Hasegawa 1/48 F-4G Wild Weasel

[Kenny J]

After the full-on resin and etch and stencils experience of my last Phantom (the Eduard F-4N), I decided to build something a bit simpler, and hopefully a bit different... ...but ended up picking out another Phantom because it looked like the most straightforward thing in my stash.

 

This is Hasegawa's F-4G, in the earlier boxing with the Euro One scheme on the box.

 

The strange thing is, although the artwork, instructions and completed builds pictured on the box all show the prominent RWR on the fin tip, this is missing from the moulded parts:

 

A bit frustrating - I've had a look online, and the sprue shots from later boxings (the Hill One boxing) show the RWR in place, so I presume this particular sprue is from a very early run, and they realised their mistake. I'm not sure whether to try to carve up one of the Sparrow missiles to approximate the RWR, or just leave it - this is meant to be a palette cleanser!

 

Anyway, as is traditional, the first thing is the instrument panels. Canopies will be closed on this one, so the kit bits are good enough:

[Gundylunch]

Looks as though the fuselage has been swapped out, the fin tip bulged housing should definitely be there, what you have is a fuselage for an E model or similar, another clue would be the shape of underneath the nose, the G again has it's own distinctive shape.

[Deano353]

Cool kit though this at least in my opinion. I think it's a straightforward build if I recall correctly. I think the fin on mine was the same as yours, never noticed that before 

 

[Kenny J]

Yeah, the nose is fine, and the sprue is marked "F-4 EJ, E, F, G", so it's a bit odd.

[Mark V]

I have 2 different boxings of the Hasegawa 1/48th F-4G, both unbuilt.  It looks like your fuselage is for the E model, definitely not the G.  It should look like this:

 

 

There should be a G-specific nose cone with the proper antennae housing in place of the gun nose fairing of the E/F.

 

 

Also on the fuselage, near the nose, there should be three small antenna bumps, highlighted in black in the photo.  They're on both sides of the nose.

 

 

The two boxings I have, have slightly different wing sprues.  One set has the US Navy (and RAF FGR) reinforcement bumps on the upper wings over the main landing gear strut attachment.  The E/G versions did not have these.  There is a supplemental instruction sheet directing the removal of these bumps.  I've swapped trees around between the boxings (older/newer) so I'm not sure what was originally in either box.  Take a look at yours and it should be obvious.

 

 

Good luck with your build.  I'll keep watching since I hope to start on my kits later this year.

[Kenny J]

Thanks for the photos Mark, that's really useful. My fuselage has the thee antenna bumps, and the separate G nose sprue is there, and it fits perfectly on to the main fuselage. Wing-wise, I've got the version without the bumps, and no cut-outs for the catapult hooks, so no worries there.

[bar side]

Always like to see a Weasel build.  I have an AMT one to do in the stash.  The plan is Spangdahlem Euro One scheme.  Still not quite clear on the colours & they never quite seem right so will be keen to see how you get on

[Mark V]

Hey Kenny, it’s good that you have the bump-free wings. I looked again at mine and one G and both E kits have the bumps. The lower side of the wings also have navy antennas that need to be sanded off. D’oh!  What they don’t have is the belly strap reinforcements that the G models had ( and various other versions). I’m not going to bother with that on mine. 

It also seems that the E model fuselages have the 3 per side forward antennas. For the E those get sanded off too. 

 

For Bar Side, the Euro 1 colors used on the Phantoms are the standard USAF greens: Dark Green FS34079 and Medium Green FS34102; not Euro 1 Dark Green FS34092.  The Euro 1 DG was used on A-10s and transports that briefly wore the “lizard” scheme.  I don’t know why Phantoms never used that color.

The gray is EURO 1 Gray FS36081.  It’s darker than the Gunship Gray FS36118 that the F-15E and many other USAF aircraft use.

I mostly used my stock of Testors Model Master enamels and the medium green is too bright/light to my eye.  When I do my next Phantoms in these colors I’ll try a different brand of MG.  Other folks will probably have ideas of what works for them. 

[bar side]

Thanks for those colours @Mark V might have to try Vallejo out.  I have tended to Humbrol & Tamiya rattle cans in the past

[Kenny J]

Thanks for the Euro 1 info, Mark. I've got the Hataka USAF European Camouflage set, which contains all colours mentioned.

 

I've also got the Milspec decal set to do Spangdahlem Weasel 69-0247, so I've read your comments on other Spangdahlem-related threads with interest. Reading your comments, Spangdahlem WWs were more likely to be carrying an ALQ-131 than an ALQ-119, and the AGM-78 was not used. Based on your comments here, I'm planning on loading it with the three drop tanks (older style centreline tank because I don't have an F-15-style one handy), ALQ-131 deep in the port forward Sparrow bay (looks like Eduard do one), training Shrike (no fins) on the starboard inner pylon, and you mentioned that there'd occasionally be a empty TER on the port inner pylon, which I have already, and think will add interest.

[bar side]

Going Spangdahlem then @Kenny J?  Nice.  I have a Spang Viper so was planning the Weasel to go with it

 

 

If you fancy some model Spang inspiration have a look on Arc Forums at Philippe’s project

 

 http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/222165-my-small-air-base-148/

[Kenny J]

A bit of progress this week - I've got the cockpits completed, the nose and fuselage together, and the wings on. The fit is really great so far - the odd smear of Mr Surfacer to fill gaps, and it's taken minimal effort to smooth out the joints to as near seamless as I'm capable of.

 

 

[Kenny J]

As I've just finished an Eduard F-4N, I've got a load of spare parts from that kit, so I'm going to replace the Hasegawa exhausts with more detailed ones. A bit of surgery has been needed to make them fit, but they're a marked improvement:

 

[corsaircorp]

I'm in if you don't mind it, I have that same kit in the stash !!

Sincerely.

CC

[Kenny J]

I've made a bit more progress on the build. As usual, life got in the way a bit, with work, doing stuff my band and trips to Edinburgh and London taking precedence over kit-building. Unlike my last Phantom build, the Hasegawa kit doesn't have any kind of fancy intake trunking, so I painted the insides white, then airbrushed some black to give the illusion of depth. It works quite well from a distance. I also masked and sprayed the inner lips of the intakes with the corresponding camouflage colour - green on the port side, grey on the starboard. First time using Hataka paints, and it took a few attempts to get the thinner ratio right (I'm using the "red" line which is formulated for airbrush, but I didn't realise this so my first attempt was a watery disaster).

 

The intakes fit pretty well (the whole kit has been a joy to assemble), they'll just need a bit of Mr Surfacer to even out the very slight height difference with the fuselage.

 

 

Once the intakes were in place, I decided to try to replicate the radar warning receiver pod on the top of the fin. I trimmed down the front halves of two of the Sparrow missiles, applied these to the fin, and finished off with some Milliput superfine, which remains my favourite filler to use. I've tried a few others like Squadron putty and Perfect Plastic Putty, but Milliput has the right level of malleability, and I like being able to smooth it down with water.

 

 

Next up is surface prep before the main camouflage painting, plus doing the weapons, ejector seats and undercarriage. I'm usually pretty terrible at rushing at this stage because the real fun is painting, but I'm going to make an effort this time round. I've got some micro-mesh in various super-fine grades, and rather than just blasting the kit with a rattle-can of Halfords primer, I might try an airbrush-able primer instead, if I can figure out what the cool kids are using these days.

 

I also need to decide whether to risk attaching the canopy before painting - on the upside, I always find they look more like part of the aircraft and less "glued on last" if you attach them and fill before painting (masking first), but on the downside, this version of the kit doesn't come with the one-piece canopy, and I'm not sure I trust my gluing abilities enough to ensure that no spray gets through the gaps between the four pieces which make up the canopy.

[SoftScience]

way to go using the sparrows for the RWR. 

Its funny. I recently got the Hasegawa F-4G, but second hand, and it has both fuselages in the box. With and without antenna. I presume the previous owner did some mix and match, and not that Hasegawa was generous enough to provide both. 


I'm looking forward to seeing you progress further. 

[Kenny J]

Some progress:

The scratch-build RWR pod - not 100% accurate, but good enough for me:

 

It occurred to me that I didn't take a good photo of the sprayed intake effect - as I say, from a distance it gives a decent enough representation of depth:

Full length shot, with bench not too messy (I moved last year and am still unpacking boxes. Slowly getting my workspace together and currently working on an old Ikea table until I figure out the alternative):

 

Next step was the ejection seats. I had a couple of spares from my Eduard F-4N which were significantly better looking that the Hasegawa parts, except for the seat top and ejection handles. What to do? Combine the main Academy/Eduard seats with the Hasegawa tops:

Painted and cushions (OK, parachute box, seat back and survival kit base) in place. I also added some straps made from strips of lead (or non-toxic equivalent) foil from a wine bottle. As part of my packing/unpacking process when moving, I threw out a TON of random bits and bobs that I "might need some day" but probably wouldn't. You know where this is going, right? The straps are a bit short because the only bit of lead foil which survived the onslaught was a tiny little piece. But you know what that means, right? I need to drink more wine! Anyway - the seats are good enough to go under the (closed) canopy:

 

[Graham T]

I remember the Hasegawa G from the 80s when it came out & loved it but haven't built one since.  Tbh I'm waiting for the ZM kit that should be out soon.  It costs a mint but I'm hoping that it'll correct some of the faults of & provide more detail that the old Hasegawa kit.

[Kenny J]

Yeah, the ZM Weasel looks very nice!

[Markh-75]

I like the Hasegawa kits, they were an expensive model in their time, in the 1990's I couldn't afford a Hasegawa but I can get them anywhere at good prices now. I love the ol' F4's, Mighty beast of an aircraft! This is coming along nicely and I like the idea of swapping the jet nozzles out, it personalises it a bit! 

[Kenny J]

Since my last update, I've masked the canopy up with parafilm and have been mostly priming and painting. In the past, I've usually primed with Halfords spray cans, but the fumes are more of a problem in my new flat than the old place where I had an outdoor area I could nip down to and spray with cans. I decided to airbrush on the standard tinned version of Halfords primer, thinned with cellulose thinners. My extraction booth handled it much better than the full blast of a spray can, and I thought I'd done a pretty good job of it, and the pre-shading:

 

As mentioned above, I'm also using Hataka paints for the first time - it's taken a bit of experimentation to figure out which thinner to use, and the right ratios - I've had the best results using a few drops of water - maybe a ratio of 1:8 water:paint. Spent quite a while spraying far too wet a mix, but in the end I managed to get it it laying down nicely and just showing a hint of the pre-shading.

 

Then I took the masking tape off...

 

 

It's lifted everything off - primer and all!

Suspect I'm going to have to take it back to the bare plastic as best I can, give it a good wash, and re-prime, maybe going back to the spray can.

Oh well, it's a FUN hobby, isn't it?

 

[bar side]

Going to have to watch that- I have the Hataka paint set too.  What primer did you use?

[Kenny J]

It was Halfords Universal Grey primer - I'm going to take it back to the plastic and try again.

 

With the Hataka paint, the "mixed for airbrush" red line stuff I'm using seems a bit thick to be used unthinned, but it doesn't take much to over-thin it, so watch out for that.

[bar side]

Thanks Kenny.  I was going to use automotive grey primer too.  I did get some Hataka thinners to try out too, so need to experiment a bit I think

[Bell209]

8 hours ago, Kenny J said:

It's lifted everything off - primer and all!

That's why I still use enamels. This happened to me both times I tried acrylic paints. The build's coming along nicely though.