VT Red Sox Fan Posted January 4, 2019 Author Share Posted January 4, 2019 (edited) 7 hours ago, f111guru said: Here are a few more teasers Again I apologize for the quality. Ron VanDerwarker @f111guru--thank you for honoring this build with your photos--simply put, they are outstanding & greatly add to body of knowledge! What are your thoughts regarding the stencils on a SEA came F-4D--I understand MDD delivered the D's in SEA camo--are you in line with the thought that frequent re-paints in theater make stencils on a Wolf Pack F-4D highly unlikely in the 67/68 time frame? Again thank you for your inputs--best, Erwin Edited January 4, 2019 by VT Red Sox Fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f111guru Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Erwin, I do know the a/c crew chief touched up where they could and don't recall any repainting at Clark after we got back. The only time I saw a repaint was when the aircraft came back from a major refit or IRAN as it was known in primer. I don't remember what the acronym meant. Only thing I can say is at Udorn and Clark I never saw a plane go from phase inspection to paint. Not until I got to Pease AFB with the FB-111A many yeas later. Not long after that did the Air Force go to the wrap around SEA camo and the dark vark scheme in the mid 80's. If your subject, with photo's is well worn pattern. I'd stick with that. This is what I try to accomplish when I paint. As with the stenciling again if your subject show stenciling go with it. Ron VanDerwarker 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted January 7, 2019 Author Share Posted January 7, 2019 (edited) This weekend came & went--lots of great time with the family but not a lot on the Phantom. I basically just touched up the Quick Boost seat tops (I took the plunge and used the seat backs for this kit--will post pics soon, but I think it was worth it). I did buy F-4 stencils . Had question for the following/forum--the linked photo below I believe is of 601--I think the nose gear's door interior is red--would this be appropriate for a 435th TFS/8th TFW aircraft in 67/68? https://www.pinterest.com/pin/451063718914987892/visual-search/?x=16&y=12&w=530&h=388 @f111guru &/or forum, what does IRAN stand for--I imagine it is depot overhaul of some sort, but have not been able to figure out the acronym across my F-105/F-4 builds. Very interested in what folks have to say Thank you all for your thoughts--best to all, Erwin Edited January 7, 2019 by VT Red Sox Fan Content Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f111guru Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 What I see in the picture appears to be red. Probably not common for the time. Seen some other Phantoms have black with the last three of the serial number painted on it. But where I had been none were painted inside the gear doors. Just the speed brakes. That is not the case in your picture. Just my 2 cents here. I do try to build with reference photos or some type of information to go along with the scheme. Ron VanDerwarker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 (edited) Hello all--I hope everyone is setting into 2019 with their projects. My Phantom is moving forward slowly, but accurately with the help of @giemme's build and everyone's great inputs. Today I got to focus on the sight--I believe this was Monogram's most egregious mistake on their F-4 C/D/J family... relatively easy to fix, but still a very noticeable omission. Anyway, starting from scratch always starts with research before cutting into plastic. As usual, I started with @giemme awesome build-- (pg 22/post 527). I also found this site, http://www.f4phantomparts.com/RADAR.html , while I believe IP-675 APQ-100 shown was tied to the F-4J's Radar (AWG-10) vice the F-4D's AN/APQ-109A, I believed these systems would be similar enough to use as a painting guide for the base's reflecting lens. Based on this review, I decided my lens would be transparent blue because any photos I found indicate this area was dark. In order to place the sighting glass, I used the Hasesagwa comming indentation as a guide. Once I had the back & front of the indentation measured, I caved it out with a hobby knife. The next part was how to build the site since I could not totally follow giemme on this--I have the Eduard RF-4C set which I am saving for a later project. I took the flat portion of a food container and cut to form the center "rectangle" on the Eduard site. I then used my photo etch bending tool to create the "bend" between the bottom and the glass. Following this, I painted the bottom of the base to create the base color of the lens. After a day of drying, I used my cracked 😞 closed canopy to shape/center and final fit the sight using Tamiys green cement. Based of Eduard's sight "circle", I cut a 1/16" circle to recreate the "clear" portion of the reflector imaging on to the site glass and painted this portion Tamiya Flat Back. Once complete, I used stretched sprue to complete the sides. Cheers to all, Erwin---Photos below: Edited January 13, 2019 by VT Red Sox Fan Edits 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 (edited) I also nearly completed the seats. I decided to chop up the tops of the Quick Boost seats... my biggest color consternation was for the face cover/drouge chute green--FWIW I settled on Tamiya Field Gray based on this pic @Gene K provided @giemme--quick question on the below because I lost track in the blog--the red pin bag was stored elsewhere than the top of the seat when in flight--I believe giemme chose to pose the bags on top of the seat since his aircraft is posed in the boarding process--did I get that right? (pg 9/post 212). I also used this as a final guide for the seat I also used sprue to put the Arresting Hook/Landing Gear levers in the front instrument panel--you can't see them under the coaming, but they are there 🙂 Thank you all for sharing your talents and I hope folks are getting something out of this build. Best, Erwin Edited January 14, 2019 by VT Red Sox Fan Edit 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 (edited) Wow, nice scratch building, Erwin! Ciao Edit: just saw your second post. Yes, the pins bag was resting on top of the seat prior to boarding; it was then stored inside the cockpit after the pilot and GIB were strapped in and ready to taxi. Edited January 13, 2019 by giemme 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted January 14, 2019 Author Share Posted January 14, 2019 (edited) Thanks Giorgio--high praise coming from you--I greatly appreciate the info on the red bags... next step will be building up the cockpit--& prepping the aircrew--do you remember what Life Like colors you used on the flight suits on the crew? I apologize but I can't seem to find it in your blog--for you & anyone interested, I am thinking Tamiya Field Grey for the suit/Tamiya OD for G-Suit/Tamiya Dark Green for the helmets--thoughts? I find the Vietnam era Flight Suits generate interesting conversations 🙂 ... thank you all for having the opportunity engage with such a talented group! Best, Erwin 2 hours ago, giemme said: Wow, nice scratch building, Erwin! Ciao Edit: just saw your second post. Yes, the pins bag was resting on top of the seat prior to boarding; it was then stored inside the cockpit after the pilot and GIB were strapped in and ready to taxi. Edited January 14, 2019 by VT Red Sox Fan Edit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 6 hours ago, VT Red Sox Fan said: do you remember what Life Like colors you used on the flight suits on the crew? I apologize but I can't seem to find it in your blog Painting of Little Gene and Little Jerry is towards the end of the build thread. Anyway, I used a mix of Lifecolor Light Blue and Light Grey for the suite and Lifecolor Dark Green and Matt Black for the G-suite, painting highlights on the latter by adding Light Grey to the mix. The helmets were white in this case, but I don't know in general for the Vietnam era HTH Ciao 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 Thanks @giemme! Sorry I missed it in your build--I think I will go for white on the helmets on this as well--camo helmets appear to be the exception instead of the rule... again--I really appreciate the praise and info... one day I might be able to create benchmark WIP--will keep on striving until then 🙂 Best, Erwin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene K Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 (edited) On 1/13/2019 at 4:55 PM, giemme said: ... the pins bag was resting on top of the seat prior to boarding; it was then stored inside the cockpit after the pilot and GIB were strapped in and ready to taxi. Erwin, Just to add a little background to Giorgio's comment above: The seat actually had seven inserted safety pins when in the safe condition.The crew chief pulled 5 pins prior to crew arrival, leaving the two on the top of the seat inserted to preclude the seat being armed -- the front pin was for the face curtain handle , while the rear was in the "banana links". The last physical interaction between the crew chief and crew member was to pull the remaining two pins, show them to the crew member as pulled, stow them in the bag, and hand the bag to the crew member for cockpit storage. Gene K Edited January 20, 2019 by Gene K 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted January 20, 2019 Author Share Posted January 20, 2019 @Gene K--thank you for the clarification above discussing the routine--that makes a lot of sense--the bond between aircrews & their crew chiefs never fails to impress me--best, Erwin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 (edited) Hi Erwin! It looks like you are making great progress :). Maybe one day I'll be tempted by an F-4, once my pile of kits recedes a little. If I do I'll use your thread for reference ;). Martin Edited January 22, 2019 by RidgeRunner 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted January 26, 2019 Author Share Posted January 26, 2019 (edited) Hello friends--sorry for the long delay--sometimes I feel this build is moving at a snail's pace--but I think half the fun of the hobby is learning from you all so please keep the great ideas coming 🙂 Last week I completed the AWESOME Aires jet exhausts--if you build an F-4C/D--get these! As usual, I leveraged @giemme's awesome build along w/ the photos provided by @f111guru & my Detail & Scale books for reference. I would say the biggest difference between my build & @giemme's build was the burner can assemblies fit like a glove without requiring modifications to the resin or the plastic. I apologize for not capturing a photo of the initial dry fit, but will post one later. Photos of this step below: Edited January 26, 2019 by VT Red Sox Fan edit 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted January 26, 2019 Author Share Posted January 26, 2019 I always like to crew my aircraft--I imagine many will find my work basic, but thought it would be cool to post and see if there were ideas. I made resin copies of the 2 crew members from Monogram's 1/72 F-105F (I have always found Monogram's figures the ones to beat)-- @RidgeRunner knows my affinity for the Monogram F-105s too well 😉 . Frankly, the hardest part was figuring out the colors. I used the photos provided by @Gene K on @giemme's build, @f111guru & USAF Mig Killers 1964-1968. In the Mig Killers books there is a photo of Maj George McKinney boarding this aircraft (66-7601) and his helmet appears to be painted green (p 289). I am not sure if helmets were painted per squadrons's, crew, flights, etc, but I decided paint the helmets of my crew green as my reference indicates Maj McKinney crewed this aircraft with then Maj J. Moore. Paints used were as follows--Face: Tamiya Flat Flesh (XF-15), Flight Suit: Tamiya Flat Field Grey (XF-65), G-suit: Tamiya Flat Khaki Drab (XF-51) Masks, Tamiya Flat Olive Green (XF-58), Mask Straps: Model Master Interior Green, Visor/Boots: Tamiya Black (X-1). Photos below: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted January 26, 2019 Author Share Posted January 26, 2019 (edited) Cockpit finishing round 1--BL--The Airwaves PE set designed for the Hasegawa is a near perfect for for the Monogram kit! I only had to make very minor trim cuts which I believe will blend very ell with final finishing. The only real difference between how I attached these PE parts compared to @giemme's build was the PE piece post in between the pilot and the back seater. I cut down the posts on the PE plate on the back seater side of this assembly vice grinding down the top of the PE. In my estimation, the clear parts are the weakest portion of Monogram's otherwise outstanding kit--that I still believe hits far above its price point--I do wish Revell would re-release this kit in the same manner they re-leased the old F-4J model kit--does anyone have in 😉. Anyway, the weak points of the clear pieces I had were 1) extremely brittle plastic 2) required sanding, front wind screen gap. On the pilot's left hand side, the bottom tip of the canopy cracked and I had to rebuild it up w/ putty--I will put the results of this fix in the cockpit "phinishing" thread part 2. I think I will purchase the vac form canopies from Hannants for my next build (designed to fit the Hasegawa, but I believe will require min effort to make work on Monogram's version) Overall, I really enjoyed working with the PE and making it work--I don't know how I lived without it for so long... besides taking our builds to another level, it is fun to work with. Part 2 will be painting, reattaching the face screen handles, etc. As always, thank you all for comments & ideas on how to improve this build. Anyway, on to part 1's photos: Edited January 26, 2019 by VT Red Sox Fan Edit 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted January 26, 2019 Share Posted January 26, 2019 Glad the Aires exhausts worked out well for you As for the pilot figures, you should try some drybrush and washes to pick up details - more than enough for this scale. Good job on the cockpit overall, the PE parts do add a great deal of detail - although I consider the Airwaves set the worst ever I had the chance to use and will not buy it anymore. Ciao 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted January 26, 2019 Author Share Posted January 26, 2019 (edited) @giemme thanks for the thumbs up & perspective on the Airwaves set--I just purchased the Big Ed set for the Airfix FG.1. (figured I had to do a Brit subject soon if I am to keep my Britmodeller card 🙂 ) Will be interesting to compare the PE. Really looking fwd to that build, although, it seems that there are mixed opinions on Airfix's latest offering here. Since I have a whole bunch of Phantom Phans watching this, does anyone have any good builds that they recommend looking at? One other question, were the cockpits of the UK Fg.1's painted in US colors? I found this blog really helpful with a lot of technical details on UK Phantoms Sorry for the detour in my own blog, but I figure I would ask. You guys are all awesome. All the best to all, Erwin Edited January 26, 2019 by VT Red Sox Fan Edit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted February 2, 2019 Author Share Posted February 2, 2019 Sorry for the long spell in not posting pictures--but I have moved on to priming!!! Pics will follow--I promise--I got to at least share my masking to those who understand 🙂 Quick question for anyone who might have gouge--if you see the red turbine stripe beneath the national insignia on a SEA camo aircraft, does that mean that stripe would extend to the bottom of the airframe? The airplane I am building clearly does not have the stripe above the national insignia, but the stripe is certainly below it. When I look at photos of Vietnam era F-4s, I frequently see the underside missing the rede stripe, so I am a bit confused. Thanks for any thoughts folks might have. Hope everyone's projects are coming along well! Best, Erwin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plumbum Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Nice work, just finished masking and painting my Monogram F-4C, I hear you, it does consume a lot of time. As for the stripe I see a lot just on the fuselage and not underneath. I was under the impression the stripe was a warning, that area is where the compressor blades are and if the blades shoud give way they would rip through that area and could send shrapnel flying, I think it's a warning to the ground crew to be aware. Why would you need it underneath? I think.HTH ---John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plumbum Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 BTW I ment to mention I also used Monograms figures in my F-105F build. I cut off an arm and raised it. The figures then looked a bit different. Hope it's not too late to change the "twins" LOL---John 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted February 3, 2019 Author Share Posted February 3, 2019 @Johnv--great work on the crew! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted February 3, 2019 Author Share Posted February 3, 2019 Photo etch round 2! The good news is that with the help of @giemme awesome build (supported by @Gene K 🙂 ) the remaining photo etch went on without a hitch... it is almost like the Airwaves was made for the Hasegawa--ok that is overselling the fit 🙂 Minor bends and cuts were made to the canopy frames... given some of the finagling to fit the PE, I decided to use simple Elmer's glue to fix. The biggest mod I made to chop the mirrors on the rear canopy and make it single mirror frame vice the 2 mirror frame--photos of my machine indicate this is the way it was in Vietnam. Of an interesting note, if you go to the USAF Museum website's cockpits and look at the Gen Old's aircraft, you will see the rear canopy does have 2 mirrors--wonder if the 2 mirrors was a standard post-Vietnam mod. Anyway, on to the photos: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted February 3, 2019 Author Share Posted February 3, 2019 On to masking!!! 🙂 🙂🙂 I think I jumped the gun--I think I will save metalizing for post camo-in my next F-4 build. I found that wet newspaper did not stick, so I went with Silly Putty. I am not too worried if there are issues down the road--I can always replace the tin foil--its cheap & the Aclad 2 was fun to apply 🙂 Canopy frames were masked with Tamiya tape without issue. Intakes & wheel wells masked with silly putty. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plumbum Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Nice! I like the clay for masking. Got lots of it.---John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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