1/48 F-4J (UK)

[DonH]

Tigerrrrrrrrrr

 

Gotta love a Phantom and so I have just started this kit:

 

 

It will done as a 74 Squadron Phantom as they first appeared with the strange colour. This is part of my planned 74 squadron series and a mini-series of "Hello & Goodbye" where I am building a FGR.2 with tiger stripes. (It's on this forum somewhere if you can find it).

 

Anyway, some bits are clipped off the sprues and glue has been applied to the wings and cockpit. Next, some painting of the aforementioned pit and the judicious application of some Eduard photo etch and bits to tart up the seats.

 

My initial observation is that this kit is a bit more "refined" than the FGR.2 version. The fit is excellent so far, although it shouldn't really be that hard to stick rudder pedals to a cockpit floor. More to come.

 

Cheers

Don

[Lord Riot]

This will be interesting! I’m planning on doing a 74 Sqn Phantom soon, although from slightly later, 86-87 with more standard grey and the black fin. Looking forward to seeing how yours goes first.

[Hook]

Ooh, Tiger F-4J! Pulling up the virtual chair.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[DonH]

 

Moving ahead rapidly on the cockpit thanks to a rather nice Eduard PE set. I don't usually like these things, but this has gone on very nicely and looks good from a standard viewing distance.

 

 

I am just starting to think about buttoning up the fuselage now. Still a pretty good fit all round, I remain impressed with this kit.

 

[iainpeden]

@DonH

One of the Js didn't have the radar fairings on the intakes - I think it was ZE350 but check that.

This could be useful

https://bpag.co.uk/

 

@Lord Riot

You probably know this but only 3 of the 15 were repainted in BS colours. Can't remember which off hand.

[DonH]

2 hours ago, iainpeden said:

@DonH

One of the Js didn't have the radar fairings on the intakes - I think it was ZE350 but check that.

This could be useful

https://bpag.co.uk/

 

@Lord Riot

You probably know this but only 3 of the 15 were repainted in BS colours. Can't remember which off hand.

 

Thanks Iain, that website is really interesting!

 

I plan on doing ZE363 as it appeared during its delivery flight. It had to stop for repairs and the crew added a partial black tail while they were waiting. As far as I am aware, it was the first F-4J (UK) with a black tail. This also means that it will be in the standard "non-standard" colours as supplied by McDD. I have a plan for the funny grey colour, but I want to do some testing before I 'fess up about it. (It's nice to have some mystery in a build thread).

[Paulaero]

1 minute ago, DonH said:

 

Thanks Iain, that website is really interesting!

 

I plan on doing ZE363 as it appeared during its delivery flight. It had to stop for repairs and the crew added a partial black tail while they were waiting. As far as I am aware, it was the first F-4J (UK) with a black tail. This also means that it will be in the standard "non-standard" colours as supplied by McDD. I have a plan for the funny grey colour, but I want to do some testing before I 'fess up about it. (It's nice to have some mystery in a build thread).

Apparently it was done with cans of Car spray paint bought 'down the Road'..... Now there's an Idea for a diorama..........

[alt-92]

1 minute ago, Paulaero said:

cans of Car spray paint bought 'down the Road'..

That is going to upset some people

[Paulaero]

It did, but not like the Pink Harrier............

[iainpeden]

@DonH

There's a picture of her in a hangar, on stands with main U/C up and nosewheel down, in Richard Ward's book "Phantom Sqd. of the RAF and RN. I suspect it was taken shortly after arrival in the UK as I can see another F-4 wing tip in the picture.

 

In the picture she has a nose door number -906 - and is named, according to the caption, BRIGANTINE BOMBER, carried on the port intake.

 

I once read that the F-4s were painted in batches of 3; each batch being a bit different as they adjusted the colours (colors?) to try to get nearer to UK spec.

 

 

 

[DonH]

12 hours ago, iainpeden said:

@DonH

There's a picture of her in a hangar, on stands with main U/C up and nosewheel down, in Richard Ward's book "Phantom Sqd. of the RAF and RN. I suspect it was taken shortly after arrival in the UK as I can see another F-4 wing tip in the picture.

 

In the picture she has a nose door number -906 - and is named, according to the caption, BRIGANTINE BOMBER, carried on the port intake.

 

I once read that the F-4s were painted in batches of 3; each batch being a bit different as they adjusted the colours (colors?) to try to get nearer to UK spec.

 

 

 

Thanks Iain, that is really useful information. Fortunately, I have the decals to add the 906 number to the door. Not sure about the Brigantine Bomber. I may have to assume that this was added after it arrived in the UK unless I can find something in my decal stash.

[DonH]

I am also reading that ZE363 was designated "W" later on but was mostly a hangar queen. Seems like the breakdown during delivery was a sign of things to come. Not that this bothers me much, mine will also sit in an enclosed space only coming out on occasion for a short flight around the den. ROOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRRRR.

[iainpeden]

@DonH

Somewhere in the recesses of my memory I remember that Modeldecal did a sheet with all of 74s a'c on including the part-black tail one. The Brigantine Bomber marking might be included or at least a photo. I don't think I still have the sheet but somebody here might have.

[DonH]

4 minutes ago, iainpeden said:

@DonH

Somewhere in the recesses of my memory I remember that Modeldecal did a sheet with all of 74s a'c on including the part-black tail one. The Brigantine Bomber marking might be included or at least a photo. I don't think I still have the sheet but somebody here might have.

Thanks Iain,

 

I will do some searching for it. I have a couple of decal sheets that will allow me to do everything apart from the Brigantine Bomber decal. It's not a big deal for me, if I can't find a solution, I will do without.

 

A different question:

Did the F-4J UK still have the catapult launch hooks or were they removed? I can't find a clear photo but something in the back of mind keeps telling me they were removed but the recesses remained.

[iainpeden]

@DonH

My gut feeling is that they would have been removed because I am pretty sure the RN FG.1 had them removed when they went to the RAF. Then I started looking at the library: Ian Black's book "The Last of the Phantoms" has a cracking picture across p.42/42 of a/c coded J just banking away from the camera - and I was right! (at least for that a/c)! It still has the recess the hook fitted into though - not faired over.

[DonH]

10 minutes ago, iainpeden said:

@DonH

My gut feeling is that they would have been removed because I am pretty sure the RN FG.1 had them removed when they went to the RAF. Then I started looking at the library: Ian Black's book "The Last of the Phantoms" has a cracking picture across p.42/42 of a/c coded J just banking away from the camera - and I was right! (at least for that a/c)! It still has the recess the hook fitted into though - not faired over.

Hi Iain,

Aeroguide 25 is my friend (found an extract on tinternet). The hooks were removed as per your gut. I am kicking myself pretty hard at the moment because I am certain that I had a copy and now I can't find it. At least I know where the niggling sensations in the back of my mind are coming from!

[bar side]

The AB Pic picture of her.  That tail sure does look shiny 

 

Edited July 21, 2021 by bar side

[bar side]

I did a similar thing years ago and finished her a 353.  I think the unique colour came from a yellow primer.  You can definitely try a sample of grey over yellow & see how that compares to the US painted scheme that arrived on the jets

 

[Graham Boak]

The unique colour on UK F-4Js was called Flint Grey.  It seems unnecessary to credit it to a primer.  The whole idea of paint on real aircraft is to cover the primer.

[iainpeden]

Graham, that is fine as far as it goes but those of us old enough to remember them recall the distinctly blue tinge to the gray which did not match the FS swatch for Flint gray; it was attributed to the strong primer and the thin coating (maybe the treasury got mean and only allowed a single coat!) of the top layer.

Thank goodness we still have the unfaded parts of the project by BPAG to prove what the younger members would never believe - RAF light blue Phantoms? Yes, they existed.

[WV908]

10 hours ago, iainpeden said:

@DonH

I am pretty sure the RN FG.1 had them removed when they went to the RAF.

 

This is a fairly common topic over on the BPAG facebook group.

 

To clarify;

 

All FG.1's had both the recess and hook and never lost them

 

All FGR.2's had it faired over.

 

Unfortunately I cannot recall the status of the F.3's off the top of my head, but most (all?) of them were Vietnam vets and would have had them originally. 

 

Cheers,

  WV908 

[iainpeden]

@WV908

And anybody else phascinated by phantoms.

 

The F.3 designation for the F-4J(UK) was never the proper one - although it was logical and appeared in a number of magazines the official designation was always F-4J(UK). We had a detailed discussion on UKAR about this a while ago and somebody was able to post scans of the official record cards - all references were to the F-4J(UK).

 

As to the catapult hooks all I can repeat is the picture of "J" in the book I quoted doesn't have them.

[WV908]

To be honest, I was just being lazy so typed out F3 haha

[DonH]

5 hours ago, iainpeden said:

As to the catapult hooks all I can repeat is the picture of "J" in the book I quoted doesn't have them.

Absolutely, Aeroguide 25 backs this up. Also, I have omitted the hooks on the model, so it must be right.

[iainpeden]

On 7/21/2021 at 3:07 PM, bar side said:

The AB Pic picture of her.  That tail sure does look shiny 

 

For those who don't know the original painting was not of the whole fin. Take that panel line which runs parallel with the front of the finflash and the black went back from that.