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1:72 Hasegawa F-4D ---> RF-4C


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Hi, 

 

I have a Hasegawa Blue Angels F-4J kit I shall be coverting to an F-4D (note from the future: plans have changed and it's going to become an RF-4C - see the horrible box lid for a big clue). I have a proper F-4D kit in the stash as well but I want to have this kit out of the way because of the blue plastic (dunno why) I'll need to reproduce the under nose sensor somehow as well as the intake trunking. The plastic cup with 'intake' on the lid contains all the necessary parts I hope - mostly thin plastic card I have prepared a couple of years ago. 

 

31840837064_01046ea661_c.jpg

 

I'll be finishing this Phantom in USAF 49th TFW markings - which features an HO tail code and a TAC badge. And yes HO stands for Holloman AFB, NM, however this unit was distinctly also assigned to USAFE (the only unit within TAC to be encumbered this way) and had specific infrastructure, including TAB-V shelters, in place at Hahn and Ramstein air bases to deal with the yearly influx of people and planes - in effect, the 'Crested Cap' deployments were mass migrations to Hahn and Ramstein as part of the Reforger exercises. The Wing deployed up to 1977 when the F-4Ds were replaced by F-15s, after which the Crested Caps were taken over by the 4th TFW. Some aircraft would usually remain in Europe during summer and autumn while air and ground crews would be rotated.

 

I have my eye on a 1976 example, when Phantoms regularly appeared with white stencils on the darker camouflage, much like this one:

 

McDonnell_F-4D-30-MC_Phantom_66-7640.jpg

 

Jay

Edited by Mountain goat
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Cool! Always good to learn the story behind a subject Jay so thank you for sharing all this information as an introduction to your thread.

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Thanks guys, I'm looking forward to whatever comes out of this. 

 

First on to some destruction: I needed to cut out the under-wing aerodynamic brakes and the aux air intakes. On the inside I will later want to create some depth and detail, hence the plasticard:

 

32638585811_3ba0aaf536_c.jpg

 

32608623592_ee7ee45ac7_c.jpg

 

As was waving knives and razor saws around anyway I thought I might tackle the intake in one go. I wanted to scratch build a seamless intake with thin paper-like plasticard. I had worked out a technique a couple of years ago which I had tested with paper and it kind of worked. A while ago I saw this build using a similar approach, but I didn't quite understand how it worked - so I'll stick to mine.

 

This is the area that needed cutting out (shown on a grey kit for illustration purposes):

 

32721300396_4e26562ed5_c.jpg

 

After removing the hatched area I stuck the nose section to the rear fuselage as that is a prerequisite for instalment of the intakes. Here's how the cut-out area looks now:

 

31919018834_2de70acb73_c.jpg

 

The forward and rear sections mated. Note the already assembled variable ramp to assist in the intake assembly.

 

32762392515_a9b5a5f001_c.jpg

 

...the cut out template for the seamless intake (below) and the other already glued in.

 

32638584181_36bfa88e31_c.jpg

 

Still haven't glued the second one in, but the first one has been rolled up, held in place in a plastic ring, and glued shut. I didn't want to cover the plastic part's forward interior with plastic sheet as I wanted to avoid possible creases. Hiding the plastic sheet's edge (which would be quite noticeable looking inside the intake from front) is quite simple - just bit of Mr Surfacer, sand down a bit and after a coat of Matt White the trick is done.

 

31919017984_2afd8fd768_c.jpg

 

These are the compressor faces, fashioned from plasticard and scrap plastic (notice the rod on the back - that's there so I could pull back and adjust the part when it's in the intake):

 

31919017684_b40b611e74_c.jpg

 

32638579981_bb174231a4_c.jpg

 

I then dropped in the compressor face into the intake from above, nudged it in with a pair of pliers and used the rod on the back to adjust. Here it is after the (CA) glue has set.

 

32762388725_de14898b8d_c.jpg

 

All right. To be continued then. Thanks for looking!

 

-Jay

 

Edited by Mountain goat
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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi, not much to report except that this build has been put aside for now. All my free time is now invested into care for my mother - I've only had half a day to work on this build in the last month, so hence the snail's progress. I hope I'll get some more done in the near future.

 

In any case, I've changed some plans regarding this build if I'll at all get it going again. I have an old salvaged Hase F-4J in the stash I bought on ebay ages ago. The rear fuselage was already assembled but is, for the rest, unbuilt. That kit, instead of the blue angels one seen above, will form the basis of the F-4D. The blues kit will be converted to an RF-4 using parts donated by a Revell kit. I have complete and 'unimpaired' Hase kits as well, in case you're wondering, just I'd like to get the second hand and non-standard kits out of the way first.

 

-Jay

 

 

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Sorry to hear about your circumstances Jay. I hope you are able to get some free time to relax as I've been through a similar situation myself and know how tiring and stressful it can be.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks all. Thankfully - I have a cutch of free time coming my way - this past week already gave me some time for myself in fact, which meant time for the Phantom.

 

However... I had a change of mind. The F-4D with tail code HO will be built - but I decided against using this particular kit for it. I long had the idea of one day converting this blue plasticked F-4J into an RF-4 using parts from a Revell kit because 1- I wasn't going to build the Revell kit anyway and 2- Hase RF-4s are #^)*$ expensive. 

 

So I don't know why I suddenly wanted to build a D model at the start of this thread, but there you go. Seeing as it was not yet too late, I've reverted to my original plan, which is using the Revell parts to make this a Photo Phantom - and because I'm a sucker for LORAN rails and because I only have the choice of a chisel nosed variant it's going to be this particular one:

 

68-0608 ZR

 

The reason why I believe this conversion will work is mostly born out of the observation that the dark blue Hase plastic corresponds nicely to the dark green Revell plastic, thereby hopefully alleviating alignment issues somewhat. 

 

Last weekend I started the conversion by chopping off the F-4J's nose as well as the Revell one. The fit is not great as the Revell nose is narrower than the Hase fuselage. I thought of adding plasticard between the halves to make the nose wider, but I decided against it, instead I'll simply thicken with plasticard and PA gel on the outside.

 

The main fuselage is now together and the lower wing part as well. The lower nose section with the nose gear well from the Revell kit, has been incorporated as well. I'm quite satisfied. Pics of it all to follow later. I misplaced some of them so there's some gaps missing in the chronology. 

 

Jay

Edited by Mountain goat
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So on to the pics:

 

Here the nose has been chopped off. Detail has been added to the cockpit side walls using bits and pieces of random PE, plasticard and stretched sprue, and coated with a layer of Mr Surfacer. Note also the position of the intake trunking.

 

33492829721_d8148c3129_c.jpg

 

Here the side walls after painting:

 

33492764881_673dee5496_c.jpg

 

The cockpit tub. I used Eduard set #SS265 for some extra detail. I painted the area using an approximate mix of Vallejo paints. I used MIG's dark wash to bring out some extra detail:

 

33492765661_7125fd1106_c.jpg

 

I glued together the fuselage. I will insert the cockpit from the bottom:

 

33492828091_8fdc697be7_c.jpg

 

Meanwhile the Revell nose was chopped off from the forward fuselage and assembled:

 

33492767381_56b1b97d2f_c.jpg

 

I adapted the lower forward fuselage part to fit the Hasegawa kit (White = Plasticard):

 

33492766581_18b7f25161_c.jpg 

 

Here the cockpit tub has been installed. Also shown is the nose job it will undergo (the nose has undergone a little reshaping using plasticard and PA gel, in order to introduce more of a bulge on top when seen from the side):

 

33492764181_3c18dd5e90_c.jpg 

 

The first steps of Revell/ Hase intermarriage:

 

33492762321_c1ca22d932_c.jpg 

 

Ok then - thanks for looking and thank you for the comments earlier.

 

To be continued.

 

Jay

 

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  • 1 month later...

Well, after quite a while I've been able to squeeze in a little modelling time but if I were to be realistic I'd say there's almost no chance finishing this thing before the deadline. 

 

Anyhoo.

 

As previously announced: below you'll find the Hasegawa fuselage succesfully mated with the Revell RF-4 nose. It's quite a bit of work to get the two elements to blend, but I presume one should be able to deduce that if only by the sheer amount of putty all over the place.

 

34086136844_9089811d18_c.jpg

 

Flaps and outer wings were added.

 

34086137664_a01688c657_c.jpg

 

Here a look inside the camera compartment (I had scratch-built a little bit of an interior but I lost the pictures) - basically a simple plasticard job glued and painted. Again, this is the Revell nose, hence the green Revell nose gear well. 

 

34797475881_4b40f18103_c.jpg

 

I added some detail in the auxiliary air intakes under the fuselage with plasticard and stretched sprue. The interioir of the speed brake wells look spartan but that's ok as the brakes will be only partially opened and thus not a lot of detail will be seen.

 

34086135704_d2e59ce327_c.jpg

 

So that's where I'm at. Sorry for not being able to show more progress, but that's the way the news goes. :)

 

Jay

 

 

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Brave work Jay and perfectly executed, the join looks flawless. Great job on the cameras and Aux doors too, this model will for sure turn into another gem, look forward to more progress regardless of this GB. 

 

David.

 

 

 

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