Phantom F-4B, VF-84, Jolly Rogers, USS Independence 1964.

[Retired Bob]

I have always wanted to build an early Phantom F-4B in the markings of VF-84 Jolly Rogers, there are two slightly different versions, the first had a pirate flag shape on the vertical fin with a yellow fin cap and a yellow sash with black chevrons on the fuselage.  Later in their Vietnam cruise they changed to an all black tail, yellow fin cap and a black sash with yellow chevrons on the fuselage.  I'm doing the earlier scheme as in this picture and using the Furball decals.

 

I will be building the new Tamiya F-4B as most of the parts to build a 1964 era Phantom are included, the un-slotted tailplanes and the separate bumps on top of the wing can be left off (or donated to a late Academy F-4B build)  The lower wing surface ECM bumps can also be left off.  There are a choice of nose sensors in the kit, only thing that is required is an early fin cap without any ECM bumps,  CMK are about to bring one out or there are spare ones from a ZM F-4 that just need a bit of sanding thinner.

This is my third build, but as they say...You can never have too many Phantoms.  Thanks for looking, any comments or questions are always welcome. 

[Jens]

Remember not to fit the small bulges on top of the wings on this early B model.

Jens

[Bertie McBoatface]

1 hour ago, Retired Bob said:

You can never have too many Phantoms.

 

Apparently not. 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

My favorite Rogers markings on any aircraft. 

[Retired Bob]

2 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

My favorite Rogers markings on any aircraft. 

Mine too, this has been on my want list for decades. 

 

3 hours ago, Jens said:

Remember not to fit the small bulges on top of the wings on this early B model.

The bulges from this kit will end up on an Academy F-4B, but one thing I did forget to mention is the ejection seats, these early F-4B's had Mk.5 seats.  I have a set of Hypersonic ones to fit. 

[trickyrich]

1 hour ago, Retired Bob said:

but one thing I did forget to mention is the ejection seats, these early F-4B's had Mk.5 seats.  I have a set of Hypersonic ones to fit. 

 

I have a set of these, and they are really nice!

[Retired Bob]

7 hours ago, trickyrich said:

I have a set of these, and they are really nice!

I bought a couple of sets, some Air Force and some Navy.  For Mk.7's the Eduard Brassin ones seem to be the best though the parachute pack needs the sharp edge along the forward face rounding off, as does the Tamiya kit ones.  The Aires seats have the shape correct but they are slightly undersize.   As an ex-armourer that worked on ejection seats it's a thing I try to get right.

[Retired Bob]

I have made a start on this Phantom, wings have been assembled, I'm thinking of attaching the outer wings in the folded position like in the photo, you get two pairs of outer wings so you can make both options and decide later.  The early un-slotted tailplanes have had some black Mr Surfacer 1500 sprayed on the inner sections that are bare metal, the outer parts have some white primer on, as have the Eduard resin wheels.  The exhaust cans and parts have been primed with the Mr Surfacer1500 black.  More painting tomorrow.

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

That wing section with the engine details moulded in is just amazing, even seen from the 'inside'.

[Retired Bob]

I have removed the pour stub and cleaned up the Hypersonic Mk.5 ejection seats, now sprayed with a coat of Mr Surfacer 1500 black.  On my last update I had sprayed the exhaust parts with this paint, it's the first time I have dry brushed onto the black primer but I found a snag, the dry brushing action polishes the satin black paint to a high gloss finish and the paint doesn't stick. 

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

How strange. Out with the airbrush then?

[Retired Bob]

I was dry brushing grey, then light brown and finally some Tamiya XF-5 green, that looks the nearest green to the engine photos that I have,  my thoughts are, will any of it be seen again and yes I will add those colours by airbrush. 

[DaveJL]

Nice scheme Bob!

[Retired Bob]

I remembered that I hadn't posted a photo of the inside of the engine exhausts.  So here they are, I have adapted the rear part so that I can attach either the Tamiya turkey feathers or some Aires resin ones that I had in in the stash, the Aires ones are in the photo.

 

The Quinta Decals have arrived so now I can start work on the cockpit at last.  Paul @Dansk had kindly posted a picture of the Quinta plans on his thread to help me start removing the raised detail on the cockpit parts, as this is an early Phantom I have to remove all the "Shoehorn" additions so it will be different to my other Screaming Eagle build.

Thanks for looking, any comments or questions are welcome.

[Covjets13]

Great start, can’t beat some VF-84 colours👍

[Dansk]

Looking good Bob.

Those Aires exhausts might be a good way to go. 
The Tamiya ones I find tricky to get aligned and constructed with a gapless result.

 

[Retired Bob]

On 28/09/2021 at 20:13, Dansk said:

Those Aires exhausts might be a good way to go. 

The Aires exhausts are a bit chunkier than the kit ones, I tried a set of Reskit exhausts that are for the Academy kit, they are much finer than the Aires ones but need some trimming to fit, I will paint all of them and see what looks the best.  Sorry I have not made any updates to my threads but I have been in hospital for an operation and I'm still working on the cockpit.  I was told no exertion for at least 2 weeks so I thought great, lots of time for modelling but I didn't think that my chest would feel like it's been attacked by a cheese grater. 

[Dansk]

Take it easy Bob, We’ll enjoy your updates when they come in good time. ‘God Bedring’ as is said here.

[helios16v]

Ouch.  Hope you have a speedy recovery.  Fortunately we've still got lots of time left in this GB.  

[Retired Bob]

Again, apologies for my delay in posting but I have some updates.  While I have been recovering from "being under the knife" I have done a lot of research, Danny Coremans book, Uncovering the US Navy F4 has been invaluable, also on the Fundekals site their early F4/Spooks information pages have thrown some more information into getting an accurate early F-4B.  Early Phantoms, pre-1967 had some differences from the Tamiya kit, the chin pod originally housed the AN/AAA-4 Infra Red Search and Track (IRST) detector, the system never worked well and was removed and the pod used for the AN/APR-30 ECM system, this is what Tamiya supply along with a "Shoehorn" ECM antenna.  To make the earlier IRST pod I removed the kit's pod front section and replaced it with a section of plastic rod, the IRST detector was cylindrical not tapered.  I found the correct diameter in the clear sprue that comes with the canopies, cut a piece, glued it on and shaped it to match the photos.

Here is the modified part in the middle with both of the kit parts for comparison.

 

The next item came from the Fundekals pages and concerned the fuselage panel, part L2 that is just behind the radome on the starboard side, now I'm not sure if this is a separate panel on the kit because Tamiya are going to box an earlier F-4B or what but pre-1967 the panel was different, there was a round panel that was changed when the aircraft got the KY-28 secure voice system.

Here are the forward sections of the nose, the left one is how the kit comes and on the right I have filled the kit panel lines and engraved the round panel, in 1/48th scale it is 3.2mm in diameter if you are interested, just a black wash is added to show up the panels on the photo.

 

And finally for this post, a photo of the wonderful Quinta 3D decals applied to the cockpit parts.  The decals for this kit come with 3 rear, upper instrument panels, early, without any ECM fit, mid, with the first ECM warning panel and a late panel that was used post "Shoehorn" and by the F-4N version.  As my model is pre 1967 I have used the early rear panel and also not fitted the ECM warning display scope to the top right of the pilots glare shield, I filled the hole and restored the reinforcing ribs with stretched sprue.

 

Thanks for looking, any comments or questions are always welcome, more updates tomorrow. 

Edited October 26, 2021 by Retired Bob
missing word

[SAT69]

I get the impression you have to sand the details off the cockpit consoles and instrument panels to use the Quinta 3D decals. What's the best way to sand those details off?

[Dansk]

53 minutes ago, SAT69 said:

I get the impression you have to sand the details off the cockpit consoles and instrument panels to use the Quinta 3D decals. What's the best way to sand those details off?

I use a small one of these then move on to sanding sticks

 

Edited October 26, 2021 by Dansk

[Retired Bob]

1 hour ago, SAT69 said:

I get the impression you have to sand the details off the cockpit consoles and instrument panels to use the Quinta 3D decals. What's the best way to sand those details off?

As the Quinta 3D panels are decals, the answer, as Paul @Dansk has replied is yes, all the side consoles, instrument panels and the circuit breaker panels have to be sanded smooth.  I used a Trumpeter 1/4 inch modelling chisel, a scalpel and sanding sticks to get all the areas smooth, as per the Quinta instructions I used some PVA glue to assist with attaching the decals and they fitted perfectly.  There is only one problem, they look so good that 2D colored photo etch or just painting any raised details now looks......rubbish in comparison to these Quinta products, this is going to get expensive. 🙄

[helios16v]

The added expense is a big part of the reason I've avoided going down that rabbit hole so far.  They do look really nice though.  I've gotten a set for my Tamiya F-15C that is in dire need of detail...as the provided kit detail is worse than most 1/72 kits.  It was so basic that I was very close to getting rid of it, but decided in the end to get a set of the Quinta panels (which are for a GWH kit I believe) and a set of resin cans.  Hopefully the updates will make the kit passable enough.  So we'll see, I may end up a Quinta convert yet...but I'm still resisting for the meantime.  

[Retired Bob]

4 hours ago, helios16v said:

I may end up a Quinta convert yet...but I'm still resisting for the meantime.  

Someone said "resistance is futile"  I looked at the detail on these 3D decals and compared them with the Eduard p/e for the Tamiya Tomcat, no contest, I'm a Quinta convert.