1/48 Tamiya F-4B, VMFA-323 'Death Rattlers', Chu Lai, 1967. Finished 25/11.

[DaveJL]

Hello all,

 

Here is my entry for this GB - Tamiya's wonderful looking 1/48 F-4B. Now, I hadn't planned on getting one of these as I had an Academy F-4B in the stash but once I seen the pictures, I just knew I had to have one (or three). 

 

I've wanted to do this particular scheme for a while as I like the rough and ready look of the USMC Phantoms which were heavily involved in Close Air Support (CAS) over South Vietnam.

 

Kit:

 

 

As you can see, lots and lots of beautifully detailed plastic! 

 

Aftermarket:

 

 

I'll be using Eduard Brassin MK.77 Napalm canisters, Hypersonic MB MK.5 ejection seats along with some MK.82 bombs and Zuni twin shot rocket pods from the spares. Decals will be from an Eduard 'Good Morning Da Nang' kit along with some Superscale decals (namely for the Marines stencils):

 

 

I'm also waiting on an early fin cap coming from Flying Leathernecks, as well as waiting on a Furball stencil sheet popping back into stock. Now, the eagle eyed among you might see six of the MK.77s... will be tooling the kit up with all of those, plus 6x Mk.82 and the twin shot Zunis, which the USMC jets carried on one of the AIM-9 launch rails, using them for target marking.

 

Some references for the Mk.77s...

 

 

The required bomb racks will be donated from a ZM F-4EJ.

 

Decal scheme from the Eduard sheet:

 

 

Itching to get started but need to clear an F-16 and two Hellcats from the bench first... and make a start on a Rafale!

 

Cheers

 

Dave

[Antb]

This looks like its going to a great build Dave- ill be following along keenly! 

[modelling minion]

Very nice choice Dave, a great scheme and you can't beat a tooled up mud-moving Phantom, especially a Marine one.

[trickyrich]

NICE!!!!!  

 

I expect we'll see quite a few of these beauties in this build, they are the must have model for any Phantom Phreak!

 

Great scheme choice as well.... she certainly looks like she's loaded for bear!!!

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Nothing wrong with a Rattler’s bird. 

[Bertie McBoatface]

Looks good, Dave. My goodness, the Phantom was a fine looking warplane. Every photo I see reminds me of that. I may be getting addicted...

[DaveJL]

Thanks chaps, I'm itching to get started!

[The Rib Man]

Really looking forward to the Death Rattlers scheme!

[DaveJL]

On 8/17/2021 at 2:01 AM, The Rib Man said:

Really looking forward to the Death Rattlers scheme!

Same for me! Been wanting to build it for years

[Alan P]

Good subject, Marines F-4B is the most phantomest of Phantoms 😎

[DaveJL]

1 hour ago, Alan P said:

Good subject, Marines F-4B is the most phantomest of Phantoms 😎

Thanks mate. They look good all tooled up!

[DaveJL]

Made a start, if I can call it that, this afternoon. I took all the sprues out of their plastic bags

 

.....then I thought that was rather pathetic and needed to do something else, so I cleaned up the MK.77 canisters, removing the casting blocks. I had issues removing the fuses that needed attached, a few being damaged so these will be left off, inaccurate I know, but I can live with it. Looking at the Zuni pods and MK.82s, I think the paint already on them will suffice (they were taken off an old build which was damaged) so that'll save a little time.

 

 

Thee TERs and MERs from one of my ZM kits were cleaned up, though I still need to add the sway braces, all 36 of them!

 

 

A little modification will be needed on the mounting lugs to get them to fit on the Tamiya pylons. I decided against fitting any AIM-7s as I'm not 100% sure if they would have been carried with such a heavy CAS load. The image below, although fitted with fewer MK.77s, shows a lack of AIM-7s:

 

 

 

Hopefully a more meaty update soon.

 

Dave

[DaveJL]

Last of the aftermarket dropped through the letterbox this morning:

 

 

My first time using the Quinta sets. Anyone have any tips? Would canopy glue work to stick them down? 

[helios16v]

Sweet.  I should probably get off my butt and get my intake plugs ordered for the F.  I think that is the only outstanding item I need for my pair.  Just need to figure out what I need to piggyback on the order since it's going to have to come from Greece (need to make the shipping cost worthwhile).

[franky boy]

Nice start Dave. 
 

Deffinately a good idea to start with the weapons, the part that takes the most time at the end of a build. 
 

James 
 

 

[DaveJL]

19 minutes ago, helios16v said:

Sweet.  I should probably get off my butt and get my intake plugs ordered for the F.  I think that is the only outstanding item I need for my pair.  Just need to figure out what I need to piggyback on the order since it's going to have to come from Greece (need to make the shipping cost worthwhile).

If it helps, Phase Hanger do a lovely set of FOD inserts for the Hasegawa kits and might be a lot less in shipping with being based in Arizona!

 

17 minutes ago, franky boy said:

Nice start Dave. 
 

Deffinately a good idea to start with the weapons, the part that takes the most time at the end of a build. 
 

James 
 

 

Thanks James; the MK.82s and Zuni pods being decent to start with will save some painting!

 

I found another couple of images of Chu Lai F-4s:

 

 

 

Again, can't see any Sparrows unless they're fitted in the rear recesses.

[helios16v]

12 minutes ago, DaveJL said:

If it helps, Phase Hanger do a lovely set of FOD inserts for the Hasegawa kits and might be a lot less in shipping with being based in Arizona!

 

I was not aware of them, I'll have to check them out.  Cheers.  

[DaveJL]

30 minutes ago, helios16v said:

 

I was not aware of them, I'll have to check them out.  Cheers.  

Good quality stuff and a good price too!

[modelling minion]

Should be a great build Dave, I do like Marine CAS F-4's.

I think that not carrying Sparrows would have been a common occurrence for aircraft from Chu Lai when operating over South Vietnam in the CAS role, no chance of meeting any Migs and it saves weight.

[DaveJL]

3 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

Should be a great build Dave, I do like Marine CAS F-4's.

I think that not carrying Sparrows would have been a common occurrence for aircraft from Chu Lai when operating over South Vietnam in the CAS role, no chance of meeting any Migs and it saves weight.

Cheers mate, hope I can get it done within the timeframe. Still have the Rafale to finish!

 

The first image I've linked in the original post shows a pair of AIM-7s in the rear wells but haven't seen many others so based my decision on that alone

[coneheadff]

2 hours ago, DaveJL said:

My first time using the Quinta sets. Anyone have any tips? Would canopy glue work to stick them down? 

I tried today Ammo Mig's Ultra Glue with the Quinta decals. The glue is pretty thick and I think it's a "better" white glue. Will see how it works out.

I will let you know...but as I know your speed you'll be probably finished by the time I give you an answer 😁

[DaveJL]

Just now, coneheadff said:

I tried today Ammo Mig's Ultra Glue with the Quinta decals. The glue is pretty thick and I think it's a "better" white glue. Will see how it works out.

I will let you know...but as I know your speed you'll be probably finished by the time I give you an answer 😁

 cheers Alex!

 

Quite a lot on these next few weeks with work, my birthday and a trip to Malta! Not to mention the Rafale. Oh wait, I already did mention that 😆

[DaveJL]

A bit more done today. I must confess I got a bit carried away as my plan was to simply prep the cockpit and then start priming the Rafale but I just couldn't resist cracking on further with this as the fit is just superb. I dare say it might, might, fit better than the F-14. Tamiya appears to have beaten themselves at their own game... @trickyrich, you were right!

 

Anyway, the cockpit parts were assembled and the raised detail sanded off where necessary for the Quinta parts:

 

 

Fuselage halves built up:

 

 

Front undercarriage bay:

 

 

Main wing section with the beautifully detailed undercarriage bays etc:

 

 

Centre line fuel tank:

 

 

Finally, I added the TER and MER to the kits pylons after fitting the 36 sway braces to the ZM racks. I just needed to remove the mounting lugs on the latter to get a great fit:

 

 

Superb kit, can't say much more. Next stage will be to paint and detail the cockpit.

 

More soon and stay safe

 

Dave

[Dansk]

Looking good dave, love the ter and mer’s all mounted.

The kit is superb isnt it? I love it.

[DaveJL]

26 minutes ago, Dansk said:

Looking good dave, love the ter and mer’s all mounted.

The kit is superb isnt it? I love it.

Cheers Paul. It's a great kit; and I really haven't built much so far! Certainly an exciting time to be an F-4 fan in anticipation of what version Tamiya will release next.