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1/48 Hasegawa F-4G Wild Weasel


Rich F

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Thought I'd better post what I've done so far, this my take till the deadline so don't expect a quick build. Started this one a couple of weeks a go.

Heres a bit of bedtime reading for this one...

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After a fruitless search for Airdoc's Gulf war F-4 sheet I finally settled on a 561FS bird from Nellis AFB a bit like this one, this sheet came from Eagle Strike Productions. BTW the aircraft I'm depicting did'nt take part in Operation Desert Storm but was involved in Op Southern Watch and Provide Comfort.

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I've had this kit a while and managed to collect alot of AM stuff for it, this is what i have for this one;

Eagle Strike Productions - Wild Weasel F-4G - 48 044

Afterburner Decals - Doble Ugly, Hill Gray SJ Phantoms - AD48-040 (Going to use this sheet for the stencilling)

Two Bobs AMRAAM & HARM Missile Markings - 49-095

Aires Cockpit set for Hasegawa 1/48 F-4G Phantom II "Wild Weasel" - 4226

Aires Exhaust Nozzles for F-4E/F/G/J/EJ/S - 4118

True Details F-4 Pylons USAF set - 48525

True Details F-4 C/D/E/F/G Wheels - 48043

WolfPack AN/ALQ184(V) ECM Pod - WP-48019 (Might not use this)

Flightpath ECM Pod Set (2x AN/ALQ-131 and 1x AN/ALQ-101)

Cutting Edge AGM-88 HARM Missles - CEC 48027

Paragon F-4E/F/G Inboard Extended Slats - 4813

Cleveland Models F-4 FOD Guards

Eduard Mask for F-4 EX 078

After opening the box and a sharp intake of breath at the plethora of resin and etched metal in there, I finally made a start, this is where I'm at now.

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Aires MB Mk.7 bang seats are beautiful, just hope I've done em justice.

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Not the best of shots but just captures what I've done to the pit, most of this will be hidden when I close up the pit. :crying:

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Whilst waiting for the paint to dry on the pit, I built the ALQ-131 from flightpath, Nice. :speak_cool:

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I tried out my new Trumpter riveter on the Canopy, I used this to lightly score the plastic then took a 0.3mm drill bit and went to work. :evil_laugh:

Thats it for now.

Cheers

Rich

Edited by Rich F
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A word of advise. To fit the Aries nozzles, you will need to trim away the rear of the flat fuselage floor before you add the wings. They don't point this out in the instructions. If you don't, there is no way to attach them. Ask me how I know! In addition, the "sleeve" fit of the resin parts is not too good & will require some awkward trimming.

Edited by Graham T
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Thanks chaps, just about ready to insert the Aires cockpit into the fuselage halves, must admit not looking forward as Aires cockpits have a reputation for being rather a tight fit. Just hope I'm wrong about this one

A lovely start Rich, I will be watching this one as I have a Wild Weasel pair to do from Spang. Are the true details bits still available do you know?

Hi zipper, just had a quick look on Hannants and yes they are still available, can't tell you what there like yet as their still in the packet.

A word of advise. To fit the Aries nozzles, you will need to trim away the rear of the flat fuselage floor before you add the wings. They don't point this out in the instructions. If you don't, there is no way to attach them. Ask me how I know! In addition, the "sleeve" fit of the resin parts is not too good & will require some awkward trimming.

Thanks for the advice Graham, funnily that was one of the first things i did when i started this kit, I'd read that this a common problem when using this set, and your right about the fit, I think I've just about got them too fit after a furious sanding session. :S

Rich

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Thanks for the kind words chaps. Just a quick update, I was looking forward to dropping the cockpit into the fuselage halves until I realised that the nosewheel bay needed to be inserted at the same time. :banghead: So I had a quick look at the aforementioned and decided a little work was needed as it was a bit bare, and then got carried away a bit and decided to detail the leg aswell, anyway here we go.

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Next up I spruced up the 2 sparrows, the kit ones represent AIM-7E with cable ducting on 2 sides of the missile body, these are early versions and the A/C I'm depicting uses the AIM-7M with a continuous cable duct along the length of the missile. I sanded down the body, rescribed the different sections again stuck on a couple of sections of evergreen strip to represent the cable ducting. Then drilled the back for the rocket exhaust. Here's a shot of a detailed one is and one thats not!

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Next up, cockpit in, fuselage together.

Cheers

Rich

Edited by Rich F
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  • 2 weeks later...

Rich,

This is a cracking start my friend, I'll be watching this one, and those seats are just superb :worthy:

Bexy

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  • 4 weeks later...

A quick update on this one, the pit's now in the the fuselage and seams filled and sanded, I compared the spine of this G model with my FGR.2 and noticed that there was a distinct lack of rivet detail on this one compared to the brit version, so out came 0.3mm drill bit again. :wicked:

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Next up I moved onto the MLG wheel wells and spruced them up a bit with lead and copper wire, some plastic strip and rod.

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Lastly, I plan to use the ladder supplied with the kit, but looking at photo's of most tombs, i noticed that the built in ladder is also lowered, so i decided to have a go at replicating this to. Yes i know its a bit on the long side but i will be cutting it down prior to installing it.

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Thats it so far, at the mo I'm lowering the flaps on the wings and then will be adding some rivet detail to this area to busy it up a bit.

Rich

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nice work mate,

it looks like you forgot to remove part of the aft cockpit of the original kit

Thanks for pointing that out, thought that looked a bit odd, now i do feel very silly :doh: Damn those vague Aires instructions. :rant:

Next question is do I. A just throw it in the bin? B. Try and rip the pit out and risk wrecking it? or C just carry on as if nothings happened?

Rich :raincloud:

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for the encouraging words Chris. Well almost at the painting stage now, :thumbsup: just a few little bits to tidy up, i hope!

The underwing tanks received some much needed attention. I drilled out the fuel filler caps and punched out some circular plastic stock using a punch and die set, then sanded off the raised detail and rescribed it.

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I then added some rivet detail to the wings, cut the Ailerons out and added some detail to the sides of the flaps.

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The Rudder was also cut free, i had to add some plastic strip too it as I was'nt happy with the height of it after looking at some photo's. Again I rescribed and added rivet detail, plus the hinge detail with plastic strip.

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I could'nt resist loading the underwing stores up just to see how it looked. I used the True Details Inner wing pylons which were a great improvement over the kit parts.

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Thats it for now.

Rich

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Thanks again Chris, the rivetting was done first by using Trumpeters rivetting tool which I then went over again with a 3mm drill bit, rivet by rivet :hypnotised:

Periklis, I decided to leave the pit. After having a look at it I decided that the effort required to get it out was too much and would probably wreck the kit and the resin pit. Just hope it wont be too noticable once finished.

Cheers

Rich

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Just superb Rich, stunning. I was just wondering if you had pre fitted the exhausts yet as I know people to have problems fitting them, did you also cut the wing down a little as they are longer than the kits parts too. Sorry if you have and posted it, was just catching up on your progress and can't wait to see this in the flesh.

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