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1/48 Academy F-4C SEA Camouflage

arfa1983

By arfa1983
in F-4 Phantom II STGB

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arfa1983 Very Obsessed Member

arfa1983

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My first ever group build about 5 years ago was for a F-4. I didn't finish that one on time, but I hope this one is different. My latest group build ( and second ever) in the current F16 STGB has given me great momentum and enthusiasm,  so I hope to have some similar success here too. 

 

I'll likely build the scheme out of the box. I was looking at other options and getting decals delivered to Dubai is expensive as local post here is useless. Also, there was nothing available which really seemed to jump out at me for an F-4C, though it looks like a few other variants are possible out of this box. 

 

I have some resin missiles I bought a long time ago which I'll use. I don't know if the sidewinders are suitable for the time period, but I don't know what other kit I would or could use them on.

 

Kit looks good and there's a mountain of plastic in the box. I'll try to finish it with a full load out as the Phantom looks best armed to the teef. 

 

Definitely one of my top favourite aircraft so really looking phorward to this build.

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There's no way I'm putting all of these on.... 😐

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But wait... where are the insignias and other decals?..!

 

Oh, there they are! 🔍

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Looking forward to building along with everyone else and good luck!

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Graham T Very Obsessed Member

Graham T

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I build this a year or so & yes it goes together quite nicely but tbh apart from the recessed panel lines, I didn't find it a huge improvement over the old Hasegawa kits!  The seats & cockpit are rather poor too.

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arfa1983 Very Obsessed Member

arfa1983

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3 minutes ago, Graham T said:

I build this a year or so & yes it goes together quite nicely but tbh apart from the recessed panel lines, I didn't find it a huge improvement over the old Hasegawa kits!  The seats & cockpit are rather poor too.

I've built quite a few Hasegawa phantoms and they all had recessed panel lines. I always thought they went together pretty well 

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Retired Bob Very Obsessed Member

Retired Bob

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The AIM-9B Sidewinders are a bit too early for a F-4C, they are from the early 1960's.  (Muggins here has 3 sets of them but they are ok for an early F-4B :idea:)  You would be best off using the kit Sidewinders on this model.

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arfa1983 Very Obsessed Member

arfa1983

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3 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

The AIM-9B Sidewinders are a bit too early for a F-4C, they are from the early 1960's.  (Muggins here has 3 sets of them but they are ok for an early F-4B :idea:)  You would be best off using the kit Sidewinders on this model.

I thought so, but actually I think they are OK. This plane represents an aircraft used in Operation Bolo in the Vietnam War. If you go to Wikipedia page for Operation Bolo it shows a same era Phantom with the 9Bs. Also, if you read some of the confirmed kills in the Wikipedia page for the Sidewinder it also says that 9Bs were used of the F-4C. If this particular airframe carried them I'm not sure, but it seems they were maybe trying to clear some old stock!

 

Not sure if I am supposed to post the pics 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bolo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIM-9_Sidewinder  see table under "Vietnam War service 1965–1973"

 

Edited by arfa1983
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Graham T Very Obsessed Member

Graham T

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On 8/15/2021 at 6:49 PM, arfa1983 said:

I've built quite a few Hasegawa phantoms and they all had recessed panel lines. I always thought they went together pretty well 

Some do (the F-4E, EJ, F & G as I recall) but others - including the F-4C/D have raised lines but all nice kits with some work!

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The Rib Man New Member

The Rib Man

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This aircraft is on display at the National Museum of the USAF in Dayton, Ohio.  The configuration as displayed includes AIM-9b's in a fairly interesting load out with Mk117 bombs as well as an ALQ-87 ECM pod.  Lots of pictures on the museum's website as well as their virtual tour (which I highly recommend).  I'm thinking of tracking down some Mk 117's for my F-4C build, as they are a nice visual alternative to the usual Mk-82's.

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arfa1983 Very Obsessed Member

arfa1983

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2 hours ago, The Rib Man said:

This aircraft is on display at the National Museum of the USAF in Dayton, Ohio.  The configuration as displayed includes AIM-9b's in a fairly interesting load out with Mk117 bombs as well as an ALQ-87 ECM pod.  Lots of pictures on the museum's website as well as their virtual tour (which I highly recommend).  I'm thinking of tracking down some Mk 117's for my F-4C build, as they are a nice visual alternative to the usual Mk-82's.

Thanks! I'll take a look at their website!

 

Edit: I took a look, thanks so much, it's going to be a really helpful reference. I need to check if I have any spare mk117s.

 

There are some high resolution 360deg photos of the cockpits which are really really useful.... for those who don't have one of those new fandangled quinta 3D decal sets. 😂

Edited by arfa1983
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arfa1983 Very Obsessed Member

arfa1983

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Yeah.... short answer, having done the wrong thing, is to follow the instructions. That would be my advise to my past self and anyone else building the kit for the first time. It's all a bit confusing how it goes together but I think following the instructions is the best idea to ensure everything ends up in the correct place. However, I think F30 is upside down in the photo but shown correctly in the assembly illustration. Definitely got this wrong. Let's see.

 

Also, got to be a bit careful so the wheel direction will end up parallel with the fuselage. I can imagine a few people have glued these in only to have wheels facing outwards by 10 or 15 degrees! 

 

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Also.... those  wells...? Smooth as a baby's bottom! I'm normally not the one to add any detail to areas like this but this is a little too bare for my liking. 

Edited by arfa1983
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arfa1983 Very Obsessed Member

arfa1983

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Well this is it for end day 1. "Scratched" some seatbelts into the otherwise nice bang seats.

 

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Very nice to be building a Phantom from a kit I have not built before. So far so good I think. Some things in the build seem a little strange but it's clear that when they were designing this kit they really wanted to make a good kit.

 

The one part fuselage is a great idea. The different coloured parts somehow make the build a little more interesting as a novelty but the bright white parts are a little difficult to work with because of the glare! 🙄can't see what goes where.

 

 

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Bertie McBoatface Blabber Mouth

Bertie McBoatface

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2 hours ago, arfa1983 said:

Well this is it for end day 1. "Scratched" some seatbelts into the otherwise nice bang seats.

 

Very nice to be building a Phantom from a kit I have not built before. So far so good I think. Some things in the build seem a little strange but it's clear that when they were designing this kit they really wanted to make a good kit.

 

The one part fuselage is a great idea. The different coloured parts somehow make the build a little more interesting as a novelty but the bright white parts are a little difficult to work with because of the glare! 🙄can't see what goes where.

 

 

 

The belts look good. I've been doing that too.

 

Have you noticed that the different colour plastics are different to work with? Is one harder, or more brittle than the others for example?

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arfa1983 Very Obsessed Member

arfa1983

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5 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said:

 

The belts look good. I've been doing that too.

 

Have you noticed that the different colour plastics are different to work with? Is one harder, or more brittle than the others for example?

No, not really, it all seems the same. It's not bad plastic to work with.

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arfa1983 Very Obsessed Member

arfa1983

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Well I've taken a leaf out of some other people's books and started with the weapons. It makes sense actually. If I leave them to the end I often have lost the will to build and paint them. Especially if there are too many!

 

Haven't decided on the exact load out yet... It might ruffle a few feathers but I am thinking to put them all on! Plus AIM-7Es. Won't that look cool! putting the 600 gal tank instead of the cluster bombs it's probably a tad closer to reality... but I often reject reality and substitute my own.

 

Didn't get to the resin Sparrows last night. I haven't worked with resin in over 5 years and to restart with the sidewinders was almost an unmitigated disaster. (Spot the Frankenstein missile) I should have started with the Sparrows,  seeing they will be basically out of sight and a little less jewellery like. But as one may say, don't sweat the small stuff!  

 

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arfa1983 Very Obsessed Member

arfa1983

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Well, made a bit more progress this weekend. Front office looks nice enough I think. I know a little more detailed painting is required for the seats.

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And a big bag of green.... bombs! Also a few bits for the Super Cobra also. 

My LHS is the only place I can spray paint, and they are closing for a month (or two) while they relocate to bigger premises, so I wanted to get these done so I could make some progress finishing these off during this period. Otherwise if I had to do the painting of the aircraft and these after the reopening,  I know that these wouldn'thave been finished on time! 

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Aaaaaand... everyone will reach that point in their build when it starts to look like a Phantom! It's a very happy point in the build I think. 

 

I'm very happy with the way things are fitting together. I hope that comment doesn't jinx it! I added couple of lead sinkers to the nose cone and seats are not glued in yet.

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Bertie McBoatface Blabber Mouth

Bertie McBoatface

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On 8/28/2021 at 6:24 PM, arfa1983 said:

My LHS is the only place I can spray paint, and they are closing for a month (or two) while they relocate to bigger premises,

 

You have a LHS!

It has spraying faculties for you?

It's getting bigger?

 

Can I come to live in Tennessee please?

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arfa1983 Very Obsessed Member

arfa1983

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Yes it is really good the and the booths are very cheap to rent. It's even possible to rent an airbrush. You can see below. They have 4 booths for spraying. Next room they have 10 build stations too.

 

They have a good selection of kits, mostly Tamiya, Hasegawa , Italeri and Zvezda. Most of the store is dedicated to gundam and other Japanese cartoon models etc. which seemingly is the most popular line of products! They have a good range of paints and hobby supplies but there are a few products they frequently can't get or it goes off the shelves as soon as it arrives (Tamiya extra thin for example). They are quite expensive but so are most things here.

https://www.otakume.com/ is the website.

 

I too would love to at least visit Tennessee and try some of their small distillery bourbon! No such establishments where I currently reside though!

 

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