dai phan Posted May 9 Author Share Posted May 9 Hi all, One more Sidewinder to go then clear coat. Dai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
aircommando130 Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 Wow that's looking good! I really like the Black Dog pieces too. Cheers...Ron Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted May 11 Author Share Posted May 11 Hello all. All the missiles are completed. Dai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted May 11 Author Share Posted May 11 (edited) Hi, My new upgraded paint booth... Much better now. This is the third booth. Dai Edited May 11 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted May 12 Author Share Posted May 12 (edited) Hi all, Now onto the canopy section. Dai Edited May 12 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 (edited) Hello all, The canopy section is finished. Next will be fine tuning any painting mistakes on the main frame before clear coating. Dai Edited May 13 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BuNo02100 Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 Just about across the finish line, impressed with your output and work Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted May 15 Author Share Posted May 15 (edited) Hello all, Gloss coat the plane and started the pin wash process. Unless I am into a massive wash, I do it before decaling stage and any additional wash needed over the decals can be done later. That way I do not risk of damaging the decals when removing the wash or the wash get caught on the carrier film. I use light brown as anything else is too dark. Tamiya's panel lines are very fine but still over done. Looking at the photos of the actual planes you hardly can make out panel lines if at all. Dai Edited May 15 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RichB63 Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 Nice! What squadron markings did you decide on? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted May 15 Author Share Posted May 15 (edited) 11 minutes ago, RichB63 said: Nice! What squadron markings did you decide on? F-4B, 150484, VMFA-115, VE/10, Da Nang AB, South Vietnam, 1971, MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, 1971 . Same as this one except the nose number is 10, the number on the fuse is 0484 and the tail code is 10. You can see the Coro-Gard on the leading edge of the wings. Dai Edited May 15 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted May 15 Author Share Posted May 15 (edited) Hello all, With the painting completed, now onto the decaling process and installing of parts. This particular sheet by AOA is printed by Microscale so I wanted to test out a few pieces to see how they perform. So far, they release from backing paper easily and strong. Responds well to Microsol. I will complete 25 stencils a day, no more no less to prevent myself from burning out on this tedious job. Dai Edited May 15 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted May 16 Author Share Posted May 16 (edited) Hello all, Started the decaling process. Dai Edited May 16 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattN Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 Looking good! I hear you on the decals - I used the AOA stencil sheet too. Worked like a charm. But all told, I spent 15 straight evenings decalling my Tamiya F-4B - including all the ordnance, pylons and racks, etc. I had to set mine down for a while to recover from the experience. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted May 16 Author Share Posted May 16 (edited) 1 hour ago, MattN said: Looking good! I hear you on the decals - I used the AOA stencil sheet too. Worked like a charm. But all told, I spent 15 straight evenings decalling my Tamiya F-4B - including all the ordnance, pylons and racks, etc. I had to set mine down for a while to recover from the experience. This is a turn off for me when comes to building the Phantom. But Phantoms without stencils ain't F4s. Woke up at 3 and applied some more this early morning. I just do a few a day and quit when I want. Eventually I will run out of stencils to apply. If I do say 10 a day, it will take 45 days for all the stencils to be applied. Imagine the poor souls who have to do this on the actual plane! Dai Edited May 16 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lgl007 Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 Wonderful work 🙂 -Greg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 (edited) Greetings to all, A little more every night. A word of warning. The AOA decal sheet " SPOOKS FROM THE BEACH PART 1 " is printed by Microscale and WILL REACT VIOLENTLY with Solva-set. The solution will melt the ink away instantly like rubbing down with acetone. I lost a big piece due to this. Dai Edited May 17 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 (edited) Hi all, I have seen many beautifully built Phantoms but over weathered like some neglected gate guards. Here is a good reference photo on the amount of weathering on a model. Dai Edited May 17 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BuNo02100 Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 Appreciate you pointing out how Phantoms in the LGG/GW scheme weathered. I agree that many models I have seen are way over weathered to depict an actual aircraft. But if thr modeler wants to, then it’s their call. Me? I’m going to try and accurately replicate the original Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted May 21 Author Share Posted May 21 (edited) Hello all, Now onto the stenciling. I used three decal companies to get what you see here (AOA, Furball Aero Design and Bullseye). All because decals printed by Microscale performed so poorly so I use as much by Cartograf printed decals as I can. AOA for small stencils, FAD for the walk ways and B for the insignias. Microscale decals have nasty silvering effect (reacts violently with Solva-Set) and easy to be torn so I only use them for small stencils. AOA seems to have the best research of all however. I wish AOA would source all printings to Cartograf from now on. Dai Edited May 21 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted May 21 Author Share Posted May 21 (edited) Greetings to all, Stenciling process underway. I will do 30 a day, no more no less. Microscale printed stencils performed poorly with silvering every where even with repeated applications of Micro-Sol. Vastly inferior to Cartograf. I have to use some Microscale stencils as they are not available in other companies. Dai Edited May 21 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted May 22 Author Share Posted May 22 (edited) Greetings, The entire left fuselage side is decaled. Interestingly, there is a Japanese text on the bottom of the Rescue stencil. The plane was based in Dang Nang, VN as well as in Japan so that makes sense for Japanese rescue crew. Dai Edited May 22 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted May 22 Author Share Posted May 22 (edited) Greetings, I know this sounds weird but I actually find the stenciling process to be relaxing and somewhat enjoyable. That is because I start to see the real Phantom emerging. Cannot say the same thing to application of the stripes and stencils on the missiles. Painful at the very least. Dai Edited May 22 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SERNAK Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 On 5/17/2023 at 4:16 PM, dai phan said: Hi all, I have seen many beautifully built Phantoms but over weathered like some neglected gate guards. Here is a good reference photo on the amount of weathering on a model. Dai OK, I'm a little bit confused ... this is a photo of a model not an actual F-4? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted May 22 Author Share Posted May 22 1 hour ago, SERNAK said: OK, I'm a little bit confused ... this is a photo of a model not an actual F-4? This is a photo of the actual F4 showing the right amount of weathering. I have seen way too many excellent builds with weathering way over the top. Dai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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