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Here I share some pictures of the Academy 1/48 F-4J Phantom, rendered as the first of the “Black Bunnies” flown by VX-4 (The Evaluators) in the 1970s. This plane (BuNo 153783) had the “squashed” bunny head on the tailplane, which was later substituted by the correctly shaped Playboy logo. This model was built out of the box, with the only additions being the decal set (from Furball Aerodesign), the LAU-10 pods for Zuni rockets (which were scratch built, using a felt pen as the main source), and some pipes and cables added to the undercarriage and wheel bays. The kit itself gave me very little trouble, with the parts fitting well and only requiring minimal use of filler. The panel lines and riveting were heavy, so some time was spent softening the surface detail. I am also aware that the Academy kit does not have the same level of detail as some of the more expensive alternatives, but this was sufficient for my enjoyment. Most of the time in this build was spend trying to get the painting "right" to my eyes. The first Black Bunny was a well kept bird, painted in very glossy black apart for the walkways and the antireflective area in front of the cockpit. Thus, the only concession to weathering was to highlight some of the panel and riveting lines, to suggest a bit of chipping along the edges. One of the corrections was to the colour of some of the instructional stencils. The Furball decals provide all stencils in white. In reality, many of the stencils were written in yellow letters, including all CAUTIONs (also, all WARNINGs were red). This was addressed by creating yellow and red filters using equal amounts of floor polish and Tamiya clear acrylics, and applying these on top of the words using a fine paintbrush. This worked well against the very dark background. I also felt that it was necessary to subdue a bit the contrast of the white stencils, to make them less obvious. Immediately after application, all those pure white decals against highly reflective black gave the model a toy-like appearance. I did this by dry brushing the black paint (I used Tamiya X-1 enamel) over the stencils. For a more complete build report, check here, or visit my web site (link in the signature panel).

My other build for this STGB...back to my youth being bought up in Lakenheath. My first model after many years (25 plus) was the Revell version of this - it was a bit rough, hand painted and I thought it was time to redo this - albeit the Monogram boxing...a different airframe with a slight change in colouring for the tan.... Old build in 2014.... I may well steal the crew and cannibalise the old one once its build!! Trying to source the SUU-21 Dispensers mentioned in this article...

I've finally finished this one after a brief hiatus of about a year while I moved flat and got my new work space set up. Possibly the most challenging kit I've built, and I had lots of fun trying to do the brass etch and resin justice. Some of it even made it to where it was supposed to be without pinging off the tweezers into the ether. I think it was worth it though, especially the details on the ejector seats. I messed up a couple of things. The angle of the main undercarriage is not right, because the Academy/Eduard kit has you assemble the bay walls from individual pieces and attach the main legs to these quite early in the build, so it's difficult to see how everything is supposed to line up. The decal for the "2293" ID number on the starboard side folded over itself and ended up looking a bit squashed, and I couldn't get the pin-wash for the panel lines to flow as well as I'd like - I think the varnish coat was a bit too thick for the engraved detail. Anyway, I imagine you'd like to see some pictures... Half of a build thread here:

My entry for this GB, the Italeri / Testors 1/48th scale RF-4C/E "Photo Phantom II" kit #810 which was first issued in 1981, a mere 40 years ago! I like building old kits and, with airbrushing, modern acrylic paints and after-market decals, it is satisfying to make something that is far better than I could have done all those years ago. I have almost finished an F-4S from the same stable and I hope I can learn from that build and apply it here. On to the kit:- 20210819_174510 by Ghostbase, on Flickr The traditional sprues shot:- 20210819_175052 by Ghostbase, on Flickr Decals and instructions:- 20210819_175246 by Ghostbase, on Flickr At the moment I am minded to complete her as a USAFE RF-4C operated by the 38th TRS out of Zweibrucken AB in the mid 80's, with wrap-around SEA camouflage, using decals from the AirDOC 'USAF Phantoms in Germany Late F-4E / Gs and RF-4Cs Markings' sheet. However I have plenty of time to change my mind 😉 20210819_175620 by Ghostbase, on Flickr This is a very basic kit, especially compared to the modern Academy and Tamiya offerings, and it has a long list of faults. I am hoping that I can overcome some of these faults, more about that in a later post. Anyway, good to be here 🙂 Michael

I was just curious how much work it would take to convert the early 80's vintage 1/48th scale Hasegawa U.S. Navy F-4J Phantom II to a U.S. Air Force F-4C using the contents of the spares box. The end result was this:- 20210620_171217 by Ghostbase, on Flickr Now an F-4 Phantom expert will immediately spot some omissions however I think I managed to factor in the main differences. Most of the donor parts came from an Academy F-4B kit which contains a lot of parts for different versions. I started by taking the Hasegawa slotted tailplane and sanding it down to eradicate the slots and that worked well. Keeping with the rear end I also replaced the longer jet pipes of the F-4J with a set of shorter pipes from the Academy kit. I had to cut the Hasegawa jet pipes and graft the Academy burner cans onto them, to my eye they protrude just a little bit too much. 20210620_171416 by Ghostbase, on Flickr Looking at the front of the Phantom I have removed the F-4J antenna from under the nose cone and have added the large IR sensor that applied to most F-4C and D models, again sourced from the Academy kit. From the same source, the nosewheel forward facing gear door. The sharp-eyed will spot that I forgot to remove the antenna from beneath the air intakes! 20210620_171233 by Ghostbase, on Flickr Although not visible in this photo I replaced the F-4J main wheels with those from the Academy kit. The weapons pylons also had to be replaced with the 'rounded' USAF types, I think I had these left over from an old Italeri or ESCI kit and they look a little bit skinny. The Hasegawa missile rails didn't quite fit to them and I would have to do this better next time. Also note that my masking for the gloss black nose cone was just slightly off! 20210620_171449 by Ghostbase, on Flickr In the cockpit I replaced the USN RIO's front panel with that from the Academy kit. That is one thing that I really like about the Hasegawa F-4 kits, the ejection seats look 'proper' chunky and they do fill the cockpit space nicely. 20210620_171509 by Ghostbase, on Flickr I have had a nightmare the last year with learning how to apply acrylic paints by airbrush. for this build I used paints from the Vallejo 'Air War Color Series' set 'USAF Colors "Gray Schemes" from 70's to Present' set and they went on really well; I got the mixing right, found the correct air pressure for my Harder and Steenbeck Ultra airbrush, used a retarder and I am really pleased with the result. 20210620_171353 by Ghostbase, on Flickr Finally, the decals which depict F-4C 64-0748 which was a Vietnam era Mig Killer, operated in 1989 by the Arkansas ANG 188th TFG / 184th TFS and wearing special artwork by Don Spering. These were sourced from the Speed Hunter Graphics 'USAF Phantom MiG Killers - Part II' decal sheet. 20210620_171311 by Ghostbase, on Flickr Overall I enjoyed this build, especially the research beforehand of differences between the F-4C and F-4J models, and it was nice for the painting and decalling stages to go well for once! The Hasegawa kit is very dated now but it still goes together well and I appreciate that. Not my best build, I know I can do better, however it has been a morale booster and just every now and then I need one of those 😊 Michael

Modified Israeli F-4E. Fitted with a new nose for the HIAC-1 LOROP long-range camera with a 66-in (168 cm) focal length as well as a vertical KS-87 camera. These had a false radome painted on the nose to resemble conventional F-4Es. Pics thanks to Dov.

Hallo again This will be my F-4D, ZM kit in 1/48. As on my WIP from the C-version, I will continue with all improvement I noticed from the C-version. If anybody has pictures from this particular a/c, let me know. The weapon load I will use is not fixed yet. I think about an AGM-45 Shrike and AGM-65 Maverick. In addition, an ALQ-119 in station 4. Well, Happy modelling

F-4D pics taken by Darwin at the SAC Museum

Italeri has just released a 1/48th McDD RF-4E Phantom II fully upgraded moulds kit - ref.2737 Source: http://www.italeri.com/scheda.asp?idProdotto=2386 V.P.

Hi All, long time lurker and no poster but thought it's about time I started to get involved with this site as I have often read reviews and taken advice from the many excellent threads here. In time I hope I can give something back to help others but I'm looking for some advice on converting a Phantom II F-4F to an F-4E. I've been desperate to build a Vietnam era sea camo rhino in 1/72 but there appears to be a distinct lack of decent kits in this scale on the market at the moment. I eventually resulted in buying a Revell F-4F (Pharewell) after reading quite a bit about the fact that on the surface, they look very similar to an F-4E - perfect for my subject! I have also purchased some after-market decals and will be modelling F-4E 67-0210, 1972 58TFS, 432 TFW. This particular jet grabbed a mig kill with the gun... and it's got a sharks mouth adorning it which sold it So my questions are really around my research as I'm confident one of the many experts on here will be able to help. First off, I'm concerned about the main wings. I have omitted the little ridges (3 on the underside of each wing) as the pictures I can find of the jet in question don't have these; out of interest does anyone know what these are for (step 26)? I now have two options for the wing tips. I can opt for the ones without 'leading edges' or ones with. I can't find any further pictures which show what it should have and I'm not sure what to choose. Again, what are these used for? I assume improved control surfaces? This picture may help, the one on the right is the one with what I have called 'leading edges': Thanks in advanced and if anyone is interested I'll start taking pictures of the build and share

F-4J (UK) Phantom ZE360 (Oscar), originally DoD Bu number 155574, pics taken at the Manston Fire Training Centre by Alex (Akcy190) This is one of only 2 F-4J(UK) aircraft to survive, the other being in Duxford in USN paint.

RF-4C pics taken by Darwin at the SAC Museum