. They go on very thin, dry fast and the finish seems very tough (even the metallic colours, which look great too).

So there you have it. Finally, some significant progress after almost two years! I wont even pretend that any future updates will be any better but thank you to those who have dropped in again after such a long delay for a look-see.

Cheers,

Motty. :wave:

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I only joined ARC relatively recently (compared to your previous posts) so I hadn't come across your work on these two before. I am very glad I did because not only is your work nice to look at, it was terrific to find some good pictures of Aussie Phantoms, Mirages etc on your website. Bookmarks all round for future reference. I am looking forward to seeing you finish these off, keep us posted, even if it takes another few years.

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