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F-4E AFRES Unique Camouflage


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Hello Everybody! 

 

Before the F and the G already showcased in the forum, now comes the "E"/Late. I built this Fujimi model I had it in my stock for quite a long time and I know that now far better kits of the beast have been released. However, I struggled finding at that time I started to "produce" USAF Phantoms (even the Hasegawa one was OOS), so I decided to go for only one I got (Fujimi), hoping I have good basis at hand to do a nice model. Alas! I spent so much time and efforts to improve it that, at the end of the day, I was completely disappointed by the result. Here is the list of what I did:
- The fuselage is way too short at that scale, and the verdict of the 1/72eme drawings is there: it misses 4 mm. I put resin intakes (forgot the brand) to fill the empty original one and the adaptation was quite disastrous. I had to cut the fuselage aft and forward), added slices of evergreen to have the right dimension and fitting and then finally reshaped the whole stuff. 

 spacer.pngThis pix shows the resin intakes, the "plastic surgery" added at the rear portion of the cockpit ("pieces rajoutée" added part in English) 

For the rest, quite normal modifications for a F-4 kit of that era: 

- ailerons separated, flats modified, belly straps added, vent doors opened, airbrakes lowered, exhaust "hot area" modified, exhausts, cockpit, canopy, L/G wells and wheels aftermarket, etc... A lot of work!

spacer.pngTranslation: L/G wheel wells modified, "holes" after intake fitting filled-in, ailerons and slats removed

 

For the marking my preference went to a Texas AFRES machine from the 924th TFG because they had a quite unique variation of the Hill Grey pattern, which I found very attractive: Not difficult to do. All decals are from extra stocks or home made and just  little bit of weathering, these birds were kept in pretty nice conditions.

 

I didn't put any armament, just a travel pod and a modified TER (from Hasegawa set but reshaped because they are wrong) and that it! 

 

Here are the pix:

 

The real beast:

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My interpretation:

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A simple Dio:

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Definitively not my best Phantom, another good occasion to try the new ones! 

 Enjoy! 

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Excellent Phantom Patrick!! Improvements you have made really make a positive difference and the finished result looks striking in that unusual scheme. 

 

The Lone Star travel pod is a great addition too! Well done

 

Chris

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Thanks for sharing! I have the same kit, it’s good to have your list of improvements available, that will make it much easier when I get around to building mine (thinking of doing a wrap-around Euro camo).

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29 minutes ago, F-32 said:

Great choice of scheme!

 

I've been thinking about doing this one for a while

 

51552910776_8425b132f9_b.jpgUntitled-7 copy by tony_inkster, on Flickr

Ah yes a QF-4E. The modification is not so complicated, the challenge is the heavy weathering of the scheme. Great idea, sad fate for the beast! 

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23 minutes ago, billn53 said:

Thanks for sharing! I have the same kit, it’s good to have your list of improvements available, that will make it much easier when I get around to building mine (thinking of doing a wrap-around Euro camo).

Great idea, this is what I did for my F-4G. Just to add few more photos to help you (if you decide for the surgery):

spacer.pngon this pix, the position of the fuselage on the drawing and the way I cut the fuselage to fill the missing mm. Also, the panel lines are too "discrete" and need to be drilled a little bit ( but this is personal appreciation). The rear canopy part has a strange shape, but his is easy to correct.

spacer.pngon this one what is needed to be done underside if you decide to present your F-4 at rest: open the doors aft of the L/G, add some few details inside and lower the airbrakes. This is not easy to do as I found the plastic here quite thick. 

 

spacer.png...and finally on that one how I modified the slats, add some details on the fuselage, and cut-off the ailerons

 

As a conclusion, Fujimi F-4E was the best when it came to the market and you can build it OOB, the result is still decent. But if you are like me, attached to accuracy and details, you have a little bit of work to raise this kit to the standard you want. As usual and obviously, the key is good set of documents. Happy modeling! 

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8 minutes ago, manuel said:

Good job. Have you pictures of your travel pod?

 

On QF-4E a work in progress here https://master194.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=116529

with this kind of quality work pict1320.png

Hello French Fellow! I saw your work in the link at ref. not so long time ago, amazing! unfortunately "Qs" are not my cup of tea but this has nothing to do with your outstanding work. If you look up I posted a picture of the travel pod, I have another one but the quality is very poor. A plus! 

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Yeehaw, Podnuh! That's a mighty purty Texas Rhino! Miss seeing them flying out of Houston, Austin, and here in San Antonio back in the day. Loved the TX travel pod- no place else but Texas! Did not realize how out of date the Fujimi kit was, but all the hard work and bits you put into your build sure paid off! Would one of the new-tool Fine Molds F4E's be  better starting point, now, like the E early version?

Mike

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Wow. That looks great! I do love the experimental grey camo schemes that were applied to some of the latter USAF F-4C/D/Es. I think it looks much better than the Hill Grey II pattern that the air force eventually went with. I plan to do a 1/48th scale 'D' in this scheme at some point from the same wing. Great inspiration thanks for sharing

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