zebra Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 Lt Victor Kovaleski was a pilot with VF-161, flying F-4Bs from USS Midway at the tail end of the Vietnam War. In January 1973, 6 months before I was born, he had a bit of a mixed week, achieving two "lasts". On 12 January 1973 Lt Kovaleski, with Lt(jg) Jim Wise in the back seat, was flying F-4B 153045 on a combat air patrol. Kovaleski and Wise were vectored to intercept a VPAF MiG-17 flown by Liu Kim Ngo. After a brief dogfight, Kovaleski got into a firing position and blew the MiG-17's tail off with a Sidewinder. Luu Kim Ngo got out, but his parachute failed to open. This was the 197th and last MiG kill of the Vietnam War. Two days later Kovaleski was flying F-4B 153068 with Ensign F.H.Plautz in the back seat when their aircraft was hit by 85mm anti-aircraft artillery. The aircraft began leaking fuel and they ejected. Kovaleski and Plautz were both rescued. This was the last US aircraft lost to enemy action in the Vietnam War. So Victor Kovaleski achieved the last MiG kill of the Vietnam War and was flying the last US aircraft shot down in the Vietnam War, both in the same week. I'm going to build one of the two aircraft involved in 1/48, using the Academy kit. I haven't decided which one yet - I have a Furball decal sheet which includes both of them - one the one hand the last kill seems like the greater achievement, on the other hand at least nobody was killed when 153068 was shot down. But I'm not going to start for a couple of weeks, and I won't really have to decide until I get to the decalling stage, so I've got plenty of time to decide. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 What a strange coincidence. I've not heard this one before but a great subject for the GB. You could do both schemes, one on the port and the other starboard! Colin 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 A lovely tribute to 1973 Zebra. That’s a very interesting back story and one I didn’t know about until you mentioned it previously in the Chat section. Glad you’ve decided to follow this one through and start a WIP thread for it. The Academy Phantom kit is a ripper and you will do it proud. Cheers and warm welcome.. Dave 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted August 1, 2019 Author Share Posted August 1, 2019 1 hour ago, Colin W said: What a strange coincidence. I've not heard this one before but a great subject for the GB. You could do both schemes, one on the port and the other starboard! I hadn't heard about it either, until I started looking into what happened in aviation in 1973. I've thought about doing both schemes - it's not as if they'll be all that different - not usually my thing, but I might make an exception this time. 1 hour ago, Rabbit Leader said: A lovely tribute to 1973 Zebra. That’s a very interesting back story and one I didn’t know about until you mentioned it previously in the Chat section. Glad you’ve decided to follow this one through and start a WIP thread for it. The Academy Phantom kit is a ripper and you will do it proud. Thanks Dave. Looking forward to this one. cheers Julian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted August 11, 2019 Author Share Posted August 11, 2019 Dug the kit out of the garage today so here's a shot of the box and bagged sprues: I've got two more Phantoms going (well almost got going!) in the Phantoms STGB and I think I'll build this alongside them - since there will be a lot of parts painted the same colours I might create some efficiency by painting them all together. But if I have to I'll prioritise the other two as the STGB's deadline is much sooner. cheers Julian 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 You’re gonna be busy Julian, three Phantoms and a Frog Herald on the go will test anyones patience, so all the best getting this backlog done. I quite fancy the Academy 1/48 Phantoms, but hope you don’t entice me to get one... I honestly don’t need it. Cheers. Dave 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted September 9, 2019 Author Share Posted September 9, 2019 A month in and I hadn't really got going - time to get cracking. I've painted the cockpit tub and got most of the Eduard PE added - just a few bits to go - and while paint and glue were setting I've got the wing assembled. Here's how it looks so far: The grey on Eduard's pre-painted PE is clearly too light. This is going to be a closed cockpit build, but I'm still not sure I can live with it. Might have to try and paint the light grey bits. thanks for looking Julian 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 You’re not sone struggling to get going Julian. I’ve done an about flip on my proposed GB build, but we’ve still got a bit of time to go. Your progress looks neat, just wondering why the gear legs need to go on so early, is that a design feature of this kit? Either way, it’s all looking good. Cheers.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted September 9, 2019 Author Share Posted September 9, 2019 8 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said: You’re not sone struggling to get going Julian. I’ve done an about flip on my proposed GB build, but we’ve still got a bit of time to go. Your progress looks neat, just wondering why the gear legs need to go on so early, is that a design feature of this kit? Either way, it’s all looking good. Cheers.. Dave Thanks Dave. The gear legs seem to need to go in at this stage. The side walls of the undercarriage wells are built up first (from 5 parts when I would have thought it could be done with 2) and the gear legs are attached to them, then they are attached to the inside of the lower wing half. The gear legs are trapped between the side walls and the lower wing half so leaving them out and attaching them later doesn’t seem to be an option. Careful handling required from now on! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 10 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said: just wondering why the gear legs need to go on so early, is that a design feature of this kit? I agree with Julian i think its the kits biggest flaw. When i built mine in 2016 i dropped while sanding and snapped the port leg. Its been pinned and fixed but it is just not the best design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted September 16, 2019 Author Share Posted September 16, 2019 Cockpit done, also intakes done and fitted. Need to paint the jet pipes before I can get the fuselage closed up - will have to crack on with that. cheers Julian 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted September 16, 2019 Share Posted September 16, 2019 Nice cockpit and that intake set-up looks quite interesting. Should build up into an impressive machine I think. Cheers.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted September 20, 2019 Author Share Posted September 20, 2019 Fuselage assembled. Got to say I'm not too keen on the engineering - ok there are no seams at the top of the fuselage, but it has made the nose section a little hard to align with the cockpit part/lower nose section part. more tomorrow cheers Julian 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted September 20, 2019 Share Posted September 20, 2019 6 hours ago, zebra said: there are no seams at the top of the fuselage, but it has made the nose section a little hard to align with the cockpit part/lower nose section part. There is that and when i built mine the radome was a different diameter( smaller) than the fuselage. I don't know if it shrank, or was designed smaller. I did have to do a lot of grinding of the fuselage to get mine to line up. Dennis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted September 20, 2019 Author Share Posted September 20, 2019 58 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: There is that and when i built mine the radome was a different diameter( smaller) than the fuselage. I don't know if it shrank, or was designed smaller. I did have to do a lot of grinding of the fuselage to get mine to line up. Dennis Thanks Dennis - I’ll see what mine’s like today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted September 21, 2019 Author Share Posted September 21, 2019 The inevitable just happened - knocked one of the gear legs off! It’s not too bad though, looks easily fixable. I’ve also realised that marking each side as the two different Phantoms doesn’t really work - they had a different ECM fit so can’t strictly be done as both aircraft. Might still do it though! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted September 21, 2019 Share Posted September 21, 2019 ... No one would know if you keep this sort of stuff to yourself Juilan? Shame about the u/c leg and I hope I didn't jinx you earlier on when i made reference to that! Cheers.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted September 22, 2019 Author Share Posted September 22, 2019 Undercarriage leg fixed - fortunately broke in such a way that it slotted quite firmly back in. Phew. Getting there - a lot of the airframe assembly is done, and I've started on the seats. All pretty straightforward so far. Here's how it looks tonight: cheers Julian 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted October 7, 2019 Author Share Posted October 7, 2019 Back from a week and a half away and a day off before I go back to work, so time to get cracking with Kovaleski's Phantom. Started by dressing up the seats with Eduard steel PE - they look ok and I like the steel PE, but I'm not convinced by the colour. This is a closed cockpit build so I'll live with it. I've also closed the cockpit and added the nose gear struts. Should be painting soon. Here's how it looks tonight: cheers Julian 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted October 13, 2019 Author Share Posted October 13, 2019 Now masked and primed with Tamiya white primer from a rattle can. Might be able to start painting proper tomorrow. Really must change the filter on the spray booth! cheers Julian 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinxman Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 😀! I thought it was a breeze block not a filter... Mine is spotless of course...😬 Looking forward to seeing some paint on it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted October 14, 2019 Share Posted October 14, 2019 Apologies for missing a few updates here Julian. This F-4 is looking very swish indeed, such a lovely shape. Cheers.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted October 14, 2019 Author Share Posted October 14, 2019 More painting done today - white, light gull grey and black all done: I used AK Real Colour for the light gull grey (everything else is Tamiya) - not used it before this week, and I like it. cheers Julian 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted October 14, 2019 Share Posted October 14, 2019 That’s good to know Julian. I recently bought a set of AK Real colour FAA colours however haven’t used it as yet. What did you thin yours with to make you feel like it went on well? This Phantoms’ looking fantastic, can’t wait to see the next updates especially decals. Cheers.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted October 14, 2019 Author Share Posted October 14, 2019 Thanks Dave. I used Tamiya lacquer thinner - the one with a retarder, with an orange cap. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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