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Improving the Revell 1/32 F-4E with aftermarket


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I got a Revell F-4E kit many many years ago. Over the years I have heard a few things about this kit, mostly that it's a real bad kit..

Now I got this kit for about $8.00 USD at a sale some years ago, and the only reason I bought it was for the F-15 style fuel tank. I had heard it was a real dog, so I wasn't expecting much. But in looking at it, I was surprised as it appeared to be a real NICE kit.

The biggest problem, and it's well documented, was that the nose has a wierd profile, and it's noticable. I tried to fix my nose, and feel I got reasonably close.

This is a photo of the kit with the old nose taped to it. Unfortunately I don't have any shots of the original nose before I tried to fix it with epoxy putty.

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When I first started building it, my plan was to install the Verlinden set that was designed for the Tamiya F-4D/C, into my Revell kit. In messing around with that attempt, noticed that the Verlinden pit fits remarkably well into this Revell kit. I did not anticipate any problems installing it. But some accuracy issues with the Verlinden pit put this project on hold.. Mostly that the Verlinden pit is far too shallow - if you stick ejection seats (other than the seriously crappy verlinden seats) into the pit, they stick out way to high. The biggest hindrance though was the need for a canopy sill. The Revell kit doesn't have a sill. If you look at photos, the sill is a real obvious detail that is missing. I decided to make one from sheet styrene - and was almost finished when Black box released their 1/32 pit, which I bough, and which I like way more than the Verlinden pit.

Recently my interests in F-4s have been resurrected and I have been pulling this kit out here and there to work on it.

I recently got a hold of the CE Resin nose to review for ARC. I couldn't help but wonder how different my fixed nose was when compared to the Resin update. I noted several differences on the kits nose - nothing I couldn’t live with - but what really caught my eye was how close the kit seemed to match the width and depth of the resin part. A few checks with caliper seemed to suggest that it would fit!

..

So after carefully determining the panel line that needed to be cut - carefully chopped off the nose with a razor saw and stuck the CE nose on.. EUREKA – the thing fits – almost perfectly.

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That got me thinking further..

If the CE nose fits - and the CE nose is designed for the Tamiya kit, will the Tamiya F-4E kit nose fit? I pulled the nose parts out of my Tamiya F-4E kit and started checking.. WOW - they not only fit - the likewise fits very well. Yea you still will have to do some filling and rescribing - but nothing worse than fitting those mult-part fusealge kits (such as the hasegawa P-40 for instance). This isn't advanced modeling we are talking here.

So why on earth would you want to know this? No one in their right mind would take a Tamiya kit and use it to detail a Revell kit - that's just stupid!

Well if you call up Tamiya (18005tamiya) , ask for the L and M trees for kit 60310 (1/32 F-4E) they will sell them to you. The total is expensive, about $30 for both trees..

But what you get is a correct nose AND a gun (and radar)..

Most F-4s have part of the lower fairing open when on the ground, with a Remove before flight tag stuck in the gun.

Here is a comparison of the mostly completed tamiya nose and the CE resin part

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Ok, so now there are at least three options for the nose..

1. Don't mess with it

2. The CE update - which also comes with nice resin burner cans

3. Order a Tamiya nose

If you are not opting for #1 - chances are you probably will want to replace or enhance the pit. I have been saying (and no one believes me) that the Black Box F-4E pit that is designed for the Tamiya kit will fit this kit.

When I first started building it, my plan was to install the Verlinden set that was designed for the Tamiya F-4D/C, into my Revell kit. In messing around with that attempt, noticed that the Verlinden pit fits remarkably well into this Revell kit. I did not anticipate any problems installing it. But some accuracy issues with the Verlinden pit put this project on hold.. Mostly that the Verlinden pit is far too shallow - if you stick ejection seats (other than the seriously crappy verlinden seats) into the pit, they stick out way to high. The biggest hindrance though was the need for a canopy sill. The Revell kit doesn't have a sill. If you look at photos, the sill is a real obvious detail that is missing. I decided to make one from sheet styrene - and was almost finished when Black box released their 1/32 pit, which I bough, and which I like way more than the Verlinden pit.

My plan is to install the BB pit .. Here is the BB pit dryfitted. Note that I have done almost no work to do this. I still have some fitting to do, especially on the rear of the rear pit. But I am 100% sure it will fit with minimal effort.

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So is this the REALLY old Revell kit from about the seventies or the one they released in the nineties ( cos i've got the nineties version ) :worship:

the later one.

I wouldn't even touch the old one at this point! Now that would be some serious work to fix that one up!

--Frank

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Frank,

Just my opinion form a practical standpoint. You already have the CE set, and rather than go and spend $30 on the Tamiya parts, I'd go with the CE set. Fit-wise, it's a toss-up, as either option will only require minor re-shaping.

Regardless of which one you choose, get to work! I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do with the R/M kit. :worship:

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Frank,

Just my opinion form a practical standpoint. You already have the CE set, and rather than go and spend $30 on the Tamiya parts, I'd go with the CE set. Fit-wise, it's a toss-up, as either option will only require minor re-shaping.

Regardless of which one you choose, get to work! I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do with the R/M kit. :worship:

Steve,

yep - I am just reporting what I found - both the CE and Tamiya parts fit this thing though.

I am just reporting it because I doubt many people have figured this out.

I never would have guessed

--Frank

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Hi Frank,

Interesting bit of detective work! :sunrevolves: Personally, I'd go with Option 4: order an RC resin nose and call it a day. The Cutting Edge nose has a lot of shape issues, not to mention the price. Accuracy-wise, I don't think the CE nose is much of an improvement over the kit nose anyway. The CE afterburner nozzles look good, but are too small for the Tamiya kit, much less Revell's. Revell's nozzles are the correct diameter, they just lack interior detail.

I look forward to seeing your progress on your F-4.

Cheers!

Ben

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  Personally, I'd go with Option 4: order an RC resin nose and call it a day.

Ben

Ben,

Please elaborate on the RC nose (where, how much, etc).

Frank,

Neat work and nice experimenting - hope you keep going (on-line)..... From whom can I order the appropriate Tamiya trees?

Gene K

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One thing to keep in mind is that the Tamiya boxing of the F-4EJ comes with 2 sets of nose pieces , one in Gray , and one in clear :rofl: - making toe options a lot simplier!

Oh RC Resins Here - there's also a repacement nose cone inthe CAM F-4G conversion as well!

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One thing to keep in mind is that the Tamiya boxing of the F-4EJ comes with 2 sets of nose pieces , one in Gray , and one in clear  :rofl:  - making toe options a lot simplier!

Oh RC Resins Here - there's also a repacement nose cone inthe CAM F-4G conversion as well!

Thanks for the info, Scotsman.

So if the two Tamiya trees that Frank mentioned are ordered, do you get one or both noses?

Gene K

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From whom can I order the appropriate Tamiya trees?

Nevermind -- I just re-read Frank's post where he said " Well if you call up Tamiya (18005tamiya) , ask for the L and M trees for kit 60310 (1/32 F-4E) they will sell them to you. The total is expensive, about $30 for both trees..

I'll also check through Rainbow 10 in Japan - they offer Tamiya replacement parts.

Gene K

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