Jump to content

Ben Brown

Members
  • Posts

    579
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Contact Methods

  • Website URL
    http://
  • ICQ
    0

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    North Carolina, USA

Recent Profile Visitors

3,240 profile views

Ben Brown's Achievements

Obsessed Member

Obsessed Member (4/9)

480

Reputation

  1. Thanks for posting these pics! This is one of the (many) things I miss about the Smithsonian’s now closed Paul S Garber facility. You could go through and see the restorations up close and talk to the people working on them. I got to watch most of the progress of the restorations of the Ar 243 and Sierran back in the 80s. I just wish I’d thought to take more photos! Ben
  2. I just skimmed through the F-4E flight manual that’s available on the F-4 Phantom Society’s web site and there’s no mention of using the speed brakes in the section on normal landing procedures. Ben
  3. The areas under the slats are the same as the surrounding camouflage color. Here’s a walk around of the NMUSAF jet that shows most of the antennae: Link Part 95 - one goes on the forward nose gear door and one goes on the fuselage spine, just aft of the hump for the cockpit. Part 125 and 126 can go on the aft nose gear door and on the fuselage spine to starboard of the centerline, just aft of the inflight refueling door. Usually the straight one was seen on the fuselage, but the jet at the NMUSAF has a straight one on the nose gear door. R5 and R6(are they the same as R5?) probably go on the sides of the nose - they’re the black rectangles in the photos. R7 on the sides of the tail above the W? It’s hard to see what they look like in your photo. Not sure about the ones you’re holding. They look a little bit like the single blade antenna found under the port intake on some F-4Es, but I’m not sure. Ben
  4. You’re welcome, Mark! Looks like 69-0298 did have the stab stiffeners: Link to photo Ben
  5. The outboard section should be painted FS 36118 Gunship Grey on a Hill Grey II camouflaged jet like the one you’re building. The arrowhead-shaped stiffener plates were also painted. IIRC, the natural metal parts were stainless steel with the dark bit being titanium. The fixed slat area on the leading edge was bare metal almost all the way down to the tip. This page has several photos of the stabs on different versions of the F-4: LINK They’re museum jets, which are usually suspect painting references, but these all have the stabs as they were seen on operational jets. The stiffener on the TD coded jet was painted, but the paint has worn off. It looks like the instructions have you painting the underside light grey as in the early Hill Grey I scheme. The underside should reflect the topside, with the dark and light grey sections: LINK The drawing is labeled Hill I but is actually Hill II. Link to photo of actual jet HTH. Ben
  6. I think the 131st TFW has the best shark mouth design ever painted on an F-4. It looks like you can’t go wrong when choosing between the Meng vs Z-M kits. I’m going with Z-M, in spite of the canopy shape. As Jeffrey says, this can be mostly hidden by opening the canopies. I don’t want to have to figure out how to fix the keel between the afterburners on the Meng kit. Ben
  7. I’m building the Zoukei Mura F-4E right now and I’ve built several Hasegawa kits. Zoukei-Mura: You’ll need the later version of the F-4E with leading edge slats to build an F-4E in your photo, which rules out the current Z-M kit, unless you add a slat conversion set from Hypersonic (adds to the cost of your model). Z-M are releasing a later version with slatted wings this spring. The current kit builds into a beautiful early version, like those that served in Vietnam. I’m enjoying the kit, but it can be a bit fiddly in some places. The Hasegawa kits are pretty old (1980s) but they have held up well. They are relatively simple but you’ll end up having to spend some time filling seams. They’re not as detailed as the Z-M or Meng kits, but that can be a good thing for a less experienced modeler. Hasegawa released both a slatted version and an early version (under the ProModeler label). Everything I’ve read about the Meng kit says what Rob said above. It is simpler and easier to build than the Z-M kit, so it might be the best option for a less experienced modeler. It only comes in the slatted version. Ben
  8. It was most likely 0-62-932. PACAF presented the serial numbers differently, for some reason. Where USAFE and CONUS put the fiscal year under the small AF, PACAF used the last digit of the year and the last 4 of the serial number. I can’t find exactly when PACAF changed to be the same as the rest of the USAF, but the practice continued into the ‘70s. A quick google search turned up photos of 3rd TFW F-4Es from 1978-79 still with the PACAF version of the serial number. Ben
  9. From a modeling perspective, it should be relatively easy, since most of the differences were internal. Just remove the extensions on the stabilators that make up the slots or adapt some unslotted stabs from Hypersonic to fit. The cockpit is the basic F-4E pit, even though they provide the doghouse spine antenna for the later ARN-101 system. There may be a few more mods necessary to build an ICE F-4F, but I’m not very familiar with that variant. Ben
  10. The -2 Banshee is going to be one of those “shut up and take my money” kits! Same for the DBMK F11F. Ben
  11. Bonus points if they make the label decal for the Limburger scented. Or scratch & sniff. Ben
  12. SK Decals has a test shot and posted a picture on their Facebook page. Link (Sorry, stupid iPad won’t let me post the photo.) I wonder if SK have a hand in producing Nunu’s decals? The quality of the decals in their other kits is outstanding. Ben
  13. If the Nunu Porsche 911 RSR actually hits the shelves this year, I’ll clear the bench for it. SK Decals has a test shot of it, so here’s hoping! In the meantime, I’m debating whether to start another Nunu M6 GT3 or a Tamiya Jäegermeister 635 CSI. Ben
  14. Very nice build! Your fix for the ride height is perfect. Hasegawa has been putting out some great car kits lately. These are such great cars. There’s a guy in my town that has a supercharged one. I see him driving it pretty often. Ben
  15. Seeing the mention of Joe Baugher, I was told he passed away last week. Ben
×
×
  • Create New...