Finemolds and Hasegawa 1/72 F-4E Phantom II - the Long Nose saga - Completed!

[giemme]

On 23/06/2021 at 04:56, VT Red Sox Fan said:

G, just catching up--great work--really like how you are combining the Fine Molds/Hasegawa efforts--really demonstrates the strengths of both kits--it was great to see SANDY BAY-BEE come out to inform the dialogue🙌  Glad to see this work of art is doing well... best, Erwin 

Cheers Erwin, thanks  SANDY will always have a special spot, so she's bound to come out from time to time ...

 

Alright, here's a long overdue update - I had been working on this last WE, but got caught up with Euro2020 and had no time to post a report.

 

Time to go back to the FM kit, and to be able to move further with the cockpit, I had to tackle the modifications needed to turn the standard F-4E IPs into the upgraded HAF versions.

I marked in black the parts to be removed/modified. RIO's IP:

 

On the top part, some of the gauges have to go and I need to fit two square digital screens; the radar screen has to go and a few other switch boxes.

 

Pilot's IP is quite simpler:

 

Another square digital screen to add on the top left, while top centre there's gonna be a different aiming device, with a small screen and buttons.

The IP coaming needs to be modified accordingly:

 

 

So, after the cut

 

 

 

RIO's IP needs more work, there's still a few details to remove. Now, I'd ideally need a square 2x2mm plastic rod to reproduce the digital screens - better start looking for it.

 

The pilot IP and coaming need some substantial additions in terms of aiming device, extending form the IP to almost all the coaming, and reaching up close to the inner side of the windscreen. So a dry fit was in order, to check for room in there:

 

 

 

There's room enough to put some interesting details in there; please note the clarity of the FM windshield - non treated, it's like that right out of the box.

 

That's it for the day, all comments welcome

 

Ciao

[hendie]

a job not for the faint hearted.   Looks like you have it under control  - which is what we have come to expect from a man of your caliber 

[Biggles87]

Agreed not for the faint hearted, especially in 1/72 scale.

 

John

[Spookytooth]

All looks well from here Giorgio.

 

Simon.

[bbudde]

Hello Giorgio , very nice work to look at. Good job.

Cheers

[Cookenbacher]

Wow, amazing detail work in 1/72 Giorgio, I guess I shouldn't be surprised at this point, but individual instruments!?!?

[giemme]

18 hours ago, hendie said:

a job not for the faint hearted.   Looks like you have it under control  - which is what we have come to expect from a man of your caliber 

18 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

Agreed not for the faint hearted, especially in 1/72 scale.

 

John

Alan, John, thank you  But it was a lot easier than it seems: I used a very thin razor saw for the cuts, then it was just a matter of refining with micro files.

 

17 hours ago, Spookytooth said:

All looks well from here Giorgio.

 

Simon.

Cheers Simon, glad you like it

 

13 hours ago, bbudde said:

Hello Giorgio , very nice work to look at. Good job.

Cheers

Thank you, Benedikt

 

11 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

Wow, amazing detail work in 1/72 Giorgio, I guess I shouldn't be surprised at this point, but individual instruments!?!?

Credits go to FineMolds, Cookie: the instruments are molded in, I actually removed some to bring the IPs to the HAF upgrade. I just hope I can produce digital screens on par with the kit detail... 🤞

 

Ciao

[The Spadgent]

That’s some deft knife/saw work sir. Looking amazing as always. 🙌

[VT Red Sox Fan]

G, echo everyone else's comments--fantastic work🙌 But that is the standard you set.  Your build inspired me to purchase the Fine Molds early USAF F-4E (eventually I will leave 1/72 prop fighters ).  I am really interested in how you will sort out (as I know you will) the top part of the nose--this element of Fine Mold's F-4E seemed unique (not wrong, just different) to me.  In the meantime, well done!  Best, Erwin

[Terry1954]

Bold work on those IPs Giorgio, and I have no doubt they will come out looking spectacular. Incidentaly, Reheat made a 1/72 etched set of bezels, which i have. They all seem to be for round analogue types but there may be some that would help. I'll post a picture a little later.

 

Terry

[giemme]

16 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

That’s some deft knife/saw work sir. Looking amazing as always. 🙌

Thanks Johnny, glad you like it!  

 

13 hours ago, VT Red Sox Fan said:

G, echo everyone else's comments--fantastic work🙌 But that is the standard you set.  Your build inspired me to purchase the Fine Molds early USAF F-4E (eventually I will leave 1/72 prop fighters ).  I am really interested in how you will sort out (as I know you will) the top part of the nose--this element of Fine Mold's F-4E seemed unique (not wrong, just different) to me.  In the meantime, well done!  Best, Erwin

Cheers Erwin, thank you  I think you mean the part where the tape is in this pic:

 

It certainly needs some care when gluing, but I for one apprecite the engineering, so as to spare an annoying center line seam to deal with  

 

8 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

Bold work on those IPs Giorgio, and I have no doubt they will come out looking spectacular. Incidentaly, Reheat made a 1/72 etched set of bezels, which i have. They all seem to be for round analogue types but there may be some that would help. I'll post a picture a little later.

 

Terry

Thank you Terry  Looks like Reheat made a set for modern aircraft too:

 

They look interesting. I'm going to attempt something similar because I need to add a couple of bezels to the RIO's IP, in lieu of the radar scope. But I'll try with very thin plasticard first.

Ciao

[Biggles87]

Just managed to drag myself away from the Vulcan builds for long enough to catch up with this.

I still have a few Reheat sets but none in 1/72.

Stay safe

 

John

 

[Serkan Sen]

I just caught up this thread. Great progress so far. I follow with great interest.

Serkan

P.S. For molding and duplicating the parts I recommend to use 1:1 mix ratio silicone (also RTV and mostly in green color and available in various shores like soft, middle hard and hard) and 1:1 mix ratio PUR resins with working time 4 or 9 minutes (depending on your part). You can have a look my topics to see some examples.

 

Edited July 9, 2021 by Serkan Sen

[VT Red Sox Fan]

G, you nailed the area I thought looked unique—agree that eliminating a top seam concern is a good thing—cheers Erwin 

[Zorglub]

 Great progress Giorgio;

Thanks: i learn a lot, it'll be usefull for my project 

[Terry1954]

21 hours ago, giemme said:

Thank you Terry  Looks like Reheat made a set for modern aircraft too:

 

Yes they did several.

 

These are the ones I have. Happy to spare some for you if you need them. Let me know!

 

 

 

Terry

[Fritag]

Neat amputation Giorgio; looking forward to the implant surgery 

[keefr22]

On 09/07/2021 at 16:28, giemme said:

Looks like Reheat made a set for modern aircraft too

 

I really miss Reheat's generic sets, they were really useful, and I'm surprised nobody does anything similar now. I've got a search for the sets on ebay UK and when a set does turn up they usually go for daft prices!

 

Keith

[giemme]

On 09/07/2021 at 17:36, Biggles87 said:

Just managed to drag myself away from the Vulcan builds for long enough to catch up with this.

I still have a few Reheat sets but none in 1/72.

Stay safe

 

John

 

Cheers John, thank you

 

On 09/07/2021 at 18:05, Serkan Sen said:

I just caught up this thread. Great progress so far. I follow with great interest.

Serkan

P.S. For molding and duplicating the parts I recommend to use 1:1 mix ratio silicone (also RTV and mostly in green color and available in various shores like soft, middle hard and hard) and 1:1 mix ratio PUR resins with working time 4 or 9 minutes (depending on your part). You can have a look my topics to see some examples.

 

Thanks Serkan, welcome on board  I do use 1:1 resin with similar setting time, while the RTV I use is the kind that need a catalyst to activate - quite happy with the last one I sourced, though. Thank you for the heads up, anyway. 👍

 

On 10/07/2021 at 14:07, VT Red Sox Fan said:

G, you nailed the area I thought looked unique—agree that eliminating a top seam concern is a good thing—cheers Erwin 

Thanks Erwin  

 

On 10/07/2021 at 14:14, Zorglub said:

 Great progress Giorgio;

Thanks: i learn a lot, it'll be usefull for my project 

Cheers mate, glad if I can be of any help

 

On 10/07/2021 at 14:31, Terry1954 said:

 

Yes they did several.

 

These are the ones I have. Happy to spare some for you if you need them. Let me know!

 

 

 

Terry

Thanks Terry, see below my attempt at it  

 

On 10/07/2021 at 15:02, Fritag said:

Neat amputation Giorgio; looking forward to the implant surgery 

Implant surgery has started, Steve - see below  

 

Once again, apologies for an overdue update; yesterday has definitely been a sports Sunday, so no time for modelling nor for posting updates. Started with some actual sport in the morning, with a couple of hours of walking/running on the hills around where I live, then a nice BBQ for lunch, and of course Wimbledon in the afternoon and Euro 2020 at night. Nice Sunday, all in all    

 

Anyway; I got hold of some square plastic rod, 2x2 mm, that I used to reproduce the two RIO's IP digital screens. Here in the form of two simple plastic chunks, dry fit to check for the overall aspect

 

 

in the tub

 

 

Before going on with these, I wanted to add the three bezels that had to take the place of the radar screen, so I tried this: some holes punched out from very thin styrene, and a razor blade to cut the actual gauge out

 

In place:

 

The top left needs some touching up, or even discarding and making another; the other two are definitely not as ugly as the macro effect makes them look.

 

Anyway, the displays were slightly tarted up with the help of more plasticard and a razor saw

 

and here's how they look in place

 

 

Again, the macro effect is quite unforgiving, but with some TLC they should pass muster.

 

BTW, all these small parts have been glued using this

 

@Gene K suggested I should try the fast setting TeT, so I bought some and I must say I'm pretty happy with it. It seems the way to go for tiny styrene parts.

 

That's it for the day, all comments welcome

 

Ciao

[The Spadgent]

Great and tiny work Giorgio. Congrats on winning the Footie (not you personally but you catch my drift) , I don’t follow it myself but I heard it’s a big deal so hats off. 🙌 I bought some of the quick drying TET but it didn’t seem to be as good as the regular stuff on kit parts. Is it better on plasticard? 
 

Johnny.

[hendie]

Oooh, real toatie stuff Giorgio. Nicely snuggled in that IP.  That should look the biz when painted up 

[Cookenbacher]

4 hours ago, giemme said:

 

On 7/5/2021 at 11:54 PM, giemme said:

Credits go to FineMolds, Cookie: the instruments are molded in, I actually removed some to bring the IPs to the HAF upgrade.

This is what I meant! You are crazy [good at modelling] Giorgio!

[keefr22]

When they introduce 'extreme 1/72nd scale jet modelling' to the Olympics G, you're guaranteed to get the first gold!! Tremendous work again....!!! 👍

 

13 hours ago, giemme said:

Nice Sunday, all in all    

 

 

 

K

[Gene K]

If you are going to use wing tanks, here's something you may want to consider:

 

 

(The corrected FineMolds tank above still needs a little more curvature by further sanding down the pointy tip).

 

I also cross-referenced the new Tamiya 1/48 F-4B tanks.

 

Gene K

Edited July 13, 2021 by Gene K

[TheBaron]

19 hours ago, giemme said:

That's it for the day, all comments welcome

An excellent dose of structuralism by which to catch up with your work G. Nothing phantom about those skills! 👏