Old Kit Conundrum

[Nocoolname]

Even when I've only bought a kit for some spare parts or specific decals I find I can't bare to simply throw the rest of the kit away, even when it is old and lacking the fidelity of modern kits. This is the case with an old 1/48 Hasegawa F-4B and a 1/48 Airfix Tornado F.3, both of which were bought for their decals. The F-4 is one of Hasegawa's early releases, complete with raised detail while the Airfix is the original release and a far cry from even the Hobbyboss tooling. I can think of something to do with the Tornado, with it being decked out as a 43 Sqn Black ADV after a healthy dose of re-scribing. I'm a bit stuck with the Phantom though. I have modern kits for all the major US and UK versions I am interested in save for a 1435 Flt FGR.2. But I can't see a realistic way of modifying the kit to make a realistic FGR.2. If anyone has any thoughts on what I might reasonably do with the kit they would be most welcome.

 

Cheers

 

Nocool

[Space Ranger]

Donate the kit to a model club for raffling/auctioning off, if you belong to a club. Or give it to another modeler. Don't just throw it away. Somebody, somewhere, is bound to find a use for it.

[bootneck]

I agree with Space Ranger and donate it to a model club if you have one near you.  This is done fairly regularly at our club; the items are then sold and the monies put to a good use. 

I have just learned that our club, the North Somerset Modelling Society, has accrued £500 this way and that is going to be donated to the Weston Hospice Care, at a presentation at the Helicopter Museum, this coming Sunday.  

 

Mike

 

 

[stever219]

Just 'cos the Phantom's got raised panel lines doesn't make it fatally flawed, terminally unbuildable or disastrously uncool to have on your shelf.  Build it for nostalgia's sake, use it as a test bed for new tools or techniques, donate it to charity/another modeller/a veteran or just try to improve it.  I built the Airfix EA-6B a while ago: having painted it I gave it a very gentle rub down with very worn wet 'n' dry 'til the grey of the raised surface detail started to show through, especially on the white areas.   I thought it looked quite effective; not so sure now though.

the Phantom's probably a better model than the Airfix Tornado too.

[Giorgio N]

The Hasegawa Phantom may not be the best in scale anymore, it does have raised panel lines, but it's still IMHO a very good kit. If you intend on keeping and building it, it may be worth trying some unusual colour scheme for this. One that comes to my mind is one of the original F-4Gs, a variant of the B with special avionics. Some of these carried an unusual green over white camouflage

[goggsy]

Go old school. Build, paint, and decal it within an hour and then stick a banger in it. You might want to go out into the garden for the last bit though.

[tempestfan]

Don't know if Academy got round to the B yet, but the Hase used to be the only thin wing kit on the market, save for the ancient Marusan /Fuji/Sunny/Entex, and the even more fossilic Aurora. Of course Giorgio beat me with the suggestion of the first G. An N would be quite straightforward, and you could also try one of  the late -1Fs, that already had the definitive intakes and radome,  but not yet the raised canopy  (or were those protos /preseries?). Not much use converting this to a Brit bird, as you'd have to rebuild much of the fuselage along the engine section, thicken the wings etc. Besides, there should be a host of colourful markings options for straight Bs.

[Fernando]

Hi, Nocoolname,

 

There is nothing intrinsically reproachable in throwing a kit away. If you have to do it, then you have to do it. 

 

Fernando

[murfv]

Hi 

 

How about build it without too much fuss and go a bit 'what if' on it, alternate colours, weird weapons fit, do a bit of a back story, you get the idea.

  

[Pin]

Steampunk!

Add some ridicule, oversized non-existing insignia, guns and bobms as big as you can find, a lot of dirt and rust and voila!

 

 

[gingerbob]

You'd consider throwing away a kit because you took the decals from it?  You do realize that most people buy aftermarket decals anyway, right? 

[Graham Boak]

Try the route of converting it to an F-4J and hence into an RAF example of one of those.  Not all British Phantoms were Spey-engined.  I don't know about all the detail changes involved, but it seems a lot more reasonable than some suggestions.

 

But I do agree that there's no shame in throwing away a kit you don't want to make.  I mean, some people throw away books...

[tempestfan]

The  original G was a straight B airframe with an automated carrier landing system, that apparently only had a couple of antennae added. "Real" A's had the lower cockpit and lower powered engines, but apart from that I think mostly identical to Bs. Those look reasonably easy to me, much easier than a J.

[Tailspin Turtle]

4 hours ago, tempestfan said:

"Real" A's had the lower cockpit and lower powered engines, but apart from that I think mostly identical to Bs. Those look reasonably easy to me, much easier than a J.

 

Only the earliest As had the flush canopy. Except for the prototypes used to develop the inlet and ramp, all As had some version of the original inlet and ramp, which is notably (if you know what to look for) different from the B's.. Also see http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2013/03/f4h-f-4-phantom-index.html

[Giorgio N]

10 hours ago, tempestfan said:

Don't know if Academy got round to the B yet, but the Hase used to be the only thin wing kit on the market, save for the ancient Marusan /Fuji/Sunny/Entex, and the even more fossilic Aurora. Of course Giorgio beat me with the suggestion of the first G. An N would be quite straightforward, and you could also try one of  the late -1Fs, that already had the definitive intakes and radome,  but not yet the raised canopy  (or were those protos /preseries?). Not much use converting this to a Brit bird, as you'd have to rebuild much of the fuselage along the engine section, thicken the wings etc. Besides, there should be a host of colourful markings options for straight Bs.

 

In 1/48 scale Academy has issued the B before any other variant. You're right though, there's plenty of colourful markings for Bs and Ns

 

6 hours ago, Graham Boak said:

Try the route of converting it to an F-4J and hence into an RAF example of one of those.  Not all British Phantoms were Spey-engined.  I don't know about all the detail changes involved, but it seems a lot more reasonable than some suggestions.

 

But I do agree that there's no shame in throwing away a kit you don't want to make.  I mean, some people throw away books...

 

The modifications required to build a J from a B are not that easy as the B had the original thinner wing while the J has the later wing with bulges above and below the wheel wells area. There are of course other differences but the wing style really is the one that matters most

[iainpeden]

I know some school boys who would love to be given unwanted kits - the hobby isn't pocket money based anymore and these youngsters need encouragement.

[Threadbear]

If someone offered me a Hasegawa F-4B I would snatch it out their hands! Okay it isn't a state of the art kit being 30 odd years old now but it was the first proper B/N variant kit of the Phantom with the thin wing and narrow wheels. And there are plenty of colourful USN/USMC decal sheets around suitable for this kit. 

 

Certainly too good to throw away but also not suitable for a J of the USN or RAF....

[Hook]

Kits are for building. 

 

Cheers,

 

Andre 

[Jonners]

You seriously bought a Hasegawa 1/48 Phantom for the decals, and now are seriously considering throwing the kit away??

 

Get a grip...!

[Don McIntyre]

5 hours ago, Jonners said:

You seriously bought a Hasegawa 1/48 Phantom for the decals, and now are seriously considering throwing the kit away??

 

Get a grip...!

I don' get it, either.

[Marcus.Q1000859]

F4H-1. Falcon do the conversion and second hand they are the same price as fish and chips. or if you are a city dweller , coffee and a bagel . 

[DennisTheBear]

Target drone, mothballed in the desert, shot down in Vietnam. Just 3 things off the top of my head that could be done with this model.

[Nocoolname]

On ‎27‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 10:56 AM, gingerbob said:

You'd consider throwing away a kit because you took the decals from it?  You do realize that most people buy aftermarket decals anyway, right? 

 

LOL! This was one of the first kits I bought when returning to the hobby and didn't know any better. 'Both' that the early Hasegawa Phantom's had raised detail 'and' that I could probably get the decals aftermarket. A valuable lesson learned on both fronts!

[Nocoolname]

Thanks for all the input folks! I've taken a leaf out of another build posted here and decided to Jolly Roger it using the decals from an Academy F-4J (which I am turning into a VX'er). I'm also rescribing it, using it to practice such skills in the first instance along with providing a test bed for my riveters. I'm just returning to my F-2 build but will post pictures as soon as I can.

[Nocoolname]

Slight change of plan folks! I've ditched the Jolly Rogers idea and decided to go for the Grey Ghosts B that got its tail 'zapped' when cross-decking with Ark Royal. If the decals arrive...