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


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11 hours ago, corsaircorp said:

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 for the offer, CC - very kind of you :thumbsup: I think I have some leftover from previous builds, but in case I'll let you  know 😉

 

10 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

Beautiful decalling Giorgio. And you will be sure to get those nose wheel door numbers the correct way round now, won't you? 😜

 

Terry

Too late for that, Terry.... :shrug:  When I found out, I had already flat coated them and set the part aside, waiting for final assembly. :shrug:  Which reminds me that I need to post a picture pf that, to explain what I did wrong...

 

10 hours ago, keefr22 said:

That is looking absolutely marvellous G, terrific work! :thumbsup:

 

K

Cheers Keith, thank you! :thumbsup: 

 

10 hours ago, TheBaron said:

That was a rich update G: the individual elements really starting to gather together in a big way here now.

Thanks Tony :thumbsup: End quite in sight now, hopefully... 🤞

 

9 hours ago, Brandy said:

This is a very interesting airframe, I can see why you chose it. The shark mouth in particular looks great.

 

Ian

Thanks Ian - as a matter of fact, I did choose it because of the shark mouth :) 

 

Ciao

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1 hour ago, giemme said:

Too late for that, Terry.... :shrug:  When I found out, I had already flat coated them and set the part aside, waiting for final assembly. :shrug:  Which reminds me that I need to post a picture pf that, to explain what I did wrong...

 

 Oh well, a very small matter that no one would notice, had it not been mentioned! I've made far more obvious "misrepresentations" with decals in my time, I can assure you!

 

Terry

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Masking canopies inside and out at 1/72 scale eh? Smacks of OCD sophistication that does :D

 

Fine decaling Georgio; even if I’m not persuaded that decaling is a proper verb…

Edited by Fritag
typo
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Looking great, Giorgio! Regarding my (very) modest attempt, there is no WIP, as I have a very bad tendency to start models and never finish them. However, if and when I finish mine, if it comes out halfway decently, I might just post some pictures of it here. We shall see!

 

Best Regards,

 

Jason

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  • 3 weeks later...

'evening everybody :) Long overdue answers and update, but what with life and all.... :shrug: 

 

Mailbox first:

On 26/09/2022 at 10:45, Terry1954 said:

 Oh well, a very small matter that no one would notice, had it not been mentioned! I've made far more obvious "misrepresentations" with decals in my time, I can assure you!

 

Terry

Cheers Terry, thank you :thumbsup:  Here's the pic of the upside down codes, anyway:

 

wrong_numbers

 

 

On 27/09/2022 at 14:56, VT Red Sox Fan said:

G, loved catching up—the burner cans are a great highlight (along with everything else 😎)—best, Erwin

Thank you Erwin, glad you like them :thumbsup: 

 

On 27/09/2022 at 15:43, hendie said:

Nice dental work G

Thanks Alan, I was so relieved that those decal came out decent :phew:

 

On 27/09/2022 at 19:03, Fritag said:

Masking canopies inside and out at 1/72 scale eh? Smacks of OCD sophistication that does :D

 

Fine decaling Georgio; even if I’m not persuaded that decaling is a proper verb…

Having a fine set of masks designed by @Gene K, why wouldn't I take advantage of that? :winkgrin:  :D 

And I'm with you doubting that decalling is a proper verb: the proper verb in this case is "dealing with the spawn of the devil that decals are"! :frantic: Bit of a phrasal one, really, but hey! :D 

 

On 27/09/2022 at 22:53, The Spadgent said:

Blimey that was an update and a half. Brilliant shark mouth🦈 that tape technique for holding canopies is so being used in my Firefly build. Thanks for the tip.

 

 Johnny.

No problem Johnny :thumbsup: I've been using that technique for quite some time now, it just works :) And thanks for the praise :thumbsup:

 

On 28/09/2022 at 19:42, Learstang said:

Looking great, Giorgio! Regarding my (very) modest attempt, there is no WIP, as I have a very bad tendency to start models and never finish them. However, if and when I finish mine, if it comes out halfway decently, I might just post some pictures of it here. We shall see!

 

Best Regards,

 

Jason

Thank Jason :thumbsup: Looking forward to some pics, then :winkgrin:

 

On 29/09/2022 at 12:45, Spookytooth said:

Seems a very busy time with the decals there Giorgio.

 

All looking good though.

 

Stay safe.

 

Simon.

Cheer Simon, thank you :thumbsup:  I'm glad the decals stage is done, believe me :frantic: 

 

Alright, I managed some slow progress over the last two weeks, let's see:

 

scratch built speed brakes actuator, from old telephone brass wire, which happens to have a red sheath - saved me some gluing and painting

hase_speedbrakesactuators

 

Canopies completed and unmasked

hase_canopies6

 

hase_canopies7

 

I painted the rear view mirrors with my Chrome Molotow pen, but it's hard to photograph

hase_canopies8

 

Then I had a few bits prepped for a black base coat

hase_seats1

 

After airbrushing Tamiya Flat black

hase_seats2

 

hase_bits

 

Here are the completed seats

hase_seats3

 

I think I will leave the ejection handles out till almost the end, to avoid breaking them off upon handling :banghead:

I did start the weathering process: black tempera wash on the speed brakes interior, followed by a flat clear coat

hase_airbrakes3

 

Some oil dotting on the drop tanks and the painted parts of the stabilators; before...

hase_weathering1

 

 

... and after

hase_weathering2

 

Stabilators weathering completed with a black oil wash and brushing on some black streaks (oil again) along the rivet lines

hase_weathering5

 

Still missing the final clear coat, though.

 

Main struts assembly completed by adding the doors and a black tempera wash

hase_weathering3

 

While on the splitter plates I went with multiple black oil washes - I had to repeat this step a few times, to make sure that the wash would penetrate all the small holes. In the end, to be completely effective, I had to use a microfiber rag with a smear of pure black oil on it, gently rubbing it over the holes area

hase_weathering4

 

The effect is just what I wanted: the holes are barely visible if you look from normal viewing distance, while they show up beautifully as you get close - just like on the real thing. Happy :)  (don't forget that these splitter plates are the resin copies of the FM ones)

 

I started the weathering on the underside of the main AC too: black tempera wash in the vents, wheel wells, speed brakes wells and aux air intakes

 

hase_weathering6

 

hase_weathering7

 

Also on the metallic tail parts

hase_weathering8

 

hase_weathering9

 

That's it for this update, all comments welcome.

 

Ciao

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Impressive update Giorgio, so where do I start......

 

The cockpit. The Molotow pen proves its niche worth again on those mirrors, and the ejection seats look simply divine. A real top paint job there, in fact so good, I feel I must warn you NOT to get the pull handles caught on any tools, unless of course the safety pins are in! Speedbrake and undercarriage doors look splendid. The weathering of these is refined but so effective. Splitter plate looks fantastic and oil dot work so subtle. I'm planning to try that technique for the first time on an AFV in the paint shop at the moment (a 1/35 Italeri M24).

 

And finally, your rear end work is awesome ................... is that a fnar moment? 😱

 

Great update all round.

 

Terry

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On 10/17/2022 at 11:04 AM, Terry1954 said:

is that a fnar moment? 😱

Only if you request @giemme dirty up his back end. ;)

 

Awesome work!, I can only dream of getting my ejection handles anywhere near as good as this.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi everybody, and apologies for a long overdue update - I've been working on this, only I couldn't find the time to post progress. Hence, this report will be picture heavy, beware :) 

 

Mailbox first, though:

On 17/10/2022 at 09:33, perdu said:

Be

yoo

ti

fulllll.

Well, glad you like it, Bill :D  :thumbsup: 

 

On 17/10/2022 at 11:04, Terry1954 said:

Impressive update Giorgio, so where do I start......

 

The cockpit. The Molotow pen proves its niche worth again on those mirrors, and the ejection seats look simply divine. A real top paint job there, in fact so good, I feel I must warn you NOT to get the pull handles caught on any tools, unless of course the safety pins are in! Speedbrake and undercarriage doors look splendid. The weathering of these is refined but so effective. Splitter plate looks fantastic and oil dot work so subtle. I'm planning to try that technique for the first time on an AFV in the paint shop at the moment (a 1/35 Italeri M24).

 

And finally, your rear end work is awesome ................... is that a fnar moment? 😱

 

Great update all round.

 

Terry

You are way too kind, Terry :thumbsup:  And where's @CedB when you need him? :D 

 

On 17/10/2022 at 13:21, Spookytooth said:

Very nice work Giorgio.

 

Fun with the weathering stage, get her/them dirty looking.

 

Stay safe.

 

Simon.

Thanks Simon :thumbsup: More weathering applied, but not that much - apparently this airframe was well kept

 

On 17/10/2022 at 14:32, keefr22 said:

Cracking update G, all looking excellent!

 

Keith

Cheer Keith, thank you :thumbsup: 

 

On 17/10/2022 at 21:45, Biggles87 said:

Wow!

The black and white shark mouth somehow has more impact than a coloured one.

 

John

Actually, that is the main reason I chose this scheme :winkgrin: It does look mean and menacing!

 

On 18/10/2022 at 00:28, The Spadgent said:

Exquisite weathering maestro. Those seats slipped in under the radar. 😳 beautiful indeed. 👏👏👏

 

 Johnny

Thanks Johnny! :thumbsup: As I said, not a lot of weathering on this one (I'm saving it for the Greek Phantom... 🤫  :D )

 

On 20/10/2022 at 08:28, Hook said:

Only if you request @giemme dirty up his back end. ;)

 

Awesome work!, I can only dream of getting my ejection handles anywhere near as good as this.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

Again, where's @CedB when you need him? :rofl:  Thanks for the praise, Andre :thumbsup:

 

Alright, let's see some pics, shall we?

 

Panel lines wash made with oil (on the account that the HASEGAWA kit has shallow engravings, and oil tends to fill in better in this case), black for the darker areas and dark grey for the lighter ones:

 

hase_weathering10

 

hase_weathering11

 

U/C bays and airbrakes bays received a black tempera wash 

hase_weathering12

 

The bottom side of the metallic area in the tail received some additional weathering, made by airbrushing a mix of Vallejo Black and Vallejo Glazing Medium

hase_weathering13

 

I then airbrushed an almost flat clear coat (meaning that it was a mix of 90% W&N Galeria Flat and 10% Gloss, thinned with water) on the sparse bits:

hase_finishing1

 

and on the airframe

hase_finishing2

 

hase_finishing3

 

Time to remove the cockpit masking, right?

hase_finishing4

 

A couple of issues, the first very visible from the pic above: something happened while gluing the windshield, so I had this unwanted irregular blur around the bottom edge :wall:

 

Also visible here (splitter plates glued in place, BTW)

 

hase_finishing5

 

Second issue, one of the canopy sills PE came off with the masking tape:

hase_finishing6

 

and luckily stayed there, so I could retrieve it

hase_finishing7

 

There was also a bit of paint flaking off from the side of the central fixed frame, but that's easy enough to fix

hase_finishing8

 

Intake sensors fitted

hase_finishing9

 

Gratuitous splitter plate view

hase_finishing10

 

To try and hide the unpleasant blurring on the windshield, I tried to reproduce the sealing you see on real ACs, by brush painting with a very fine tipped brush along the bottom edge of said windshield

hase_finishing11

 

hase_finishing12

 

Not perfect but at normal viewing distance it's not too bad. Anyway, we still have a cockpit in there :winkgrin: 

 

hase_finishing13

 

hase_finishing14

 

Time to fit the seats; the GIB's one needed a good 1 mm shim added on the bottom, to have it sitting at the correct height (HASE instructions would have you to do the same with the kit seat, so not unexpected :) )

 

hase_seats4

 

hase_seats5

 

I had to scratch build both canopy opening arms, because the kit ones - with all the hacking and sawing and tarting up I did on the cockpit - ended up being too short. Here they are in place (both made from brass rod)

hase_seats6

 

Pilot's seat in place, too - and the eject handles too

hase_seats7

 

Moving on the underside: on wheels!

hase_finishing15

 

Attaching the airbrakes required some preparation

hase_finishing16

 

I forgot how fiddly it is to glue in place all the various U/C bay doors on a HASE Phantom :frantic: 

 

hase_finishing17

 

Stabilators glued in place too

hase_finishing18

 

hase_finishing19

 

And drop tanks

hase_finishing20

 

Weapons: this airframe was used in the air defense role, so it would only carry AIM9 L or P missiles. I have the FM set with both, but decided to keep them for the other kit, so I rummaged through the weapons stash and found these:

hase_weapons1

 

I will mount one per pylon, so as to show also the nice PE rail detail. Assembled and airbrushed with Tamiya Flat Black

hase_weapons2

 

The body was then airbrushed with a base coat of Tamiya Sky Grey, followed by a thin coat of Tamiya Flat White; the tip received a coat of Model Master Metallizer Burnt Metal, buffed after a few minutes

hase_weapons3

 

So, what's left? I need to complete the painting and decalling of those weapons, glue them to their pylons and fit them under the wings. Then I have to fit the tail chute door, the nose pitot and the two canopies, and I can declare this completed. Hopefully by the end of the week, then.

 

Meanwhile, all comments welcome.


Ciao

 

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Nice update. We've been waiting!     :)

 

What glue did you use on the windscreen? Here is a trick I learned a long time ago for F-4 or any other windscreens that don't have any appreciable framework at the bottom (just a seal like you said). I paint the bottom edge of the windscreen flat black - here is one that's in progress:

 

100_6459

 

By painting the lower edges black, you remove the ability to see the glue. I typically use something like Gator Grip (a white PVA glue) for the windscreen. It dries clear and has pretty good adhesion. Besides, you won't be picking it up by the windscreen. Anyway, I think this trick is a good one.

 

Cheers,

Bill

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