Enzo the Magnificent Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 At one time this kit was the only real option for an F-4E. Hard to believe, eh? The kit was first issued in 1972. This boxing is from 1980 with branding for the UK distributor, Hales. Eventually during the 1980s, both Esci and Italeri released F-4E kits to compete with this one, which prompted Hasegawa to produce a new tool F-4 kit family in 1990. Oddly enough, the replacement kits are only one year shy of being eligible for this GB! I bought this kit from that nice Mr Kingkit. On opening the box I found that the bag containing the parts had not even been opened! The kit is typical early 70s Hasegawa fare, with very fine raised panel lines, an extremely sparse cockpit and crude details. Lots of ordnance including Falcon missiles which I believe were only rarely carried by F-4Es. The MERs and TERs are extremely crude by modern standards. That can be fixed easily, but I haven't yet decided whether I will improve the kit or complete it as a pure legacy build. I built a number of these as a callow youth. I'm looking forward to building another. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 Looks terrific and with the parts coming sealed in the original bag as well ! What are the decals like from this era ? Reliable or likely using replacements ? Best of luck Cheers Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 Lots of ordnance - roughly one bomb for every hour of sanding ... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share Posted February 14, 2023 19 hours ago, JOCKNEY said: What are the decals like from this era ? Reliable or likely using replacements ? Definitely require replacements. The "white" is a horrid sickly cream colour. The national insignia have weird proportions and a misaligned red stripe. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted February 21, 2023 Author Share Posted February 21, 2023 The first step is to buid the cockpit. As I will be building it with the canopies closed, I simply added a rear bulkhead and then sprayed the cockpit interior grey. The nosegear bay is while. Plenty of room for ballast. I then closed up the fuselage and painted the intake interiors. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted February 25, 2023 Author Share Posted February 25, 2023 Intakes in place. Wing assembled ready for fitment. Like so. The kit ejection seats are as one would expect from a 70s vintage kit, so I have sort of upgraded them. I used some parts from a Revell Tornado. I'm hoping that no one will notice that they are not Martin-Baker Mk 7 seats because the canopies will be closed. Don't tell anyone... Canopy fitted and partially masked. Here is how the seats will appear. The ejection seat handles are by Eduard. The model was then pre-primed with a coat of clear lacquer and primed with grey plastic car primer from a rattle can. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 Great progress Enzo. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted February 27, 2023 Author Share Posted February 27, 2023 Minor progress. The tan was sprayed with Lifecolor UA-562. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimJ Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 Coming along nicely. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted March 1, 2023 Author Share Posted March 1, 2023 The tan areas were masked off with Blutak worms, masking tape squares and Copydex. The Green 34102 was sprayed using Lifecolor UA-561. There was another round of masking and the Green 34079 was sprayed using Xtracrylix XA1110. Masking removed. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted March 10, 2023 Author Share Posted March 10, 2023 Undersurfaces sprayed with Lifecolor UA-563. The rear fuselage areas were sprayed with various shades of AK Xtreme metal. The radome is Tamiya XF-69. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted March 14, 2023 Share Posted March 14, 2023 Lots of phantom-y goodness going on! Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted March 14, 2023 Author Share Posted March 14, 2023 13 minutes ago, AdrianMF said: Lots of phantom-y goodness going on! It may be an old kit, but it's a lot of fun to build. Which is, of course, the whole point of this groupbuild. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted July 1, 2023 Author Share Posted July 1, 2023 No... I haven't forgotten this one! Decals applied. Now I'm tempting the carpet monster by showing it all the greeblies... 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandboof Posted July 4, 2023 Share Posted July 4, 2023 Looking great . A1 camo work Martin H 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted July 5, 2023 Author Share Posted July 5, 2023 And we're finished! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 What a beast of a jet and a great model to boot Enzo. Where did I put my Phantom kits, I need to build another one! 🏆 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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