Monogram 1/48 F-4 Phantom II

[mpickering]

This group build brings me back to modelling after 20 odd years and back to my roots of how I got started.  

 

I can't even remember why I went into a hobby shop in my hometown called The Hobby Emporium.  A small shop in a converted house in my hometown run by a kind old man named Pete.  I don't remember what led me to buying my first kit but he encouraged me and I bought a Monogram F-4 Phantom II.  The classic kit in this box...

 

 

I eagerly glued it together, painted the cockpit silver and tan camouflage on the bare green plastic.  It, of course, looked nothing like the picture on the box.  I showed it to Pete and he took me to his bench and started to show me how to improve it.  He taught me to sand the seams with steel wool and paint different areas and how to apply decals.  I remember he was working on the, then new and amazing, Testor's F-19 Stealth Fighter and his black model looked amazing.  I wanted to build models that looked like that!  That first Phantom, my first model, would up in a toy box in my parents place and it got dug out a few years ago.  I remember those days going into Pete's shop and working on models on his bench.  I remember having my bike stolen off the pole, lock and all, from the front of his shop after spending a summer day there.  

 

But it was a formative experience.  Pete was probably in his 60s back then and the shop and he are long gone.  But those memories and that classic kit linger on to this day and I thank him for teaching me those first skills that let me build much better models through most of my teens and early adulthood.

 

Despite having lapsed for years my stash has a number of these old Monogram Phantoms in storage.  

 

 

So in honor of Pete and my entry into the hobby, I will crack open this oldie but goodie (and cheap even today!) F-4 Phantom II and build it up a lot better out-of-the-box than I ever did when I was 8!

 

Matt

Edited May 6, 2020 by mpickering
Fixed photo links

[Hewy]

Smashing story matt, and a phantom was a model every man and his dog must have built back in the day 👍, for some reason your photos haven't turned out,  

[Dansk]

Fantastic tale matt, What an awesome fella Pete was. Good luck with the build I’m sure Pete would be tuning in.

[alt-92]

Google Photos doesn't work properly here, it requires very specifically a logged in Google account in Chrome.

And even then, the tokens used to generate the links expire after a certain time.

 

There are some very helpful and good options listed in the FAQ section:

 https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/forum/15-faqs

 

Hope to see more later

 

Edited May 6, 2020 by alt-92

[modelling minion]

A great story Matt and what better reason for starting a build, and who doesn't love a Phantom!

I hope you get the picture issue sorted soon as I'm really looking forward to your build.

[mpickering]

Fixed the photos.  They should be working now.

 

The kit is the long-reboxed Monogram F-4C/D.  They're still out there, still cheap and still not bad looking models despite the molds being older than I am.  I was planning to use a Call to Glory version of the kit but on inspection the rear canopy has a broken canopy frame.  So I either use that kit and steal a good canopy from another complete kit, repair it (difficult, rail broken at the window like in two pieces) or just crack open one of the ones I have in storage.  I have several of the F-4 "MiG Ace" kits but those came later.  This kit is the lineal descendant of what I started with.

 

My only concession will be I am going to use aftermarket decals.  I don't really like the SE Asia camo scheme but love the Euro One scheme many ANG Phantoms wore in the waning years of their service.  So I am going to grab a sheet for that scheme and stick the kit decals into my stash for something else later.

 

This will be an adventure.  Back then in my teens I used a Badger 350 airbrush on a converted propane tank as an air supply.  Couldn't afford a compressor.  Now I have my second compressor with a stand-by air tank and dual action airbrushes (Badger 105/155) and examples to try from Ammo by MiG books like preshading and weathering beyond the chalks I used (and still own my original set).  I'm torn on the direction the hobby has gone over the years from when superdetailing was the realm of awe to the hyperdetailed and too busy, in-your-face weathering and panel lines.  Works of art to be sure but I was raised on the "subtle was best" school and lots of the detail we see on models that is highlighted isn't as such in pictures of actual jets.  Then again, no right or wrong way to build a model as long as you're happy and having fun.

 

Maybe I'll start on an F-19 in parallel in honor of Pete.  I have a half-dozen of those in my stash.

 

We'll see how this goes.

 

Matt

[George Norman]

Yes, I got this as a pressie some back in the 80s from Santa, Banged it together and it got a repaint some years later, Lovely model for its day although I can say I did not do it justice!

 

[modelling minion]

Pictures sorted Matt, well done.

I don't blame you for building one in Euro 1, it was a scheme that really suited the Phantom. I have one in the stash that is part way through the decal process for a Texas ANG one in the Euro 1 scheme, thats a Monogram kit too and I enjoyed building it.