DaveJL

A little more done over the weekend. A couple of gloss coats were added since my last update so was able to start getting the stencils on today. What a job! 3 hours and all I've managed is the undercarriage doors, aux doors and the top and sides of the fuselage as far as the intakes. I've been trying to match up recent images of weathered jets and it would seem that some stencils are very faded, painted over or just absent entirely. Checking each is what took the time 😶. Anyway, progress and all that! The aforementioned doors: Decals behaved very well but they are a little thick so some solution needed to bed them in. They all look very 'fresh' on the airframe but this will be dealt with later on. Another small thing I missed was the leading edges of the stabs - these appear to be metallic, running down to a larger panel, just inward of the edges. So this was sprayed. Checked my other Phantoms and this detail is on those builds so was my mistake! More stencilling fun soon! Dave

Not a bad idea Chris, would be a great looking scheme!

That's it Paul, I'll see how the build compares to the ZM kit before I judge! Thanks Alan! Now that I've looked into it, it seems a usual load of one, or at most two, types of Iron bombs were carried at times. As I mentioned the only image I have of GBUs and iron bombs is the GBU-8/MK.82 combo. Looking further into it, I haven't seen an image of a 69 squadron jet carrying GBUs, only iron bombs and then Tdmit and Popeyes later on. 😬. More food for thought! Thanks mate! Hopefully will be of use to you!

Thanks mate. I'd like to do an F-16 to go along with this. If only the HAF had the Aegean scheme on their new Rafales Thanks Sam. The colours are as follows, and in the order I sprayed them: 1. FS36320 - Dark Ghost Grey (for the nose cone). 2. FS36307 - Light Sea Grey. 3. FS36251 - Medium Mod Grey. 4. FS35237 - US Navy Grey Blue. I then over-sprayed the 3 shades with a light coat of the light sea grey and then the mod grey in certain areas.

Cheers Paul! If I’m honest, yes it does. Certainly more pronounced than the ZM offering but it’s certainly not the doom and gloom of the previews, in my opinion. I’m no Phantom guru though! I’ll see what it looks like under a lick of paint. With some crafty weathering and soot, I think you’d be hard pushed to notice

Cheers Craig! Like I say, I've only seen a photo of the GBU-8s with MK-82s on the outer wing pylons so it's possible the GBU-10s could be carried with M117s down the middle

Great Bosse! I'm eagerly awaiting this kit arriving in the UK!

Hello all, Here is my entry for this GB - Meng's new 1/48 F-4E Phantom, which will be marked as Kurnass 209, of 69 'Hammers' squadron of the Israeli Air Force in the early 1980s. Kurnass 209 was credited with downing 4 Migs during its service. I had initially planned a Spitfire for this GB but I've got the F-4 bug during my current ZM F-4E AUP build, so couldn't resist this one. Will be nice to compare and contrast it to the ZM offering! Kit: Plenty of plastic there, which, from initial inspection, looks nice and crisp. Extras: I'll be using a set of Quickboost seats, a mixture of Isradecal and Hi-decal (for the checkerboard rudder and squadron emblem) sheets and an Airdoc (I think!) modified AIM-9 rail for one of the front AIM-7 recesses. This was salvaged from an old build along with a set of intake plugs, so hope they fit! I'm not finished there; I'll be ordering a Quinta cockpit set, Advanced Modelling Products paint mask and the unique refuelling probe from BAM models. I also have a Centre line pylon from Hypersonic models on the way (it's for the ZM kit but think it will fit this!) I'd been toying with what to load this with. I wanted to arm it to the teeth, so had iniatlly thought about 6x AGM-65 on the wings along with 5x M117 bombs on the centre. But from some reading, it looks like the AGM-65s weren't widely employed. I then thought about 2x AGM-78 and the M117s, but it appears that only one squadron flew with the former, of course not the one I wish to depict. I then noticed the kit comes with some early GBU-10s so I think I've settled on 2x GBU-10 on the wings, 1x AIM-9 on the modified pylon, 1x AN/ALQ-119 (pinched from the G boxing as it's incorrect for the timeframe of that kit), 2x wing tanks then the 5x M117 on the centreline TER, which will be pinched from another ZM kit. Whether the jet would carry LGBs and dumb bombs is open to debate, but there is an image in the Isradecal book of a jet armed with 2x GBU-8 and 8x MK.82 on the wings so it's not beyond the realms of possibility! Some essential reference: @Alan P has also kindly loaned me the Double Ugly Kurnass book. So I'll probably see another load out in there Some online materials: https://www.isradecal.com/_files/ugd/ddb4b4_e1b95b2a73ba4bb898b0d40929e2c121.pdf (scroll to 2nd to last page for an image of 209) http://martinsammodels.com/Webpage/Pages/Models/Reviews/Reveiws/Cutting Edge/F-4/isreali/pictures/instructions 3.jpg I also have a PDF copy of Osprey's Aircraft of the Aces book, which is also a good read! Dave

Thanks chaps!

Cheers Craig, pretty chuffed with it!

Thanks James! I managed a good few hours at the bench over the weekend. Firstly, the Advanced Modelling Products mask set was very impressive. Out of the packet, you get this: Detailed guides, individually numbered masks and enough 'stick' to keep the masks in place. I did have to add some extra bits here and there as these are designed for the Hasegawa kit, but overall very impressed. Glad I took the plunge and ordered several sets at the same time. The owner, Jim, even custom made a set for me (GWH Mig-29AS) which is now available on the website. Anyway, onto the painted airframe! I post shaded the majority of it with light oversprays of the 3 camouflage colours. Exhaust areas were painted a mixture of MRP metallics which will be further highlighted when I get onto the weathering. Test fit of the stabilators: The ailerons are still just sitting in place. You might be able to see the red trim on the edges, achieved with the trusty red Sharpie. All DIAS antenna painted black and there are a couple of panels just forward of the front missile recesses that were painted in dark yellow. Not sure what these are, but the Eagle Aviation book clearly shows them, same with a panel aft of the cockpit. GPS dome and 'bird slicers' painted in FS36230 (Dark Ghost Grey) and the cannon muzzle painted in aluminium. I only noticed this last detail thanks to some lovely shots provided to me by @Spooky56. Thanks Rick! Next job will be to add some chipping to a few leading edge areas - intakes, DIAS on intakes and under nose etc. Once done I'll be able to get the micro mesh on it before gloss and decals, which I hope to get done at the weekend. More soon. Dave

Cheers Craig.

Thanks for the tip on the fuselage Phil, I'll give that a go. Looks like the blast plates I have would suffice as they are, for shape anyway, found this picture too: I'll do more dry fitting and see what they look like. Will need to fashion those ejection ports too, probably beyond my skill level! Dave

A brief start made on this and I can already tell it'll be a tough old nut! Wings were assembled after fitting the very nice resin undercarriage wells. The wings themselves have no attachment points so care is needed to line both halves up correctly! Fuselage halves had the exhausts and radiator fitted. Again, nice resin detail but nothing in the way of attachment points! Cockpit parts all ready for primer and paint. The detail is very good. The fuselage sides and wings were very rough to the touch so I sanded the lot back with a sanding sponge. Not really sure what that was about; it's certainly no Tamiya kit . I don't have much in the way of references other than a few photographs online. Could anyone advise what shape the blast plates would be and what way the rockets would be mounted? Any pictures would be great! This is what I have to work with: A test fit of the plates as they are shows they fit nicely, and the rear contour fits in with the rear of the ailerons, but not sure if the Firefly had curves on the rear of the plates. I'll need to fill the slots in the plates, then remove the mounts from the rockets. More soon Dave

A bit more done. Undercarriage parts have been finished. The inside of the doors have been sprayed too and are now masked up for exterior painting. Pylons. Decals from the Procal sheet added. They've a bit of excess carrier film so took a good helping of Mr Mark Softer to try and sort it. Some weathering also added. I then primed the airframe - once cured and checked for blemishes, I polished it back with a 3000 grit sanding pad and applied the pre-shade. Wasn't too concerned with it being overly neat (not that any of my pre-shades are anyway ) as this will help with the weathering later on. Nose cone also sprayed Dark Ghost Grey. The airbrakes were a perfect fit so was able to pop these on to mask off the painted areas. Hoping to make a start on the camouflage at the weekend. More soon Dave

Thanks Martin! Brain fart - I meant the port wing in my post instead of starboard but you're quite right, both look fairly beat up to me!

Thanks James! Thanks Sam!

Cheers Craig!

A steady bit of progress over the last couple of days. Firstly, the ejection seats. I'd picked up some Brassin pre-painted ejection pulls, mainly because they save a lot of effort painting I know the packet says MK.6, these being MK.7s, but I'm content they look the same! They really add to the finished seats: Exhausts next. Various metallics used and some weathering. Maybe look a bit bland but they'll suffice! FOD covers: Next up was the ordnance. The GBU-24s were painted Tamiya Olive Drab, with brown nose sections. I went for the black sensor covers as opposed to the clear sensors. Decals from the spares. The Brassin Litening pod is very nice indeed, seen here with the adaptor pylon which is conveniently included in the kit. Fuel tanks next. Hellenic F-4s always seem to have really beaten up and weathered fuel tanks so I wanted to replicate this as far as I could with this build. Firstly, one wing and the centre tank were given a black base layer, before a couple of light coats of MRP 'Medium Mod Grey' (FS36251). Once dry, I added some chipping to leading edges and various areas with a mixture of Tamiya XF-16 and AK pencils. I then added a panel wash followed some hefty work with the oils. Quite pleased with how they came out. There's a terrific shot of the wing tanks in the Eagle Aviation book: (Image for reference only). You may note the older Olive Drab tank on the starboard wing. I'm assuming these were left over from the RF-4E fleet. Anyway, as soon as I saw that image, I knew I wanted an olive tank on this model. So, base of Tamiya primer, followed by a coat of MRP 'Super Silver', topped with hairspray, then some Tamiya XF-62. Once dry, I used a toothbrush to wear the paint away. Maybe a little too much but I'm happy with the look of the three tanks: Other than that, I sprayed the front cockpit coaming black and then added the one piece canopy as a mask. Some panels re-scribed and now the airframe is ready for s squirt of primer: Coming along nicely. More soon. Dave

Thanks Colin. Thanks mate! Cheers Colin, will drop you a PM.

Just caught up on this, a nice release by Airfix. I wonder what the chances of an ASaC7 would be down the line? I've a Hasegawa AEW boxing that I was going to attempt to convert...maybe time to sell it

Thanks Craig. Thankfully a Matchbox kit in looks only A side note - would anyone know what colour the drop tanks and inner pylons would be? They all appear to be heavily weathered from my references and I've a plan for the wing tanks but not sure on the colour of the centre tank.

Thanks Sam, clears that up! Thanks mate! More done over the weekend. The other wings and slats are now on. Again, a great fit. I also fitted the AIM-120 adaptors to the rear missile recesses on the fuselage. Probably the trickiest part of the conversion due to their fragility! Other than that, the exhausts were made up: Not bad detail, but I'm sure there are plenty of aftermarket options. The plethora of undercarriage parts that are ready for primer: As far as the building goes, that's pretty much it. I just need to re-scribe some panel lines and I think she's just about ready for a squirt of primer. ZM give you a one piece closed canopy which will be very handy for masking. I usually prefer adding the windscreen prior to painting, but this will make masking that much easier, and I'm all for the easy route More soon. Dave

Cheers Craig. It certainly is lovely kit, leaps and bounds ahead of the Hasegawa kit but not quite as good as the Tamiya B. I'm interested to see how the Meng G I have in the stash compares.

From what I can gather, the upgraded jets came from the Pease Icarus I & II (1974-78 I think) deliveries as they were a later production block. The AUP upgrade began in 1997 by EADS. I'm no expert, so I'm sure there's more to it than that! It's hard not too! More progress over the last couple of days. Firstly the wings were fitted to the fuselage. A little care needed to get a good alignment but overall very pleased with the fit, Intakes next- a dry fit showed it necessary to remove the small stub on the fuselage side to get a good fit: Once done, the intakes went on. A small bead of PPP was needed to tidy up the joins, but a pretty good fit overall. Once dry, I fitted the DIAS fairings, which were a great fit, just a little blending needed. I then got carried away and fitted the inner slats. A great fit yet again. The flaps were also fitted as from what I can see, on the flightline, the ailerons are drooped along with the airbrakes. I also noted, from looking at images, that these jets have what I assume to be a GPS dome aft of the cockpit. I duly added a drop of PVA to replicate this. I also noted from my references that the horizontal stabilsers only appear to have the triangular stiffener plates fitted to the undersides. A bit of cleaning up on the top sides was needed as the outlines are moulded to the stabs. Fitted to the undersides - a bit thick so I'll need to sand them back a little: A quick dry fit, with the leading edges slightly raised. ZM give you different pieces to have the stabs neutral or leading edges up or down. A nice touch. Pleased with how this is going so far. Other than the upper fuselage panel, the fit and detail is very good indeed. Next job will be to fit the outer portions of the wings. More soon. Dave