Anthony in NZ

Look Ma I can stand on my own two feet! Well only just and a little wobbly! I've been test fitting the main gear for alignment, making sure the airframe sits level spanwise etc. Once I was happy I removed the legs and finished them off. A bit more plumbing, some placards and a light wash. I didnt want to go too heavy on the staining on these, as a well maintained and cared for jet I am sure (no matter how scruffy the paint gets) is regularly wiped down for inspection and leaks, hence the original gloss finish white paint. Anyway now I have said that everyone will show me photos of filthy u/c legs LOL. I realised you have to be careful looking at static display airframes (especially ones outside) as they tend to get rust stains and other things that you wouldn't see in a regular maintenance schedule. Anyhoo right or wrong, thats my reasoning Should be all good when epoxied in place later on And now attention turns to underwing tanks, from @Jet Passion Scale Models the front and (to a lesser degree) the rear were a lighter grade alloy and tend to get quite dinged up. So here I am starting that process, but more on this later. Who would have thought making dents look natural would be so difficult LOL Did I say these printed tanks are awesome!? Seems a shame to put dents in them Cheers Anthony

Here you go Trevor Stabs all done some time ago, with extra stiffeners Archer rivets etc... Cheers Anthony

Lol sorry.... Haha, no pressure then! I was thinking a 1/32 Wasp or finishing my 1/32 BK-117 Wow thanks! Haha, I dont think so, but thank you for the flattery! Yup the scheme below about 1987(?) I think. This was not long before she got a few touch ups and revised with two rows of checks on the fin etc. At least here I think she has a little more interest, as well you can see the overpainted area where the checks were down the spine and some subtle weathering. Notice also the replacement back end (USAF green/white) on the underwing tank and the dings on the forward section of the tanks....hmmm that should be interesting to replicate without looking silly! Cheers Anthony

Awww mate, you are too kind. Especially coming from someone as talented as yourself! Although I know what you mean, I am guilty of feeling and doing the same.... Thank you, I sincerely appreciate it

Thanks Tony...LOL yup I know what you mean! I saw myself in a reflection the other day and genuinely went 'hey why are you looking at me old man'....and it was me 😄 Thanks for the compliment, means a lot! Thank you very much....glad you're still hangin in there with me! Thank you....I am considering a helicopter next Trevor, the stabs are indeed different (of course they had to be didnt they!) I have modified them, but its mostly just the strengthening panels on the upper and (I think?) lower surfaces. I will go through and find you the pics of them completed. So in between life I have managed some more progress. Finished the other pylon off ready for the rails to be fitted. This time I painted it in a 'repaint' scheme of an overall light aircraft grey (or similar) as it has different stencils and you commonly see Brit Phantoms with missmatched pylons. In fact I have a pic of XV571 with this exact grey on the stbd side so that was my inspiration. You can see instead of red text it has explosive bolts triangles and a mix of black and very pale grey service markings. Honestly anything would be correct as every one I looked at was different and had variations on the markings..... Then onto the Bandit Resin Travel Pod Type A, oh and I put a few dents and scrapes on it which was typical A nice touch was the little fasteners that fix the door in place when closed. Fiddly but very cool Should look good when mounted to the pylon. Such a great addition to your model, I see F-16's use them too. No doubt others. Thanks for tuning in as always! Hope it was of some interest Cheers Anthony

LOL, I guess so Colin! Thanks for hangin in here Thanks as always Keith! Appreciate your encouragement Tony, you're a legend mate you produced a great mental picture for me LOL! Not the bit about the dents on your head either... Hope you and your family have a nice time over the festive season too, thanks Awww thanks buddy, I appreciate your comments on both my son and the build. Yeah cancer sadly is something we hear more and more of, hard to watch and hear stories. Keep up the great work! So great people like you work in this field and advancements are impressive to say the least. Oh and everytime I see you post over the years I think of my WRX STI....I call her Scooby! Sorry I cant help it lol Lick of paint and a little buff to slightly wear the grey off the top. These were often worn through along here, I guess it might be part of the preflight or generally handy to run your hands along... Pylons seem to be generally pretty clean but I felt the surface detail was heavy enough on this part not to warrant a wash or anything, less is more sometimes, just went with 2 shades of white. Looking at that photo I might do a little more to soften the wear on that grey...dosent look that bad in real life. Sheesh the camera can be brutal, especially in direct sunlight Thanks for your comments and reactions, really helps me plod to the finish line Cheers Anthony

Thanks buddy....had she been RN I would have had her nice and clean! So, things under wings still. I will start with u/c doors as that's where I finished last time. I have finished the mlg doors and as usual added fairings, placards, latches, adjusted ribs and the usual flush and raised rivets. Note the little (uplock?) catches on the fronts of the doors Next up is inner pylons. I brought the beautiful Reskit Navy inboard pylon set which is beautiful, but however needs modifying (of course). Note on the base of the pylon there is a rail printed on there? Well that has to be removed as the FG.1 and FGR-2 werent wired to have direct missile capability on that rail (but still did have the ability with the LAU's on either side). The F-4J(UK) likely did but I havent looked into it, so that may be worth checking if you are using these on a Brit J(UK) See here (photo credit ''Black Mike'' restoration facebook page) So I removed that detail Mr Surfacer on after also filling that big hole for the rail spacers Next I would like to introduce this beautiful luggage pod as produced by Bandit Resin Factory @Turecki which is beautiful indeed. The nice thing is the lower hinge on the door is able to be left open, a nice touch I think! Fairly common in RAF Phantom service along with another version which was larger and apparently a cut down Aero 1A 150gal tank Images for proof of use lol And even XV571 (in her last scheme before retirement) I just need to figure out where to find the little adapter that holds to two together now.... Thanks to @canberra kid for a copy of this image Thanks also to @XV571 and @Phone Phixer for all their help with this set up Cheers guys Anthony

Well thanks for all your help....here is where I am at. Just got to figure out that (CBTE?) that goes between the pod and the Multiple weapons adapter mount Cheers Anthony

Absolutely wonderful! I am loving this build enormously and love each update. A project I am longing to do along with finishing my Westpac Rescue BK Thanks for the inspiration!

Jonathan, very useful indeed and your final comments along with @Phone Phixer comments all make perfect sense. Yes I got those Reskit pylons for my build and they are stunning, a little heavy on the fasteners but other than that beautiful. A little trimming at one of the top corners and they fit the Tamiya kit perfectly. As you can see here I have modified them to match the photos of the Brit ones as has been discussed with no lower missile rail. A little more tweaking and I am good to go for paint. I will look into those 150gal tanks as I quite like the shape of them compared with the US type luggage pod. But I have a beautiful one from Bandit resin with an open door option that I think will look great So I am guessing the pod and rail fitment I have seen on RAF airframes was purely for show? I havent seen many... and to be fair most are fitted on J(UK)'s rather than FG.1 and FGR2's. Which raises another point in that the J (UK) pylons look more like their older US Navy counterparts than Brit Toom version's You guys are awesome, I am going to go for an assymetric loadout with baggage pod on port station and std rail fit on stbd station (with maybe an acquisition round fitted to the outboard rail), sound ok? Cheers and massive thanks Anthony

Jonathan, thank you so very much! I think I might just go with option 1 . I have a few of Brit setups with rails and a pod, I am assuming they used the ones above if I decide to go down that track. Oh an Aero 1A? I wondered what tank they cut down for this! I also noticed the lower face of the FG.1 and FGR2 inner pylons differs from the other US ones for some reason. The Brit ones are almost completely smooth whereas the US ones have an extra lower piece with a rail type forward half. Your post is perfect, thank you

Yes very much so...that was another of my pressing questions which was how was the pod mounted or which adapter was used. Thank you! Still not sure how the rails were mounted on the pylon with this unit fitted. I see J(UK) used a navy spacer, but I just want to be 100% sure before I use it or make something Cheers and thanks again Anthony

Sorry to ressurect an older thread here. I am going to put a luggage pod on my 32nd 43sqn FG.1 Phantom. Now it seems that it was not uncommon to fit the winder rails as well, but it seems to me there must have been some sort of spacer system to mount the rails slightly further out? I know the US ones had them but just cant quite tell from pics of Brit Tooms if they used the same system? Any help would be really appreciated

Hi team More progress, this time on the undercarriage. Initially I thought I only needed the lower section of leg with extra links, then when Kerry was drawing it up measurements didnt quite add up...and after further research Kerry found the leg dia didnt seem to add up to the drawings. It seems the kit and aftermarket ones are 4.8mm dia whereas the FG.1 (double ext nose leg) is 6.2mm! Interesting, but totally makes sense as it would have the extra oleo extension?? Anyway, cant 100% confirm this but we are going with the drawings and the reasoning that this might make sense anyway. However the more I look at photo's I am getting more convinced it looks chunkier than a std Phantom noseleg (incl FGR.2). There are several differences in the FG.1 leg as well as the upper links are different again as well as a few other details. Anyhoo, needless to say this has ment a whole new leg has been done to be printed and test fitted (as it has to also include the rearward rake). Always something eh? Thank goodness for Kerry, in fact he has so much involvement in this with me that it really is a joint project as I couldnt have got it this accurate without him....Thanks buddy! So in the meantime I have been working on mains and final detailing and painting. More to go on these along with trying to find stencils for the main oleo's...no one seems to have done them in 1/32 and I cant find anything close at this point. And yes...sheep are everywhere here in NZ, even my modelling bench! Test fitted...looking good You saw my nose u/c doors with primer....now all painted, stencils and wiring added along with some subtle weathering These doors got really filthy but I tried to restrain myself a bit and did my best to match XV571's doors at this point in her life And both the fronts together So on the hunt for a MLG oleo placard and then final details added and the legs are done, still working on the MLG doors Thanks for looking in...I am still going! Cheers Anthony

Such a privilege to watch and to have played a small part in it....... just speechless! I just cant stop staring at the photos in awe. I have to say I cant wait to get my grubby mits on it. Might be next after my 1/32 RAF Phantom! Just sublime, thanks for sharing Anthony

Thanks Colin, hopefully another update wont be toooooo far away! Thanks Chris, I just appreciate you following along and hoping you get something out of it! Yes Cameron is doing well, should be starting doing some Heli maintenance work in the new year! Thanks bud, ALWAYS great having you along! Thanks mate, yes and Ed has some more cool plans for Phantoms too! Thank you all. Here's a wee teaser of progress, hope to update again in the not too distant future This is the FG.1 lower section with the double scissor link set up being CAD by Kerry the master! Cheers Anthony

Thanks Chris, always appreciate your encouragement! Thank you sir!!!! LOL I cant be far away now surely???? LOL yup wonky holes can be a real issue ....doing good buddy LOL I hear ya mate. I have some other projects sitting there and it still leaves me scratching my head what ground me to a halt....probably nothing Thank you my friend. As I get closer to the end it seems to be taking me longer..... Awwww thank you, I think I have become tooooo obsessed with this study of the Brit Toom and building it. So I have actually still been grabbing time at the bench every chance I get and its still a process of smaller details. One thing that has impressed me is a set of underwing fuel tanks by @Jet Passion Scale Models these things are amazing! I was dreading detailing the kit ones as they were severely lacking in shape and detail.....then Jet Passion Models come to the rescue! Eduardo is a one man band with a love of Jet aviation, and he seems as obsessive as I am with getting correct details. He has produced this gorgeous set that will make such a prominent feature of the Phantom truly special. As you can see there is this handy little jig to redrill the holes in the correct position to relocate the pylons as well as little inserts to make sure the pieces all align.....too easy! Weld lines, drain plugs, the photos really dont do them justice Kit ones Jet Passion Models ones, no filling or sanding yet and a primer finish of Mr Surfacer 1200...they will only need a slight sand/buff. I know this is going to sound terrible but I am going to put a few dints and dings on the nose sections as they got beat up in service...I wont go overboard! More on these later and some other goodies on their way! I got the nose gear door finished, riveted and primed but I didnt take a pic....looks good ...honestly LOL So I was now onto tweaking the other nose door, a little shape adjustment and all surface details removed Few more plastic card additions and Archer rivets again Aaaaand Mr Surfacer 1200 Then the other side riveted Main gear doors receiving some attention and details now...more to still go 3D Chutes landing gear now getting a tidy up before paint. I was a little concerned about how strong these might be, I have left the Phantom sitting on them for nearly 2 weeks and they havent even started looking loke distorting, which is good as this thing is getting heavy! They will get more structural integrity when the doors are epoxied on. I am not worried anymore So there we go, I am still working away, these details really are time consuming, but I gotta get them right after all this effort to date. Hinges are being redone slightly bigger and deeper. Kerry has offered to also help with the lower section of nose leg with the double scissor links adapted to the 3D Chutes nose leg. It wasnt as simple as just adding another link! Thank you Kerry... mate I think this is as much your model as it is mine! Until next time peeps thanks for following along at this glacial pace and heep up the awesome work you guys are doing! I come on most days and see what you're up to, and am constantly encouraged by your projects...thank you! Cheers Anthony

OK, so where was I? I seem to have been constantly revising and fine tuning the back end underneath, contours on the sides and the area immediately behind the cans on the 'hot area I think I was re contouring the sides when we last spoke.... Trying to get all the gaps perfect Underneath proved quite a challenge with all the odd curves, and there was a lot of templating to ensure both sides are the same. Actually I started adding the new surface details around the fuse in front of the cans and found (I am unsure how I let this get past me) I was 2.5mm longer on one lower edge than on the other. I got it all sorted after much muttering about how I missed this. I found it because I am using dividers and doing exact measurements. Turns out it was the angle off vertical that was out which led to a longer lower edge on one side. Anyhoo all fixed Just waiting on Kerrys 3D printed hinge sections to arrive in the mail now so I can graft them all in Here is a bunch of different hinges ready at Kerrys place, hopefully they will be here tomorrow. In the meantime I decided while I wait I should get to work detailing the u/c doors. Here is the nose front door with a few mods (ribs shape tweak on the lower edge etc) I havr to flick some Mr Surfacer on it next and add Archer rivets And the front is all riveted but you cant see it at this angle and with no wash in them. I had a 'wonky hole'for the main lamp so I filled it with plastic rod and reamed it out to the correct position then found a lens in my spares which fitted perfectly. But of foil on the back and the new antenna came from some spare bits off a Tamiya F-15E I picked up at a swap meed several years ago. Still a little refining to do once I get Mr Surfacer sprayed on So here she sits......getting ready to put paint on as soon as I get those hinges grafted in.... Oh well, I guess there was something to report after all..... Cheers guys Anthony

Thanks Chris! Thanks Chris, yes it also helps highlight marks that shouldnt be there Aaaaaah Colin! LOL no I havent, I just didnt think I had much worth showing. I have been tinkering away so I shall do an update next.... Cheers guys Anthony

Hey Steve So good to hear from you mate! Wow lots of changes for you, but looking like you’re heading in the right direction… love you model room, so jealous lol. Great news on the Phantom as I need some inspiration to get my 32nd FG.1 conversion finally over the line! I’m almost ready for paint. cheers and thanks for the reply Anthony

This thread is my source of modelling inspiration….I’m truly lost for words. I’ve always loved the Wasp, seeing this has given me an even deeper appreciation and understanding thank you! Anthony

Any updates on these masterpieces? Hope you’re well buddy ☺️

Thank you so much! I knew I’d seen discussion somewhere but couldn’t find it! Thanks again Anthony

Hi all Sorry if this has been asked before but does anyone have any decent information, photos or drawings of the blue ballast units fitted in the front wells of FG.1’s and FGR-2’s? I know the simple answer is a Sparrow or Skyflash body (filled with concrete…I heard?) but I’m not convinced. Any help would be greatly appreciated cheers Anthony

Agreed! And love the remains of red doped fabric around the shell ejection ports...lovely touch!