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1/72 Italeri RF-4C (kit 133) - The end of the line [finished!]


alt-92

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Reserving a spot here :)

 

In ye olden days, like many I already held the opinion that Tooms were great. 

Big, brutish, heavy smoker and an attitude (no that's not me),  there were plenty of visiting F-4s around whenever we went to the spotting hillock next to the main runway at Soesterberg AB - the one behind the BP for those familiar ;) .

Greek, German, UK, Turkish, and US versions abounded, in all their various subversions. 

Hence the purchase in the early 1990s of several ESCI 1.72 Phantom kits. 

A short while later however, Uni and two extra jobs, followed by real life stuff meant the boxes were stuffed in storage where they would remain - only to be dug out again two years ago. 

y4mcea3yhaGAc3aqqjlCecqa_DuslYJBoiD8AXHz

 

 

So what did we find?

As it turns out, TWO kits in this box. One ESCI RF-4 as it says on the tin, and an Italeri RF-4C. 

 

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And an ancient Xtradecal sheet for Alconbury RF-4Cs :)

The Italeri kit however, is not quite what it seems. 

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An astute observer will notice some key parts missing  - at least one 'burner can, short exhaust, and crucially, one half of the recce nose is gone without a trace. Bummer.

 

Still,  I believe I can make something out of this.. a perusal in the photo archive turned up some derelict Spanish AF F-4's that serve as inspiration.

 

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The lack of essential parts for a complete Phantom might just prove useful for once :)

 

 

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Hi there,

 

you brought back vivid memories of spotting at Soesterberg. I had completely forgotten about those (mostly) rainy days spent taking photos and having a great time, before going to eat some poffertjes...

Re the Phantoms, the Italeri RF-4C has left  a fantastic impression ever since I built it so many years ago. Shame your kit is missing some limbs!

Is it really different from the Esci offering?

Anyway, thank you for the trip down memory lane.

 

Enjoy.

JR

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hey Jean! :) 

Poffertjes from across the main road, those were the days :D 

 

From the trees and how the parts go together, I'd say very similar, but not quite the same.  The Italeri had a separate rudder, and the afterburner cans are separate whereas the ESCI has those in one piece. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Was it that long ago?

 

anyways.  Both the Esci and Italeri cockpits have the same problem as the internals are... just call it bare. The rear bulkhead is a flat plate, and the separating bulkhead for the front seat is just not there at all. 
And since this is supposed to be a derelict, leaving the seats out means exposing those spots.

Ergo: 

Rear bulkhead with rails and bobbins, front as well. There are some conduits, for which I'll use the lead wire . 

y4miT2Z-ZtLsi2LokBBfxCwnq0RGR84NwPCL-pxf

 

More conduits in the spine piece :P it's a good thing this was an incomplete kit to start with, less anxiety about hacking up kit parts.

y4mVx90Vllg3h5dWk8pn-yiccefQ09CVKu7b0rRn

 

Quick bluetack and tape bodgery shows that the front bulkhead is almost right and just needs the coaming added. 
Meanwhile the intakes have been made devoid of ejector marks, and the slats have been cut off the wings. 
Off to inspect the flap situation on those 
Las Bardenas birds..

 

y4mMqt7Fj_NjD8LWLbVAZrdyN12-Xv_iIaj5V_c9

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Ok, this time with glue. 

Fuse done up, the EDSG lightly oversprayed with Dark Gull Gray to add a bit of depth.

y4mC08MqCJSx7Eo3A8fIuPjDUMVcBZyEnpkDbi84

 

The intakes I've done in gradual lighter towards the front shades which works convincingly enough. 

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Maybe I'll handpaint the compressor fronts. 

The wings are glued, once dried it's time to cut out the flaps. 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Work keeps interfering with modelling. 

I've spent the last week mostly in a datacenter resurrecting a dead storage appliance with multiple disk failures, corrupted firmware and brittle fibreoptic cables. 
Job done, but I've had enough of loud, obnoxious rackmounted servers in a cold dataroom (17 degrees) for a while, thank you. 

 

--

Wings on.

y4mKYJRRGNcTwTzEGE5_ftLfSS6IbXCRJjizIrgu

 

Slats are cut off, and filled to be attached at wonky attitudes.

 

Intake locations were pre-coloured as they're impossible to reach later.

Primer added - and some seams to be dealt with, as on the intakes although the fit is better than many a Hasegawa intake :P

 

y4mgnvm7dgcp-RLSbm75s0B4yFvqbfNqCgVGDv79

 

Some scrounging around turned up a spare 'burner can from another Esci F-4 kit suitably cut down for the short exhaust nozzles to be added.

 

 

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No, that's an aftermarket piece I picked up on a bargain.  I think it may have been a knockoff of the Blackdog spine, as it certainly wasn't 17 euros!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Wow, ok. Better get a move on.

 

Everything that can be hacked off is hacked off.  Cans are ready, gear and doors are waiting, now masking the windscreen and one of the canopy parts.

y4mNROGYQfFRhFU5kb2McHY_DVVAzdaPwn15kZrj

 

She looks tatty already, but that's just because I've used leftover paint from other builds on this one as a primer/base layer. 

y4mPKSTD7ENNYnI0qMcaiM0hkhnrhJgBUfJRWNnD

 

I'm sure once the real paints go on, it won't matter as much as there's quite a bit of discolouring to do anyway :P
The weapons of choice: 

y4mW0yiWVrr2YSBZI6Ru4QITffCYQByYAb9rmRjc

 

Now to get it to look like this:

y4m66RbeFh7nSBp4QY7MC6fFydEiPavvaiNYPb-6

 

Challenge accepted :banghead:

 

 

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Stage 1:

Normal  4079/4102/0219

y4mM1HHovd2lKCO9Uuc3iCWlBYK1qs655D-BKcGk

 

y4mddnLkoh-XndRrVaktXliShrxpFsBzaKt9mYuK

 

Followed by freehand/tack worms sharpening of some lines. 

Then came stage 2:

The greens were mutated with a mix of YZC interior, a drop of Forest green and SLT and for the tan I went to flesh tone.

 

y4msffFh2iYBsM87-8JsAiJ3pfUKNd1M-n7sd1Dn

 

y4mo7D_No9vMC3vvzmlbYifbG6Z_t5cVdAk1qFnD

 

Fading/mutating took about two hours and I have to stop now because I'm getting a cramp :P

 

To come: stage 3 in which presumably some light sand may come into play, and the undersides need to be tackled.

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Used the ESCI decals for the EdA.  
After 40 years or so there is no adhesive left on the sheet, so I've used the Klear dip treatment. 

 

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Once dried, went over them with a fine grit sanding/polishing stick to flatten and smooth them out, and even the small decals came out ok. 

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Now for the final wathering and adding the tiny bits.

 

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Aaand done!

 

 

y4mzTFf_ikiG2vcDChFaQAe8hjvMqGxOlano5lHz

 

y4mVbjR5XFxA0DYdHUBLV92Yewq_HSMPOgsJBYZ4

 

Oops - forgot to take some masking tape off I see...

y4m78S_z3zEuhHGjrCsTbjjyH-q4Kl1ix_PwtGZw

 

y4mtUKa3zAFNYIpCHnnL4-dBe7Wsn1lCAaakGjG8

 

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y4mtvs6MtbpRI2yEkYK7qT8ESJ5sPDsSlZcTdJz6

 

 

The base is an IKEA picture frame, with a terrain mat PVA glued & some Vallejo Sand/mud paste.

Loose tufts of grass bits on the paste bits to blend the edges a bit & clumps as you would normally see.

This then was treated with a mix of different earths and greens to make it a bit more interesting, and finally some Klear & Gloss Varnish on the mud parts to add a watery shine to it.

y4mMLr-u6DpbKObKEfWK6kl93VmhvRU4mbVE5hrx

 

 

 

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  • alt-92 changed the title to 1/72 Italeri RF-4C (kit 133) - The end of the line [finished!]

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