1:72d Fujimi Fighting Cock F-4K

[alhenderson]

Having finally finished my Airfix Gant last week which has been languishing on the desk for better part of a year, I seem to have got some enthusiasm back.  Decided to harness that tonight and actually got my Fujimi F-4K out of the cupboard to make a start 😬  Let's see if I can keep it going at some kind of decent pace...

 

I'm aiming for XV571/A of 43 sqn in the late 1970s.  Grey/green camo with the RWR, red/blue roundels, but no checks on the RWR (as far as I have seen these only seem to have been applied to XV577/G in the early to mid 80s where it seems she was the display bird.  Photos of this bird are quite hard to come by on the net, she's more famous for having special marks when grey in the 80s.  An interesting little piece of detail - XV571/A had a runway excursion at Leuchars in Nov 1977 when she ran off the runway at take-off, leading the crew to depart via Martin-Baker.  She was returned to service after this and continued to fly with 43 for a good few years afterwards.  They didn't replace the port side transparency between the two cockpits, meaning that it had a smokey appearance for the rest of her career - something I might try to replicate if I can work out how to do such a thing.

 

Anyway, a few pictures..

 

The box and decals, Xtradecal X003-72 providing the 43 sqn marks appropriate to the camo  kindly supplied by @rs2man almost two years ago!  Although I'm short a couple of large red/blue roundels to go on top of the red/white/blue roundels in the middle of the checks, will need to purchase a set of roundels decals for the stash.

 

 

Only 8 steps in the instructions???!  The gnat I just did had way more than this!  At least I won't get lost 🙂

 

 

 

Cockpit pit painted grey.  Only had black or a very light grey so thought I'd mix my own.  Jury's out on that, not exactly a stunning success.  It dried really quickly and went very 'bitty'.  Teach me to be a cheapskate!

 

 

And finally, a seat.  Contrary to my usual way of doing things, I built the seat before painting it, having spent a good half an hour on the net looking at picture of Martin Baker Mk7s - a level of attention to detail I'd never have dreamed of in the past (mind you, the internet didn't exist when I was last modelling!!).  I blame you for this, Britmodeller!!

 

 

[alhenderson]

Slowly, slowly, catchy monkey!  Have painted the seats and started assembling the cockpit, having a dry fit with the fuselage sides to make sure I've got the seats in right (ended up with seats too high up in my Gnat meaning the canopy didn't fit 😞).  he black.yellow strips on the ejector handle could be better, but to be honest that's about the limit of my eyes and hands at the moment!

 

IMG_20191106_203925 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

Not paying enough attention when taking the fuselage off the sprue 😞

 

IMG_20191106_204012 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

Have spent most of my time lately trying to get some of the gloss white done on the intakes, undercarriage bays etc.  Not going too well, the gloss white acrylic I have (Mr Hobby) is absolutely hopeless so I've been using humbrol matt acrylic.  Still not a great look, though.  Going to try enamel white gloss next and see if that's any better...

 

IMG_20191106_203935 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

And that's all folks!  Apart from a cheeky visit to Wonderland Models in Edinburgh to get the camo paint and some spare RAF roundels 🙂

 

Al.

[alhenderson]

Small update, just to prove I'm doing something.  The painting of the white bits has consumed most of what little time I have.  Started using enamel gloss white and it's better than the acrylic, looks like I need to be using enamels more, at least for gloss colours, which is a shame.

 

Cockpit is together, love the way those decals went on, I wasn't convinced they'd stay given the 'bumpiness' of the panels, but a dab of Micro Sol really seems to have helped:

 

IMG_20191112_210538 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

Some of the offending gloss white parts.  Pretty close now, I don't want to put too many coats on and ruin it, and it doesn't need to be perfect anyway - don't imagine those sections were perfectly white in service.

 

IMG_20191112_210628 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

Dry fit of the fuselage, no dramas so far.  Will check the fit of the wings next.  At this point I need to mention a previous WIP by @jrlx which has been invaluable - see here: 

And that's about it!  With the white issues solved I hope to start making slightly more rapid progress 🙂

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Al.

[theplasticsurgeon]

Have a peruse at my Fleet Air Arm build from 2013.

Check the parts carefully, mine had a short-shot moulding issue,

which I'd never seen before or since with Fujimi.

[alhenderson]

24 minutes ago, theplasticsurgeon said:

Have a peruse at my Fleet Air Arm build from 2013.

Check the parts carefully, mine had a short-shot moulding issue,

which I'd never seen before or since with Fujimi.

Thanks for that link - thankfully my fuselage doesn't look like that!  Not sure I'd have recovered quite so well!

 

Al.

[jrlx]

Hi Al.,

 

Great work so far. I'm glad my previous build is being useful.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

[alhenderson]

Some bonus "me time" before heading out to the rugby this morning to get some useful bits done on the phantom.  Firstly, I've bitten the bullet and done the overlap of the camo grey into the intakes.  There are many different opinions out there of how far into the intakes the camo went - have had answers all the way from 'none' to as far as the wing root, all from people who worked on them.  So in the absence of any definitive answer or a photo of that area of the a/c I'm modelling, I've gone for a small amount of overlap.  Hand painted because getting the masking on was proving too tricky for my clumsy old hands.

 

IMG_20191117_104020 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

Spare sprue to space out the fuselage and improve the wing joint.  Not perfect, but can better fill the rest.

 

IMG_20191117_103925 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

IMG_20191117_104003 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

Also bit the bullet and sealed up the fuselage - starting to look like a Phantom now!

 

IMG_20191117_115514 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

Right gotta go, Europen Cup Rugby beclons 🙂

 

Al.

[Harley John]

Looking good. Nice to see a 43 Squadron bird.

[alhenderson]

Cheeky Friday night update.  Construction coming along nicely, got the wings on:

 

IMG_20191122_195627 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

Bit of filling to be done on the underside, but nothing too dramatic:

 

IMG_20191122_195636 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

Does anyone else's filler do this?  Whenever I go to use it black liquid oozes out of the top, like it needs mixing:

 

IMG_20191122_195702 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

First time I've really used model filler, used to use household filler back in the day!

 

Having read many WIPs on this site, I'm wondering if priming this might be a good idea before painting.  Forgive a probably silly question, but what are the benefits of priming?  I guess I'll get to see how good my filling anf sanding has been if nothing else.  Also, what's a good colour (bearing in mind I'm brushing)?  Presume something lighter than the final colours?

 

Cheers,

Al.

[franky boy]

Is that Humbrol filler ‘cos mine does that. Just squeeze out some of the solid stuff and mix it up.

 

James

[alhenderson]

4 minutes ago, franky boy said:

Is that Humbrol filler ‘cos mine does that. Just squeeze out some of the solid stuff and mix it up.

 

James

Yeah, tis humbrol. Bit of a pain to have to mix it out of the tube..

[Andre B]

On 11/17/2019 at 1:05 PM, alhenderson said:

Spare sprue to space out the fuselage and improve the wing joint.  Not perfect, but can better fill the rest.

 

IMG_20191117_103925 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

Al.

 

An good idea on most F-4 Phantom builds I think.

 

I also use some sprue on my Italeri and Fujimi 1/72 Phantom's. On Revell and Hasegawa I usually don't glue the bottom part of the fuselage parts (not an open space, more of an "floor" compared to Fujimi). When the time comes to fit the wings I still has som flex in the fuselage and can use some thin plasticard if needed between the fuselage sides to "press" them out against the wings to get a nice filler free joint between the fuselage and the wings.

 

Cheers / André

[alhenderson]

Following last weekend's update, I went out and bought two Tamiya rattle cans - a grey primer and a gloss white.  Decided priming this might help with the later painting (certainly can't do any harm, can it?!).  That's all very well and noble but of course it means I need to practise with them, don't fancy jumping straight in to spraying the Phantom.  Luckily I found some Spitfire kits that the kids got from a craft fair or something a few years back which I can use for practising.  Have also had to decamp to the garage due to the fumes - finally found a use for the workbench in the upstairs of the garage!

 

IMG_20191126_200031 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

Just as well I can practise, its not as easy as it looks!  Esp the white, it was dripping off the wings that I sprayed.  The primer seems to go on easier, though.  Only really need the white for my missiles (there's an A-4 half built on my desk that I started with my lad that will hopefully benefit).  Have attached my missiles to toothpicks (with superglue having read various other WIPs - hope I got that right!).

 

IMG_20191126_200705 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

Only problem with this spraying malarky is that its severely testing my masking abilities!

 

IMG_20191126_200710 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

IMG_20191126_204206 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

Hopefully I'll get to grips with the spraying and get some primer on this soon 🙂

 

Al.

[jrlx]

Hi Alistair,

 

Great progress!

 

Priming is a must in my building workflow. Apart from revealing any filling/seam imperfections, it provides a uniform base colour and good surface adhesion for the paint. These are all important advantages, especially when using photo-etch, resin and different types of plastic (due to scratch building, for example) in the same build.

 

Good luck with priming.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

[alhenderson]

35 minutes ago, jrlx said:

Hi Alistair,

 

Great progress!

 

Priming is a must in my building workflow. Apart from revealing any filling/seam imperfections, it provides a uniform base colour and good surface adhesion for the paint. These are all important advantages, especially when using photo-etch, resin and different types of plastic (due to scratch building, for example) in the same build.

 

Good luck with priming.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

Thanks, I'm getting on pretty well by my standards, finally getting back into it!  I'm hoping the priming is going to pay dividends when I come to paint her.  I also have some sanding which needs to be assessed..

 

Al.

[Steve Coombs]

On 11/6/2019 at 10:17 PM, alhenderson said:

 

Have spent most of my time lately trying to get some of the gloss white done on the intakes, undercarriage bays etc.  Not going too well, the gloss white acrylic I have (Mr Hobby) is absolutely hopeless so I've been using humbrol matt acrylic.  Still not a great look, though.  Going to try enamel white gloss next and see if that's any better...

Late to the party here, but Games Workshop's Corvax White is a splendidly opaque base coat. Then put an acrylic gloss white of choice on top. Your Mr Hobby gloss white might work better if it has something to latch onto.

[alhenderson]

11 hours ago, Steve Coombs said:

Late to the party here, but Games Workshop's Corvax White is a splendidly opaque base coat. Then put an acrylic gloss white of choice on top. Your Mr Hobby gloss white might work better if it has something to latch onto.

Thanks - I think you're right.  Currently experimenting with Tamiya primer spray can.  I'll bear in mind the Games Workshop option.

 

Al.

[alhenderson]

Having had a few practise sprays of the Tamiya white and primer, it was time to put it into action.  Only slight concern was the weather, was a cold weekend here in the UK - temperature of about 2-3 degrees C.  Instructions on the can said don't use below 50F and I had been spraying in the garage.  Decided I'd keep the cans and the kit in the warm and then go outside to do the spraying and then bring it all back in.  Have to say, I'm a big fan of these cans now - the finish of the primer is very nice, and even the white on the missiles is good.

 

IMG_20191201_201520 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

The primer has revealed some areas that need a little more sanding.  I got a little adventurous and put some filler into the gap between the fuselage and the wings.  Problem is I was a bit ham fisted and ended up with filler on the wings and fuselage which needed a fair bit of sanding, which in turn is sanding the panel lines down.  Don't really want to get involved in scribing them back in if I can help it - don't really have the tools for that.

 

Realised I hadn't put the little bumps on the front of the fuselage so thought I'd better do that.  Fit of these is not that great so I think there's going to be some sanding required.

 

IMG_20191201_200657 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

Took me a while to work out which way round they went, think I've got it right.

 

Not too long now before painting starts in earnest, I think.. 

 

Al.

[alhenderson]

Not a massive amount of progress.  Have painted the underside light aircraft grey and put 3 coats of dark grey on top.  Liking how easy the Xtracolour acrylics go on, glad I used primer, though - otherwise think I'd need a lot more coats of the stuff!  Hoping the 3 coats is enough..

 

IMG_20191210_194015 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

Also masked and painted the leading edge of the wing undersides:

 

IMG_20191210_194026 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

Think I'm slowing down now, I'm enjoying this build a fair bit and don't want it to end!!  Contrast to the Gnat I just built where I couldn't wait for it to be over 🙂

 

Al.

[alhenderson]

Small update, progress has slowed slightly with the onset of the festive season.  Got the green on top of the grey.  Was struggling with the pattern as there seemed to be huge variations in the applications of the colours, every picture I looked at seemed to have differences (some were undoubtedly spread across the life span of the scheme which won't have helped!).  However, I then remembered that a Phantom group on Facebook had a post from the pilot of XV571 when she suffered a runway excursion at Leuchars in November 1977, including some pictures of the aftermath - don't get many better sources than that 🙂

 

IMG_20191217_204231 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

[jean]

Hi,

 

great progress and the result to date is pretty good! First time I see this variant of the Fujimi Phantom: the panel lines seem to be more refined that on the Airfix recent edition.

I only have the F-4B from Fujmi and it is indeed a beautifully engraved kit.

Keep having fun!

 

JR

[alhenderson]

Been a while since I updated this.  I had thought I might finish this over Christmas, but alas it was not to be.  Spent a fair bit of time finishing off the painting and sorting out the missiles which I have put a fair bit of effort into.  Here she is in all her glory, canopy on and nose painted black.  The latter really made her look properly like an RAF Phantom!

 

Getting there.. by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

Close up of the canopy that is now fitted as well.  My masking skills were not great here, so the lines are not as nice as I would have liked.  However, if I try and improve them I think I'm going to make them worse - know your limitations, and all that 🙂

 

IMG_20200114_073957 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

And the missiles with their assorted stripes.  The sidewinders in the kit are not right for an RAF Phantom, sadly, but I can live with it.

 

IMG_20200114_073906 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

Gave her a coat of gloss varnish last night ready for some decalling soon.  Was surprised how non-glossy the Xtracrylics were, didn't expect to have to do a coat of varnish.  Have decided I'm going to decal before doing all the fiddly bits like undercarrirage etc.  Hopefully that'll stop me breaking them all!

 

That's it for now!

 

Al.

[(ex)Sgtrafman]

Hey Al

That Phantom is looking the bomb, great work mate. Looking forward to seeing her with her decals on.

cheers buddy

Iain

 

 

 

[alhenderson]

41 minutes ago, (ex)Sgtrafman said:

Hey Al

That Phantom is looking the bomb, great work mate. Looking forward to seeing her with her decals on.

cheers buddy

Iain

 

 

 

Thanks for the kind words!  I'm looking forward to seeing those chequerboards on her!

 

Al.

[alhenderson]

Like waiting for buses - two updates in as many days!  Started the decals last night.  Scared myself with my first use of micro-sol - put one of the roundels on, added some micro sol and it went all wrinkly.  I had to go out, so wasn;t avble to try and 'fix' it, which is just as well since it was absolutely fine when I came back a couple of hours later 😌

 

IMG_20200114_200100_842 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

The first two roundels I tried (from the Hannants sheet I have) disintegrated - one when I tried to move it onto the wing, and one just split in half in the water.  Had me worried there, but the next two were OK.  

 

The fighter bars have got the older red/white/blue roundel in the middle.  Fingers crossed that its the same size as the low viz ones on the Hannants sheet, or this is going to look odd.  Measured them with a ruler, and they look good 🤞

 

IMG_20200115_073944 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

Can't help but think that the fin flash is too small compared to the one on the photo:

 

IMG_20200115_070647 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

 

The Hannants sheet has strips to make fin flashes out of, but I'm not entirely convinced how good a replacement that I made would look.  Getting the size and the angle of sweep right would be critical, and I don't have anything to work from.  Anyone have any thoughts?  Or is it my eyes, and the one on there is OK?

 

Cheers,

Al.