Ghostbase Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 (edited) My second offering on this GB (the ADC Grey Revell F-4C is slowly beating me into submission!) is another 'oldie' which I wanted to start a while back, namely the ESCI 1/48th scale F-4 kit which I think dates back to the early 80's. There have been several boxings of the basic kit over the years - an F-4C/D, this F-4 'Bicentennial', F-4B/J 'Navy Phantom', the AMT F-4C/D 'Mig Killer', and the more recent Italeri F-4J (which I built here Italeri F-4J USMC ). Although fairly basic this kit builds well and has recessed panel lines. The main known problem is the fit of the canopy which is poor, also cockpit detail which likewise is poor. The ESCI F-4 'Bicentennial' article 4067 is an odd kit. It purports to be a Bicentennial bird flown by U S Navy VX-4 and the decals show F-4B Bu.No 153088, yet 153088 was in fact an F-4J with a nose radome similar to an F-4B. This kit does not include wing tanks, USAF pylons, or weapons so if I want to make an F-4D I will have to source these from the spares box. I have a choice of markings: 1) An F-4D of the Islamic Republic of Iran air force - FCM decal sheet 'Persian Eagles', or ... 2) An F-4D of USAF 81st TFW 1966 in early gull grey / white - Xtradecal USAFE Phantoms in England Pt.1 Not sure which to do yet, apparently the Iranians used LGB's to destroy a bridge at Basreh in 1981, I am awaiting a book from Amazon which should have more details. On the other hand the early F-4D Phantoms in the USN type gull grey / white do look very good indeed. Anyway, starting with the mandatory sprue and decals shot: Michael Edited November 26, 2011 by Ghostbase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 The Iranian one sounds interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghaynes Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Go on Michael....you know you really want to do an 81st TFW jet.... Regards. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostbase Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 Go on Michael....you know you really want to do an 81st TFW jet.... Regards. Graham Hello Graham, long time no see ... Correct, I *do* so want to do a 81st TFW jet, I could happily go back to the early days of the F-101A/C Voodoo and build every jet operated by the 81st TFW since then. Main problem with this Xtradecal sheet is that the F-4D illustrated is a very early version without the RHAWS upgrade kit and she has absolutely no markings other than standard USAF markings of the time, not even the TAC tail fin lightning flash, she has nothing to connect her with the 81st TFW, it was only the later S.E. Asia camouflaged versions which wore the famous 81st TFW 'Dragon' badge. Have just received the Osprey 'Iranian F-4 Phantom II Units in Combat' book in the post and have to agree with Jabba, the Iranian schemes are very interesting, their combat record is very impressive and I am so tempted to go for an Iranian F-4D loaded with GBU-10 munitions. So not sure which way I am going to go ... Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghaynes Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Hi Michael, I'm still around but don't get as much free time these days. The Museum takes all my spare time. I did actually build every 81st Fighter wing type for the Museum. An example from every squadron and every colour scheme variation. A lot of models including no less than ten Voodoos! Anyway, yes, you are right. That particular grey/white F-4D isn't very interesting. An SEA camo'd jet with the 81st shield is much nicer! Good luck with your builds. Hopefully I will get mine finished before the group build ends! Regards. Graham Hello Graham, long time no see ... Correct, I *do* so want to do a 81st TFW jet, I could happily go back to the early days of the F-101A/C Voodoo and build every jet operated by the 81st TFW since then. Main problem with this Xtradecal sheet is that the F-4D illustrated is a very early version without the RHAWS upgrade kit and she has absolutely no markings other than standard USAF markings of the time, not even the TAC tail fin lightning flash, she has nothing to connect her with the 81st TFW, it was only the later S.E. Asia camouflaged versions which wore the famous 81st TFW 'Dragon' badge. Have just received the Osprey 'Iranian F-4 Phantom II Units in Combat' book in the post and have to agree with Jabba, the Iranian schemes are very interesting, their combat record is very impressive and I am so tempted to go for an Iranian F-4D loaded with GBU-10 munitions. So not sure which way I am going to go ... Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostbase Posted September 6, 2011 Author Share Posted September 6, 2011 Made a start on this old gal a couple of weeks back and decided to spend some time today super-detailing the cockpit as per the kit instructions, six decals and ten minutes later the detail is complete The WSO's panel decal doesn't even fit! Makes an interesting comparison to Minty's Italeri build, he found there was some detail in the cockpit which he was able to improve upon, but this old ESCI predecessor to that kit has absolutely no detail whatever. I am sure I have seen several modellers state that a detailed resin cockpit can be used with this kit and as I have several in the stash I might give it a try one day. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 (edited) Deleted. Edited September 7, 2011 by Jabba Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Made a start on this old gal a couple of weeks back and decided to spend some time today super-detailing the cockpit as per the kit instructions, six decals and ten minutes later the detail is complete ... The WSO's panel decal doesn't even fit! Makes an interesting comparison to Minty's Italeri build, he found there was some detail in the cockpit which he was able to improve upon, but this old ESCI predecessor to that kit has absolutely no detail whatever. I am sure I have seen several modellers state that a detailed resin cockpit can be used with this kit and as I have several in the stash I might give it a try one day. Michael Michael, I added a Hasegawa cockpit to mine some time ago ( isnce I had a resin replacement for it). It worked quiet well and added a 'little' more detail to it I like your kind of super detailing too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostbase Posted September 11, 2011 Author Share Posted September 11, 2011 Michael,I added a Hasegawa cockpit to mine some time ago ( isnce I had a resin replacement for it). It worked quiet well and added a 'little' more detail to it Thanks, that is a good idea. I purchased a job lot of Hasegawa Phantom kits a while back and one is the FGR.2 kit no. P16 which is incomplete so I could use the cockpit parts out of that. Most of the cockpit parts are on a sprue marked as 'D 1/8 F-4' which I think is the standard sprue used in most of the phantom kits. There are a couple of additional parts on the FG.1 / FGR.2 fuselage halves sprue but I assume these apply specifically to the British Phantom so not required in an F-4D. Might give it a go... Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostbase Posted September 20, 2011 Author Share Posted September 20, 2011 (edited) OK, here we go... This is what the ESCI cockpit fitting should look like, it is different to the Hasegawa Phantom in that the cockpit tub sits on a lower fuselage piece which then fits under the two fuselage halves. Also, the ESCI nose wheel well has two different depths which can be seen here: To get the Hasegawa cockpit tub to fit I had to cut the deeper wheel well base off with a hot knife and cut out a piece of plastic card to form a blank and a platform for the new tub. I have not painted the tub yet though I have fitted the two bulkheads: And the good news is that a dry fit seems to indicate that the Hasegawa cockpit will fit quite nicely, the instrument panels should go in ok too: So time now to do some painting Thanks Trojan Thunder Michael Edited September 20, 2011 by Ghostbase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Hooker Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Thats a hell of an improvement over the Esci pit! Will think about this for my Esci kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 Can't believe the difference between the two pits! What an improvement! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaffe284 Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Micheal, How is the clearance under the cocpit covers when using the Hasegawa tub in there? I would like to do the same as you, however as I plan to build the plane in flight with pilots, I am concerned that there will be too little room to include the pilots? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostbase Posted October 31, 2011 Author Share Posted October 31, 2011 How is the clearance under the cocpit covers when using the Hasegawa tub in there? I would like to do the same as you, however as I plan to build the plane in flight with pilots, I am concerned that there will be too little room to include the pilots? To be quite candid I don't know yet! Have only done an experimental fit-together-using-fingers, enough to establish that the tub will go in there however would not feel able to answer your question until the main parts are firmly attached to each other and I can give the canopy a try. Don't think this one is going to make the GB deadline as I have to concentrate on the 111 FIS F-4C now but if I am lucky and get some spare time ... Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omegaman Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 I have also built the Italeri F4J and used a hasegawa tub. I fit the tub in the same way as seen here and with the hasegawa seats I seem to remember having no issues in getting hasegawa figures to fit. How is the build coming? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaffe284 Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 Thanks Michael and Omegaman - much appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostbase Posted November 13, 2011 Author Share Posted November 13, 2011 Did a bit more to the tub this morning. Assembled tub, front and rear panels, front and rear bulkheads. Dry painted panels. Rest of cockpit detail can wait until later. Did another fit prior to possible cement together, looked like this: Did another finger-fit and found that the tub fitted fairly well, a little bit of resistance around the WSO's panel which here is removed, and a tendency for the rear part of the tub to sink down. Added a lump of old (ie quite hard) blutack and that got the whole thing to sit quite nicely. Maybe the pilot's panel is a tad high? Anyway, I am happy with it so has been cemented to the fuselage. It looks like there is going to be a bit of a gap between the lower and upper fuselage halves at the nose section but I think I can fill and sand this ok. The WSO's panel might need a little bit of trimming to get it in straight, as always time will tell Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostbase Posted November 15, 2011 Author Share Posted November 15, 2011 Pressing on, have already joined the fuselage halves, the Hasegawa pit didn't present any problems, the top of the pilot's panel is just slightly too high but can be trimmed later. From experience the Esci intakes normally join together and go on well. I painted the insides white when I started the kit several months ago and I have noticed the numerous circular pin depressions. I have decided to go ahead as they are, however I might need to fill the ones on the intake ramps in case they show on the completed model. To try to make masking a bit easier for later spray painting I am trying something new (for me). Using some Scotch 1/8th inch Artist Tape for Curves I have masked the inside of the ramp and the intakes, trimming it so I can remove it using the tip of a modelling knife after spraying the camouflage colours. Hope to have all the major parts assembled by end tomorrow and start filling where necessary. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostbase Posted November 16, 2011 Author Share Posted November 16, 2011 Put all the major parts together yesterday, quick sand of the spine and then a first light dusting today with Halfords grey primer. Topsides view: and undersides: At this stage I think this old ESCI kit is fine, the engraved detail looks good. Same as Minty found with his build, a big gap on the underside between the intakes and the wing section, also I managed to get the forward fuselage halves just slightly misaligned. So, filler and sanding next Done two new things today: 1) Before spraying with the primer I found a can of air spray which the Missus uses on keyboards to clean them, blew all the dust particles off the F-4 very nicely. Wonder if she will miss it? 2) Have used Milliput filler, bought a packet of standard yellow-grey a few weeks ago. When I opened it I was not impressed at all, can't be arsed fiddling around mixing two pastes to form a filler. However, once I got the hang of applying it it was good, just had to learn how. Will see how it got on tomorrow. 11 days to go, can I complete this one? It's great being last, got a whole GB to myself Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 I'm pulling for you to finish! I'm wondering if I have enough time to finish my own project, but I starting so late and getting bogged down in details weren't favorable. Good luck! I hope you finish in time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostbase Posted November 26, 2011 Author Share Posted November 26, 2011 Just to say I am throwing in the towel on this one for the F-4 Phantom II GB deadline tomorrow. With the Hasegawa pit added I do have the basis for a half-decent model, I am still wavering regards her colour scheme and markings so best not to hurry. Maybe another contender for KUTA IV? Again, thanks for all the comments, help and encouragement. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 Hi Michael, You've made a great start and although you won't make the GB deadline, I hope to see your Phantom when it's finished! I also have an ESCI Spook in my stash, and your WIP thread will help me immensely when I start to build it! Cheers, Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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