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F-4B, VMFA-542 'Bengals'. Finished 26/11.


DaveJL

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Wise man, the kit 82s are strange. The Hasegawa 82s bodies have a gradual curve in outline (as I think they should be), the Academy 82s have a parallel outline at the centre of the bomb. It's a subtle shape but once you know it's there it can bug you.

With all the (deserved) plaudits of the Academy F-4s, people never bothered to look at the 82s ... and that included me until recently. It's still a great kit but if anyone's got the kit (and you want to use 82s), it's worth using alternate 82s

Or just build it, use the 82s and to hell with the rivet counters! :)

I noticed that myself, and the fuses look odd too.

Good thing I want to load mine out with M117's. :evil_laugh:

Think i'll load my next one with M117's!

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More done and that's her ready for the painting process. Last few bits were added then the remaining filler was cleaned up.

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A really nice kit to built up. Taken me about 3 hours a day for 4 days to get to this stage, which is a record i think! I also noticed the other day that i'd added the optional caps to the MK77 canisters. I wasn't happy with the look of them and some research has shown the canisters with fuses as opposed to caps so i binned them and ordered 2 new sets, which arrived this morning. I made the fuses from bits of the Academy MK82s:

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Painting on the sub assemblies has already begun so will hopefully have an update soon.

Dave

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  • 2 weeks later...

More done. Most of the sub assemblies are now completed.

Exhausts and FOD covers:

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Ordnance:

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The AIM-7's need glossed and decals, the rest just require gloss, panel wash and a bit of weathering. The lovely Hypersonic seats are done, with Eduard ejection rings:

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Just need a light dusting of pigment to bring up the details. Next up is to paint the jet itself.

More soon.

Dave

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Update and most of the painting is now complete:

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White can be a tricky colour at times but I'm happy with this. Upper surfaces are Model Master Flat Gull Grey. Just need to paint the black trim around the cockpit area and clean up a few areas then she'll be ready for gloss and decals.

According to the Eduard instructions, this jet was heavily weathered so i'm looking forward to doing that, though i've very little in the way of references for the weathering so may have to use my imagination.

More soon.

Dave

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Any thoughts on stencilling this one? I always think if you put them all on, it looks like a shopping list!

I agree! In the pictures I've seen, the stencilling is very hard to make out, if at all. I'll probably add some of the main ones, but I'd doubt they'll all go on!

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More done today. Added the rudder and FOD inserts, then finished the detailing around the cockpit. Once dry, she was given a coat of gloss in preparation for decals:

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As for the decals (and as mentioned in a previous post) I've had a good look at some pictures of the Phantoms at Da Nang and i'm struggling to see the majority of the stencilling on them. There are over 200 decals to go on according to the instructions! If anyone has any good pictures showing the stencils on the aircraft they'd be most useful!

At the minute, i'm going with minimal stencils and a lot of weathering. A good few pictures show weather beaten aircraft which would hide the stencilling further.

More soon.

Dave

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I'm aware of some F-4G's where you can see a lot stencils, don't recall seeing the same on a navy F-4. Japanese F-4's we all know are usually covered in them. I'll probably do a search out of curiosity. Let you know if I find any.

So far, the model is looking good.

Cheers.

Yes, I'd noticed the stencils on JASDF jets and HAF examples, but haven't seen many pictures with a war weary USMC jet with them.

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Decals on. Went with minimal stencilling and i'm happy enough with it. The decals were as close to perfect as you can get!

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I've sealed them in with another coat of gloss, so once that cures it will be time for a panel line wash. Shouldn't be too long in coming together.

More soon.

Dave

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The gloss looks excellent Dave, seeing the reflection of the stencils. Decals are Furball via Eduard, they're awesome sheets.

Cheers. Vallejo never lets me down! Think i've got the amount of stencilling just right.

Certainly are great decals. If I ever get around to doing another F-4B, i'll be using the leftovers from this sheet for sure!

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Not come across any USMC birds covered in stencils and somehow it wouldn't look right IMO. I think you made the correct decision and the model looks good as it is.

Cheers, i'm happy enough with it. A good covering of weathering will probably hide them anyway!

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Good bit to show. Panel wash was on first thing this morning and left for an hour or so:

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Cleaned off with kitchen roll and cotton buds:

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Good base for which to start the heavy weathering after the matt coat is on. Once that had dried, I added the fuel tank, landing gear, horizontal stabilisers, air vent doors, air brakes, Zuni pods, AIM-7s and the napalm tanks:

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Next up is to add the MK82s before giving it a coat of matt, attaching the exhausts then adding the pigments for the weathering. After that, it's just the seats and cockpit that need finished off.

More soon.

Dave

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More done and she's nearing the finish line. First job this morning was to add the 12x MK82s:

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Once set, I gave the lot a coating of Vallejo matt varnish. Once that had dried, I applied the weathering. From the few references I have, the undersides seemed to be the dirtiest, so I applied a generous helping of Tamiya pigment with a stubby brush:

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Quite happy with it. Note also the windshield and centre partition of the canopy have been added. Once all that had dried, I added the ejection seats and actuator arms for the canopies:

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Mould seam lines have been removed from the canopies with micro mesh. Just need to add the remaining etched parts to these then attach them to the jet.

More soon.

Dave

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