1/32 F-4E Chico the Gunfighter

[Finn]

Here is a look at a c/l tank if it helps any:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/F-4_Phantom_II_at_Sola_Air_Station.JPEG

Jari

[Marcel111]

Thx Check Six, Thx Jari. Jari, always good to see more pics!

Since on the topic, here is where I am with the centerline tank. With the rods and corresponding holes, the tank fits onto the bottom of the Phantom pretty much without glue.

Marcel

[Finn]

In case you haven't seen this:

http://tailspintopics.blogspot.ca/2013/06/things-under-wings-f4h-f-4-phantom.html

note that pylons for the c/l tank some have a bevel at the end while others are straight. Which one Chico had, who knows?

Jari

[chuck540z3]

Marcel,

You are probably doing this already, but the wing tank pylons should have some added detail for the jettison of the tanks. I forget exactly what it is, but there's some red cartridges in the pylon on one side that do the trick. Scott Wilson has some great pics of same in my old thread.

BTW, where did you get the Center Line tank? F4J kit? I really like your pin work on the pylon.

One more thing if you don't mind showing us, what exactly are the brass sway bar pins you are using and what do they look like in detail? I may need some of those in my build. The other brass parts you have used look really good!

[Marcel111]

In case you haven't seen this:

http://tailspintopic...-4-phantom.html

note that pylons for the c/l tank some have a bevel at the end while others are straight. Which one Chico had, who knows?

Jari

Thx Jari, that's a BIG help.

Must say I am pretty confused about those sway braces. According to the pics I took of an F-4S, the rear little winglets were no longer support by those little fold-outs on the fuselarge (ignore the white arrow on the pic):

But the tank was prevented from swaying by the same mechanism used to do this when the centerline pylon was used:

This is how I was planning to do it on this E, hope that is accurate.

Marcel,

You are probably doing this already, but the wing tank pylons should have some added detail for the jettison of the tanks. I forget exactly what it is, but there's some red cartridges in the pylon on one side that do the trick. Scott Wilson has some great pics of same in my old thread.

Chuck, this is Chico, how can you forget... I have something else hanging from those outside stations. Jokes aside, thx for the heads-up, my F-4J is coming straight after this build and it will have the outside tanks.

BTW, where did you get the Center Line tank? F4J kit? I really like your pin work on the pylon.

It is from the Marines J kit. Years ago somebody was kind enough to give me a tank from the Revell kit, but this is not ideal since it won't fit the bottom fuselarge well since the pylon is too narrow.

One more thing if you don't mind showing us, what exactly are the brass sway bar pins you are using and what do they look like in detail? I may need some of those in my build. The other brass parts you have used look really good!

Chuck, the bolts I use on the sway braces are little hex bolts from Scale Hardware

The ones you see most of the time on my Phantom are 0.8mm diameter, but you may want to buy an assortment to get a feel what the variety is like. Also, the washers come in handy in all kinds of applications.

Now, onto the subject of the update title. There are a bunch of little protrusions on the Phatom. I replicated these using appropriately cut/shaped syringe needle.

Note the little tube protruding from the side of the intake (also note all the scribed panel lines around the intake):

And here is my take:

Some little tubes protruding from the front bottom fuselarge:

And more little tubes, this time further back (note the added detail on the starboard Sparrow bay):

:cheers:/>/>

Marcel

Edited March 9, 2014 by Marcel111

[Finn]

Marcel here is a pic of Showtime 100 and as you can see it has the fin supports:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/F-4J_VF-96_Showtime_100_armed_from_below.jpg

my guess on their use is not sway braces as much but if the tank is punched off, the fins don't poke holes in the belly of the a/c. Those supports/sway braces prevent that, my guess.

Jari

[chuck540z3]

Thx Jari, that's a BIG help.

Must say I am pretty confused about those sway braces. According to the pics I took of an F-4S, the rear little winglets were no longer support by those little fold-outs on the fuselarge (ignore the white arrow on the pic):

Chuck, this is Chico, how can you forget... I have something else hanging from those outside stations. Jokes aside, thx for the heads-up, my F-4J is coming straight after this build and it will have the outside tanks.

It is from the Marines J kit. Years ago somebody was kind enough to give me a tank from the Revell kit, but this is not ideal since it won't fit the bottom fuselarge well since the pylon is too narrow.

Chuck, the bolts I use on the sway braces are little hex bolts from Scale Hardware

The ones you see most of the time on my Phantom are 0.8mm diameter, but you may want to buy an assortment to get a feel what the variety is like. Also, the washers come in handy in all kinds of applications.

Marcel

Thank you sir!

For the sway braces for the center line tank, check post # 525 of my build thread. Scott Wilson has some really good detailed pics of what you should have there. As I have found out too many times, pics of old retired aircraft have many errors, like possibly your F-4S. Those little winglets should be braced.

Edited March 10, 2014 by chuck540z3

[Check Six]

Phantom pron, I'm telling you ! !

Once again, great progress with you build.

Thanks for sharing.

[SERNAK]

Nice detailing Marcel!!!!!!

Keep up the good work!!!

[jmel]

Keep up the good work, Marcel. I really like all the attention to detail.

As I have found out too many times, pics of old retired aircraft have many errors, like possibly your F-4S. Those little winglets should be braced.

Exactly. You can't use museum jets as good references.

Jake

[Marcel111]

Guys, thanks for the encouragement!

Jake, Chuck, also thx for the heads-up on the CL tank... that has already been adressed.

I haven't had all that much time on the F-4E this past week. One quick thing to show is that the vuel vent should be reamed, just as Chuck showed us on his E build.

Incidentally, here is how dinged up the vent on the museum F-4S looks:

:cheers:/>

Marcel

[Marcel111]

I haven't updated for a while so thought I'd show some progress on the SH exhausts, specifically the painting of the AB section.

I used a medium gloss green mixed with a little flat light gray as a basecoat. I spent quite a bit of time studying pics of the real thing and decided to recreate the heat-effect look of the ceramic lining using Tamiya Yellowish Green again mixed with a little gray--this was airbrushed in streaks front-to-back, very lightly.

Finally, I used a black wash to dirty things up a little. I can see from the pics that I stil need to remove some of the wash residue here and there.

And here with the outstanding Sierra Hotel nozzle dry-fitted on:

I am actually building four of the exhausts, two being dome in preparation of my following F-4J build.

What you see below is quite far from finished. However, I am pleased with the look of the basic metallic finish. This was achieved by using Humbrol 167 satin gray as a base coat (the satin prevents the finish from being too glossy), followed by a 50/50 mix of Alclad Steel and Alclad Gun Metal.

:cheers:/>

Marcel

Edited March 30, 2014 by Marcel111

[chuck540z3]

You nailed it Buddy! Who knew the insides of a jet engine could be 2-tone GREEN? Here's a pic I took of the business end of a QF-4 a few years ago. I can't believe the "2006/12/11" markings survived the extreme heat.

The Sierra Hotel exhaust cans look really good and I'm glad I have a set in the stash. Too bad they don't actually produce their great products, which have been "Temporarily Out of Stock" for what, a year?

[JesniF-16]

Wow Marcel, great progress and thanks for the tutorials on using the scale hardware washers :thumbsup:/> Nice touch on the burner cans, you really do excel when it comes to paint and weathering... It must've been a real trick trying to airbrush the streaks inside the cans, but man you sure nailed it! Here's a few reference pics for painting the exhaust area, cheers.

/Jesse

[Check Six]

Wow Marcel, great progress and thanks for the tutorials on using the scale hardware washers /> Nice touch on the burner cans, you really do excel when it comes to paint and weathering... It must've been a real trick trying to airbrush the streaks inside the cans, but man you sure nailed it! Here's a few reference pics for painting the exhaust area, cheers.

/Jesse

Awesome; Thanks for sharing said ref. pics !

One can almost never have too many!

[Marcel111]

Chuck, Jesse, big thanks for the encouragement and posting additional reference pic. As Check Six said, you can never have enough!

Cheers,

Marcel

[nimrod77]

I can't believe the "2006/12/11" markings survived the extreme heat.

That is put onto the Exhaust centre body using a "hot end pencil". That stuff will stay put even though it is in such a hostile environment.

I have found build marks that last right up to overhaul.

[Scott R Wilson]

That is put onto the Exhaust centre body using a "hot end pencil". That stuff will stay put even though it is in such a hostile environment.

I have found build marks that last right up to overhaul.

I'm pretty sure the crew chiefs at Ramstein used chalk. The date was marked there to prove they'd been in there to do the inspection.

[Marcel111]

Long time no update, so here goes. I have been experiencing some airbrush challenges, both with my usual H&S and backup Badger. So this is where I am stuck:

Here is a closer look at some of the feet of the pylons.

This is the outer pylon, as supplied by AMS but with the little Scale Hardware washer added:

The pylon is of course canted slightly outward:

The inside pylon:

The good news is that I have found time to work on the seats. As with the exhausts, I thought I would do an additional two seats to be used on my forthcoming F-4J build. The F-4E seats are from Aires while the F-4J (Navy style) seats are from AMS (Navy seats are to the right below). Both seats are excellent and look more or less the same (except where they shouldn't).

I used some Verlinden etched brass buckles mixed in with my self-made plastic buckles. The straps are from lead foil.

Thx for looking,

Marcel

[Check Six]

As usual; Looking good !

You bring up a rather good point, Marcel.

And that is the need for a back up airbrush.

I've always had two airbrushes for doing a primary color and one for a very, very lightly tinted shade of said primary color to follow up at the same time.

For example: If I was doing the SEA camo scheme on an F-4 and was doing the large tan pattern on the starboard wing, I would go in to shoot the primary color first and then follow up with said lighter shade and follow the perimeter of said pattern. The shade variation and how wide the lighter shade would take up said primary color depended on how faded I wanted the camo pattern to end up being.

I guess I'm lucky because I've never had to use my secondary airbrush as a back up. Not to mention I never thought the need for a back up airbrush as well.

[Marcel111]

As usual; Looking good !

You bring up a rather good point, Marcel.

And that is the need for a back up airbrush.

I've always had two airbrushes for doing a primary color and one for a very, very lightly tinted shade of said primary color to follow up at the same time.

For example: If I was doing the SEA camo scheme on an F-4 and was doing the large tan pattern on the starboard wing, I would go in to shoot the primary color first and then follow up with said lighter shade and follow the perimeter of said pattern. The shade variation and how wide the lighter shade would take up said primary color depended on how faded I wanted the camo pattern to end up being.

I guess I'm lucky because I've never had to use my secondary airbrush as a back up. Not to mention I never thought the need for a back up airbrush as well.

Thx Check Six! I like your tip on introducing fading, I am not sure how I will do it on this Phantom but it will get a lot of attention, I usually place major emphasis on realistically weathering my projects.

I always go light to dark when airbrushing, to the point where if I have to airbrush a dark color after a light I will completely strip down the wash the airbrush before going to the lighter color.

Marcel

[.linus]

Really awesome work marcel! I just caught in you're progress and I'm really impressed with you're skills. Your scratch building skills are off the wall! Looking forward to see what you do with the seats

[JesniF-16]

He He... Marcel, the seatbelts look so natural... Every seat the same but the belts folded differently as they should be :thumbsup:/>

/Jesse

[Skinny_Mike]

Fantastic work Marcel. Inspiring me to get my Phantoms out!

[Marcel111]

Linus, Jesse, Mike: Thanks! Jesse keen to see some progress on your E!

As mentioned previously I had some airbrush hassles. I have now received the spare parts and am back in business. However, while airbrush-down, I worked on some custom decals that I will need with the forthcoming F-4J build. I thought I'd show them here since this thread will likely morph into the VMFA-212 F-4J thread once Chico is complete.

The yellow-framed decals are for the Mk. 20's (as mastered by yours truly and now available from AMS), six of which will be centerline-mounted. Note that I have designed decals for the windows of the CBU's, when I did the Chico Mk.20's I masked and painted these, which was a huge pain--so these decals should be a big help. All the stenciling is based on pics of the real deal.

The black-framed decals are for the six Zunis that the J will be carrying. I don't have good close-up pics showing the lettering of the stencils on the Zuni pods but I did find the LAU-10 operators manual online, so I got somewhat inventive and used some of the warnings inside the operator manuals to create the data sets.

The blue-framed decals are additional decals I require for the Phantom itself. Note the yellow "NO STEP" for the Navy seat cushions. Also note all the little "VMFA 212"'s, these wil be used to for example personalize the TER's, which seemes to have been quite common.

The decals will be printed by MAV decals. Maybe I can persuade Zane to turn at least the CBU sheet into a standard offering, although I would only ask him once I have tested them out.

Marcel