Creepy Pete Posted August 29, 2019 Share Posted August 29, 2019 (edited) I have three weeks off from work, so what better way to spend those weeks than building a pair of F-4's. I will be building a very early F-4E, with the original gun fairing, non slatted wings, and not even formation lights, and a mid 80's F-4G in Euro 1 camo. Both are the 1/72 Hasegawa kit, which is, as you can see on the pic below, very modular. As of now, I could fit the wings of the E (white plastic) on the fuselage of the G, and it wouldn't matter. The E will be done as one based at Torrejon in Spain circa 1971, back when they didn't have a single tail code for the Wing yet, but each squadron had their own (TJ, TK and TL). The 401st TFW seems to be a bit forgotten, and their F-4E's even more so, since they only flew them for about 3 years before recieving short nosed ones. Luckily Wolfpak issued a sheet with an example from the 613th TFS in 1971. I ordered this sheet a couple days ago, but I think I already might change the subject a bit. The sheet is for F-4E 69-0275, which looked like this: https://www.sberg-movements.nl/afbeeldingen/1971/7473.jpg As you can see, the AF letters and the FY 69 are in black on the tail. Wolfpak did them in white. The other thing is my other build, which is F-4G 69-0280. This one also flew with the 613th TFS at Torrejon in 1971, as can be seen on this pic, taken at the same day as the previous one at Soesterberg AB here in NL: https://www.sberg-movements.nl/afbeeldingen/1971/4017.jpg This one does have the white AF and 69 on the tail. Now, I did look around in the stash a bit, and provided the size of the numbers matches the Wolfpak ones, I think I can do it as 280 instead. Which brings us to the other build. F-4G 69-0280. This one will be done in its final scheme of Euro 1, and in markings of the 23rd TFS of the 52nd TFW based at Spangdahlem in Germany. This one will also get Wolfpak decals. Ironically, this one crashed during a dog fight against an aggressor during a training mission at Zaragoza in Spain in 1984. So 69-0280 started its career in Spain, and ended it there as well. The pic below was taken by Scott R. Wilson just 5 days before its crash. So, like I said, these kits are very modular in design, which does make it easy to build multiple versions at once. The white plastic is from the Thunderbirds boxing of the F-4E, which is perfect for an early one. Only aftermarket used will be the decals, from Wolfpak as mentioned, and whatever else I need from various sheets I have. Edited September 26, 2019 by Creepy Pete ants with antlers 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creepy Pete Posted September 2, 2019 Author Share Posted September 2, 2019 And suddenly we have a pair of Phantoms! The F-4E is slightly easier to build, but then again that white plastic doesn't help. For the F-4G, some mods are needed. For starters, the wing fences have to be shortened. Hasegawa did them as the longer F-4S type. Also, the decals have arrived, and it looks like I can do both as 69-0280, with spare numbers coming from the other F-4E option and a Trumpeter F-105 kit. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creepy Pete Posted September 11, 2019 Author Share Posted September 11, 2019 Almost ready for paint now. I've built quite a few of these Hasegawa F-4's over the years now, and those intakes always are a bit hit or miss, fitwise. Especially on the left side of the F-4G it didn't fit that well. Oh well. I added the little antennas around the nose and on the tail of the F-4G, using some Evergreen styrene. Clear parts have all been masked, and the rear one for the G has the rear view mirror installed. I'll probably start painting them tomorrow. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FortyEighter Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 At the speed these two have taken off, they'll be going vertical soon! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creepy Pete Posted September 13, 2019 Author Share Posted September 13, 2019 Not going vertical yet, but there's paint on them! Gunze 303 to be precise. And I put some of the smaller bits together. The F-4G will get one of those triple Maverick launchers under the right wing, and a Shrike training round under the left wing. Not sure what to put on the F-4E yet. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creepy Pete Posted September 17, 2019 Author Share Posted September 17, 2019 Got some more paint on them. Obviously some touch ups are required, and I still have to paint the bottom of the F-4E with the light grey, but it's getting there. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted September 22, 2019 Share Posted September 22, 2019 Paint work looks phantastic! Give them the final push, 1 week to go!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creepy Pete Posted September 22, 2019 Author Share Posted September 22, 2019 Thanks! Luckily we got a small extension, or I might not have made it. Painting is completed now. Tomorrow I will put a glosscoat on them and after that it's decal time. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creepy Pete Posted September 24, 2019 Author Share Posted September 24, 2019 Well, I started decalling the F-4G, and immediatly I had a problem. It looks like Wolfpak looked at the F-4E for the sharkmouth, which is slightly different under the radome. The F-4E has the gun muzzle starting aft of the radome: https://www.airfighters.com/photo/48296/M/USA-Air-Force/McDonnell-Douglas-F-4E-Phantom-II/74-1055/, while on the F-4G, the black bit with the electronics starts further forward: https://www.airfighters.com/photo/12880/M/USA-Air-Force/McDonnell-Douglas-F-4G-Phantom-II/69-0253/. This results in having a slightly different sharkmouth. I'm not sure yet how to fix this. I might just carefully hand paint the missing bit. Another thing Wolfpak didn't get correct was the blue tail stripe, being too short, but luckily the one from the kit sheet worked fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creepy Pete Posted September 26, 2019 Author Share Posted September 26, 2019 Well, so far so good. That's one side done on each model. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creepy Pete Posted October 6, 2019 Author Share Posted October 6, 2019 Well, I managed to finish at least one for this GB. The F-4E is done, pics are up in the RFI section. The F-4G will follow in a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creepy Pete Posted October 8, 2019 Author Share Posted October 8, 2019 And the F-4G is also finished. I won't add it to the F-4E in the RFI section, as it's too late for that, so I'll post the pics here. This was my first time doing a Euro 1 paintjob, and I think it came out quite alright. This one was also done with Gunze paints, decals again from Wolfpak, and Hasegawa. The weapons came from a Fujimi A-7 kit and the triple Maverick launcher from a Hasegawa weapons set. And both of them together: Thanks for watching, and thanks to the host and participants of this GB. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 Shame you didn't manage to get the G into the gallery. 2 great looking models though. Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 What a fantastic pair of F-4s, seriously well done! David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 Looking great, both of then!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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