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Can't find Testors 1/48 Bicentennial RF-4B


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The 1/48 Bicentennial RF-4B was one that I always liked the look of and decided at the spur of the moment to get one to do. Granted, it (and the other Testors kits for that matter) isn't stellar I just wanted to do it for myself. It used to be where you could buy kits directly from Testors' web site but now they don't seem to have any listed. It seems that they have gotten out of producing kits and do strictly hobby supplies. I'm just wondering when I missed this. Now that I want one, I can't seem to find one of those Phantoms.

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I believe that kit was only out for a short time. Other than someone having one for sale I think you will be hard pressed to find it. Hate to say it but try ebay.

Also, I think Testors got out of the kit business years ago like more than 10.

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The last of the testors kits was 2-3 years ago. One of the last available was the F-4g. Kind of said to seem them go, I always liked the testors boxes.

I built the Testors RF-4b and it was really a challenege, lots of fit issues and the canopies were too small, and the camera windows really had no pisitive location, just a clear piece the same size as the opening they go into, so they are easy to knock loose and fall inside the model. ask me how I know :bandhead2:

. You can get the "Sprit of America" decals on the Impact decals Marine Corp Bicentennial sheet, which is still in stock at hannanats , and the "spirit of america" was also released on a Microscale (or superscale) sheet which you can probably find on ebay.

The Hasegawa RF-4B is much easier to build, it fits better and clear camera parts are much better engineered. It is also easy to find quite reasonably priced if you get the "USMC" issue with the green tailed plane on the box.

That being said, the testors kit is typically easy to find on ebay. You could also use the Testors decals on the Hasegawa kit like Darren Roberts did with great results.

In any case have fun with that project, it is a great looking plane.

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The last of the testors kits was 2-3 years ago. One of the last available was the F-4g. Kind of said to seem them go, I always liked the testors boxes.

I built the Testors RF-4b and it was really a challenege, lots of fit issues and the canopies were too small, and the camera windows really had no pisitive location, just a clear piece the same size as the opening they go into, so they are easy to knock loose and fall inside the model. ask me how I know :bandhead2:/>

. You can get the "Sprit of America" decals on the Impact decals Marine Corp Bicentennial sheet, which is still in stock at hannanats , and the "spirit of america" was also released on a Microscale (or superscale) sheet which you can probably find on ebay.

The Hasegawa RF-4B is much easier to build, it fits better and clear camera parts are much better engineered. It is also easy to find quite reasonably priced if you get the "USMC" issue with the green tailed plane on the box.

That being said, the testors kit is typically easy to find on ebay. You could also use the Testors decals on the Hasegawa kit like Darren Roberts did with great results.

In any case have fun with that project, it is a great looking plane.

You can thank Rust-Oleum for Testor's model line closure! They kill off companies for fun and tax loop holes.

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Testors kits were available direct from them until a few years ago. Was getting all the old Hawk Golden Age racer kits. Had to buy the last on eBay.

I have a jones for Golden Age and earlier civil aviation. Just picked up the last of the old Inpact/Pyro/Life-Like/Lindberg ca. 1911 kits from Mustang Hobbies (great place, BTW).

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The problem with the Hasegawa kit is that it has the thick wing. You'll need to swap out wings or get the Royale Resin thin wing.

Doh! I thought Spirit of America was a thick wing RF-4B, allowing you to get away with the Hasegawa kit.

But yeah, $42 is very steep for that kit.

Edited by Kurt H.
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The problem with the Hasegawa kit is that it has the thick wing. You'll need to swap out wings or get the Royale Resin thin wing.

Or you can also sand the bulges down as described in the FSM article from July, 2005 (where they backdated a Hasegawa F-4J to an F-4B). I believe the Hasegawa RF-4 parts trees still have the older F-4B main gear tires in them. It is a little tricky to sand the bulges down as you have to apply even pressure and be careful not to punch through the plastic, but it can be done as there is enough material in the wing.

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Or you can also sand the bulges down as described in the FSM article from July, 2005 (where they backdated a Hasegawa F-4J to an F-4B). I believe the Hasegawa RF-4 parts trees still have the older F-4B main gear tires in them. It is a little tricky to sand the bulges down as you have to apply even pressure and be careful not to punch through the plastic, but it can be done as there is enough material in the wing.

Has anyone tried just cutting the bulges out? I mean, cut out the bulge, flip the wing over, glue some flat scrap pieces around the opening to form a lip, and then glue in a flat piece of stock to close it up? Sure, you would have to fill the seams, but as far as modeling goes, that should not be too difficult. I'm no F-4 expert either, so if there is more to the wing that needs to be changed, don't flame me as I'm not aware. I could just see this working well on a flat area like the wing

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Thanks to everyone for the replies! I guess I missed Testors quietly retiring from producing kits.

I usually do go to Ebay for kits like this, and usually there are several of those RF-4s on there. I saw the one listing that the link was for but as was mentioned, that's a bit more than what I'm willing to pay for that kit. I was hoping to get one for a reasonable price and just have fun with it.

If I were to do it more seriously (and down the road more than likely will), I would use the Hasegawa kit, the resin wings, and the Impact decals. Unfortunately, I looked and Spruebrothers doesn't have the kit or the decals so that isn't really an easy option at the moment.

I could sand the Hasegawa upper wings as per the article and rescribe but the key point is that I'm lazy and would just go with the resin replacement :D . As for cutting out the section and replacing it, I don't think you would be able to do that with the Hasegawa kit. It's been a while since I've looked at one but I think that the main wheel well detail is molded in that area to the upper half. Going that route would mean cutting out the bulges, replacing the section (and filling and sanding), rescribing, rebuilding the wheel wells, and hoping that everything looks all right. I could be wrong on the wing detail, but either way it's a lot more work than just fitting a one for one replacement.

If ST0RM's kit doesn't work then I'll pass on this project for a while. I'll pick one up down the road. I have plenty of other projects to keep me busy. Thanks again to everyone for the info.

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I'm surprised no-one has mentioned another option - splicing a RF-4 nose on to the Academy F-4B. I did this with the old Black Box conversion originally meant for the Hasegawa F-4C before they issued a Photo-Phantom phamily and used some Alley Cat intakes. I even shoehorned the Aires RF-4B cockpit in! It needed some careful cutting and filling but I'm pleased with the result:

DSCF1137_zpsixn5usek.jpg

Decals from the Impact Models sheet:

DSCF1265_zpsrab4kke9.jpg

DSCF1269_zpsv965sznw.jpg

One day I'll have another go at this using the relevant parts from Italeri's recent partial retool of the ESCI F-4 into a RF-4E.

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Yeah, what Darren said. That is... wow.

Concerning cutting holes in the wing, that might work for a gear up bird. But I don't think it would work for a gear down bird too well since the bulge corresponds to a portion of the gear bay, specifically the opening for the main gear tire (the main reason for the bulges was to fit larger gear tires). So just by sanding down the wing, the detail on the inside of the gear bay is left intact and you don't have to rebuild it. Bulge or no bulge, the gear wells look about the same on the inside.

I am hoping to get the Italeri kit when it hits the LHS because although I have Hasegawa RF-4s, I want to see what theirs has. Now one thing I did discover a few years back is it is possible to get a True Details F-4C cockpit (originally KMC) to fit into the Esci/Italeri F-4C/J kit with not too much effort. In fact that resin pit for the most part is a resin recast of the Hasegawa cockpit with some details added. So, if the new Italeri RF-4 parts are dimensionally similar enough, I am pretty sure the same can be done for that kit. The only tricky bit would be modifying the instrument panels themselves enough to RF-4 style as there are some differences from the fighter pits. In my own case, I do have a set of leftover Hasegawa RF-4 panels as I did manage to shoehorn a Black Box RF-4 pit into the Hasegawa RF-4.

The biggest issue with getting a resin pit to fit into the old Esci F-4C was the very deep nose gear bay. So I am hopeful that Italeri didn't copy that feature in the RF-4 specific parts.

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Thanks guys, your comments are much appreciated. The project was part of the latest F-4 Group Build on Britmodeller; if you're interested the thread is here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234981149-eyes-of-the-corps-converting-a-f-4b-to-a-recce-bird/. I wasn't able to finish before the deadline but it did appear on the F-4 Phantom SIG table at Telford last November. The RF-4B is one of my favourite Phantom versions, although there were only 46 there were so many variations and marking options during their service life. The next one will probably be the exact opposite in colourful as I have the Furball 'Lo-viz Rhinos' sheet.

Jay, the new Italeri RF-4E has the same deep nosewheel well as in its previous ESCI incarnation. My plan is to cut it out and use either the Academy assembly or a spare Hasegawa one. I know the latter will fit since it was the one used by Black Box - down to the two ejector pin marks at the rear of the well! I also posted some pictures here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234998968-148-mcdd-rf-4e-phantom-ii-upgraded-moulds-by-italeri-released/?p=2379086. It's a nice kit overall but it definitely still needs a better cockpit. The slotted stabilators will also have to be changed or modified.

HTH,

Jonathan

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Deep well, ick. Still, not an insurmountable problem. I went digging through my images and found some shots of me getting the TD cockpit to fit in the Esci F-4C kit. Yes, as you say the Hasegawa pit is essentially what KMC/TD used to make their master. So if one can be made to fit, the other likely can as well.

JMCF4Dpit2.jpg

JMCF4Dpit1.jpg

JMCF4Dpit3.jpg

Now I can't recall exactly everything I did to get the pit to fit, so I don't recall for sure if I ended up having to sand down the top of the deep gear well or if I just sanded the bottom of the resin pit to get it to sit deep enough. But one thing I did do was cut a slot out of the middle of the cockpit, between the rear instrument panel and the back wall of the front pit to allow the resin pit to sit back far enough. Once the wall and instrument panels were installed, you could not see where the cuts were made at all. The Hasegawa pit might require similar preparation to fit in the Italeri RF-4 fuselage.

BTW, I am like you in that I prefer to work with styrene bits whenever possible, but when I embarked on my project, these True Details F-4C pits (even the F-4J pit) were incredibly cheap, even from Squadron (under $15.00). They really dressed up the cockpit nice with sidewall details and the like and once painted they didn't look all that different from the Black Box pit in my Hasegawa RF-4 Phantom. If you plan to do a canopy open bird, it is a nice investment for not too much work.

Edited by Jay Chladek
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