Ghostbase Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 The second of my three completed 1/48th F-4 Phantom IIs is this ancient ESCI F-4J, this was the Item 4067 boxing 'Bicentennial Phantom' which was released in 1982. I have made several of these kits and I wanted to try out more weathering. The original kit does not include weapons or alternative decals so I had to source these elsewhere. This was supposed to be a quick build but it still took a while! The markings are mainly from Superscale 48-857 'F-4J Phantom, VF74 USS America, 1972' with stencils and walkways taken from an old Hasegawa kit in the stash. The Superscale decals went on well for an old sheet but I had to apply a lot of Decalfix to stop the large red flashes from breaking (one did break). The old Hasegawa decals were very hard work, they took a lot of soaking to release from the sheet. The paint scheme is a standard USN light gull grey over white with 'natural metal' leading edges of wings, stabilators and fin. All colours were Humbrol enamels and Metal Cote for the exhaust areas. Weathering was a home made wash of black paint mixed with white spirit, this was applied to the panel lines with a fine brush and capillary action did the rest for me The weapons load consists of 4 x AIM-7E Sparrows and 4 x AIM-9B Sidewinders, these were sourced from the spares box (they might be Revell/Monogram). The ejection seats are from a Hasegawa Phantom FG.1 and these help to bulk out the cockpit. One of this kits problem areas is the poor fit of the cockpit canopies and I have not done a good job here, it would have been better to have had them open but as the cockpit detail relies on transfers I closed them - poor decision! Oh yes, I also masked and sprayed the cockpit transparencies separate to the aircraft and used the wrong shade of grey! This view of the top shows the panel lines in better detail: The model was finished with a final spray of Humbrol enamel matt varnish from a rattlecan, this is the first time I have used spray varnish and I am fairly pleased with the result, the only down side is that it has negated the metal effect of the Humbrol Metal Cote on the jet exhaust area. So there she is. I am pleased with this build, yes there are errors, but given that the original kit cost me something like £8 on eBay and the decals £3, and I have tried some new techniques - the end result is worth it. Critiques and pointers very welcome Michael 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan B Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Looks great in those markings, very striking and a bargain for the Princely sum of £12. Duncan B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForestFan Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Just shows what can be achieved without spending too much. Nice job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhutchi Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 That looks great. Phantastic paint job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 She looks great to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Oooh what a BEAUTY. PHABULOUS... look IMPECCABLE you did an AWESOME job ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synopsis Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 I love this scheme, looks great. Really nice looking Phantom you have created there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phildagreek Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewE Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 Very nice. I remember making this kit many moons ago in VF-111 colours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaker Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 Nice work, always like to see F-4s! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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