Procopius Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 I was originally going to do a Luftwaffe F-4F, because that was the Phantom in my stash that I cared least about. But then I remembered the words of Basil King, who said "Go at it boldly, and you'll find unexpected forces closing round you and coming to your aid." Well, I don't know about that. But I thought I'd flip things on their heads and do a 74 (Tiger) Squadron Phantom, my favorite squadron from my favorite air force. I'm using the Hasegawa F-4J "Black Aces Special" boxing of the F-4J, along with True Details seats, the Eduard zoom set for the cockpit, and Xtradecals' 74 Squadron set. I am not a terribly skilled modeller, so I won't be doing many clever tricks or even probably building a terribly nice-looking model. But I'll try. I'm going to use Lifecolor's UA124 Japan Greygreen A5 to simulate the peculiar bluey-green fuselage color on the F-4J(UK)s as delivered. I'm aware the fuselage tiger head is the wrong color on the Xtradecal sheet, but I am but a man, and can but do no more than any man can do. Probably less. So far I've messed up a Hasegawa F-4E, a Fujimi F-4E, and did okay on a Fujimi FGR.2 until the decals failed on me catastrophically. So here's to hoping those unexpected forces turn up. Anyhoo, for tonight I've unbagged and washed all the parts. Tomorrow, the fun begins. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scooter Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Keep it posted. I was fondling my Hasegawa F-4J last night and even broke out my SAMI "Foreign Users Volume III" book. Good luck on the build. Cheers Adam Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Procopius Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 Tonight I took my wife out for sushi to celebrate tomorrow being a snow day (she teaches at a Montessori school), so I only had a little time to work on the Phantom. I glued the left nose to the left fuselage and the same with the right side; I've read that this can obviate some of the alignment problems of the multipart Hase Phantoms. I also started on the cockpit photoetch and the True Details seats. I think I've gotten the colors wrong, certainly for the seatbelts. As you can see, I'm not very good with photoetch, and the loops on the ejector seats don't look too great. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spokane-Modeller Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 lookin good so far though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PhantomPhreakII Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Don't look so great??? HUH??? Better than I could ever master I'll tell you that... Great work. Harald Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Wow, I can't paint seats that good on 1/32!!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
31Tiger Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Tonight I took my wife out for sushi to celebrate tomorrow being a snow day (she teaches at a Montessori school), so I only had a little time to work on the Phantom. I glued the left nose to the left fuselage and the same with the right side; I've read that this can obviate some of the alignment problems of the multipart Hase Phantoms. I also started on the cockpit photoetch and the True Details seats. I think I've gotten the colors wrong, certainly for the seatbelts. As you can see, I'm not very good with photoetch, and the loops on the ejector seats don't look too great. very nice! just one question what is that egg doing on your bench? <_</> Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bashace Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Starting to look awesome, love the bang seats and panel detail! V/r Ron Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Procopius Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 very nice! just one question what is that egg doing on your bench? <_</>/> Hah! It's actually the handle of the worse of my two pin vices. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kurnass77 Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Good seats mate! I've just start to paint mine! Gianni Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Procopius Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 Got a little more done today so far. First I put most of the 'pit together. Then I gave the wheel wells and gear doors a coat of Tamiya White. I masked heavily because I've had bad luck with Tamiya interfering with my more prosaic acrylics that I'll be using for the rest of the paintwork. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Procopius Posted March 6, 2013 Author Share Posted March 6, 2013 I've closed her up and added the lower wing. I also airbrushed the intakes white and then gave them a quick brushcoat of Future to give them a nice little shine. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bdt13 Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Looks good so far - don't think I've seen too many F-4J(UK)s. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Procopius Posted March 6, 2013 Author Share Posted March 6, 2013 Looks good so far - don't think I've seen too many F-4J(UK)s. There are a lot over at Britmodeller, but as they generally are finished to a very high standard, I'd encourage you not to look over there for the time being. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Procopius Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 Got a lot more done. About ready to prime her with Vallejo Acrylic Primer, which I'm not crazy about, but which I use because my basement is poorly ventilated and I don't much care to asphyxiate myself. N.B. the tailplanes aren't glued on, I plan on doing that after priming and painting the underside of the fuse. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
31Tiger Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Good progress, just one observation: Didn't those UK F-4J's have those ecm bulges on the intakes ? Mark, Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Procopius Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 Well gosh, it sure looks like it in photos. Gotta correct that tonight. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PhantomPhreakII Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Looking good.. looking real good.. I LOVE those 72nd scale Hasegawa Phantoms (have a LOT in my stash..), the once that were dived from the Ka series.. not the really old ones, those are CRAP.... Harald Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Procopius Posted March 8, 2013 Author Share Posted March 8, 2013 Well, I can breathe easier now, knowing that I've made my inevitable and inescapable screw-up for the build. The ECM bulges are now added, unfortunately, it was an inelegant process. I don't think they're quite lined up properly on both sides, alas. Thank heavens I have another 74 Squadron F-4J, "just in case". In any event, it's almost ready for primer. Just needs a little more sanding on the nose cooling intakes, and hopefully we're good. In happier news, my mother-in-law owns a book store, which means today I scored a copy of Gordon's Soviet Tactical Aviation gratis. Wahoo! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Procopius Posted March 10, 2013 Author Share Posted March 10, 2013 (edited) Further mistakes! I HAD masked off the intakes, but took the tape off for some reason, and forgot to put it back on when I sprayed black for the canopy seals. So now my lovely white intakes have dirty black specks all over them. Go figure. Anyhoo, I primed with Vallejo acrylic primer today. Edited March 10, 2013 by Procopius Quote Link to post Share on other sites
31Tiger Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 hey every model you built is a step up in the learning process to become a master modeler! i make those stupid modeling mistakes all the time! not long ago i mistook tamiya flat base as a flat coat and turned a 1/48 P-47 in a frost covered wreck are you going to paint it in that strange duck egg blue or the later barley grey ? Mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Procopius Posted March 10, 2013 Author Share Posted March 10, 2013 Oof! I once mistakenly blasted a Hurricane with a paint cup full of windex, good times, good times. I'm definitely doing the weird duck-egg bluey-green color they started out with. As for the screw-ups, well, this is just one more excuse to buy two of any kit I'm interested in. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Procopius Posted March 10, 2013 Author Share Posted March 10, 2013 The upper surfaces of the wings and tailplanes are now painted. I tried dropping a few drops of black paint in the Lifecolor to get the weathered look for the radome, but it didn't quite happen. As I think about it, the radome would likely have been the "proper" fuselage color (FS3614 Flint Grey, I think) and thus might not've had the charming blue hue the F-4J(UK)s obtained from too thin a coat of paint over their yellow primer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Procopius Posted March 10, 2013 Author Share Posted March 10, 2013 Chug chug chug. Tailplanes attached. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Procopius Posted March 11, 2013 Author Share Posted March 11, 2013 Burner cans painted and added, underbelly painted. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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