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VX-4 F-4J Phantoms - Standard Scheme


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(slightly off topic) is there anybody that ever done decals for the NMC QF-4B?...in 1/48!(don't bother me with hobbit scale things please!) ...if no, someone (of all those great decals maker) should address this (and other (still) missing VX phantoms would be awesome)! ...i'll take one set for sure!

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Mingwin, a "hobbit scale" modeler provided the sheet number and link to 1/48 decals in post #16

(friggin' insults, even when you help people)

Thanks alot, i dunno why i haven't seen it... sorry if the "hobbit thing" insults you. it was not intended for that purpose. (it was for all those who can't help bother everyone with the "True (hobbit) Scale" thing)

but i was just trying to avoid the kind answer like : "in 1/72 scale you have...blablabla thing." even when asking for a 1/48 scale info.

but my guess is that people who wanted to feel offended will, no matter what!

BTW.i remember having seen this decal set on the microscale site (i've got emails from them often) ...but was not sure as they don't bother to picture the 1/48 sheet on the product page (AC72-0021 sheet is pictured)

Edited by mingwin
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my 1/72 scale instruction sheet has both part numbers printed on it, so I think the same instructions are included with either decal size (I hadn't looked that closely when I posted the links to the two sheets)

I provided links to both sizes to avoid any scale conflicts right away,,,,,but, that didn't work out too well

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Darren, a couple of thoughts for you. There is no single aircraft photo of a "light blue" aircraft in the stack of Phantom books I have. There are plenty of pics of the Light Gull Gray over White with the light radome, though. But those are different BuNos that the one in that group shot. So, it could go either way. It is just as possible that 150435 wasn't photographed alone in Blue paint as it is that 150435 wasn't photographed alone in Light Gull Gray paint, eh?

the other thought, which I think we talked about before, is that to build the Revell kits and keep them for more than a year, we need to add spreader bars into the fuselages, even with the wing to fuselage joint. Otherwise, you will have 4 potato chip bowls flying in formation on posts. (ask me how I know this, lol) Of all the Revell builds I have done over the decades, the only one I still have is the one with three spreader bars in it. The rest turned into UFO's on the shelf over time.

The Revell kit started out as a B, with only the minimum possible changes made in it to make it a J.

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I know I've said that you can't deduce colors from photos, but is it absolute that 0435 is overall gull gray? In this picture, it truly looks like it's an overall light blue. In the original picture that's strangely exposed, I wouldn't think gull gray would look that blue. Also, playing devil's advocate, the formation seems to be made up of "special" paint schemes. Why would they include a simple gray scheme?

Darren, a couple of thoughts for you. There is no single aircraft photo of a "light blue" aircraft in the stack of Phantom books I have. There are plenty of pics of the Light Gull Gray over White with the light radome, though. But those are different BuNos that the one in that group shot. So, it could go either way. It is just as possible that 150435 wasn't photographed alone in Blue paint as it is that 150435 wasn't photographed alone in Light Gull Gray paint, eh?

I have "investigated" for years about the existence of the AZURE/BLUE Phantom after to have seen for the first time the images of the four colourful phantom flying together but I do not have found other images.

After years of researches I have in the my hard disk ever the same images of the Black Bunny Phantom, a very limited set of images of the camouflage Phantom with the two tones camouflage. But not one image of the AZURE Phantom 0435

Is it really existed?

Three of the four VX-4's Phantom that flying together in that series of images have in common unusual schemes, probably even 0435 has something unusual but if no one has photographed it alone any other investigation dead here.

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I ordered the 1/72 scale decals from Microscale. I'm wondering something. Rex, you posted the link for both 1/72 and 1/48 for that sheet. What I find interesting is that the product numbers are the same, with the exception of the 48 and 72. When I clicked on the picture of the 1/48 sheet, it displayed the 1/72 sheet. I would be careful ordering the 1/48 sheet. I have a sneaking suspicion that 1/48 is a typo. I found two other sheets exactly like that as well. The 1/48 link showed the 1/72 scale sheet in the picture. I guess the only way to find out would be to order the 1/48 and see what you get.

Thoughts on the light blue color: Maybe they painted it up, flew it for the formation shots, and then decided they didn't like it and painted it over rather quickly. That might explain why no single shots exist of it. It's happened with other schemes, but there's no empirical evidence either way. One could look at a shot of Phantom with a white nose and compare/contrast the Gull Gray vs. the "Light Blue", but that still wouldn't provide hard evidence.

Thanks for the advice on the 1/72 Revell kits. I want to make sure I understand correctly. I should put spreader bars across the fuselage? The fact they warp is the darndest thing. That's just plain weird!

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Hey Darren,

Would you happen to know right offhand if your letter masks for 1/48 are the right size for the XF that I'd need to put on the tail? It looks like the letters are drop shadowed with black over white. The letter masks would be perfect for getting that effect since I'd have to do white as the base color, then offset the masks slightly and do the black. Are they self-adhesive as well? Thanks!

:cheers:/>/>

Justin

They would work perfectly for that. I believe they would be the .5" size. That's what I did with my Monogram build.

vx4f4a.JPG

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Okay, that was pretty quick and easy. I googled "150435 f-4 phantom" and came up with this site:

US Navy Phantoms

Go down to the second group of photos. There is a side shot of 0435, and it is decidedly light blue. There seems to be some bit of red on the underside of the wing. The bummer is that I can't look at a larger picture.

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They would work perfectly for that. I believe they would be the .5" size. That's what I did with my Monogram build.

vx4f4a.JPG

That Phantom looks great, Darren. This is exactly what I'm looking to do with this build, with the exception of the BuNo and the 2 will be a 5. If you don't mind my asking, how did you do the fin, spine, and wingtip markings (the blue field, red outlines, with the stars in them)?

:cheers:

Justin

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Darren, the instruction sheet shows both part numbers, much as Repli-Scale used to do with their instructions,,,one page for either sheet. I think Two Bobs did this a few times as well?

The spreader bars are put there, just to hold the fuselage in the as molded shape, because the wings when dry fitted will leave a gap on both sides at the fuselage/wing top joint. Three bars, equally spaced out, just above the area the the lower wing plate gets glued on. Then cut the pins off of the wing halves when gluing the tops to the bottom, and to the fuselage. Otherwise as the model ages, the tension in the fuselage plastic draws back toward the center, pulling the wing tops in with them,,,,,and curling the wing into a shallow U shape.

I wish I had kept one of the models that this happened to,,,,,,it would be so much easier to just post a pic and say "prevent this", But, they curled up and were thrown away before there were internet forums,,,,,,,,I didn't know I might need them. I do have two more boxes of the dark blue moldings and one box of the bright white Thunderbird toolings,,,,so, maybe I will post a how-to if/when I build that dozen.

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That Phantom looks great, Darren. This is exactly what I'm looking to do with this build, with the exception of the BuNo and the 2 will be a 5. If you don't mind my asking, how did you do the fin, spine, and wingtip markings (the blue field, red outlines, with the stars in them)?

:cheers:/>

Justin

Thanks for the kind words. I sprayed the dark blue, then found tape that was the width I needed. For the spine design, I used the old Monogram kit decals as a guide to make my own mask from tape. I masked off the blue, then shot the white and gull gray. When I removed the masks, I had the blue the way I wanted it. The red trim is red decal stripes from CAM. The stars are various stars from the spares box.

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Okay, that was pretty quick and easy. I googled "150435 f-4 phantom" and came up with this site:

US Navy Phantoms

Go down to the second group of photos. There is a side shot of 0435, and it is decidedly light blue. There seems to be some bit of red on the underside of the wing. The bummer is that I can't look at a larger picture.

VERY GOOD, not only it exist but it's overall light blue.

I can build it

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I tried and got the following:

"Sorry, registration is currently disabled".

Gene K

it's pretty sad... but we'll have to source pictures elsewhere...

writen on the bottom of the registration page :

Forum is closed for new members. All content is private and can not be shared

Edited by mingwin
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Air Superiority Blue was my first thought too. But why would the Navy test a color for the Air Force? The Air Force had Phantoms of its own. I don't know.

I did not find any images for 8350 in my collection but did find 5570 and one of 5565 missing some vital parts. I'll see if I can put those up tomorrow. Nice build, Darren!

Rick L.

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We have a winner!

Through some creative questioning, my friend was able to determine that the aircraft in question was an F-4J, BuNo 158350 which apparently later became the low-viz Vandy 5 White Bunny aircraft. The aircraft when he worked on it, however, was in the standard gull gray over white scheme.

Soooo....with that being said....does anyone know of any 1/48 decals for the VX-4 Phantoms in the gull gray over white paint scheme? Even if it's not the same BuNo?

Also, any photos? There are a few I've seen on a Google search, but most are of the aircraft in the White Bunny scheme. Same with decals.

:cheers:/>/>/>/>/>

Justin

Here is one dated January 1975

j158350xf5-L3diNapoli0175_zpsc882dcbf.jpg

...and a thumbnail of the right side dated 1974

j158350xf5ahs-unk1974_zps55a8fa62.jpg

It looks like the Plane Captain's name is on the splitter plate, both sides, though they could be different names, impossible to say from these photos, unfortunately.

HTH,

Tom

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Nice photos. The picture of Vandy 5 is interesting in that it's overall gull gray, and you can see a Tomcat next to it. The picture of the Tomcat is the exact reason it's hard to use photos to determine color. The Tomcat is actually in standard TPS. It's the lighting and the exposure/developing that have made it look blue. You can see the demarcation line of the skunk stripe on the turtle deck. The rest of the picture looks "dark" as well. Good finds, though!

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I have seen the blue bird in VX-4's hanger, was told it was painted in the F-15 Air Superiority blue to test the color on the F-4. Was told it made the aircraft stand out in the sky. Will try and find some photos of the 1970-71 period.

Thank You,

hope you find that images

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Air Superiority Blue was my first thought too. But why would the Navy test a color for the Air Force? The Air Force had Phantoms of its own. I don't know.

I did not find any images for 8350 in my collection but did find 5570 and one of 5565 missing some vital parts. I'll see if I can put those up tomorrow. Nice build, Darren!

Rick L.

I'll take what you have, Rick. Thank you!

Here is one dated January 1975

j158350xf5-L3diNapoli0175_zpsc882dcbf.jpg

...and a thumbnail of the right side dated 1974

j158350xf5ahs-unk1974_zps55a8fa62.jpg

It looks like the Plane Captain's name is on the splitter plate, both sides, though they could be different names, impossible to say from these photos, unfortunately.

HTH,

Tom

Definitely helps, Tom. Thanks!

Thanks, Mingwin!

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