1/32 Brit Phantom FG.1 XV571 conversion from Tamiya and Wild Hare set

[Paramedic]

What a lovely build, how have I missed this?+ I love Phantom IIs.. And the attention to the details.. Lovely!

[Max Headroom]

If you do Facebook try this link for XV408 at Tangmere

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/bf4pag/permalink/10165540777540263/

 

Lots of lovely photos and vids of the cockpit 

 

Trevor

[Tony G]

The Ulster Aviation Society may be able to assist with any info you need

 

Phantom FG.1 ‘007’ | Ulster Aviation Society

 

www.ulsteraviationsociety.org/

Edited October 10, 2021 by Tony G

[Tony G]

18 hours ago, Max Headroom said:

If you do Facebook try this link for XV408 at Tangmere

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/bf4pag/permalink/10165540777540263/

 

Lots of lovely photos and vids of the cockpit 

 

Trevor

Wow what a wounderful reference library of publications.

[Anthony in NZ]

On 10/10/2021 at 9:45 AM, Paramedic said:

What a lovely build, how have I missed this?+ I love Phantom IIs.. And the attention to the details.. Lovely!

Thank you so very much!  Really appreciate it...thanks

 

On 10/10/2021 at 10:31 AM, Max Headroom said:

If you do Facebook try this link for XV408 at Tangmere

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/bf4pag/permalink/10165540777540263/

 

Lots of lovely photos and vids of the cockpit 

 

Trevor

Thanks Trevor, thats a great source of info!  I have to be careful though as the rear cockpit is different on FGR.2's compared to FG.1's.  Great stuff though!

 

On 10/11/2021 at 5:08 AM, Tony G said:

Wow what a wounderful reference library of publications.

Sure is.....

 

 

As far as the cockpit goes I think I now have enough to make a start properly, although I am going to wait and see what the Quinta Studio 'J' cockpit looks like when it comes out shortly.  I think I can use much of it.

 

I have to confess here at this point that whilst the upper fuselage was going well and the shapes are sorted etc, the lower fuse was an issue I tried to ignore...thinking it would just 'fix itself' when I got the upper done.  It didnt!

 

So the issue I had was this:

When I first assembled the complete resin fuselage and wing they seemed to line up pretty good.  But once I started to splice in the original Kit parts to the upper section I found I had to reset datums and alignment.  Knowing now my fuse upper was true and correct, I spliced the engine section into the Tamiya lower wing, and reset alignments etc.  I found that the lower wing insert wasnt a brilliant fit and needed some work to fit properly (originally when I offered the resin wing up to the revised upper fuselage there was a slight twist and banana shape to the lower wing).  Now with both corrected why was I getting this 'bow in the lower shape?  See below

 

So that I didnt split the resin insert out of the kit part (because it now needs a serious bend to fit the lower fuse) I decided I better beef up this lower section so have glued in the wheel well sidewalls and plastered JB Weld around the interior joins.  This should stabilise the lower wing with all it's new joins.

 

 

I decided at this point that I might strap the lower wing up to the upper fuse and align the flap/trailing end of the wing up to the correct place, which I did.  This made a big difference already to the 'bowl shape' I had in the lower wing.  I now needed much less force to pull it up into alignment.  All epoxied in place but I have not glued the rear half by the flap as I can fine tune when I have it glued on. 

 

This is what it looks like epoxied in

 

I have yet to detail up the wheel wells with some extra plumbing etc.

Next issue is that whilst examining the slightly different underpanel arrangement of the Spey engine I found that although my Aux air door was moved forward one bay, it was too short, hence my access panels not lining up

Thats better...

 

Now, I know my can diameter and orientation is exact, and this is the basis for setting up the back end.  I have started grinding out the rear end to get things closer to where they need to be.

 

I am getting close now, and this is with virtually no pressure to pull up into alignment, only to hold it in place. Still a bit more hackery to go though...

 

And as a side point, I have the part up by the intake mods fitting well now.  Remember the intakes were shortened and the corresponding piece out of the lower wing.  This just 'clicked' nicely into place (such a satisfying sound).

 

Interesting to see the differences in width at this point, this matches overlayed drawings etc.  I am pretty happy with how this shaping up.  Although I am coughing up resin dust again LOL! You can see why I didnt really want to deal with this with a nicely painted cockpit and insides of aux doors until I had this sorted.

 

 

Thanks for looking in as always and as always wish I was moving faster to show you all more

 

Cheers Anthony

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bigbadbadge]

Great update Anthony,  that's some work on the underside of the fuselage,  glad you have sorted and it is almost there, great work. 

Chris

[Tony G]

I don’t know where you find your patience and dedication but your skill and what you re-model and produce is amazing. Must be something in the New Zealand air.

[Anthony in NZ]

20 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

Great update Anthony,  that's some work on the underside of the fuselage,  glad you have sorted and it is almost there, great work. 

Chris

Thanks Chris!  By the way, I am loving your Anson...cracking job!

 

I quickly snapped this.  I think she will accurately portray the 'droopy bum' back end due to those stonking big engines fitted!

 

[Anthony in NZ]

2 minutes ago, Tony G said:

I don’t know where you find your patience and dedication but your skill and what you re-model and produce is amazing. Must be something in the New Zealand air.

Thanks Tony, really appreciate it mate... not sure whats in the air down here, but being this fussy has it's downsides too....I have a great Shelf Of Doom  LOL

[Anthony in NZ]

Well 2 updates in one day...whatever next??

 

So the final major area of the shape that I wanted to sort is the nose, especially the lower profile.  Notice on short nose Phantoms how pronounced the lower line of the radome and area forward of the NLG bay sweeps down

 

 

 

Now, see the Tamiya kit....see how much flatter it appears.  If this is your model, I am sorry and will remove it asap, I am just wanting to illustrate something, and I had saved this cropped image some time ago.

 

This is the kit part, although it dosent look too bad, maybe I am overthinking it?  But when I put it up to the upper fuse it just looks too flat along the bottom even to my eye

 

For my own piece of mind I decided to modify it, rightly or wrongly

 

I put a cut down vertically in front of the NLG bay and inserted a piece of 10 Thou plastic card in the top to 'tweak' the lower line down a bit.  I shimmed the upper edges to fill the gap when I filed it down to the panel line

 

 

The result

 

Not convinced I even got it right myself I overlayed another image to see. 

I am pretty happy with the final result and think it will look much better than the kit shape in my opinion. I can still fine tune down the track if I need to and the nosecone will need to be modified too.

 

I know it's not very scientific, but to my eyeball it now looks right.

 

Cheers and thanks for tuning in as always

Anthony

 

 

[bigbadbadge]

Great idea on the underside nose area,  simple yet very effective and I think the overlay on the photo shows you got it spot on too.Great job Anthony. 

Chris

[Alan P]

This is why Flightpath produced a resin replacement 👍

 

If nothing else, it's good to remind all the johnny-come-latelys that Tamiya weren't always good 😂

[Anthony in NZ]

On 10/30/2021 at 9:07 PM, bigbadbadge said:

Great idea on the underside nose area,  simple yet very effective and I think the overlay on the photo shows you got it spot on too.Great job Anthony. 

Chris

Yes I think so too.  A chap on LSP pointed out the upper profile down to the tip of the radome might need looking at too.

 

On 10/30/2021 at 9:51 PM, Alan P said:

This is why Flightpath produced a resin replacement 👍

 

If nothing else, it's good to remind all the johnny-come-latelys that Tamiya weren't always good 😂

LOL yes mate, these old Tamiya kits arent shake n bake like the new ones are they!

 

Ok so this was a big milestone for me, getting the lower wing to fit without needing 10 tons of pressure to hold it in place and not violently spring apart and make terrible cracking and pinging sounds!

 

Here she sits just gently placed on to.  The lower wing pulls nicely up the the lower fuse/wheel well connection with hardly any pressure.  This was a big job as it turned out.  But really all it was , was taking time to see where all the friction/touch points were that were getting in the way, and it fits nicely...phew!

Still some tweaking to go around the rear pipes but nothing too difficult

There was no way I could have done this with the cockpit fitted as there was some serious twisting/bending and hammering to get to this point

 

 

Oh well, back to work now for the week.  I am surprised I even got this much done with all the visitors we had over the weekend, and going out for dinner last night etc.

 

 

[bigbadbadge]

Excellent progress on the underside fettling,  I know it's back to work but at least next time you can move onto the cockpit knowing this is sorted.

Great work Anthony. 

Chris

[Max Headroom]

You’re getting there and the result will be well worth it

 

Trevor 

[mark.au]

Superb attention to detail as always Anthony.  It’s inspiring to someone like me who normally just wants to get to painting and weathering.

[Anthony in NZ]

10 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Excellent progress on the underside fettling,  I know it's back to work but at least next time you can move onto the cockpit knowing this is sorted.

Great work Anthony. 

Chris

Thanks Chris.  yes I was kinda burying my head in the sand with this issue!

 

9 hours ago, Max Headroom said:

You’re getting there and the result will be well worth it

 

Trevor 

Hey Trevor, thanks buddy!  Comments like that reassure me when I'm mentally tapped out and wonder what I am doing....

 

9 hours ago, mark.au said:

Superb attention to detail as always Anthony.  It’s inspiring to someone like me who normally just wants to get to painting and weathering.

Thank you sir!  I really cant wait to start painting, the fun is over bashing resin and plastic LOL

 

Thanks guys, I appreciate your support!

 

Cheers Anthony

[CJP]

On 10/30/2021 at 6:59 PM, Anthony in NZ said:

Well 2 updates in one day...whatever next??

 

So the final major area of the shape that I wanted to sort is the nose, especially the lower profile.  Notice on short nose Phantoms how pronounced the lower line of the radome and area forward of the NLG bay sweeps down

 

 

 

Now, see the Tamiya kit....see how much flatter it appears.  If this is your model, I am sorry and will remove it asap, I am just wanting to illustrate something, and I had saved this cropped image some time ago.

 

This is the kit part, although it dosent look too bad, maybe I am overthinking it?  But when I put it up to the upper fuse it just looks too flat along the bottom even to my eye

 

For my own piece of mind I decided to modify it, rightly or wrongly

 

I put a cut down vertically in front of the NLG bay and inserted a piece of 10 Thou plastic card in the top to 'tweak' the lower line down a bit.  I shimmed the upper edges to fill the gap when I filed it down to the panel line

 

 

The result

 

Not convinced I even got it right myself I overlayed another image to see. 

I am pretty happy with the final result and think it will look much better than the kit shape in my opinion. I can still fine tune down the track if I need to and the nosecone will need to be modified too.

 

I know it's not very scientific, but to my eyeball it now looks right.

 

Cheers and thanks for tuning in as always

Anthony

 

 

I think your eyeball is doing a great job discerning the shapes

[Anthony in NZ]

On 11/1/2021 at 8:38 PM, CJP said:

I think your eyeball is doing a great job discerning the shapes

I'm not always sure that's a good thing LOL

 

I'll explain later, but here's a quick pic to let you all know I havent fallen off the planet and am still working on the Phantom....

 

Cheers Anthony

[bigbadbadge]

Good to see this again , I like looking at your updates , looking forward to seeing what you've been up to.

Chris

[Alan P]

1 hour ago, bigbadbadge said:

I like looking at your updates , looking forward to seeing what you've been up to.

Same! It's like a little peek into a complex world of seething imaginations each time you post @Anthony in NZ 

[Antti_K]

This is really inspiring Anthony🙂 Excellent work as always. I noted that "flat nose" also and fixed it with Milliput. I wasn't too worried about loosing all surface details as the rectangular panel on the underside has the dimensions wrong.

 

Cheers,

Antti

[Anthony in NZ]

13 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Good to see this again , I like looking at your updates , looking forward to seeing what you've been up to.

Chris

Thanks Chris.... I seem to be dodging this cockpit nicely so far 

 

12 hours ago, Alan P said:

Same! It's like a little peek into a complex world of seething imaginations each time you post @Anthony in NZ 

Hahaha......or a real time study of a mind crumbling!

 

7 hours ago, Antti_K said:

This is really inspiring Anthony🙂 Excellent work as always. I noted that "flat nose" also and fixed it with Milliput. I wasn't too worried about loosing all surface details as the rectangular panel on the underside has the dimensions wrong.

 

Cheers,

Antti

Thanks Antti!

Yes I noticed that, I will need to rescribe that area when I get to it.  Thanks for following along still

 

I have actually started the cockpit basics by trial fitting the Aires tub and sidewalls.  Plus I ordered a Quinta Set for the Tamiya 'J' to help me out.

 

Cheers Anthony

[Anthony in NZ]

Ok where do I start....

 

So the WH belly insert didnt seem quite right and the Sparrow/Skyflash wells and sit of the missiles didnt look quite right either.  Whilst studying and looking at cross sections I noticed the bulges for the 2 engines were slightly different in shape and in uneven positions.  Note on the photo below the red line showing where the correct position should be and how far off it was. This photo is from way back when I spliced the WH resin into the Tamiya kit lower wing section

 

We should have something that looks like this

 

So I get to work scratching out the shape and sanding to reprofile them to match.

 

Still working on shapes and symmetry

 

As you can also see I have been working on the angle and correct position of the Skyflash/Sparrow wells.  The Brit Phantom has a very characteristic lower back end and is part of the character of the airframe.  See here how the missiles sit at the back and compare in orientation to the front ones.  I believe this is really important to highlight the planes character.

 

The shape down the side of the fuse is also unusual to accommodate this

 

So

 

Getting there but the Sparrow is still not quite at the correct angle and the well is now very deep and the missile dosent sit right/at an odd angle in the vertical

 

Aaaah now I figured it out...look at how shallow those rear wells are. Well compared to what I had that was a big difference

 

 

Notice also the square edge to the inner well, this was another area that I couldnt understand as I had a huge gap along the inside edge of the sparrow and fuse.  If you look at my first image you can see how rounded these are in the conversion piece.

 

So, out with the JB Weld and CA and fill the sparrow well and sand to a more appropriate shape and square the inner edges off.  Now the Sparrow sits right.  

 

 

I also started boxing in the rear fin cavity, but I wont box the front ones as I will have Skyflash 'Drill' rounds fitted.  But anyway I am pretty happy with how they sit.  Still working on the other side but I think once I get my first coat of Mr Surfacer on it I will really see the differences.

 

I need to order some Eduard Brassin Sparrows this week

 

Phew!  Glad I am only posting this build on 2 websites, this has taken me ages.  There goes tonights modelling session LOL

 

Thanks as always for tuning in

Cheers Anthony

 

 

[Tony G]

I don’t know where you find your patience and perseverance.  I think if it were me, I would have thrown a tantrum and jumped all over it and chucked in the bin by now.

Crack on the end result is going to be amazing