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1/48th Revell F-4C (ADC Grey) *Out Of Time*


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My very first GB and going to start with a kit I know reasonably well, the 1/48th Monogram / Revell F-4C/D Phantom II. Am going to build her OOB however the decals are likely to be from a different source. So, start with the obligatory 'sprue shot':

PhantomGBStart.jpg

The box on the left is sealed and now returned to the stash, is just there to hide the grotty wall tiles :innocent:

My current plan is to paint her as an ADC grey F-4C operated by an ANG unit, most likely the Texas ANG 111 FIS / 147 FIG which was based at Ellington ANGB, I saw one during a brief visit there back in 1987. I have the remains of Superscale Decals 48-272 which should source this if they are still usable.

What I want from this GB is to develop the virtues of patience and actually completing something. I love the 'front end' of the modelling hobby ie all the dreaming, buying and planning but I tend to get halfway through the build and lose interest 'cos of my inevitable mistakes then the completion turns into a slapdash frenzy :raincloud:

Hopefully different this time :thumbsup2:

Michael

Edited by Ghostbase
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Is it ok to post a photo here to support this build?

This is my inspiration, taken by me through the flightline fence at Ellington ANGB in Houston TX on 10th February 1987, she is F-4C serial 64-0712 operated by the 111 FIS 'Texans'.

F-4C64-0712Ellington87MB800.jpg

She was only Phantom there in ADC grey and I think the only F-4C/D I have seen in ADC grey in active service.

Michael

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An interesting and different scheme Micheal. Always liked the F-4 in ADC Grey with full-colour markings but used to seeing it on the E-model.

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An interesting and different scheme Micheal. Always liked the F-4 in ADC Grey with full-colour markings but used to seeing it on the E-model.

Ditto, I think the early USAF ADC Gray, was the best scheme of the time, Do you have the Early combat phantom decals worth a look if you want to do one in these marking, there are several nice ones about.

http://www.modelsforsale.com/catalog/produ...ale-1/48-#48763

the Hasegawa Sheet for the C/D Egypt one is worth a look too, with the yellow checkerboard patern of the Mitchigan ANG, if you can find one.

Dave

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the Hasegawa Sheet for the C/D Egypt one is worth a look too, with the yellow checkerboard patern of the Mitchigan ANG, if you can find one.

Dave

Take a look at my build.

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how are you going to replace the raised detail that'll be lost during the build?

Fair question. I have made several of these kits over the years and I still have some of the completed ones. From memory it fits together quite well so there should not be too much filling/sanding to do on the fuselage and wings but IIRC one of the weak areas is where the air intake front inlet joins to the lower section just forward of the wing root. This will most likely have to be filled and sanded and there is a raised panel immediately above which will be difficult to avoid damaging. Problem is that this is a very visible area on the completed model. Am going to cross that bridge (maybe) when I get to it :undecided:

Michael

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the Hasegawa Sheet for the C/D Egypt one is worth a look too, with the yellow checkerboard patern of the Mitchigan ANG, if you can find one.

I purchased an enthusiasts Hasegawa 1/48th Phantom stash (11 kits) 15 months ago and the C/D Egypt is one of them, that decal sheet is superb :D The Gerard Paloque 'Planes & Pilots' Phantom McDonnell F-4 book has a colour plate of a Michigan ANG 171st FIS in the SE Asia scheme and that has the same yellow/black checks on the tail rudder as well as the 'Michigan' band on the fin top and a large white '16' above the burner can, dates back to 1980. Have to say that is tempting and would look a bit different!

Michael

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how are you going to replace the raised detail that'll be lost during the build?

I'm building this one too and mine had some warping on the upper fuselage and just didn't fit on the lower (one half was bigger than the other). I've lost the raised detail in these areas, and I'm taking an approach of 'viewed from a distance of 1' at true scale I wouldn't see the rivets so why worry too much, get it done'. Which is my way of saying I dont have the time/skill/patience to do anything about it.

I do pay homage to those of you with the skill to retify this though.

Edited by Mojosdad
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Couple of spare hours this morning so decided to get started on the cockpit which normally is one of the things I hate doing however this is a GB and so I must do it properly :bobby:

Not quite finished but this is as far as I have got:

F-4CpitoneMB.jpg

I forgot to wash the sprues with soapy water, the grey paint streaked so that was a great start :bristow:

This was all painted with Humbrol acrylic paints. Painted the panels black, then dry brushed silver to bring out the detail, then applied spots of red and blue for detail switches. The two radar displays were given a drop of emerald green which looks good. Probably no resemblance to the real thing though!

The cockpit seats are just one part, the lower part of the seat is moulded on the cockpit floor so it is pretty simple. I am going to add the joysticks and ejection handles later in the build. As my photos show I still need to do some touch-up painting.

A closer shot of the front pit:

F-4CpitthreeMB.jpg

And a different angle of both positions:

F-4CpittwoMB.jpg

Well, much to my surprise I have enjoyed this and I am quite pleased with the results, haven't done this type of detail for about 20 years, hopefully I can get the fuselage halves together in the next few days.

Michael

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  • 1 month later...

Well, last post June 11th which I think is about six weeks ago, there is a good reason - I detest filling and sanding!

The main parts of the kit actually went together well with one exception, the two air intakes. This is probably the only real weak point of this kit and despite my best efforts kit parts 13 & 14 didn't go on at all well, leaving me having to fill and sand. I use MMD fast drying white putty which certainly is fast, I apply it with a nail file as a spatula and smooth it down with a cotton bud soaked with nail varnish remover.

Some photos. Starting with a general view, the main fuselage and wing parts are together, sanded, and two applications of Halfords grey primer:

PhantomGBPrimer.jpg

Some good points, the spine looks good as does the nose cone, the upper wing fuselage join is superb (a strong point of this kit).

Not so good, this air intake has a split at the lower front despite using filler:

PhantomGBPrimer3.jpg

The other side, the intake vertical join is good but again there is still a split at the lower front, this has had two applications of filler!!!

PhantomGBPrimer2.jpg

Compared to my three older Revell / Monogram builds this is going well but does not match the standard I want from this build. I think the next stage is to apply a couple of coats of ADC grey and see what it looks like, those splits might fill and not look so bad...maybe :huh:

Michael

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It's all gone WRONG!! :crying::wall::raincloud:

Had a day off work today so I decided to add the first coat of ADC Gray which is FS16473. Humbrol doesn't do this any more (was H146) so I opened a jar of Model Master 1731 which I purchased on a USA visit in 2006. Never used Model Master paints and I mixed it just a tad too thick, then wondered why my airbrush was stuttering. To cut a long story short, when I took the airbrush to pieces the nozzle area was clogged up and flecks of paint were being blown onto the model surface. I now have an F-4 which is the right colour but it looks like it has been pebble-dashed - ok slight exaggeration but it is now a 'ten foot' model, certainly not up to the standard which would be expected in a GB in a modelling forum.

I don't know what to do. I suppose my choices are as follows:

1) Nuclear option: terminate the build, add it to the shelf of shame, start a fresh kit. I was going to start a second build soon anyway.

2) Carefully attack the kit with Fairy Powerspray, strip the outside back to bare plastic and start again from the primer stage. Going to be difficult round the intakes though.

3) Carefully sand the worst parts with fine grade sandpaper then apply a second coat. However, can I do this to a gloss finish? And it's an old kit - raised detail, the whole intention was to keep sanding to a minimum!

4) Keep going as per original plan. I was going to add a second coat of ADC Gray, then two of Klear, that just might help to cover the problem up a bit.

Any advice muchly appreciated!

Michael

PS: Yes, I should have cleaned the airbrush nozzle a while ago :owww:

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I agree with Jabba, Option 2 is the way to go. I had a similar situation with my FGR2 and a coat of Xtracolor from a very old tin that wouldn't dry - so off it came! Don't give up on it now, since you've done a great job. Maybe try the Xtracolor/Xtracrylics option instead of the ModelMaster paints; their ADC grey is X138/XA1138.

For the intake seams, try a mixture of superglue and talc. It's a great instant filler and will provide a hard but sandable surface which should help stop the crack re-appearing.

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Im with Jabba & XV, Option 2 is the way to go, you cant bin it now :pray: Certainly not after all this hard work!!!

Bexy

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Thanks for the kind words and support, no definitely can't bin it at this stage, just need to take a deep breath and go for option 2 - it's Fairy Powerspray time!!

Did the paint removal in stages, masked the cockpit and all the detail in there has come through ok. Only problem is that the starboard intake has detached so I will have to go through the filler routine again (but then I was going to do more work anyway).

If I added spraylat and faded lo-vis USMC markings it would make a good AMARG diorama!

Feeling more optimistic, here she is:

PhantomGBstrip.jpg

Michael

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Michael,

Youre welcome :thumbsup2: Looks like youve got a good base for "Take 2!" If it makes you feel any better, Ive got my wing sections soaking after a rattle can disaster :doh:

Bexy

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  • 2 weeks later...

Nearly two weeks since the last update, have been busy today and, just for once, all is going well ^_^

Gave my poor old airbrush a complete clean, bent the needle tip back into shape and scraped out all the dried paint in the nozzle. Then applied a coat of much thinned Model Master FS16473 which went on perfectly, was going to apply two coats but have decided to keep to one with the option to add more should my masking be as poor as usual.

A welcome day spent at home today so decided to apply Humbrol Metal Cote 27004 Gunmetal around the fuselage exhaust areas as well as the jet cans, then Metal Cote 27003 Polished Steel around the rear fuselage. The airbrushing didn't take long but the masking was very time consuming, especially as I am working on another Phantom, and the subsequent rub down with a soft cloth and removal of masking tape seemed to take ages. I also masked off the nose cone and added gloss black.

So, she looks like this:

PhantomGBtry2.jpg

Am happy with the kit burner cans, the Metal Cote paints have made them look much better and I will certainly use the gunmetal product again:

PhantomGBcans.jpg

And a shot of the real thing to compare (is F-4D 66-0240 preserved at Burlington, VT):

F-4D66-0240canBurlingtonVT10MB.jpg

Feels like I have turned a corner, still a lot of work to do but she should look good completed in Texas ANG 111 FIS markings.

However, as always, I could still change my mind ... :bye:

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Looking good. I am painting the back end of mine at the moment and I know what you mean about the masking.

One thing I learned today is that the painting of the metallic areas on the rear fuselage of the F-4 can vary especially on the S.E. Asia camo birds. Didn't know that! There are so many metallic shades you could spend a lot of time in this area.

Michael

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Looks like this is gonna be a good'n! I heard a lot of horror stories about the old Monogram Spook, but I rather enjoyed mine. And there's nothing there that cant be sorted. Oh, and I stuck with the kit burner cans too, reckon they look fine with a drop of paint!!

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One thing I learned today is that the painting of the metallic areas on the rear fuselage of the F-4 can vary especially on the S.E. Asia camo birds. Didn't know that! There are so many metallic shades you could spend a lot of time in this area.

Michael

When I worked on Phantoms at RAF St Athan one off the jobs that I did was to take apart the blast and shingle panels, as they were rather dirty and no-one esle wanted to do them. I don't mind dirt as it does come off after a wash. So I also built this area back up towards the end of the servicing using one or two sheets of metal for the shingle panels, but they did come out in various metallic shades due to the fact that I did not use the sheets in the same plane, having to rotate it around to get the most out of each sheet.

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Michael,

After your disaster, this is now going very well :worthy: Still havent managed to sort my wings out yet :doh: And those jet pipes are rather impressive work, especially as they are the kits ones!!

Bexy

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  • 4 weeks later...

Have stalled on this build for a while for several reasons, decided to get kick-started again by applying the main decals for an ADC grey painted F-4C.

To the best of my knowledge there is no current decal sheet available for a 111 FIS F-4C so I am using the remnants of a very old Superscale pack 48-272 F-4 Phantoms ANG Ohio, Mich and Texas which has very little left to use apart from the 111 FIS specific markings. To fill in the gaps I have used the star-and-bar insignias from a CAM decal sheet, USAF from the Superscale sheet, 'US Air Force' from another Monogram F-4 kit, and the walkways from the old Hasegawa PT11 F-4C/D 'Egypt'.

This is the result:

PhantomGBdecals.jpg

She is looking quite smart however I think there is a real problem with the Hasegawa walkways becuse they look to be a sort of nicotine brown shade of grey. This photo shows it slightly better:

PhantomGBdecalsTwo.jpg

I have checked several reference books and the walkways should be a darker blue grey than these, Jabba's photos of his Michigan F-4C build supports this I think.

So, what to do? I don't have any other walkways so I could just leave these on and just grit my teeth everytime I look at it. I looked on Hannants and all I can find is a Microscale walkway decal set but they are black, not grey. Hi Line have an F-4C/D/E/G & RF-4C/E walkways - "USAF style" for US and export Phantoms (grey and black markings) but they are marked as a future release. Or I could get the Expert's Choice Michigan ANG sheet which does appear to have the correct grey walkways.

Going to sleep on this one and make a decision tomorrow!

Michael

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