Jump to content

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


Recommended Posts

On 24/08/2022 at 23:33, keefr22 said:

Another excellent update G, I particularly like your mod to the droptanks and the nose leg details, but good stuff all round!

 

K

Cheer Keith, thank you - much appreciated :thumbsup:

 

On 25/08/2022 at 14:28, Spookytooth said:

Great work Giorgio, nice mod on the drop tanks.

And you are right, some P.E. does not look right.

 

Stay safe.

 

 

Simon.

Thanks Simon, glad you like it :thumbsup:

 

On 25/08/2022 at 14:37, VT Red Sox Fan said:

G, just catching up—really learned a lot from the canopy saga—it turned out great!  I think you made the correct choice on the kit antennas vs PE—even on the WW2 aircraft in 1/72 they can look a little flat—best, Erwin

Agreed on 1/72 PE antennae, Erwin - thanks for the praise! :thumbsup:

 

On 27/08/2022 at 00:04, The Spadgent said:

Yes. My one has gone exactly the same. It’s almost as if the chrome has curdled. No longer smooth like a mirror but split Ito a strange emulsion of oil and silver bits.  Feels like time has degraded it. Like me. 🤪

The details are looking spot on regardless dear boy. 100% fantastic. 
 

Johnny

So it's not only me, thanks :D And thanks for the praise :thumbsup:

 

On 30/08/2022 at 21:52, gota said:

 

The ink within the tip goes bad, pull the tip out and you should find some working ink, you'll see the difference in consistency.

So I did, and in fact the ink inside appeared to be intact. As a matter of fact, I picked some up with the point of a toothpick and laid it down onto some scrap plastic, and it was the usual chrome effect. I noticed that the tip area instead was all filled with the "altered" ink: I wonder if there's a way to clean that out and restore it to normal service...

Anyway, thanks a lot for the tip (see what I did? Oh, well.... :D ) 

 

On 30/08/2022 at 23:37, Mark Turk said:

Amazing work!

 

Mark

Thank you Mark :thumbsup:

 

On 03/09/2022 at 13:02, Fritag said:

Lovely (of course) detail work G.

Glad you approve of, Steve :thumbsup:

 

Slowly progressing: the main wheel hubs aren't painted white (just the outer rims). They are instead left in metal; so I used the brush technique to paint them with Model Master Metallizer Burnt Metal

hase_wheels1

 

I then cut some masks with my Curio out of Oramsk 810

hase_wheels2

 

Main struts prepped and relevant PE added

hase_uc11

 

Then I had all these bits ready for painting

bits1

 

and this, which was airbrushed with MMM Burnt Metal, and buffed a few minutes afterwards

hase_arrestorhook1

 

All the other bits received a black base coat (Tamiya Flat black, thinned with cellulose thinner, to improve the "bite")

bits2

 

I then airbrushed Tamiya Flat White on the parts that needed it, such as the wheels

hase_wheels3

 

The masks didn't quite work on the back side

hase_wheels4

 

So I had to repaint those by brush. Here they are after some brush painting and weathering

hase_wheels5

 

Same for the front wheels

hase_wheels6

They are all in need of the final flat clear coat, but I wanted to let the black tempera wash cure thoroughly

 

White (and some red) on the other bits

bits3

 

bits4

 

Followed by the darker camouflage color

bits5

 

The arrestor hook side plates received a coat of AK Extreme Metal Steel, instead

hase_arrestorhook2

 

The pylons received some detail painting (launching rails, Italeri Steel by brush) and a black temepra wash

hase_pylons2

 

They too need a final flat coat (unless there are stencils to put on, I haven't checked yet....)

 

The little front door instead is completed, flat coat included

hase_uc12

 

Finally, a gratuitous shot of the whole AC, just because.... :D  (actually I did paint the small dorsal light on the hunch)

 

hase_detailpainting5

 

That's it for this update, all comments welcome

 

Ciao

Edited by giemme
Premature posting
  • Like 24
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well you certainly know how to slosh paint around Giorgio - nicely sloshed too.

 

I particularly like your aircraft crash diorama where all the bits of aircraft have miraculously ended up on the top of trees that seem to have had all their branches burned off. Very surreal.

  • Like 1
  • Haha 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 05/09/2022 at 01:43, hendie said:

Well you certainly know how to slosh paint around Giorgio - nicely sloshed too.

 

I particularly like your aircraft crash diorama where all the bits of aircraft have miraculously ended up on the top of trees that seem to have had all their branches burned off. Very surreal.

Cheers Alan, thanks! :thumbsup:  BTW, that is called "parts tree", so I removed them from one tree, just to have them ending up on another... :frantic:  :D 

 

On 05/09/2022 at 08:08, Fritag said:

Nice bits Giorgio 👍 (now why am I uncomfortable with that phraseology? ) 

Don't know. But there's more bits, see below... :rofl: 

 

On 05/09/2022 at 14:19, Spookytooth said:

A lot of paint going on mate.

Busy, busy.

 

All looks good from here mate.

 

Stay safe.

 

Simon.

Cheers Simon, thanks! :thumbsup: Yet more painting in this update, see below

 

On 05/09/2022 at 20:10, keefr22 said:

Cracking paint G, looks really good!! :thumbsup:

 

K

Glad you like it, Keith! :thumbsup: 

 

On 05/09/2022 at 20:15, TheBaron said:

That's alright that is. Like the parts are beginning to swarm for final assembly all on their own. Lovely progress G.

Thank you Tony :thumbsup: Although it feels like a never ending story each time I get to this stage of a build...

 

On 06/09/2022 at 20:50, rob85 said:

Been away for a bit, glad you didn’t finish before I get back to it!

 

that paint work is looking brilliant, and it looks like another leap forward is on the cards with all the little bits prepped.

 

Rob

Not a chance to finish it so soon, Rob :D See more bits prepping below :winkgrin:

 

On 07/09/2022 at 00:26, VT Red Sox Fan said:

I particularly like how the dark grey appears a little “splotchy”—very appropriate for this aircraft and era—well done, Erwin

Thanks Erwin, that was the idea - glad you like it! :thumbsup:

 

On 07/09/2022 at 00:51, The Spadgent said:

I love getting to this part of the build where all the bits get finished off. Excellent painting as always.

 

J

Me, not so much. End in sight but never quite there :frantic:  :D And thanks! :thumbsup:

 

Alright, here's a 10 days worth of update, albeit I didn't manage that much time at the bench. I've been working on two main subjects. The first, bits that still needed painting; starting with painting chrome the various oleos - I was able to use the paint from the inside of the Molotow Chrome pen, and applied it by brush

 

bits6

 

The light in this pic is quite unfavorable, they look way more even and shiny in real life.

It was then time to paint the exhaust cones and cans; first off, Model Master Metallizer Burnt Metal, airbrushed on the turbine faces and the pipes rear ends (and buffed after a few minutes)

hase_exhausts1

 

Then the cans, airbrushed with MMM Exhaust inside and out (and again, buffed a few minutes afterwards)

hase_exhausts2

 

The inside of the exhaust pipes on an F-4 shows a typical color pattern, from dark grey to very light brown to very light green, so I masked the metallic area using rolled up post it notes

hase_exhausts3

 

I then airbrushed Tamiya German Grey

hase_exhausts4

 

moved up the masking and airbrushed Tamiya Deck Tan

hase_exhausts5

 

moved up yet again and sprayed Tamiya Sky

hase_exhausts7

 

The same color was sprayed inside the innermost part of the cans

hase_exhausts8

 

End result

hase_exhausts9

 

hase_exhausts10

 

For the cans, I tried to replicate the discoloration caused by the heat, by drybrushing a couple of shades of grey (dark grey and dark gull grey, to be exact, both Lifecolor) and a black and a silver pencil, all followed by a black tempera wash

hase_exhausts11

 

The inside for both pipes and cans received a black tempera wash

hase_exhausts12

 

They are now ready for final assembly (which I have already started, but I'm going to complete probably by tonight)

The other subject I worked on, is......  decals! :frantic: :frantic: 

 

First off, the slime lights: these came from an old Hasegawa decals sheet, kindly donated by @phantom61. I wasn't sure how they'd perform, but I have to say they were flawless

 

hase_decals1

 

hase_decals2

 

Then I wanted to test the HI-DECAL LINE decals that I bought for this subject; so I started with a couple of stencils on the stabialtors

hase_decals3

 

They are very thin but resistant, and apparently show the carrier film after application, but once gloss coated...

hase_decals4

... no more traces of it whatsoever.

 

So I pressed on and tried with larger decals

hase_decals5

 

hase_decals6

 

All good there too, and not gloss coated yet, so I expect those to blend in properly too. Alright, that's it for this update, I'll get back to the bench for more decals action!

 

All comments welcome, as usual

 

Ciao

 

Edited by giemme
Typos
  • Like 28
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, Fritag said:

Lovely neat work, Giorgio.  Doesn’t just survive the unforgiving macro photography; it positively revels in it :D  

Agreed.

Quite remarkable. If I can use such a superla-....err, I mean such a straightforward statement of fact.

  • Like 1
  • Haha 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice work on the exhausts! On mine, I think I just painted everything Burnt Iron (or was it Burnt Metal?). I may go back and do some more work on them, per what you've done, since I haven't even glued them into my F-4E yet. I'm just now trying to finish up my white painting, so I'll check what you've painted white to see if I've missed anything.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 18/09/2022 at 19:05, Terry1954 said:

Nice update Giorgio. This one is coming along very nicely and I assume it's Greek colleague is still ok? Not seen that one for a while.

 

Terry

Cheers Terry, thank you :thumbsup:  I decide I want to complete this one before going back to he HAF one :) 

 

On 18/09/2022 at 20:48, keefr22 said:

More very nice work G - that method of masking/painting the interior of the exhausts is brilliant! As is the result!

 

Toom is looking very Toom like - great stuff! :thumbsup:

 

Keith

Thanks Keith, much appreciated! :thumbsup: The post-it note masking is something I must have picked up online somewhere, I can't remember though...

 

On 18/09/2022 at 20:52, Cookenbacher said:

That's brilliant - stealing this one immediately Giorgio - yoink!

 

The exhausts (and everything else) look fantastic!

Steal away, Cookie - as I said above, it's what I did too :winkgrin:

 

On 18/09/2022 at 21:50, Fritag said:

Lovely neat work, Giorgio.  Doesn’t just survive the unforgiving macro photography; it positively revels in it :D  

Way too kind, Steve :thumbsup:  To be honest, at normal viewing distance it all looks much better :) 

 

On 18/09/2022 at 22:02, TheBaron said:

Agreed.

Quite remarkable. If I can use such a superla-....err, I mean such a straightforward statement of fact.

You can, of course :D :D  Thanks tony :thumbsup: 

 

On 18/09/2022 at 23:43, corsaircorp said:

Soo, this Phantom is a Devil ??

Well done Maestro !! 

Note to self; I must resist the envy to start (restart) another Phantom....:devil::devil:

Sincerely.

CC

Why resisting? Have you gone insane? Or should I say sane? :rofl: :rofl:  Thanks Alain! :thumbsup: 

 

On 19/09/2022 at 00:13, The Spadgent said:

The pressing work on the exhausts is a master stroke. They look great. And I know how much you like decals so I didn’t expect those to be much of an issue. 🫠🤫🥳

 

 Great stuff G.

 

 Johnny

See below for decals, Johnny... I still hate them... Thanks for the praise, though :thumbsup:

 

On 19/09/2022 at 10:04, mark.au said:

Lovely paintwork, a joy to follow along with 

Thanks Mark, although I very much envy your paintwork :thumbsup: 

 

On 19/09/2022 at 13:07, hendie said:

a fine job sir. Those markings look very nice and really bring the airframe to life.

More markings below, Alan - in fact, all of them :winkgrin:

 

On 19/09/2022 at 17:53, billn53 said:

Fine work on the afterburner cans! I'll take a note on your technique, for future reference when I build my next F-4.

 

The stenciling and decaling look great, as well!

Cheers Bill, thanks! :thumbsup: I have a few very neat pics of F-4E burner cans, I just tried to replicate what I saw. In a bigger, scale, there would be room for some interesting effects  - to be achieved with an airbrush. For 1/72, I'm happy with the way they turned out, considering the normal viewing distance :) 

 

On 19/09/2022 at 19:48, Learstang said:

Nice work on the exhausts! On mine, I think I just painted everything Burnt Iron (or was it Burnt Metal?). I may go back and do some more work on them, per what you've done, since I haven't even glued them into my F-4E yet. I'm just now trying to finish up my white painting, so I'll check what you've painted white to see if I've missed anything.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

Thanks Jason, glad if I can be of any inspiration :thumbsup: I've probably already asked you, but have you posted any WIP of your build?

 

Time for WE progress report, gents. Let's see through the end of the exhausts job, shall we? I inserted the PE afterburner rings and glue in the turbine faces

hase_exhausts13

 

I then glued on the cans

hase_exhausts14

 

I added a bit of blue pastel along the petals (not very visible here, it's more of a shading) and sealed everything by airbrushing a flat clear coat (W&N Galeria)

hase_exhausts15

 

Before going back to the model and its decals: remember the canopies? I masked them (cutting files for my Curio kindly supplied by @Gene K) inside and outside

 

hase_canopies1

 

hase_canopies2

 

I then airbrushed them with Tamiya Flat Black, followed by Lifecolor FS36118 Dark Grey only on the outside

hase_canopies3

 

hase_canopies4

 

Finally, they received their stenciling (here's only one side of the front canopy, they all look the same, believe me :D )

 

hase_canopies5

 

The decals on the main model took four sessions to be posed; port side completed first, with the specific airframe markings

hase_decals7

 

I was pretty happy with the first half shark mouth

hase_decals8

 

Laying it down, however, wasn't trouble free: the eye separated from the rest of the decals, but luckily didn't curl up or anything, so I was able to place it properly. But that taught me to cut it out in advance from the other half decal :winkgrin:

 

Top view

hase_decals9

 

Starboard main decals done too (that was session two)

hase_decals10

 

Shark mouth posed sans the eye, which was added later - this went a lot smoother than the other side

hase_decals11

 

I even managed to align the two halves properly:

hase_decals13

 

Well. almost...

hase_decals14

 

Not much going on underneath, as far as markings were concerned

hase_decals15

 

The only main decal that actually gave me trouble was the fin top one; a bit of the yellow strip came out during handling

hase_decals12

 

So I fixed it by brush and gloss coated (the whole fin, actually) to avoid any further troubles

hase_decals16

 

Then it was time for stencils: not the usual myriad of the small blighters, but some if them broke in two while removing them from their backing sheet. I found out that they need to be dipped for far less time than what I usually do; 20 seconds is more than enough, in warm water. After I realized that, it was all downhill - but it took a while to.... :banghead:

 

Anyway, bottom stencils (again, not much going on there)

hase_decals17

 

and top ones

hase_decals18

 

hase_decals19

 

A few others went onto the main U/C doors, but I'll spare you since they are not that interesting. Now I only need to gloss coat it and then weather it, before the final assembly.

 

There are, however, still a few bits that need painting:

- nose pitot

- air intake sensors

- canopy lifting arms

- speed brakes actuators - actually, I still need to scratch build these :) 

 

Let's not forget the ordnance: according to the paint and decal scheme that came with the HI-DECALS set, this airframe was used in the Air Defense role, so it should be equipped with AIM9 L or P - I'll have to rummage through the weapons stash... :frantic:

 

Next time, though; for now, all comments welcome.

 

Ciao

 

 

  • Like 21
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, giemme said:

Cheers Terry, thank you :thumbsup:  I decide I want to complete this one before going back to he HAF one :) 

 

Thanks Keith, much appreciated! :thumbsup: The post-it note masking is something I must have picked up online somewhere, I can't remember though...

 

Steal away, Cookie - as I said above, it's what I did too :winkgrin:

 

Way too kind, Steve :thumbsup:  To be honest, at normal viewing distance it all looks much better :) 

 

You can, of course :D :D  Thanks tony :thumbsup: 

 

Why resisting? Have you gone insane? Or should I say sane? :rofl: :rofl:  Thanks Alain! :thumbsup: 

 

See below for decals, Johnny... I still hate them... Thanks for the praise, though :thumbsup:

 

Thanks Mark, although I very much envy your paintwork :thumbsup: 

 

More markings below, Alan - in fact, all of them :winkgrin:

 

Cheers Bill, thanks! :thumbsup: I have a few very neat pics of F-4E burner cans, I just tried to replicate what I saw. In a bigger, scale, there would be room for some interesting effects  - to be achieved with an airbrush. For 1/72, I'm happy with the way they turned out, considering the normal viewing distance :) 

 

Thanks Jason, glad if I can be of any inspiration :thumbsup: I've probably already asked you, but have you posted any WIP of your build?

 

Time for WE progress report, gents. Let's see through the end of the exhausts job, shall we? I inserted the PE afterburner rings and glue in the turbine faces

hase_exhausts13

 

I then glued on the cans

hase_exhausts14

 

I added a bit of blue pastel along the petals (not very visible here, it's more of a shading) and sealed everything by airbrushing a flat clear coat (W&N Galeria)

hase_exhausts15

 

Before going back to the model and its decals: remember the canopies? I masked them (cutting files for my Curio kindly supplied by @Gene K) inside and outside

 

hase_canopies1

 

hase_canopies2

 

I then airbrushed them with Tamiya Flat Black, followed by Lifecolor FS36118 Dark Grey only on the outside

hase_canopies3

 

hase_canopies4

 

Finally, they received their stenciling (here's only one side of the front canopy, they all look the same, believe me :D )

 

hase_canopies5

 

The decals on the main model took four sessions to be posed; port side completed first, with the specific airframe markings

hase_decals7

 

I was pretty happy with the first half shark mouth

hase_decals8

 

Laying it down, however, wasn't trouble free: the eye separated from the rest of the decals, but luckily didn't curl up or anything, so I was able to place it properly. But that taught me to cut it out in advance from the other half decal :winkgrin:

 

Top view

hase_decals9

 

Starboard main decals done too (that was session two)

hase_decals10

 

Shark mouth posed sans the eye, which was added later - this went a lot smoother than the other side

hase_decals11

 

I even managed to align the two halves properly:

hase_decals13

 

Well. almost...

hase_decals14

 

Not much going on underneath, as far as markings were concerned

hase_decals15

 

The only main decal that actually gave me trouble was the fin top one; a bit of the yellow strip came out during handling

hase_decals12

 

So I fixed it by brush and gloss coated (the whole fin, actually) to avoid any further troubles

hase_decals16

 

Then it was time for stencils: not the usual myriad of the small blighters, but some if them broke in two while removing them from their backing sheet. I found out that they need to be dipped for far less time than what I usually do; 20 seconds is more than enough, in warm water. After I realized that, it was all downhill - but it took a while to.... :banghead:

 

Anyway, bottom stencils (again, not much going on there)

hase_decals17

 

and top ones

hase_decals18

 

hase_decals19

 

A few others went onto the main U/C doors, but I'll spare you since they are not that interesting. Now I only need to gloss coat it and then weather it, before the final assembly.

 

There are, however, still a few bits that need painting:

- nose pitot

- air intake sensors

- canopy lifting arms

- speed brakes actuators - actually, I still need to scratch build these :) 

 

Let's not forget the ordnance: according to the paint and decal scheme that came with the HI-DECALS set, this airframe was used in the Air Defense role, so it should be equipped with AIM9 L or P - I'll have to rummage through the weapons stash... :frantic:

 

Next time, though; for now, all comments welcome.

 

Ciao

 

 

Hello Mr G,

I think that I still have some 'winders from an Hasegawa armament set...

So if you need it, I'll take a look

See, decalling is funny.... :dull::dull:

I love that sharmouth and angry eyes....

Sincerely.

CC

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...