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Zoukei-Mura F-4EJ Kai Phantom Forever 2020


Gidge

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WSO instrument panel. It's challenging to get these lined up and positioned correctly on such raised and textured surfaces. The decals have clearly been printed to account for shrinking and warping as the decal solution does it's work

 

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23 minutes ago, helios16v said:

Oh damn, I missed those seat decals.  Gonna have to go back and tag those.  Would've been nice to get them before I did the wash & dry brushing.  Doh!

 

 

It's easy to miss on the instructions. I'm not sure how visible they'll be after seatbelts are added.

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15 minutes ago, Gidge said:

 

 

It's easy to miss on the instructions. I'm not sure how visible they'll be after seatbelts are added.

That's right...forgot about the belts.  I'm hosed.  :rofl2:

I'll have to remember that for the next one(s).

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7 hours ago, Gidge said:

Some more aggressive decal solvent certainly made a difference. Has really made the details on the side consoles pop. Thanks to @trickyrich for the tip

 

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yeah, those decals worked out really nicely...... about the only nice things with the ZM decals I found!

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19 minutes ago, Gidge said:

Were yours printed by Cartograph? These ones were.

 

yeap!  And talk to a couple of my club members I am not the only one that has had issues with these. I sort or suspect there may have been a faulty batch of decals. Cartograph decals are normally awesome decals, i have used them before without any issues at all. But the ones on my F-4E were complete rubbish! They silvered almost straight away and you could literally blow them off, even a clear coat on top wouldn't hold them in place. I removed 95% of them without ever trying!

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On 17/11/2021 at 22:22, trickyrich said:

 

yeap!  And talk to a couple of my club members I am not the only one that has had issues with these. I sort or suspect there may have been a faulty batch of decals. Cartograph decals are normally awesome decals, i have used them before without any issues at all. But the ones on my F-4E were complete rubbish! They silvered almost straight away and you could literally blow them off, even a clear coat on top wouldn't hold them in place. I removed 95% of them without ever trying!

 

That or they were transported/stored improperly between Italy and Japan.

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8 hours ago, Gidge said:

 

That or they were transported/stored improperly between Italy and Japan.

could be, hopefully that's the case as I have their limited release ZM F-4EJ in that special silver/blue scheme, would cry if those decals are bad! Other than the E I haven't heard or read of any other issues with ZM decals

 

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On 17/11/2021 at 22:22, trickyrich said:

 

yeap!  And talk to a couple of my club members I am not the only one that has had issues with these. I sort or suspect there may have been a faulty batch of decals. Cartograph decals are normally awesome decals, i have used them before without any issues at all. But the ones on my F-4E were complete rubbish! They silvered almost straight away and you could literally blow them off, even a clear coat on top wouldn't hold them in place. I removed 95% of them without ever trying!

 

Here's hoping. It would be a shame but if worst comes to worst there are mask sets to paint it and SMS makes a pearl blue that's a pretty good match.

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I think I saw an aftermarket set of this scheme out now too.  I forget who did it...maybe DXM?  I've seen the markings for the yellow sister ship as well (which I'm tempted by as that's the pin that came w/ my kit).

 

Though I did find this, and he didn't appear to have any adhesion issues in the bit that I skimmed through.  So that's promising.  https://www.scalemodellingnow.com/aircraft-zoukei-mura-f4ej-kai-phantom2-phantom-forever-2020/7

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On 20/11/2021 at 05:02, helios16v said:

I think I saw an aftermarket set of this scheme out now too.  I forget who did it...maybe DXM?  I've seen the markings for the yellow sister ship as well (which I'm tempted by as that's the pin that came w/ my kit).

 

Though I did find this, and he didn't appear to have any adhesion issues in the bit that I skimmed through.  So that's promising.  https://www.scalemodellingnow.com/aircraft-zoukei-mura-f4ej-kai-phantom2-phantom-forever-2020/7

 

I've seen that article and another competed build on Scalemates. Both seemed to work out fine which is a good sign.

 

There don't seem to be many completed build out there at the moment which is a surprise to me. My local hobby shop had quite a few across both of their stores and I got the last one. So unless they got most of Australia's allocation it doesn't seem to be that much of a Unicorn so people must just be surfing on them. 

Edited by Gidge
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Time for some long overdue progress on the cockpit. Between needing sleep and procrastinating because I was intimidated by the WSO's tiny side stick in the right console (which I almost lost) it's been longer than I'd like.

 

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After all of that stress the WSO's right hand side console stick is pretty well camouflaged by the side panel. You'd have to know to look for it to see it. if lost a piece of stretched sprue would probably fool all but the most discerning experts. This is on the P sprue which is unique to the EJ Kai variant so possibly not something even most Phantom guys would know to look for.
 

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Watch out for the WSO canopy release handle once you get that installed.  I managed to knock mine off amidst all the test fitting and assembly of the fuselage bits...and lost it.

 

I was afraid the decals were going to look cartoony, so I went the painting route.  It appears my fears were pointless.  Looking good sir.  :cheers:

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Cockpit done! With the sills installed it's becoming apparent that most of that detail will barely be visible. 

 


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37 minutes ago, helios16v said:

Watch out for the WSO canopy release handle once you get that installed.  I managed to knock mine off amidst all the test fitting and assembly of the fuselage bits...and lost it.

 

I was afraid the decals were going to look cartoony, so I went the painting route.  It appears my fears were pointless.  Looking good sir.  :cheers:

Thanks for the heads up

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