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Posted

EDIT: this is the first of three entries I made in the Phantom STGB in 2015. I wasn't able to finish any in time. Then I tried to finish the builds as regular WIPs. I run into problems with the decals for the Royal Navy Phantom, which were partially solved, but lead me to lose my enthusiasm for the builds.

 

Then, I tried to finish the RN bird in the KUTA IX GB, as it was the one most nearly finished. This was the last update done before moving the thread to that GB. Though I progressed a bit (till this post), I still didn't finish it.

 

Now it's back in the regular WIP area. I hope to finish it soon.

 

-------------------

 

 

 

 

 

Hello,

 

This is my first entry into a GB. This will be a test to my efficiency, since up to now, I've taken several months to finish my models. With less than two months to go, I guess this will be a good incentive to work faster :)

 

Since the objective of the build is to improve my efficiency, I'll build it OOB.

 

Anyway, my entry is Fujimi's Royal Navy Phantom in 1/72:

y4m4WntsB2N5ufB1ojSCi7G8BygJxaIgIzi0sk5A

IMAG1736

 

I believe this was the second boxing of their British Phantom and had a few inaccuracies. However, the level of detail and quality of moulding is very good.

 

The sprues:

y4mffos-7LrLTYPWOb3asrCiy5Vvg0ymNwRT3B-h

IMAG1737

 

y4mvOH_W6nNt82R2AMEQT4UM0538kVm9BQjjFwJE

IMAG1738

 

y4mOnqC2A0v4Pwd-_10CnndHsJFqa8N7CsZwEw-N

IMAG1739

 

and the decals:

y4m38ROeR8Hp3Ea6oGoL9i1OINSEYFuuae1QWD-a

IMAG1740

 

I'll make the aircraft based on Ark Royal, which had the omega on a white and red background on the tail fin.

 

I started last Saturday's night by cutting the small parts off the sprues. Here are the parts for one of the ejection seats:

y4mugxzyl1T9_3wGodZYVFk1jVa0Kfs7a7xGGA_A

IMAG1916

 

These were dry-fit, with blu-tak holding them together:

y4mw5wyKow6AX-FOyKRNW7LtU0xFZqEXUhmg8fej

IMAG1915

 

The cockpit base, with raised detail on the side consoles:

y4mhsYsF_h9wuDBRueI8-rw3-cskEGYc8r3HRzve

IMAG1917

 

The seat was dry-fit on the cockpit base:

y4moLKefCRmE6pwnMTw00L430Xe0mlT917la-Whh

IMAG1913

 

Up to now, everything fits well.

 

I also cut the remaining cockpit parts off the sprues and super-glued everything to the tips of toothpicks, to ease the painting process. Here are the instrument panels and control stick:

y4mIbQNm5fPiZ8rB_pRGQcP0_cMLJ8SzBdzoU4de

IMAG1918

 

And here are all small parts that are ready for painting and some that need putty to fill in ejection marks (those on the two blobs of blu-tak on the right):

y4mbRn0s6sfvF6AfofUeFZOKpe-Kw0U0K0-w8_Vc

IMAG1933

 

Next, I took the main parts off the sprues (fuselage, wings) and dry-fit them together. I found that the two fuselage halves are a bit warped and will need some strong clamping on the back end:

y4m8HGvTCk1FOPYwHEkPooa5IJ2MpgTjGwhuIwg2

IMAG1919

 

y4mtdxgfOxBcD_bM8GN--8oRH6Q3iXrUmeLdMXui

IMAG1921

 

y4mNmXXtSpBNgWv72kA5LUEeGxrSfotrIBppM_De

IMAG1923

 

Apart from the warping consequences mentioned above, everything fits very well. However, I'll have to insert a sprue rod spacer in the fuselage, to eliminate the small gaps on both wing roots:

y4mmqMpiFkpIX7-C5Q3ervlzGCTxs82ItQCwLuQr

IMAG1920

 

y4mSvfx75RqmOjtipc928VuqOHT6PaeMhACQdy-v

IMAG1922

 

The warping problems can be seen here, just near the exhausts, below the back tip of the lower wing part:

y4mS1hkwXkGIA8VQDCdvpRmMzzbaTJNow-uwnATL

IMAG1926

 

There's also a slight misalignment between the top and lower wing parts on one of the wheel wells, though the wing edges themselves are perfectly aligned:

y4mwk5tNvQm-e4Hxu6WYeoKnDH1EXoq4fg7ILxOp

IMAG1924

 

I'm not sure I'll be able to correct this. The other side is better aligned:

y4m7OWWb4KNmERxj1tdAAzDf9EkfYICd5GV0QESo

IMAG1925

 

That's all for now. All comments are welcome.

 

Cheers,

 

Jaime

  • Like 9
Posted

i built two of those in the late '80s. One in the red Omega markings, and the other with the Iron Budgie... which served as a warm up for the 48th scale Hasegawa kit. IIRC, it was the first model of mine that won a first place at an IPMS regional. It was a good build.

david

Posted

i built two of those in the late '80s. One in the red Omega markings, and the other with the Iron Budgie... which served as a warm up for the 48th scale Hasegawa kit. IIRC, it was the first model of mine that won a first place at an IPMS regional. It was a good build.

david

That's great, David! Congrats!

I hope my build turns out good. At least the kit seems very good.

I'm now in the process of treating ejection and sink marks in the small parts. I also started another British Phantom, an FGR. 1 in Alcock and Brown markings, which I'll post later.

Cheers

Jaime

Posted

Hello again,

 

I haven't progressed much on the Royal Navy Phantom. I've just taken care of some ejection and sink marks. I used Squadron White putty diluted with Gunze's enamel thinner and then applied the thinned putty with a small paintbrush. I applied a few thin layers to completely cover the marks.

 

Here are the parts after applying the thinned putty:

y4mF56Mvd70_f2efPBUGUERjUdhPO4uFBHZ3Nl_q

IMAG1936

 

After 24 hours of drying time, I sanded the excess putty with 400 grit wet-and-dry, resulting in the following:

y4m6kuqUGBmkDka90eS6_4lOBMkLm5fudcjMWw5n

IMAG1939

 

The next step is applying grey primer to the small parts and checking that these marks are gone.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Jaime

  • Like 5
Posted

Hello again,

 

Here's a short update. Nothing really thrilling but I'm still on the preparatory works.

 

I applied grey primer to all small parts already off the sprues. As grey primer, I use Tamiya's XF-19 Sky Grey. It's an acrylic matt paint and works well as a primer.

Here are the small parts primed:

y4mdg5wuPzGkWBAOALnOEg_uGPzRx3U5--M5uJBB

IMAG1941

 

The cockpit tube got primed as well:

y4m2GXiFzDlKdTyI6BzzsjWJAOuEp3VZEduAi6gX

IMAG1945

 

I also primed the inner cockpit walls. The picture is a bit dull... Grey primer on grey plastic... Anyway, here it is for the sake of completeness:

y4m34QGw_Iup3G6fKfjPlBHKS-IeLPaxg4WiorW_

IMAG1947

 

The primed parts were left to dry for a day and then I checked the moulding marks that I tried to eliminate with putty. As should be expected, they were still visible, though not as bad as originally. Here are they on the inner walls of the air intakes:

y4mog2dYq9BnoQUZSnXfd4EyJhK0KlBVeh8Vdif5

IMAG1943

 

and on the two small parts that will be glued to the inner cockpit walls (in foreground in the following photo):

y4mAMqaX8bGitz9wcDpCJc6qXysNyW3HOFXqH9oH

IMAG1942

 

and also on the inner surfaces of the auxiliary intake doors:

y4mV9ujGo7C4Ur16fD5MS5lGdWZgWKq99cwMeaed

IMAG1944

 

So, I had to apply another layer of putty, this time a bit thicker.

 

Here are the air intakes:

y4mOw9eq9t9xLcHkmRrUfqdIm_PNWFiLpyeCxnYC

IMAG1953

 

The cockpit wall parts:

y4mHgBKR1WlVRMpaEyRndI3mHRTHXa1Fmw5nLEXS

IMAG1954

 

and, finally, the auxiliary intake doors:

y4mkhKFZflcS1-1R0pcPvNb88HDkAcGqZ1VPLIj2

IMAG1955

 

The putty is now drying and later today I'll sand the excess off. Hopefully, the markings will be gone and I'll be able to apply a new coat of primer and go on to the painting of interior colours.

 

Thanks for looking. I hope you're not too bored by these preparatory steps.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

  • Like 5
Posted

Thanks Sean. I'm working as fast as I can but some processes can't be rushed (drying times...)

  • Like 2
Posted

Over the weekend I did some progress on the RN Phantom.

 

After being left to dry, I sanded the excess putty applied to the parts that had moulding marks. Unfortunately, after applying another coat of grey primer, the marks were still visible in the main air intakes and in the aux intake doors. So, I removed all the primer with isopropyl alcohol and applied putty to a clean surface. I won't bother you with additional pictures which look just like some previously posted. When these parts are ok, I'll show them ready.

 

Moving on, I rescribed the detail of the left cockpit panel part, lost to the putty / sanding process. I used a magnifying glass and an x-acto blade to rescribe the detail. Here's the result (could be better, I'm afraid...):

y4memd0omlB_1S0tcb86UAH4kdk_UYUQZ0TM-mG1

IMAG1972

 

This panel and the one for the opposite side were glued in place. I should mention that this was done with the cockpit tube dry-fitted in place in order to ensure that, in the end, everything would fit. I found that I had to trim the right side panel part, as well as the rim of the rear seat cockpit on the same side.

 

The following photos show these parts glued in place:

y4mT8p_u-QwAT15CjsTot2-V8ZAy8LC0zNZpkkP9y4m5GbYm0TzTaVJnKWlg8JWyHftvkaZ_4A75dyrG

IMAG1975       IMAG1976

 

Then, I painted the main colours of the small parts (seat parts, cockpit parts, ...)

y4mR1aJcV0d-Xk8Pr9XSrQoyZo7Tt-g_i1UdJu52

IMAG1989

 

Here are the instrument panels (detail colours still need to be applied):

y4mktFAskktS-BRroel_dYbKlVxaQ_a7Bwbj7x7A

IMAG1991

 

And the cockpit tube (detail colours still need to be applied to the side panels):

y4mVImgWYA5g8eYH4lOlRYwT0c-X0oyCQFYZFOwq

IMAG1990

 

The inner grey (FS 36231) was also applied to the cockpit sides:

y4mLrH1yGwIIkfP6aXzNMroha-0L1niXFG8jL8b6

IMAG1992

 

The next step is applying the detail colours to seats, instrument panels and side panels.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Jaime

  • Like 3
Posted

Hello again,

 

This will look to be a small update but, in fact, it represents several hours of work.

 

The work was done in parallel on this and on the Alcock & Brown Phantom.

 

The cockpit side panels were black. The structures between the two cockpits and behind the rear cockpit were also black. For a while, I thought about painting them with a brush but I'm not especially fond of the finish of brush painting (my fault, I'm sure). So, I decided to go ahead and mask the cockpit tube in order to paint it with the airbrush.

 

Since the side panels and other black structures are irregular, masking was quite complicated and took a few hours for both aircraft. Here's the RN cockpit tube already masked, waiting for being painted:

y4m3IWOij7fI3K2t4tz4eI_yzLs_1puZx3V91Xfu

IMAG2008

 

After painting and removing the masking, here's the result:

y4m2B6AMvXFfZ37PDePoozyfOFy2kO0HJvT2FZtF

IMAG2018

 

It's not too bad but needs a few touch ups (with a brush...)

 

I also painted the yellow handles on the ejection seat tops, which were used to initiate the ejection sequence. Here they are, next to the other seat parts:

y4my5_HWIEdETI-qjuHavm0VzjTVU_nhhpK6FKN1

IMAG2019

 

I still need to paint the black stripes on the handles.

 

That's all for now. Thanks for looking!

 

Jaime

  • Like 3
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Hello again,

 

I've been quite busy with detailing work on the cockpit parts of the British Phantoms since mid last week. Here's an update representing several days of work.

In my last post I had painted the black side consoles on the cockpit tube. However, there were some other black items in the panels on the cockpit side walls and the cockpit edges on the fuselage were also black. So, I started by masking around these areas to be painted.

 

On the inside:

y4mSBOawcrEj-7z59X9HYpy8H3L35i-wc1fMImvW

IMAG2024

 

and on the outside:

y4mtmZYODPTzxnrU0X8x3aOhn7OTEAphmoVNn6we

IMAG2025

 

In the above picture you can see that I had already painted black the end of the air intakes and the area in front of the cockpit. I didn't mask at the time, so some overspray resulted. After painting the black areas, the results were the following.

 

Inside:

y4mqB1iKnzyC9y1EgkuHIKfneNIbyUBnDkrhxFFl

IMAG2058

 

and the edges:

y4mRiMRqpL1tdzsq1ES6kQMpvJF3zbfuTeUZCMHa

IMAG2051

 

As can be seen in the pictures in the following links, the side consoles and instrument panels were mainly devoid of any colours, being just black on grey:

 

http://www.projectoceanvision.com/vox-07b.htm

http://www.f4phantoms.co.uk/details.php?plane_id=253

http://www.f4phantoms.co.uk/details.php?plane_id=254

http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/phantom/walkaround.php

 

Taking these pictures into account, I moved on to detailing the lateral consoles of the cockpit tube.

 

First, I applied a dry-brush of Tamiya's XF-19 Sky Grey:

y4mnjTbMF9vpT_qHzr82HNsOQ11t2UHO2R-c1p3W

IMAG2028

 

Then, another dry-brush of flat white:

y4mbRui3YUKyMOP3iTqFRCBXbZeb6RbhVU6D2R5x

IMAG2030

 

This made the buttons and dials really stand out. To finish with, I applied a final dry-brush with silver, in order to give a worn metal appearance. A coat of gloss varnish was applied in preparation for a wash:

y4mS5wbM1iMUaLndqlDl4KtIw7rpf3wc1peJmFYN

IMAG2071

 

Then, I detail painted the instrument panels, which were already painted in the base grey.

 

First, using a detail brush, I painted the dials with flat black:

y4mGM2TeZXbVh2MKamz7KVQYPL5cNdm6tYAQvFgh

IMAG2056

 

Next, I painted the other few colours (a mix of Tamiya's Desert Yellow and Gunze's Clear Orange for the radar scope in the front IP, and a few red spots). I also applied a light dry-brush with a lighter grey in order to make the dials' edges stand out:

y4mCgCPRWSdrN962u70LWETT__mx1tAsT6-xUvVU

IMAG2060

 

This was followed by a flat white dry-brush to enhance the dials' edges further:

y4m9sq1p7KfJDPyjsPgmElslQpEa_Ye1E1EhRCKZ

IMAG2063

 

To finish the IPs, I dry-brushed with silver and applied a coat of gloss in preparation for the wash (the control column, on the right, was also dry-brushed with silver):

y4mKJhxw67umUsO2eJutuBcr5G8apRfZi6G8-6oc

IMAG2072

 

I also decided to detail the seats, since these are complex systems with lots of details and colours, as can be seen in the pictures in the walkaround here in BM

 

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/33782-martin-baker-mk7-seats/

 

I used a detail brush and about 7 colours to detail the sides, top of the seats and harnesses. Here is the result with the parts still on toothpicks:

y4mn4mPCCLrpWezWFpjn0zWzWgFQlabvXPuhLHnx

IMAG2046

 

The ejection handles were finished by painting the black stripes:

y4mN5yZIxaUyhtd7d9ajNg5zY6CfV4knlpwPn495

IMAG2054

 

After all paints dried, I glued the parts together. Here are the two seats:

y4mx_1bW9fHxtAdEGHG3kB_R1sBn1dQahGfGVzNm

IMAG2065

 

y4mc8Kt4Y54HuoF6h-ki_W7-dAx64xvtb8MYOhHay4mVk75LJuGC53kmha2IEGn_CZkwQBubCxaLfbyt

IMAG2066     IMAG2067

 

To finish these, I applied a light silver dry-brush to the metal areas of the seats (didn't manage to photograph these properly), followed by a gloss coat in preparation for a wash.

 

That's it for now. The next step is the application of a wash to the cockpit parts.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Jaime

  • Like 8
Posted

Hello again,

 

While I was finishing my Spitfire Mk XIV (RFI here, sorry for the self-publicity...), I applied a dark wash to the cockpit parts of the British Phantoms and left them drying.

 

With the Spit finished, I came back to the Phantoms and cut the canopy parts off the sprues. Here is the sprue of the RN Phantom:

y4mBP5cxnRjyWrj446eceMHuqtE0UiFepYzI6qDd

IMAG2153

 

After removing and washing (water + dishwasher liquid) the transparent parts:

y4mKP_wVr-FnXcxBqyJvl-QVZp_xkALifm7qb02g

IMAG2154

 

After drying, the canopy parts were dipped in Aqua Gloss, to improve transparency and brilliance. This was done simultaneously for the canopies of the three British Phantoms I'm building. Here's the set-up:

y4m-USepVQUVIi54Zp_XFmbLN_xY1yRaj571_10q

IMAG2164

 

The parts were left to dry in the box on the right, which was covered to protect the parts from dust.

 

I did a dry-fit of the main parts (fuselage, wings, cockpit, tail plane, landing gear legs), to check if any weight was needed in the nose, to avoid a tail-seater model. As can be seen, no weight is needed:

y4mU9SSRD-Y5IKGjjTGUyoIVl9AAYKWPiz9eOIw-

IMAG2163

 

In doing this, I noticed that I forgot to fill in the hole on the rear cockpit's floor:

y4mU7MPPLDhYhKke8NC-qo1f6wh9Dl7fLZyscAq8

IMAG2168

 

This hole is for installation of the rear cockpit's control column. However, most British Phantoms (both RN and RAF) had no rear control column, except for aircraft of the training squadron. Certainly not the specific machines I'm modelling. I knew this from the start but forgot to fill in the hole when I should... So, here's a set back resulting from bad planning, which will make me waste some precious time, as I'll have to redo the rear floor's priming, painting and weathering.

 

I started by filling in the hole with a piece of plastic, carved off a piece of sprue, melted in place with Tamiya's extra liquid glue:

y4mi8pbnc8TOYHhgcHxJ7715wznCwe7-l1lbSkz0

IMAG2169

 

This was covered with Squadron's white putty, diluted in enamel thinner, applied with a paint brush:

y4mgc3hpjO2WxQ9Z0hEpnRbRujPLpESNyEy3Yitl

IMAG2170

 

This is now drying.

 

The next steps are:

  • sanding the excess putty and polishing the area
  • re-prime the area
  • re-paint the area
  • re-apply silver dry-brush
  • re-apply dark wash

 

Only after this, can I install the cockpit tube in the fuselage and close the fuselage.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

  • Like 6
Posted

Hello,

 

Last week I managed to finish repairing the floor of the back cockpit.

 

First I made a small "tool" for sanding the excess putty, using a sprue rod with a piece of sanding paper CA-glued to one of its ends. The following picture shows the tool next to the cockpit base, right after sanding the putty:

y4m20KimpgeIJXaHTbIsX4J_dhd9FOHSCJL9gXle

IMAG2177

 

Then, I masked the back cockpit in order to repaint the floor:

y4m-yhuiVlyE-VYXC-WgoH32GVkA-aiB6b5oFmj4

IMAG2179

 

I didn't use primer first, because the affected area was small. I applied the cockpit grey directly, in light coats. This is how it looked after painting:

y4mcmU_TrUOFdqpnq7A6nRUSIw5d657uTiG-GojC

IMAG2181

 

After one hour of drying time, I dry-brushed the back floor with silver paint

y4mYfg63w2yvNNw9NbFUpW0sP3xIxII6KHQGjN0F

IMAG2192

 

The back floor was coated with gloss varnish and left to dry overnight. Then, I applied a dark brown wash and finished by applying a coat of matte varnish. The final result is shown in the following picture:

y4mSM1vtsMWkqRUFUjfgDR-GosX5978cFpalmSAM

IMAG2195

 

The repair is not perfect but I'll leave it as it is...

 

Thanks for looking

 

Jaime

  • Like 3
Posted

Nicely done with the floor, it did used to get in at bit of a state, we used to replaced certain parts of the flooring as routine when doing the Major Servicing on Phantoms at RAF St Athan.

  • Like 1
Posted

Nicely done with the floor, it did used to get in at bit of a state, we used to replaced certain parts of the flooring as routine when doing the Major Servicing on Phantoms at RAF St Athan.

Thanks for the very interesting operational note, Jabba. I'm very keen on knowing real operational details of the aircraft I'm modelling.

Jaime

Posted

Hello,

 

Here's an update with the work of the last week.

 

I was ready to close the fuselage. I started by glueing the instrument panels to the cockpit base. Here are the parts before glueing:

y4mG5E8K7ml36G_uXZXSBZ_A5sm8H-LeM3iQ4V6i

IMAG2219

 

After glueing, this was the result (also with the control column in place, on the second picture):

y4mfOAjCrnZKDP92zs2kxADvUn6MCexgPIoXzX-6y4mwttYx0QMSaS7-QSnP2XLnQus9H9rhKIrxic5m

IMAG2220     IMAG2221

 

The cockpit base was now ready to be glued to the fuselage sides:

y4mjEBIfrU1aYcnKTexgZkCxLxIJZU0ERyxeeSOz

IMAG2223

 

It was glued to the starboard side:

y4mhNJa-RCxyZTNQ-8so4bAHZcKSNL5ZP00LsC8C

IMAG2224

 

The fuselage sides were, then, glued together. The parts were held together by masking tape and I applied Tamiya's super thin glue from the inside, one small section at a time. This allowed me to keep the proper alignment of the parts as the glueing proceeded. I started by glueing the spine, then the tail fin and the area aft of the exhausts. At this point, I had to insert a spacer between the existing spacers near the tail, as shown in the next photo, to ensure the wings and fuselage were properly aligned around the exhaust area. This was done with a piece of 0.5 mm thick plastic sheet. The warping of the fuselage can be clearly seen in this picture:

y4mVa1z757UMPzQO5IQ_RotzZKZbziwE2CqWFK4l

IMAG2225

 

Another spacer, made of a piece of sprue was inserted aft of the cockpit, to ensure there would be no gaps on the wing roots. The picture also shows the area aft of the exhausts held together by a clothes peg, to counter the fuselage warping:

y4mmnpE_QU2e4dTMeRM1MaEdZwwNpqvFCdkDo7iD

IMAG2226

 

I finished glueing the fuselage by glueing the nose area. The glue was left to cure for a day, like this:

y4muT4D4dOHKekfJGCY4ffMHGFWhlvaq6sBmK1Gp

IMAG2227

 

Then, I moved on to the wings.

 

The first step was the opening of holes on the lower wing part for the installation of the missile and drop tank pylons. I didn't open the centre line holes for the centre line drop tank because I didn't find any pictures of operational aircraft with a full load of armament and drop tanks (I guess the short deck of Ark Royal prevented this):

y4mOmtM9XDXltWlJ360L7pbjW1SXrYIcSGzuDgLb

IMAG2238

 

The top and lower wing parts were glued together:

y4mtI60_rTrCL23g6hnOha01A3FM5Yq9RF93zwo7

IMAG2239

 

y4mTa42rFjUiCRhXtwrW4-6tVP7Ds6LOw27o874r

IMAG2240

 

and the wings were, then, glued to the fuselage:

y4mltvvggxy9owU7dxptyGIZVk5ZnlOlMZsQpuE-

IMAG2244

 

y4mwS_plFE63NCA4PUc1FqhxG7NU7vC-uiCLeQjp

IMAG2245

 

The alignment around the exhaust area was not bad, though some panel lines were slightly out of alignment (this can be sorted out later). In the pictures you can see melted plastic coming out of the joints. This was done on purpose, since the melted plastic works as self-sealing material, easing the treatment of joints later:

y4m5MrunhOMSzwQ-rSUsyn2Jnw9gTpyNL9LU95dK

IMAG2246

 

y4mycSyxf3fJ6C6mSOWozurUM5ZQqWPy13vQjPR5

IMAG2247

 

I also managed to completely eliminate any gaps on the wing roots:

y4muYqKfCxo3iw6DbotI5tZwL7wOJAFcAK1bU8dX

IMAG2248

 

y4me2qHeNqSxF7aJNC2ClCxniBk9DPkrwZqVpmP9

IMAG2249

 

Since I was working in parallel on the other two British Phantoms, at this point it made sense to paint the inside of the aft fuselage auxiliary air intakes and the inner side of their doors. The colour of the doors is red and the intakes in the kit have no detail, so I opted to paint them red as well, though we could argue about this. The intakes had grey primer applied previously. Before painting the red colour, I masked around the intake area:

y4m4yjRkoQbmOth6gDd0VH29dbk7-DrGd-qh9qqE

IMAG2264

 

After painting, this was the result on the aux intakes:

y4mWUFmMUSa2h1J9SLX-cOqzoAudT-0YhIE0ys04

IMAG2265

 

and here are the inner sides of the aux intake doors:

y4m4kweT867KfJ_p7wNZxFycXiLuUzfi3-maTCt3

IMAG2268

 

To finish with, I glued in place some remaining parts.

 

The front instrument panel cover and the nose air intakes:

y4mrp2v7Rzf53xumTtWm825NVCrQxggCWq9xjPCK

IMAG2270

 

The parts for the nose air intakes are really poor, just a squarish piece of plastic each. I'll have to sand them to shape later. These are possibly the poorest parts of the kit up to now.

 

The IP cover was glued in place with CA. The idea was to avoid damaging the paint job. However it was a bad choice because:

  • there's no margin for errors when glueing with CA
  • the paint job gets damaged anyway

 

Fortunately, I managed to place the part in the right position in the few seconds before CA became rock-hard.

 

I also glued in place the part with the nose gear well:

y4mJxUyw1X2HTIoEeT-hBi09tA1IWBkjIDs5DoH3

IMAG2271

 

There's a tonal difference between this part and the adjacent fuselage area because the later had already some primer applied. The alignment was not bad but there are slight steps on the sides that must be filled away and a small gap on the front, which was filled in with CA.

 

I've already filled, sanded and polished all the joints. There are a few points were I'll have to apply a bit of putty but, apparently, not too many.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

  • Like 4
Posted

A lot of work and the effort can plainly be seen in the results that you have obtained. Well done.

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)

Deleted duplicated post

Edited by jrlx
Posted

Thanks for the appreciation, Jabba

Posted

Hello,

 

Last week's work update.

 

After closing the fuselage and wings, and sanding and polishing the seams, I moved on to masking the canopies. These are made up of four transparent pieces, since I'll assemble the canopies in the open position.

 

Starting with the front wind-shield, the first step is to delimit the edges of each transparent panel with thin stripes of masking tape:

y4mWZQfHT_5AUe8ebdUi66yHBtcS5R_4GUo-SgM4y4mVsblIDbkCGEAzEtYS3o8DGKZkdTervN1I6P_U

IMAG2285       IMAG2286

 

After delimiting the edges, the centre of the panel is covered with tape:

y4mdp3UF9iPwOJeEUCEkTtwpajV1IV3AlXB_OzPE

IMAG2287

 

This is repeated for each transparent panel, in sequence:

y4mt6tRFAoWP6C6TsAx4bqLdeKboTVEqEM_tshi8y4mTYRh2Y0Xz9--CyIwW9vbTPrRLqKTkbqYutSzG

IMAG2288       IMAG2289

 

The front wind-shield is now completely masked:

y4mF7brcZb4fCvD3T1wT3f3bCsGVTZK9fm7BZsc1

IMAG2290

 

The process is repeated for the front canopy.

 

First, the edges:

y4m89oyjLYD2o_xERiYo_pnVzJ6uXXvIW9E_Z-kZ

IMAG2291

 

Then, the inner area:

y4mUZFiYa2CXCGcwqItFKbaLlCa7oXEHNvopSeHQ

IMAG2292

 

The fixed part between cockpits only has small lateral windows:

y4mpLf9hK6pvWTZcwk3Rij5RKjdAAHYFvA00Ec-s

IMAG2293

 

The back canopy was also masked:

y4mDouAhTOfRe3MVAsprPplYRGTDVQ7tckbvIebq

IMAG2294

 

The external surfaces are now completely masked:

y4m5nPlaK4xiLfu4Pi56lxORJ9r7lQgWri_I2mdn

IMAG2295

 

Since the canopies will be assembled in the open position and are relatively big pieces, I decided to mask their internal surfaces as well:

y4mKudxWP3jOWPlBlMvbHTBGK5NE6to6xb7iL6tXy4mMWwrFG1Ykndp_xq1M-oa9vRJ72TOqwrxpo_YY

IMAG2296         IMAG2297

 

These parts were then bathed in Aqua Gloss to seal the maskings. After completely dry, I mounted them on blu-tack blobs and put them on toothpicks, ready for painting:

y4mI5QbVFhwvsFmFC7XTEQLnpI1eSJYa7wdq8bwF

IMAG2316

 

I also cut the remaining clear part from the sprue: the gun-sight. It can be seen on the top right corner of the sprue, in the following picture:

y4mvtYiNlEZr7PRywzBeHODb8IWy8qvpElW7O2E2

IMAG2313

 

To avoid damaging the part, I used a saw, followed by x-acto blades to remove the excess plastic (the same technique used for removing the canopy parts, as per a previous post in this thread).

 

I masked the cockpit area again, in order to repair some damages inflicted on the black paint while glueing the fuselage and cockpit parts together:

y4mhcWueuOj9OPo5wVsyRm7Ibfzlnw-LZiszFg4j

IMAG2320

 

After this, I painted the canopy parts with the interior black colour:

y4mHBACg-CPTpCNmCcqQxA8dssKbuzxVJBY6ZWT3

IMAG2323

 

and repaired the paint job around the cockpit:

y4mJvXvfsNO7rFb3NxexKBdJV59woVgQx2Y84AKz

IMAG2325

 

Having done this, I moved on to the main air intakes. These were painted off-white (Gunze H316) with about 6 inches around the intake edges painted with the camouflage colour (Extra Dark Sea Grey).

 

I started by painting the white colour:

y4my1Gy5OmbItbuF3hfsEyXBqDUhPtpIbut4NIvg

IMAG2326

 

This was left to dry for a day.

 

Then I masked the intakes for painting the 6-inch wide band of EDSG around the edges. 6 inches is about 2.1 mm at 1/72. First, I applied a 2.1 mm wide stripe of masking tape, as a spacer:

y4mmx0vMTr7HcWFF0-nADttA8foBXI2_VXb_fjDK

IMAG2341

 

then, applied tape for protecting the already painted white:

y4mPgfNsPytUey9lcmUJJYa7zcCmI718C34TyECt

IMAG2342

 

And finally, removed the 2.1 mm-wide spacer and concluded the masking of the white area:

y4mvutvLpNYMqDwkA3oDkTfbiXusPgD_OmOdwcnu

IMAG2343

 

This process was repeated for the intake ramps.

 

First, I applied the 2.1 mm-wide spacer:

y4mYo3LL157rR4lVUIhO9juAUWLH9Oe3HEEv6-Xq

IMAG2338

 

Then, applied the first piece of masking for protection of the white area:

y4mZpHCZGJjK8umOSX02ZoTzOcebfI-nXb-MoJCa

IMAG2339

 

And finally, removed the spacer and finished the masking:

y4mphGrutP0GrVJn-Erxpx1NNLEmJO-vByD_vi_X

IMAG2340

 

Here are the intake parts, ready for painting:

y4mkj1oRmEXYFLD_NrGfa6W0AGOBMXyAiAHJUzYj

IMAG2344

 

After painting the EDSG areas and removing the masking, I got this:

y4mPRlY0TdzZhLeBERb2LvfJ4Z8cf2tl-T-Ue3p7

IMAG2347

 

Since the white is gloss and only had about 24 hours to dry, it wasn't completely cured. So, the masking tape marred the white finish, leaving an imprint of its sticky side surface texture. This is quite common when the paint is not properly cured. Fortunately, this can't be seen after assembling the intakes. The tape was only on for about 2 hours (I was also masking and painting the intakes of my other two British Phantoms). On an external surface, care must be taken to avoid this: leave gloss colours to dry for at least 48 hours, limit the area of application of tape (use blu-tack if possible, or cling film), and limit as much as possible the time the tape is in contact with the painted surface. Flat or satin colours are less prone to being damaged by tape. I only use Tamiya tape.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Jaime

  • Like 2
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Hello,

 

Update with last week's work.

 

I was ready to assemble the main air intakes when I noticed that the front edge of the lower wing part would be seen through the intake openings:

y4mj9o-b4ZRkn279Qu2xrYDxt6tgG7Xe-8fRYpZt

IMAG2365

 

This wouldn't be realistic, of course. The real thing can be seen in this picture:

 

http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/phantom/full/raf99326.jpg

 

I decided to copy delta7's idea from his WIP in this GB (link here). Thanks for the inspiration and I hope delta7 doesn't mind my using it.

So, using Photoshop I scaled down the picture of the real intake I printed several of them for both intakes:

y4mmo4isqPt5G6zkXOJhSoswuvOWl7izYHj3SrvN

IMAG2369

 

Then I carved out the plastic where I will create the intake tubing:

y4mwotn-LFkdWuktDzlYrWpg0tzt2ucW-Get0BRF

IMAG2366

 

This is a test fit just to show how it will look like:

y4mkpCQ7kWWs8RRQDRLsJO9LnBHTqqis8B1HG1_a

IMAG2370

 

To create the missing intake tubing, I decided to mould it using milliput:

y4mmOm1NZCCUJPqLAu9BBGZytwXGs_vhjmHp64sly4mwACzQiYkDMUmGbF7FKyHYZxMCPxnLf0I9UADB

IMAG2371       IMAG2372

 

The milliput was left to dry overnight and then sanded and polished to shape:

y4mcuNcVBivuM7d-eZd9DFY6W9qjrZF1zWd1oSo-

IMAG2375

 

In preparation for painting, I primed the milliput with Tamiya's XF-19 Sky Grey. The remaining primer was applied to the fuselage seams, to check any defects.

When the primer dried, I checked the seams and applied putty to improve the defective ones:

y4mxmoZke7YrP0BimVihm49FTrLKrmKXzDqzDYgBy4mQ3nhW3ZdXHuLxyp0sdTTZDSma_Duv18w68pTt

IMAG2377       IMAG2378

 

Putty was also applied to sink marks in the landing gear parts:

y4mYrgsqXYxG5HObfLuzAVZhhK_P84OIfYmE4UG0

IMAG2382

 

Then I painted the milliput with the intake tubing white colour:

y4mZ31LQE9uc8PLzw6MLgcDsinAyJNtzbYD341LX

IMAG2385

 

While the paint dried, I scraped the misalignments in the main gear wells, using a curved scalpel blade:

y4mBmf_lYIgEmwkyrmouIEOCLOOi9SNtvp5VUcpWy4mcMHTHf0yNgj-GLO9eqfExq3fY7yseRsI70M1J

IMAG2386       IMAG2387

 

The port well is the worst one and will need some further treatment.

 

When the milliput paint was dry, I applied gloss varnish in preparation for a dark wash. The objective was to darken the intake tubing and make it as tonally near as possible to the picture.

 

Gloss varnish was also applied to the other intake parts.

 

After the varnish dried, I applied the wash:

y4msM9sz0wEXhaQNY8s_PNCAYKZYMsanYAoJZTT1

IMAG2389

 

The wash was cleaned with cotton swabs and water after 10 minutes:

y4mxK1yolzB3_crVcf_8LARrk3LaWr1oOhlRp8Xt

IMAG2393

 

y4m7k234OPzmxUn1RdRuML4vgiWLh35fghu-OCtR

IMAG2395

 

Now I was ready to assemble the intakes. Here are the parts for the starboard intake:

y4mxMDgKTqZvHpkMqeTtQhZzkMTClzOrStygpFEn

IMAG2399

 

First, I glued the pictures to the ends of the intakes, using super-glue:

y4mcTtl3r9u9p8gbZjk5I7QqpmuignwSt2u7NaL4

IMAG2400

 

A test fit of the intake plastic parts showed a gap between these parts and the lower wing part. To fill this gap, I used pieces cut from a 0.5 mm plastic sheet:

y4my_1khksIouT2Z1HqWPJEWbuXnk9Z0nLWu4HD_y4mMjeeOt003EkGmQVdjoBqaYnS-RxJoCAfQGKty

IMAG2401     IMAG2402

 

Then I glued the intake ramps:

y4m2eW-myiiDaoHICyDdanuI2yx0tIvpU4Sc9dh4

IMAG2403

 

Before glueing the remaining parts, I glued the pitot tubes:

y4mGC3UJHdin40edqNY_PfTsAmKl8sJ6O9yHGesS

IMAG2407

 

Finally, I glued the outer intake parts:

y4mE7asEb7gS9UrNZbpt4VKpR89bYj_-Xzy_lQxh

IMAG2409

 

Here is the final result, with the pictures in the end of the intakes:

y4moKjyMHkKlT_qntnGpGbvpoWQRDjgcC8RCYlhgy4muxRUxj2cu6dUSg-73RoB40XFul73okd-TvnM5

IMAG2410     IMAG2411

 

I'm not very happy with the results. There are some discontinuities, the extra tubing made out of milliput is not perfect and there's a tonal difference between the picture and the intake interior. Funnily, It looks better in the pictures than in real life.

 

What do you think?

 

Thanks for looking

 

Jaime

  • Like 8
Posted

Love the fake intake idea. Might steal this one myself.

  • Like 1

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