F-4EJ Stencils in 1/48 Blue on Blue scheme

[Vaildog]

I have the Hasegawa boxing in the blue on blue scheme, but the stencils supplied in the kit decals are the wrong color. IRL the stencils are white, but the ones in the kit are black. Does anyone make these?

[Ben Brown]

Icarus 48005 has white F-4E stencils. The sheet probably doesn't include EJ-specific stencils, but it will get you 99% of the way there. 

 

Ben

 

[Mstor]

Are you quite sure the stencils were white? It sounds like you are doing the F-4EJ Kai maritime scheme. If it is that scheme, then the stencils are actually black, but they masked off each and every stencil before painting the blue on blue scheme. So, each stencil is actually black on a grey background. Pictures taken from a distance may appear to show white or light colored stencils, but they are in fact black (or actually whatever the original color was) on grey. The grey was usually either light or dark ghost grey as the aircraft were originally painted in a two tone camo with those colors. See the pic below. Look closely and you will see the grey background on the stencils.

 

[Hoops]

57 minutes ago, Mstor said:

Are you quite sure the stencils were white? It sounds like you are doing the F-4EJ Kai maritime scheme. If it is that scheme, then the stencils are actually black, but they masked off each and every stencil before painting the blue on blue scheme. So, each stencil is actually black on a grey background. Pictures taken from a distance may appear to show white or light colored stencils, but they are in fact black (or actually whatever the original color was) on grey. The grey was usually either light or dark ghost grey as the aircraft were originally painted in a two tone camo with those colors. See the pic below. Look closely and you will see the grey background on the stencils.

 

Mstor is completely correct.

 

I did a walkaround of one of the 9th Squadron F-4EJs and had the opportunity to get up close in 2006, and all the stencils are standard, black F-4EJ stencils applied on a grey aircraft. They are then masked off, as well as bunch of individual panel lines and other joints, and then the two blue colors are sprayed over the top. The masking is then removed leaving lots of individual blocks of grey all over the aircraft.

 

And before you ask, my hard drive was corrupted years ago and I do not have the images any more.

 

Cheers,

 

Hoops

 

[mingwin]

if you look closely to the stencils provided with the kit, you should see the light grey "outline" on many of them.

Edited April 11, 2018 by mingwin

[Vaildog]

56 minutes ago, Hoops said:

 

Mstor is completely correct.

 

I did a walkaround of one of the 9th Squadron F-4EJs and had the opportunity to get up close in 2006, and all the stencils are standard, black F-4EJ stencils applied on a grey aircraft. They are then masked off, as well as bunch of individual panel lines and other joints, and then the two blue colors are sprayed over the top. The masking is then removed leaving lots of individual blocks of grey all over the aircraft.

 

And before you ask, my hard drive was corrupted years ago and I do not have the images any more.

 

Cheers,

 

Hoops

 

Ugh,  That  is going to make for a tedious and near impossible masking job

[Kurt H.]

I had the same concern when I got that kit. I wondered how Hasegawa could make such an obvious mistake.  But the decals are correct, It is hard to see, I had to use a magnifying glass to see the black writing on a gray background

 

I took a picture with a zoom lens to  illustrate this when I figured it out

 

 

The color of the decal paper blends in with the gray color of the stencils, so it looks like it is just black stencils. 

[Mstor]

Mingwin and Kurt H. are correct. The Hasegawa boxing has the grey background on the stencils. All is right with the world

[Vaildog]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. Very helpful.

[Ben Brown]

17 hours ago, Hoops said:

 

Mstor is completely correct.

 

I did a walkaround of one of the 9th Squadron F-4EJs and had the opportunity to get up close in 2006, and all the stencils are standard, black F-4EJ stencils applied on a grey aircraft. They are then masked off, as well as bunch of individual panel lines and other joints, and then the two blue colors are sprayed over the top. The masking is then removed leaving lots of individual blocks of grey all over the aircraft.

 

And before you ask, my hard drive was corrupted years ago and I do not have the images any more.

 

Cheers,

 

Hoops

 

 

(Ben quietly removes the F-4EJ Kai in blue camouflage from his "to build" list). Sigh. 

[Mstor]

2 hours ago, Ben Brown said:

 

(Ben quietly removes the F-4EJ Kai in blue camouflage from his "to build" list). Sigh. 

 

"Why?", an on-looker asked, emoting concern and empathy.

[Ben Brown]

I recently did full stenciling for an F-4B and I'm about to do it again on an RF-4C, because I didn't learn my lesson the first time. To have to add the tiny gray backgrounds prior to adding the stencils would probably push me right over the edge!   

 

Ben

[mingwin]

if you're using the kit's decals you won't have to overlay stencils over the light gray background, as it's already there with the stencils. on the "plus" side, on the Oceanic scheme EJ that i did, the stencils where often "bundled" in such fashion it wasn't that tedious to add all the stencils. 

[Ben Brown]

Just out of curiosity, are there any aftermarket decals for this camo scheme? Google wasn't much help this time.

 

Ben

 

[zerosystem]

Now what would be the Vallejo colors for that scheme...;-)

[ytsejam87]

mr. color has this set<link to amazon>:  Mr.color Featured Set CS665 Japan Air Self-Defense Force Cleaner Marine Camouflage Color Color

I have it for my F-2's on my bench.

[Mstor]

2 hours ago, Ben Brown said:

Just out of curiosity, are there any aftermarket decals for this camo scheme? Google wasn't much help this time.

 

Ben

 

 

I've never found any. It is sad that the aftermarket decal makers have ignored the F-4EJ for so long. There are dozens and dozens of interesting and weird Japanese Phantoms. Aeromaster did one or two sheets with a few examples. I have one of them and but it doesn't include a full stencil set.

If you are interested in the subject, I would suggest finding a copy of "Defenders of Nippon: F-4 Phantom II". It's hard to come by but has hundreds of side few drawing of F-4EJs in various and assorted color schemes. One must take the colors used in the pics with a huge grain of salt as they are not even close to being accurate, but there is info on each aircraft and FS approximations of the colors used.

Needless to say, I really like the F-4EJ line

[mingwin]

11 hours ago, Ben Brown said:

Just out of curiosity, are there any aftermarket decals for this camo scheme? Google wasn't much help this time.

 

Ben

 

long ago, but now discontinued, there was the HobbyDecal "dry transfer" & decals set, in the three main scales.

Edited April 13, 2018 by mingwin

[MoFo]

Platz has done decals for the scheme.

[HaroldK]

I have searched for the Platz set in 1/72 with no luck for over a year. If you know where I might find them, please let me know.

 

Cheers, Harold

[Joerg]

9 hours ago, HaroldK said:

I have searched for the Platz set in 1/72 with no luck for over a year. If you know where I might find them, please let me know.

 

Cheers, Harold

 

Harold,

 

the Hobbydecal set is available in 1/72 according to their site:

http://www.hobbydecal.com/detail.cgi?number=al72008v1

 

HTH

Joerg

[Ben Brown]

Sadly, Hobbydecal isn't an option, unless you find them second-hand. Based on posts in the Hobbydecal ARC forum, above, they've been out of business since 2015, but their web site is still up. I would have jumped on their F-4EJ and Royal Navy Phantom FG.1 decals in a heartbeat if they were still trading.

 

Did Platz do these decals in 1/48 or just 1/72? I dont' see 1/48 anywhere on their web site.

 

Ben

[JackMan]

 

If I'm not mistaken, this boxing of the 1/48 F-4EJ kit also has the greyed-out stencils:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Hasegawa-1-48-F-4EJ-PHANTOM-II-ADTW-620th-ANNIVERSARY-07437/392018153797?hash=item5b461a5145:g:Me4AAOSwEjFXfguO

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10384209

You could leave out the special anniversary part of the decals & just use the data stencils.

 

Other options:

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10363789

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10043476

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10043482

 

Some of the sold out ones do pop up on E-bay from time to time.

 

[JackMan]

3 hours ago, Ben Brown said:

Did Platz do these decals in 1/48 or just 1/72? I dont' see 1/48 anywhere on their web site.

 

Ben

 

Platz only did those in 1/72:

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10030444

 

It was sold out pretty quick. Luckily Fujimi released their 1/72 F-4EJ kit with the same decals:

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10094784

and more recently their RF-4E kit:

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10368218

 

While the decals are great and offer the greyed-out stencils, both Fujimi kits are of the earlier JASDF Phantom variants and don't have the "Kai" modifications ( wingtip and fin-top antennas). Only Hasegawa JASDF "Kai" Phantoms have them.

 

 

 

[HaroldK]

Hi All,

 

Thanks for all your comments. I have the Hobbydecal sheet mentioned above. They are the rub on type which I have never used before. I had put a search out in the past for the Platz sheet JD-18 without success. I have heard mixed reviews about the stock Fujimi decals in general being a challenge to work with at times. That said, I'm not sure how much better the Hasegawa kit decals for this scheme would be either.

 

Cheers, Harold