Tamiya 1/32 Phantom f4J

[Martin1962]

Here's my newly-finished lockdown project, the massive Tamiya 1/32 Phantom F4J. It's OOB and is a monster. There's been plenty said about the rights and wrongs of this kit - the battle damage repair panels, poorly made jet intakes, incorrect wing angles and so on, but it remains a great kit in my opinion. It's a straightforward build with less than 30 steps in the build process. The bulk of the work involves the weapons. There's so many of them and they were time-consuming with various left hand side and right hand side missiles and pylons so it was easy to get confused and mixed up, especially at my age.

 

Painting this time was with Tamiya aerosols, which I'd previously used on my 1/12 Porsche, so I knew two things about them. First, they are expensive, and second, they give a great paint finish. I've been much happier with my masking abilities on this kit and I'm particularly pleased with the black nose section!

 

I've never been a great one for detailed weathering, probably because I don't know how to do it properly, but also I do feel sometimes that if overdone the realism tails off. Anyway, I filled in some of the panel lines with a home made thinned down black paint then a dose of pastels applied with a brush. I got to a point I liked then stopped. I haven't got any pictures of the finished underside, and the ones here were taken before the final putting-together.

 

There was a big problem with the decals, detailed in another thread, but thanks to the very very kind intervention of John here, the worst were rescued.

 

Having just reviewed the photos there's a couple of tiny bits to tidy up, so a little bit more to do perhaps.

 

Hope people like it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oops. Tail not fully engaged. No prizes today then.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 18, 2020 by Martin1962

[SAT69]

I really like your paint work. Very impressive. And I note you have the patience to apply all those stencils, something I can't say about myself.  A very very nice model and one you can definitely be proud of.

[jean]

Super build! Well done.

This Phantom must be HUGE!!!

 

I agree with you: Tamiya spray paint works beautifully, and their primers are the best.

Keep having fun!

 

JR

[Martin1962]

Thanks so much for all the 'likes' and the kind comments. It was a very enjoyable build.

[Nev]

Very nice, particulary impressed with your metallic work around the tail.

[Martin1962]

10 minutes ago, Nev said:

Very nice, particulary impressed with your metallic work around the tail.

Thanks Nev. I used Alclad aluminium and stainless steel with some highlighting with their copper colour. All brushed over with ground up grey pastel.