habu2 Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 Yes. A mere 30 years after the kit was originally released. That'll teach 'em. zzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZINGGG Quote Link to post Share on other sites
foxmulder_ms Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 I cannot read anything on that picture... I just wonder whether the missiles are single piece. ?? I haven't but anything from this company before are they Kinetic Su-33 good? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantomdriver Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 Virtually every F-4 family on the market has started with the short-nose variants. You get so many schemes for so little extra tooling. I expect to see long-nose F-4's from Academy (soon) and ZM (eventually). probably not till December, at the earliest.. though I will ask Chris at their stand at SMW in November... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jpk Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 I saw and held the ZM Phantom test shot this past month at the US Nats. ZM had an extensive booth there. On display among their other kits they had the sprues as well as a build up of their new Phantom. It will be the BEST Phantom kit ever regardless of scale. Supposedly it will be out in December in time for Xmas sales. Their schedule as explained to me was the J first, C/D next then an S. After that? I'm sure there will be more versions depending on how well they sell. Just so you know. Just as the Academy was an improvement over the Hasegawa kits, the ZM Phantom will be just as much better over the Academy kit. It is that nice. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jester292 Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Can you elaborate what makes the ZM F-4J better than the Academy F-4J? I'm wondering which areas have been improved since I haven't seen the ZM kit. Thanks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Can you elaborate what makes the ZM F-4J better than the Academy F-4J? I'm wondering which areas have been improved since I haven't seen the ZM kit. Thanks. I got to see the ZM Phantom at Nats. The intakes seem to be the correct size (Academy is too narrow), the cockpit looks stunning, the stabs have the correct area of the metal part, and it overall has a great "Phantomness" to it. You will not be disappointed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rex Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 If you touched it and got drool on your hands,,,,,,,,,,that was me. After I met Darren, that was the first place that I walked to in my travels. (yes, I walked right past the Tomcat to get to it) Danged thing almost makes me want to change scales. I looked at it from every angle that I could,,,,and made multiple stops back by it that weekend. As Darren says, it has a certain "right Phantomness" to it. It is hard to explain, but, I kept thinking that an F-4B conversion for it, and a bunch of the aftermarket tanks, pylons and weapons that you 1/48 guys have access to,,,,,,,and you could build those for years, before the "real" F-4B/N kit comes out, and the long nosed and Recce versions. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fulcrum1 Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Anyone preorder the kit? The showtime build looked nice. Does this brand ever do sales or is free shipping the best it gets? Never have bought one of their kits before... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantomdriver Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 (edited) 18 hours ago, fulcrum1 said: Anyone preorder the kit? The showtime build looked nice. Does this brand ever do sales or is free shipping the best it gets? Never have bought one of their kits before... I will have mine at Telford,as will Drewe Manton, they our pre ordered.No idea as to shipping etc, , as ours will be at SMW waiting for us... Edited October 10, 2016 by phantomdriver Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantomdriver Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 On 06/09/2016 at 11:50 PM, jester292 said: Can you elaborate what makes the ZM F-4J better than the Academy F-4J? I'm wondering which areas have been improved since I haven't seen the ZM kit. Thanks. 2x full sized, reasonably detailed J-79's? The cockpit looks quite well detailed, , and the canopy framing mechanism. I would have preferred a one piece fuselage, a la Academy, but, can't have everything... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jester292 Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 Thanks for the info! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
madmanrick Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 So does anyone have an update concerning when those of us that have pre-ordered the J model, will begin to see our kits shipped? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ben Brown Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 On 9/6/2016 at 6:50 PM, jester292 said: Can you elaborate what makes the ZM F-4J better than the Academy F-4J? I'm wondering which areas have been improved since I haven't seen the ZM kit. Thanks.  I hesitate to start down that treacherous path of "just from looking at the photos," but I'd say the intakes look like they're closer in shape to the real thing. Z-M's cockpit looks better; Academy pooched the forward instrument panel and left out some details. It looks like Z-M has taken into account the difference in the lower aft fuselage between the jets with the long and short nozzle engines, which might be a minor problem for people (me!) who want to build a short-nozzle Blue Angels F-4J. A lot of the shapes are supposed to be much better than Academy or Hasegawa, from what people who have handled the kit are saying.  I think Jeffrey, of Hypersonic, will still be able to improve on the canopy details. Z-M appears to have left off the heavy structure that goes down the lower edges of the canopies.  Ben Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jester292 Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Thank you; I don't have that kind of eye just from looking at pictures. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JeffreyK Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Academy ( or actually Braz who designed the model) totally screwed the shapes of the tail section, next to the many other detail errors. The ZM kit is not perfect ( no model kit is or can be), but probably the nicest Phantom kit to date, avoiding all the errors of the Ac kit plus introducing some really nifty design ideas as well. I'm currently looking at a few upgrade options, but nothing that corrects any serious flaws. J Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Roof Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 10 hours ago, madmanrick said: So does anyone have an update concerning when those of us that have pre-ordered the J model, will begin to see our kits shipped?  The kits will start shipping mid December. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantomdriver Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 4 hours ago, JeffreyK said: Academy ( or actually Braz who designed the model) totally screwed the shapes of the tail section, next to the many other detail errors. The ZM kit is not perfect ( no model kit is or can be), but probably the nicest Phantom kit to date, avoiding all the errors of the Ac kit plus introducing some really nifty design ideas as well. I'm currently looking at a few upgrade options, but nothing that corrects any serious flaws. J Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gene K Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 5 hours ago, JeffreyK said: Academy ( or actually Braz who designed the model) totally screwed the shapes of the tail section, next to the many other detail errors. Â Who/what is "Braz"? Â Gene K Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Roof Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 4 minutes ago, Gene K said: Â Who/what is "Braz"? Â Gene K Â http://www.brazmodels.com/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
madmanrick Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 2 hours ago, Dave Roof said: Â The kits will start shipping mid December. Thank you Dave! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gene K Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 2 hours ago, Dave Roof said: http://www.brazmodels.com/  Thanks, Dave. Interesting, including when they say they did the  " f-4b,c,d,e phantom ii 1/48 scale FOR academy". Gene K  Quote Link to post Share on other sites
a4s4eva Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 10 hours ago, JeffreyK said: Academy ( or actually Braz who designed the model) totally screwed the shapes of the tail section, next to the many other detail errors. The ZM kit is not perfect ( no model kit is or can be), but probably the nicest Phantom kit to date, avoiding all the errors of the Ac kit plus introducing some really nifty design ideas as well. I'm currently looking at a few upgrade options, but nothing that corrects any serious flaws. J Is there a detailed list of the errors? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jefropas Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 After seeing the ZM in person and man-handling it, I probably won't buy another Academy kit anyway...Off hand, the location of the side A/c intakes pop into my head, but I haven't started any of mine yet... Â Jeff Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JeffreyK Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 17 hours ago, a4s4eva said: Is there a detailed list of the errors? Sorry, busy weekend at work, will write a list soon J Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ben Brown Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 The major issues for me with the Academy kit were: The shape of the intake ducts (ignore or replace with some from (DMold or XMM) The center section of the forward instrument panel needs to be shifted forward a couple of mm (relatively easy fix) The instrument panel glare shield is too thick (same) Width and location of the two ACS scoops on the sides of the nose (Hypersonic to the rescue) The location of the panel line that separates the painted part of the stabilator from the natural metal part (rescribe or Hypersonic) On the slotted stabs, the arms that hold the part of the leading edge that forms the slot are perpendicular to the leading edge, when the should be parallel to the fuselage centerline (Hypersonic) I also didn't like the way Academy broke down the parts for the aft fuselage, so that a seam runs right through the stab pivot detail. The fit in  this area wasn't as good as what I found in the rest of the model. Fortunately, the photo etched parts that come with the Hypersonic stabs look a lot better than the kit detail.  It seems to me that once you buy aftermarket parts to bring either the Academy kit or the Hasegawa kit up to the same level of accuracy and detail as the Z-M kit, you'll be spending at least the same amount of money. BTW, I have no affiliation with Jeffery, of Hypersonic Models. I've just purchase many of his products and have been very happy with them.  Ben 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.