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

[corsaircorp]

Hello Mister G,

I'm always amazed by your painting....

To dilute my Life color paints, I know use alkaline water...

And it work fine, but I'll give a try to your recipe....

I love the effects on your camo... It look great !!

Sincerely..

CC

[bbudde]

Hi Giorgio,

looks great so far.  Not much from me here in the last year. My exams knocking at the door now ( 4 Weeks to go). So more from me again in June/July hopefully. I have tio read a lot here then, I kwow.

Cheers

[giemme]

On 19/03/2023 at 23:43, The Spadgent said:

The marble effect looks great. I take it this is three tone camo? 🤔 I don’t think I have ever done more than two myself. Hmmm I should remedy that. Spot on work with the step removal too. You make it look so easy*
 

Johnny.

 

 

 

*even though it isn’t. 🙌

Cheers Johnny, thank you!  It is in fact a three one wrap-around camouflage, see it completed below

 

On 20/03/2023 at 13:53, Spookytooth said:

I see another masterpiece coming off the Giorgio production line.

She looks great.

 

Simon.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Simon!

 

On 24/03/2023 at 00:23, corsaircorp said:

Hello Mister G,

I'm always amazed by your painting....

To dilute my Life color paints, I know use alkaline water...

And it work fine, but I'll give a try to your recipe....

I love the effects on your camo... It look great !!

Sincerely..

CC

Cheers CC, thank you!  What do you mean by alkaline water, please? 

 

On 24/03/2023 at 21:52, bbudde said:

Hi Giorgio,

looks great so far.  Not much from me here in the last year. My exams knocking at the door now ( 4 Weeks to go). So more from me again in June/July hopefully. I have tio read a lot here then, I kwow.

Cheers

Great to hear from you, Ben! It's been a while! And thanks for the praise!  Best of luck for your exams  

 

Alright, time for the third color of this camouflgae scheme, that is:

 

 

Airbrushed on various bits

 

 

And the main AC

 

 

Look @CedB, a dead one!  

 

 

After a protective Aqua Gloss coat, I unmasked (almost) all

 

 

and the big reveal....

 

 

 

Alright, there were a few issues, but not totally unexpected. The forst of which being that the spine antenna didn't survive the unmasking (I knew it was going to end up like that, still ... )

 

Also, there were some areas where the black was still showing through, or the camo needed refining. Tail fin, stbd side

 

Stbd outer wing

 

Port wing

 

Port fin

 

and underneath

 

 

 

I've already fixed all of that, but haven't taken any pics yet. The point is that I'm very happy about the general look, it's exactly what I wanted to achieve at this stage of the painting process   

 

Next will be masking and painting for the metallics.

 

All comments welcome

 

Ciao

[hendie]

Being more of a helicopter bod I'm not quite sure what I'm looking at, but it sure looks professional.

 

[Cookenbacher]

You've nailed it Giorgio!

[corsaircorp]

Superb painting Mister G !!

Alkaline water, I use a Kangen machine for my drinking water

And one can select the water Ph.... Wich is generally around 7.2

Then I use 9.5 water, it mean that the acidic part of the water is eliminated.

Sincerely.

CC

[Terry1954]

That camouflage is coming along great Giorgio. The Greek F-4's are some of the coolest of the latter day F-4's IMHO.

 

Terry

[keefr22]

Cracking work G, that's some lovely paintwork!

 

K

[Fritag]

Nonchalantly knocks-off a 3 colour wrap around camo.  Just like that.  Blimey, G, that’s rather impressive.

Edited March 28, 2023 by Fritag
typo

[Spookytooth]

Nice work Giorgio.

As you said a touch up Fnar here and there .

 

 

All looking good sir.

 

Simon.

[The Spadgent]

Blimey that’s a bit good. I sometimes end up with little glitches like that where you don’t quite get the total coverage but as you’ve found it’s easily fixed. Beautiful work “All round” 😉

 

 Johnny

[perdu]

Beyond, way beyond impressive Giorgio..

 

NFG of course.

 

👍

[giemme]

On 26/03/2023 at 23:45, hendie said:

Being more of a helicopter bod I'm not quite sure what I'm looking at, but it sure looks professional.

 

    Thanks Alan!   You have to wait till the end, then you'll see what it is...  

 

On 27/03/2023 at 00:05, Cookenbacher said:

You've nailed it Giorgio!

Thanks Cookie, I am pretty happy about how it came out

 

On 27/03/2023 at 16:12, corsaircorp said:

Superb painting Mister G !!

Alkaline water, I use a Kangen machine for my drinking water

And one can select the water Ph.... Wich is generally around 7.2

Then I use 9.5 water, it mean that the acidic part of the water is eliminated.

Sincerely.

CC

Ah, OK - thanks! And thanks for the comment too!  

 

On 27/03/2023 at 16:32, Terry1954 said:

That camouflage is coming along great Giorgio. The Greek F-4's are some of the coolest of the latter day F-4's IMHO.

 

Terry

Agreed, super cool scheme! Thanks Terry!  

 

On 27/03/2023 at 19:55, keefr22 said:

Cracking work G, that's some lovely paintwork!

 

K

Thanks Keith, glad you like it!

 

On 28/03/2023 at 22:57, Fritag said:

Nonchalantly knocks-off a 3 colour wrap around camo.  Just like that.  Blimey, G, that’s rather impressive.

Well, "nonchalantly" sounds a bit too much... I spent quite some time rolling those blue tack sausages and airbrushing up close for the marbling effect - so I'd go for "painstakingly"    Thanks Steve, much appreciated!  

 

On 30/03/2023 at 14:11, Spookytooth said:

Nice work Giorgio.

As you said a touch up Fnar here and there .

 

 

All looking good sir.

 

Simon.

TOuch ups done, see below  Thanks Simon!

 

On 31/03/2023 at 19:48, The Spadgent said:

Blimey that’s a bit good. I sometimes end up with little glitches like that where you don’t quite get the total coverage but as you’ve found it’s easily fixed. Beautiful work “All round” 😉

 

 Johnny

Yep, easily fixed, see below - thanks Johnny!  

 

On 01/04/2023 at 13:39, perdu said:

Beyond, way beyond impressive Giorgio..

 

NFG of course.

 

👍

You are way too kind, Bill, thank you!   (BTW, what's NFG for? You know sometimes I need to be educated...  )

 

Alright, on with the pics: as mentioned earlier, I fixed all the glitches in the camouflage, and re-sprayed a protective clear gloss coat

 

 

 

 

 

Then I thought there was no reason to keep the masking in place for the underneath cavities, and I removed it

 

The following step was to mask prior to paint the metallic areas, to wit the cannon fairing and the tail area

 

No overspray, alright?

 

Cannon fairing airbrushed with decanted Tamiya Gloss Aluminium from a rattle can

 

I need to do something for that seam, probably PPP (it's going to be painted black on the inside, anyway)...

 

AK Extreme Metal Steel for the lighter part of the tail area, airbrushed straight from the bottle after a vigorous shake to make sure that the pigment was evenly distributed inside the carrier

 

 

Then more masking (after a clear gloss coat, of course), prior to airbrushing MMM Burnt Metal

 

 

And here its is, airbrushed and buffed with a q-tip after some minutes (the arrestor hook too, BTW)

 

Upon unmasking, a few areas showed need for touch up; right above the cannon fairing stbd side

 

Just below the pressure gauge window (again stbd)

 

and the bottom tail area

 

Again, all in all easy fixes, which I have already done but not photographed yet...

 

Here's a pic to (try to) show the difference in the metallic areas

 

Unfortunately with this lights it doesn't show properly. Anyway, just like I did for the Hasegawa kit, the area close to the jet exhausts will become darker, even before weathering.

 

Still a bit of detail painting to do on the main AC before starting with decals, but I also have all the sparse bit to complete first - in fact, I think next task will be spraying white on the inside of the various doors and on the struts/legs/actuators.

 

Next time, though; meanwhile, all comments welcome

 

Ciao

[hendie]

now that, whatever it is (  )  is looking very nice Giorgio.  Those metals are looking very effective

 

[The Spadgent]

Indeed the metal sections are really popping. 🙌👌

 

 Johnny

[Terry1954]

Beautiful metallics. That part of any F-4 is so key to get right, and it looks like you've nailed it Giorgio.

 

Terry

[keefr22]

That masking marathon was well worth it G - lovely metalwork!

 

9 hours ago, giemme said:

(BTW, what's NFG for? You know sometimes I need to be educated...  )

 

 

You're not alone there Giorgio - I'm sure Bill has a totally different meaning to what I have in mind (which I can't say here without being banned!!  🤣 )

 

Top update again!!

 

Keith

 

 

 

[corsaircorp]

Really impressive painting Mister G

Always a pleasure (and a lesson) to look at your theads...

Well done Man !

CC 

[perdu]

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NORMAL

 

 

 

 

FOR

 

 

 

 

GIORGIO

 

 

 

Simples.

 

 

Looking even betterererer now G

[Spookytooth]

As above Giorgio, great work, and lovely metallics sir.

 

Simon.

[Brandy]

Lovely metalwork Giorgio, and I think any of us would be more than happy with such minor touching up requirements.

 

Ian

I still think it slightly amusing that you chose to build a Greek and a Turkish aircraft together. They'll look great together in the cabinet. 

 

 

[Fritag]

As Bill said, definitely NFG; which I reckon is a compliment in any right thinking modeler’s estimation…. 

[UberDaveToo]

That's quite a job on the ole Rhino.

 

I never went overseas in the Air Force, but I had a buddy that came to my outfit in South Carolina about 1980. He came in from Spangdahlem Air Base Germany which housed an F-4E outfit at the time. Back then, the USAF had a pilot exchange program going on and the squadron my friend was in was sent TDY to Turkey so his pilot could fly with some of their pilots. His pilot told him the first thing he witnessed when it was his turn to fly in a Turkish jet was that the Turkish crew chief made some slight error and the Turkish pilot hit the crew chief with his clipboard, breaking it over his head. That made the US pilot nervous, you never treat your crew chief like dirt, you depend on him to baby your airplane, and you're never, ever allowed to strike him. You might have noted the rows of dots on the nice variable intake ramp you made from resin, many of those dots represent dozens of screws, in the '80s, those screws began to loosen from the nutplates holding them in place, and go right into the engine causing damage to the compressor blades. The USAF had ordered yellow or red dots be painted on those screws so that the loose ones could be more easily spotted and repaired by the crew chief. My friend said his pilot was doing his preflight inspection and found most of those screws were completely missing from the ramp of the F-4 they were going to fly. My buddy's pilot feigned a sickness and begged off flying that day...

[Terry1954]

19 hours ago, Brandy said:

I still think it slightly amusing that you chose to build a Greek and a Turkish aircraft together.

 

But Ian, they are neighbours, both members of NATO , best mates surely  ...............🙄

 

 

T.

[giemme]

On 03/04/2023 at 00:06, hendie said:

now that, whatever it is (  )  is looking very nice Giorgio.  Those metals are looking very effective

 

On 03/04/2023 at 00:11, The Spadgent said:

Indeed the metal sections are really popping. 🙌👌

 

 Johnny

On 03/04/2023 at 00:18, Terry1954 said:

Beautiful metallics. That part of any F-4 is so key to get right, and it looks like you've nailed it Giorgio.

 

Terry

Alan, Johnny and Terry: glad you like my "metal job", much appreciated!  

 

 

On 03/04/2023 at 08:52, keefr22 said:

That masking marathon was well worth it G - lovely metalwork!

 

 

You're not alone there Giorgio - I'm sure Bill has a totally different meaning to what I have in mind (which I can't say here without being banned!!  🤣 )

 

Top update again!!

 

Keith

 

 

 

Thanks Keith!  Bill explained, as you can see     

 

On 03/04/2023 at 09:40, corsaircorp said:

Really impressive painting Mister G

Always a pleasure (and a lesson) to look at your theads...

Well done Man !

CC 

Cheers Alain, thank you!  Glad if my WIPs can be of any help  

 

On 03/04/2023 at 09:43, perdu said:

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NORMAL

 

 

 

 

FOR

 

 

 

 

GIORGIO

 

 

 

Simples.

 

 

Looking even betterererer now G

 Simples!   Thank you very much, Bill  

 

On 03/04/2023 at 11:22, Spookytooth said:

As above Giorgio, great work, and lovely metallics sir.

 

Simon.

Cheers Simon, thanks!   Hang in there, mate!

 

On 03/04/2023 at 16:39, Brandy said:

Lovely metalwork Giorgio, and I think any of us would be more than happy with such minor touching up requirements.

 

Ian

I still think it slightly amusing that you chose to build a Greek and a Turkish aircraft together. They'll look great together in the cabinet. 

 

 

Thanks Ian - touch ups done, Ian, see below   AS for the choice of schemes, I just wento for two that looked really cool, I didn't mean to cause an international accident....    

 

On 03/04/2023 at 22:42, Fritag said:

As Bill said, definitely NFG; which I reckon is a compliment in any right thinking modeler’s estimation…. 

Way too kind, Steve - thank you!  

 

On 04/04/2023 at 00:26, UberDaveToo said:

That's quite a job on the ole Rhino.

 

I never went overseas in the Air Force, but I had a buddy that came to my outfit in South Carolina about 1980. He came in from Spangdahlem Air Base Germany which housed an F-4E outfit at the time. Back then, the USAF had a pilot exchange program going on and the squadron my friend was in was sent TDY to Turkey so his pilot could fly with some of their pilots. His pilot told him the first thing he witnessed when it was his turn to fly in a Turkish jet was that the Turkish crew chief made some slight error and the Turkish pilot hit the crew chief with his clipboard, breaking it over his head. That made the US pilot nervous, you never treat your crew chief like dirt, you depend on him to baby your airplane, and you're never, ever allowed to strike him. You might have noted the rows of dots on the nice variable intake ramp you made from resin, many of those dots represent dozens of screws, in the '80s, those screws began to loosen from the nutplates holding them in place, and go right into the engine causing damage to the compressor blades. The USAF had ordered yellow or red dots be painted on those screws so that the loose ones could be more easily spotted and repaired by the crew chief. My friend said his pilot was doing his preflight inspection and found most of those screws were completely missing from the ramp of the F-4 they were going to fly. My buddy's pilot feigned a sickness and begged off flying that day...

Thank you Dave   Quite a story about the Turkish pilots!

 

As for the 12.500 holes in the splitter plates: I always thought they were bleeding holes. Do you mean that through them it was possible to see screws in the inside of the plates or that there were actual screws in some of them? Looking at close up pics, they all look holes to me....

 

On 04/04/2023 at 12:15, Terry1954 said:

 

But Ian, they are neighbours, both members of NATO , best mates surely  ...............🙄

 

 

T.

Sure....     

 

Alright, meager progress to report, since I'd been working more on the museum build last week. AS I probably mentioned earlier, there was some detail painting to do prior to decalling, so I started with the red for the ailerons and flaps sides; masking first

 

 

I then airbrushed Italeri Insignia Red, thinned with the usual mix of water, IPA and Windex, and here's the result:

 

Incidentally, you may see in the background that the metallic oversprays have been fixed

 

 

 

While unmasking, I managed to knock off the fin pitot (for the second time    ) but this time it got lost..... Oh well, I'll fix that once I'm close to completion, I think.

That's all I had for tonight - I still need to paint the slime lights, antennae/sensors various and spray an additional protective gloss coat, then I can start with decals.

 

All comments welcome

 

Ciao

 

Edit: I forgot one thing: while the red was in the airbrush; I sprayed the inner side of the auxiliary air doors:

 

Ciao

 

Edited April 10, 2023 by giemme
Forgot one pic