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FineMolds F-4EJ Phantom II just a look


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The first three weeks of May were hectic with all sorts of problems but now I am back with a little progress. Some more work in the past weeks was also carried out but there is little to show at the moment.

 

On the other hand I did try on the Masters pitots on the FineMolds nosecone as well as the original plastic ones with the kit. The receptacle area for the brass pitot is a little bit too big. One can add the pitot, fill the gap and sand it to shape. But due to the very fragile and small nature of the pitot I went the other way. In order to protect them I have no intention of adding the extremely small brass parts until the very end of the build.

 

So a small piece of 0.2 thickness plastic sheet was glued to the very end of the nosecone. When dry it was sanded to shape and a 0.5 mm hole was drilled as recommended in the Master instruction. Few dry runs with the brass pitot. A minimal sanding was needed to cut back on the added plastic to make a perfect fit. Now the nose cone will be ready for the pitot at the end of construction.

 

 

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PMU2b12.jpg

 

 

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Stay Safe!

  

Best regards

Gabor

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Hi Mario,

 

Thanks for following!

Yes, the FineMolds pitot is OK if one looks at it as a plastic part! Still prefer something more delicate and true to scale like the Master pitot. I know FineMolds is also doing some turned pitots but the Master set (AM-72-036) also has the Angle of Attack spike! And it is also something special from brass! A hole was drilled for it to be installed at the very end. On the inside I added a piece of plastic as a stopper, so that by accident when the kit is ready I would no push in too deep the AOA indicator. Murphy never sleeps!!! : )  : )

 

Actually I have just received the Vietnam version from a very good Czech friend so apart from my original idea (which is not a Japanese AF plane) there should be a parallel aircraft coming along with the South East Asian camouflage also.

 

uMqRDGt.jpg

 

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The F-4 specific forward instrument panel both in plain (for decals) and full surface detail for painting. Same for the back office below.

 

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Here is that little extra part included in this (Early) Vietnam kit version. With the front of the Vulcan barrels just visible there!  I dont think we will see it in any of the future releases.

 

fKgLsfZ.jpg

 

 

Best regards

Gabor

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  • 5 months later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Hi Gene,

 

Sorry but from the start of the summer all my time is taken up with my ejection seat collection/museum. A hell of a lot of work with absolutely no time for building kits.  : (  : (  : (

Sorry!

 

Best regards

Gabor

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No real work on the kit, but here is something interesting for anyone wanting to add a little extra to the FineMolds kit.

At last Quinta Studios has released the first set of cockpit decals for this Phantom. 

Remember it is 72nd scale with some fab details. 

 

Like the circuit boards on the sides of cockpit wall in the back. I did not really understand why this area was left completely blank by FineMolds.

 

1O8m9kS.jpg

 

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And here is the ejection seat with the small extras. I am not convinced by the colour of the main straps with all the lines in them, but who am I to question this.

On the other hand all the stenciling is there and possible to read for the seat pan cushion. 

Theere is also the stencil placard on top of the seat where the safety pin is placed. It was completely missed by another manufacturer who likes to be seen as adding details others missed. 

 

 

KSBqeuB.jpg

 

Here is the cockpit with the Quinta decals fitted.

 

5qrl5z2.jpg

 

qiOKg94.jpg

 

jvq3IOC.jpg

 

Best regards

Gabor

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hi Gabor,

 

Great pictures to illustrate what the Quitna set offers by way of upgrade to the FM kit (and possibly Hasegawa, if Quinta aren't releasing a more specific set) - thanks as ever for sharing with us.

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Hi Andrew,

 

You are welcome. Just showing what I have seen on the net. Well in case of Quinta not exactly as I have been in contact with them for almost a year asking for a cockpit set and giving few ideas. 

I think what is really amazing is that all of this detail is given in 72nd scale!!!!! WOW. It is standard to have something like this in 48th or 32nd but not really in 72nd. Some other aftermarket companies have also tried their hand at replicating Quinta products but they stoped at 48th and even there could not really do a similar quality print.

 

BUT

here is something I seen on a Japanese site. Someone (Domcat14) had the time to build it and also the luck that he already had the kit. (Still waiting here in Europe for the kit to arrive : (  : (  ).

The National Guard F-4C built in those markings about which we had a lot of talk many months ago. In my personal opinion it looks fantastic! Corrections were made by FineMolds to the markings and few additions included. There is no question what I will want to build.   : )   : )    : )

 

l9Il801.jpg

 

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Best regards

Gabor

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Gianni,

 

Sorry, but everything on hold at the moment. All my time is taken up with my ejection seat collection and trying to save it. So there is almost zero time left for the hobby. Everyday I travel almost 5 hours on public transport to the storage place (kind of workshop). Spend about 4 hours there till the sun goes down ( no heating & lighting ) and back home. It is basically from 9AM to 8PM and little time left for anything else.

 

Today is a brake in a long time (I was very kind to myself  : )   : )   : ) ). On 24th there will be no public transport in the afternoon so I will have a day off again (what a luuuxury), but there is more than enough work here at home also. Same routine starts again from 25th.

 

Would love to get on with this Phantom (Phantoms) but there is / are also my Fishbed builds and some helicopters needing urgent attention as well as lots of other works / designs /articles for publications . . .

 

One day . . .

 

Best regards

Gabor

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I did show this here (somewhere on ARC) before from my "collection"/museum of flight safety equipement including ejection seats.

At the moment the work is to try to save what I have and find a new safe place for them.

 

Here are few views

 

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qTJNWO3.jpg

 

 

Sorry for the off topic, this has nothing to do with Phantoms and unfortunately I dont have a Phantom ejection seat. : (   : (

 

 

Best regards

 

Gabor

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  • 1 year later...
On 7/2/2023 at 5:19 PM, GeneK said:

Gabor,

 

Were you able to get back to this great build ... or the FineMold F-4C?

 

Gene K

 

Hi Gene,

 

Sorry there is little to report on the Phantom build. : (  : (  Actually a lot of work has been carried out in the background. But it takes a hell of a lot of time to do photos, write it all up and post on different forums around the world. We have only one life (most of us). And so time is very limited for the things we do. I am running out of the time allocated to me. There are kits, there is my work as journalist, my ejection seats, a lot of research just to mention few. Try to do as much as possible but . . .

 

For the Phantom I made many small parts, basically masters. They are one-offs and since the plan is to build few F-4’s have no plan of doing them again and again. I still use my traditional 3D printer, as a friend have said a true “Digital” printer, my 10 fingers.   : )  : )

Once the masters are ready, one needs to make moulds and then cast few of them for myself. It all takes a lot of time!

 

I am on it, but it wouldn’t be tomorrow that I can show anything.

 

And of course every now and then some things “accidentally” turn up on my workbench like now the AMMO MiG-17F in 48th scale. Unfortunately have to put some projects on a back burner when something like this happens. Good for one project and bad for the other. Oh well.

 

Thanks for remembering my work and asking about progress! Really appreciated!

 

As for new things from FineMolds, unfortunately I will not be able to report, share or show any of them since Elon Musk has banned me from the Twitter as an outside observer so have no idea what FineMolds is showing currently. It will be up to you boys!

 

Best regards

Gabor

 

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26 minutes ago, ya-gabor said:

Now that you ask.  : )  : )  : )

Did I show the detailing made on the fuel tanks? Here is some of it after a layer of grey primer.

 

 

Looks like top quality craftsmanship. Outstanding.

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8 minutes ago, Craig Baldwin said:

 

Looks like top quality craftsmanship. Outstanding.

He REALLY is good! Pretty astounding as well as outstanding.:salute:

 

23 hours ago, ya-gabor said:

Elon Musk has banned me from the Twitter as an outside observer so have no idea what FineMolds is showing currently. It will be up to you boys!

Craig Baldwin is always on top of Japanese Twits/Tweets. We are in good hands.

 

Gene K

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