DJJunis

Thanks Pete....moving after 30 years in the same house...quite an event.

All, Unfortunately I am suspending this build due to the fact we are packing up our house to move. I was hoping to get this done prior to this but the kit fought me until I had to stop to get the house ready and pack up my hobby room. Hopefully the completion of this life event will not take too long but definitely past the end of the group build date. Thanks for all the kind words and hopefully we will be a participant again in the next couple of months. All the Best! Don

Thank you so much Col....we're putting top to bottom today...big event...made sure I had some weight in front...just in case.

Hello All, Made some more progress after finishing my Super Hornet. It truly is a patience tester this one. Much dry fitting, blending and filling on the air refueling receptacle . The tail pipe is also a rather ambiguous fit. It reminds me very much of the F-101 as far as fit goes. Panel lines are very light in most case on this....not as heavy as the 101. The fit of the top and bottom will be challenging as I have already done a dry fit. Oh well we will keep chugging along. Hope you enjoy the pictures. All the Best! Don

Unfortunately that is the case Col. What can you do but work your way through it.

As promised here are a few in progress pictures...this kit is a bear. You have to be careful cementing the fuselage halves. did it a section at a time as they are very flimsy. But if you're careful there will be minimal seam filling. You can't avoid seams at the vertical stabilizer as the fit is not good. The refueling receptacle does not fit well at all. So you have to cement it in the best position possible then fill and sand . I use CA for most of the filling but a little Tamiya putty also. The cockpit and instrument panel are very nice as well as the ejection seat. Just some very careful painting is needed. I have been warned that the landing gear legs are not handed as they should be. This puts the attachment point for the retraction arm and cylinder on the leg on the wrong side on one of the legs. Not a big deal...but why did it happen. The panel lines are very light...which is fine because the real airplane looks as smooth as glass...replacing the ones lost will be challenging though. I see this is going to be quite a challenge. Oh well on with the pictures.

Hi JR, Well I have been through several recent Monogram builds of that era so I know what you mean. But so far so good...the cockpit is super. I will have it done this week..pictures will be then. The most tricky fit is the fuselage halves...very flimsy so it's a very tricky joint...but I got it sorted with minimal filler. The rest pieced together really well....so fingers crossed. All the Best! Don

One of the vintage Century Series from Monogram.

Thank looks outstanding ..well done! All the Best! Don

Ian! WOW! That is incredible! Not only the number of them but the quality. I assume they are all 1/72....anything bigger would require a second home. That is really awesome that you found your particular niche in the hobby. Truly amazing. Thank you for sharing it. How did you get so involved with the Phantom? You should get a bumper sticker Hello I am Ian and I am a Phantomaholic LOL All the Best! Don

Thank you all for all the kind comments. I really appreciate them All the Best! Don

That is the Vallejo Vietnam Colors...I thought they looked great too...and of course went on perfectly. Greg, Well a couple of things. The cockpit sits too low on the tabs in the fuselage and the spine needed some putty . Other than that it is a really good fitting for being from '79.

Adam, Thank you! The Phantom is a big airplane and in 1/48 is a good chunk of my table. But it sure is impressive when done.

Absolutely magnificent Massimo! All the Best! Don

Hello All, Thought I'd post some pictures of my completed 1/48 Monogram F-4C. This kit dates back I think to 1979, this is the most recent Revell boxing. It looks every bit the Phantom to me. I did not do much to it at all really...but being an older kit that brings it's own challenges. The paint I used is Tamiya acrylic as a primer as it adheres very well to washed plastic and the the colors are Vallejo Vietnam set. I really like this combination of paints. The gloss coat is Pledge (formerly Future) and the Matt is Vallejo. The exhaust area is Vallejo metallic which look really good over a Tamiya gloss black. The decals are Furball Gunfighter Phantoms Part 2. They worked great as did the kit decals. In any case I hope you enjoy the pictures. Any comments or questions are appreciated. All the Best! Don

Hi, I would like to join this GB with either a Monogram 1/8 Delta Dagger or Delta Dart....or maybe both! Thank you! Don

Thank you so much. The canopies and the turret were masked with a very thin .7MM Tamiya -like tape around the frame and use a single edge razor blade to trim. It's much sharper than a regular #11. Once that is done I use a liquid mask to fill in the middle. I spray the interior color, then the exterior and finally the matt coat. I wait a day until it is thoroughly dry then I carefully pull the tape off to avoid paint pulling off. I have been using Tamia acrylic as a primer, usually the actual primer color, in this case my mix of Interior Green. Once the mask is off any clean-up is done with a sharpened toothpick and any restoration is done with a very fine brush. I then polish each clear portion with a cotton cloth to get it to really shine. It is patience and time consuming..but worth it in my opinion...even for this "old girl". Hope this helps and thank you again.

Hello All, Attached are some pictures of a nostalgia build I completed recently. It s vintage Monogram Avenger. I trimmed off all the working feature bumps and bits , split the bomb bay doors, drilled-out the exhaust, trimmed t, refined the pilots machine gun area, removed the turret gunner from the sat (one figure was enough to paint lol), reworked the torpedo a bit, replaced the kit wheels and tires with spare ones from a Accurate Miniatures Avenger and replaced as many rivets as I lost during sanding. Paint is Vallejo over a primer of Tamiya acrylic. Final matt is Vallejo. Markings depict a surviving Avenger to get back to Midway during the battle...the turret gunner was killed. They were scavenged from the TBD kit and my stash. I accomplished a couple of things with this build. Finally got an early Avenger in my collection, have a model with the wings folded and got this kit done as it has haunted me since the early 60's of the early efforts trying to get all the working features to work properly. Proving once again with age comes knowledge...the wings are permanently folded. LOL! Hope you enjoy the pictures. All the Best! Don

That turned out very nice. Thanks for sharing! All the Best! Don

Truly an epic build. Well done. All the Best! Don

Wow this is really excellent! Thanks for sharing. All the Best! Don

Very nice indeed! All the Best! Don

Simply magnificent...really excellent craftsmanship Elger!

This is absolutely stunning..very well done! All the Best! Don