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1/144 Academy F-4F "40 Jahre Mölders" -- Done!!


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As noted in the build thread, here are my starting bits. Once I do find the RAL 5015, I'll need to paint a gradient on the tail. I'm glad HaHen provided an exra "seconds" decal sheet; I'll be able to test them before I commit to real placement.

 

f_4f_box.jpg

 

The fuselage joined easily enough, but there's cleaning up to do. Here's one reason for the in-flight display, these MLG mounting "towers"! I hope airbrushing Mr Surfacer will help the canyon-sized panel lines.

f_4f_wing_tower.jpg

 

The canopy is featureless. I'll need to file the front of the canopy flat. Not yet sure how I'll handle the canopy frames...

f_4f_canopy.jpg.

Edited by dnl42
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Nice to see a spook from my home sqn. Especially in bavarian colors! For blue RAL 5012: revell 50 or as acrylic there is one from elita life color.

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2 hours ago, tobiK said:

Nice to see a spook from my home sqn. Especially in bavarian colors! For blue RAL 5012: revell 50 or as acrylic there is one from elita life color.

Thanks! I hope I do it justice!

 

I'll try to find that paint in the US.

Edited by dnl42
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She's starting to look like a Phantom! I'll paint the splitters and inlet interiors before attaching and shaping them. Also had to do some serious filing of the stabilator roots; they so wanted to attach horizontally. Will paint them separately.

f_4f_fuselage0.jpg

 

Took me a while to figure out the tail. Wondered if they had just omitted the tail-hook, but I eventually figured out the they mashed it into the fuselage. Some filing improved it a little. Will do some more work here with a scribe, a micro chisel, and maybe some plastic.

f_4f_fuselage1.jpg

 

The kit did not want to be built in-flight. Had to do some reshaping and filling with plastic.

f_4f_fuselage2.jpg

 

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I managed to find a domestic source for a RAL 5015 lacquer.

 

Working on the white base. I somehow missed the canyon-sized gap between the vertical tail and fuselage. I'll fill that as I already did for the equally large wing-fuselage joins. I need to mount the splitters and inlets and give it a good rubbing down in any event, before I lay down a gloss white coat.

f_4f_base0.jpg

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Kingoalie and Kurt,

 

Thanks! I have final Mr Base White coat on. Next up is to polish the base coat, apply the metal tail, mask it and then shoot the white gloss coat, I also just received notice that the RAL 5015 is now on the truck, so I should be set on paint.

 

As for the in-flight display, I'm leaning towards putting a JG 74 Mölders badge on the base. I briefly thought about mounting the aero bonus spook resin character on the base, but it would overwhelm the aircraft.

 

200px-JG_74.svg.png

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Nice touch with the patch as the base.

 

However, if you want it to be correct, it should say MÖLDERS instead of JG 74. Compare it with the large patch, which will go on the bottom of the aircraft.

Mölders was was the unit's traditional name. Due to complaints from people, who felt offended by the portrait of Werner Mölders, which was painted as a special livery on the tail of 37+81 in 2003, this name was not authorized to be used anymore on 11 March, 2005. Since then, the patch was modified to read JG 74. The patch was once again changed to "TaktLwG 74" in October, 1st 2013 due to restructuring of the German Air Force.

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12 hours ago, Lancer512 said:

However, if you want it to be correct, it should say MÖLDERS instead of JG 74.

Thanks for pointing that out!

 

I'll look for that version. I could change the image if I need to. Hmm, I may need to also change the blue. The above doesn't match the decal, which may also be RAL 5015.

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I put a flat on the canopy. The shape isn't right, but that's a function of the canopy shape.

f_4f_canopyflat.jpg

 

Question for the experts.

 

The HaHen instructions claims RAL 9007, Graualuminum for what I thought was heat-stained bare metal . Does that make sense?


Also, what's the right radome color? Depending on the photo, it looks like 36231, 36118, or 36081 could be reasonable...

 

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Are you talking about the bare metal areas aft of the engines?

I guess HaHen used the closest RAL colors for the metallic parts. For metalic parts, I never use what's in the instructions. Use whatever looks the best for the exhaust area.

 

Regarding the radome, maybe ask Phantom what Hasegawa uses for the blue and yellow JG73 jet. In the AirDoc book, there is a picture with both jets flying in formation, and the color of the radome appers to the same on both jets.

 

Edited by Lancer512
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Ready for decals. I thought the lighter band across the wing bottom was much stronger when I was spraying, but HaHen shows it far lighter. Oh well, I need to bring photos with me when I'm spraying.

 

f_4f_painted1.jpg

 

f_4f_painted0.jpg

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  • 2 months later...

Got the decals on! :yahoo:

 

f-4f-decal0.jpg

 

f-4f-decal1.jpg

 

f-4f-decal2.jpg

 

I was quite nervous about the decals, but they actually went on very well. They are quite thin, settle right in, and the blue showed right through.  Had to pull the badge off, cut a white decal paper mask on my Silhouette Portrait, and lay the badge atop the white backing. Even so, there's still some blue showing through. Fortunately, the decals are quite robust despite their thinness!!

 

I'm going to try using Tamiya white tape for the canopy framing and make a new pitot from Albion tubing.

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