Popular Post IrritableRabbit Posted February 3, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted February 3, 2019 (edited) Good day all. It is very unusual for me to post two builds in less than a week. In fact, it never happens, until today. Prior to to my 3 year break, there'd be a good month between posts. The timing of the photography session with my little 'warm up' Vampire post the other day, then finishing and photographing this one means it's ready to post. 😎 History: The last two Phantoms I made were a vintage Hasegawa IDF RF4E, and the wonderfully dodgy Matchbox F4K/M, built back when both they, and me, were nice and new. I think I build better than I did back then so there is something to be said for old age. 😓 This one is the Fujimi Fire Birds offering from 1989. It has been sitting in my stash since the mid 1990s bought secondhand when I toyed with the idea of restarting my modelling hobby. I didn't though, because restarting my hobby had to wait till 2013! 😭 With the release of the Airfix kit and following my recent build warm up, it was decided to finally get this one done. Still a nice kit of course and I don't feel the need to replace the Fujimi FG.1 in my stash with a newer Airfix one. I threw in some Quickboost resin seats, QMT resin wheels and those Master pitot tube sets just for the fun of it. The scheme is from Xtradecal sheet X72295 and represents a 92 Sqn FGR.2 on detachment to RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, 1989. I also had a set of Airdoc stencils as well. I'm not sure when I bought them, but WHAT WAS I THINKING!! @##%%@ Phantom stencils! Where did my life go? Didn't I have better things to do? Anyway, here you go, thank you for your time. I feel I was still warming up a little as my current build is definitely going better than this Phantom did. 🤕 Phantom-FGR2_02 by Jonathan Macauley, on Flickr Phantom-FGR2_01 by Jonathan Macauley, on Flickr Phantom-FGR2_03 by Jonathan Macauley, on Flickr Phantom-FGR2_05 by Jonathan Macauley, on Flickr Phantom-FGR2_06 by Jonathan Macauley, on Flickr Phantom-FGR2_07 by Jonathan Macauley, on Flickr Phantom-FGR2_08 by Jonathan Macauley, on Flickr Phantom-FGR2_09 by Jonathan Macauley, on Flickr Edited February 10, 2019 by IrritableRabbit Image update 97 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billn53 Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Neat and clean. Nicely done! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 That ia a real stunner,look's fantastic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vultures1 Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Wow, that looks great. Superb finish and nice subtle weathering. That Fujimi Phantom still stands up well despite its age Cracking photography too 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janneman36 Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 It still is a great kit.... i finished one in the nineties and still have fond memories about that one ... Yours is superbly build, it is a joy for my eyes😎 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkSH Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Very nice build of a still great kit, ...and yes the photography is top notch too.....my weak spot, any tips? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harley John Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Very nice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Belbin Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Really beautiful!! Nick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMCS Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Stunning 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Looks very good indeed! Mike. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phone Phixer Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Nice work, like it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Phabulous!! Trevor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 ...hate stencils Stuart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Coombs Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Lovely build there. I built a 56 Sqn sharkmouth machine some 25 years back, using Modeldecals for the details. My ex managed to drop a vacuum cleaner on it (don't ask how). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massimo Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Beautiful!!! And it's got some features which have been ...forgotten in Airfix kit. I much prefer this one althought older and you got the best from thi kit!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Very nice indeed. What did you use for the weathering? It looks just right - very effective. I used to think that these jets were the coolest thing on wings. It brings back happy memories of being entrusted (very closely supervised!) as an air cadet with helping to load the cannon with paint-covered rounds under a 19 Sqn FGR2...on detachment to RAF Akrotiri in 1989! Probably a thorough inconvenience to the armourers at the time, but that small inconvenience for them left a lifelong impression on me. I'm now in the 'third phase' of my subsequent aviation career, and it's a lesson that I have tried to keep in mind throughout. Jon 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Womby Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 Looks magnificent. It's hard to believe it's 1/72. It looks 1/48 or bigger. David 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 What a beauty! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrritableRabbit Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 Hello, and thank you everybody for the great reception to my latest build. Makes all the mistakes, minor frustrations and of course, fun, even more satisfying. On 2/3/2019 at 2:54 PM, MarkSH said: Very nice build of a still great kit, ...and yes the photography is top notch too.....my weak spot, any tips? Thanks... and... ahhhh... How long do you have? 😂 And it all depends on how you want to do it and how much you want to spend. 😱 I use flash, because it's what I have, but continuous led lights for video work are also good for photos like this, and you see what the light looks like before you press the shutter. In this instance, I use two small speedlights modified with small soft boxes. One hung directly over the model, and another one I can move about on a stand slightly left or right of camera position to balance the light and lift shadows. The colorama vinyl backdrop I bought years ago for other work and I just hang it from a pole. They are quite expensive if you don't have much of a reason to buy one, but they are the thing that's used for small object photos and come in many colours. A decent art paper roll with the model lit as well as you can will do most people because 'it's all about the light'. The light is the most important bit. 😎 20 hours ago, Courageous said: ...hate stencils Stuart The hate stencils club with its own special handshake. 20 hours ago, Steve Coombs said: Lovely build there. I built a 56 Sqn sharkmouth machine some 25 years back, using Modeldecals for the details. My ex managed to drop a vacuum cleaner on it (don't ask how). That's like saying don't press the Big Red Button marked DON'T PRESS. How did that happen? 😧 20 hours ago, Massimo said: Beautiful!!! And it's got some features which have been ...forgotten in Airfix kit. I much prefer this one althought older and you got the best from thi kit!!! I didn't realise the Airfix kit is missing some features. So I went and had a look. I think I prefer the Fujimi one now... Or I could be biased because I have another one in the stash. 😎 20 hours ago, Jonners said: Very nice indeed. What did you use for the weathering? It looks just right - very effective. I used to think that these jets were the coolest thing on wings. It brings back happy memories of being entrusted (very closely supervised!) as an air cadet with helping to load the cannon with paint-covered rounds under a 19 Sqn FGR2...on detachment to RAF Akrotiri in 1989! Probably a thorough inconvenience to the armourers at the time, but that small inconvenience for them left a lifelong impression on me. I'm now in the 'third phase' of my subsequent aviation career, and it's a lesson that I have tried to keep in mind throughout. Jon I'm totally jealous.. I was an air cadet and mostly all I got to do was get cold and muddy running in field close by, and if REALLY lucky get to shoot 5 rounds of .22 LR. I used various products in various shades just to see what worked as this is still a major learning process. I had three shades of Mig panel line wash. Deep Brown, Deep Grey and Blue/Black. I also used some true-earth filters. IIRC these were Grey/Blue ageing, Light ageing, Paint fading and a Neutral filter. I would have mixed these with a little water and air-brushed on at a lowish pressure. 5 hours ago, David Womby said: Looks magnificent. It's hard to believe it's 1/72. It looks 1/48 or bigger. David Thanks David, although my eyes didn't think that when I was build it. 😵 🤣 On 2/3/2019 at 1:34 PM, Vultures1 said: Wow, that looks great. Superb finish and nice subtle weathering. That Fujimi Phantom still stands up well despite its age Cracking photography too Cheers. I do kind of wish I aged as well. 😁 And once again, thank you everyone for taking the time to comments and like. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfighter Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 That's just superb ! Just as a matter of interest I worked on XV498 when it was part of 17 Squadron at Bruggen back in my younger days, so nice to see a model of one of "My ' birds. 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Coombs Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 15 minutes ago, IrritableRabbit said: "Lovely build there. I built a 56 Sqn sharkmouth machine some 25 years back, using Modeldecals for the details. My ex managed to drop a vacuum cleaner on it (don't ask how)." That's like saying don't press the Big Red Button marked DON'T PRESS. How did that happen? 😧 Let's just tactfully say she didn't like the hobby. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJP Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 That is a very nicely finished Phantom - interesting to see a Fujimi F4 from 1989 can still hold its own with the latest Airfix F4 CJP 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmouredSprue Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 Superb build mate. How's the overall fit and everything for this kit? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 Beautiful job on that. It really looks the part. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opus999 Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 On 2/3/2019 at 3:36 AM, IrritableRabbit said: WHAT WAS I THINKING!! @##%%@ Phantom stencils! Been there... done that... This is a fantastic looking build, though. Subtly weathered, crisp painting. It's a beauty. I was shocked when I read it was 1/72! I could've sworn it was 1/48 or bigger! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now