Popular Post spruecutter Posted January 12 Popular Post Share Posted January 12 I was asked to build a couple of US Navy F-4 Phantoms for a friend of a friend. The kits came from the 1/72 Hasegawa F-4B/N boxing "CVW-19 Combo". While I built the kits pretty much out of the box, they proved to be quite an involved build, easily over 100 hours of work for the pair. Not because I added any detail - it's more down to the complexity of the finishing: the intricate masking for the metallic back area, trimming the decals, making masks for some of the insignia. The first off the production line was an F-4B - the very smart "Black Aces" scheme of VF-41. The second one to be completed was a F-4N in the familiar "Jolly Rogers" scheme of VF-84. The Hasegawa kit is very nicely moulded with fine panel lines. It did take a fair bit of effort to blend in the intakes and deal with the seam by the exhaust pipes. I had to sand very carefully to avoid damaging the trailing edge of the wings. Horizontal sanding was very much the order of the day, definitely not up and down. The fit of the stabilators was a bit floppy so I used a couple of set squares to get both to set at the same angle. Likewise, the fit of the undercarriage was also a bit floppy so I used set squares again to get the legs to stay straight while the glue dried. I wanted to keep the weathering quite subtle. I used two types of Flory wash - Grey for the top surface and Dark Dirt for the underside. The Hasegawa decals were OK but not brilliant. I was quite worried about the carrier film showing so wherever possible I trimmed the decals to reduce the risk of silvering. The NAVY and 1489 were sprayed using home-made masks. One very useful gadget that I used for the first time was a coffee cup warmer to keep the decal water warm. It saves the hassle of getting up every 15 minutes to replenish with warmer water. I picked up this tip from a German modelmaking forum. Anyway, I said goodbye to the models today. They were collected by my good mate @Red Dot to take to his mate Patrick in Belgium next week. Cheers Richard C. 75 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanketyblank Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 Those are two really lovely phantoms. Like the coffee cup warmer tip too 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmerboy Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 100 hours well spent, lovely builds, good job! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2lefthands Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 Beautifully executed! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 Lovely builds and great tip on the coffee warmer! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dolphin38 Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 Two great looking Phantoms 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armorrich Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 Lots of good info here as well as 2 very fine F4's!!! I like your packaging job as well using toothpicks to stabilize the airframes. Very well done all around. Cheers....Rich 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Dyck Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 Well, they both turned out very nice. I like this subtle weathering. Two little gems!! You can be proud and the new owner too! Cheers Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vultures1 Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 Very nice work! Great pair of Phantoms and some helpful info about the builds too 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Dot Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 And both turned out beautifully Richard. An excellent job Thanks Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 Those both look absolutely superb. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toryu Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 You confirmed me again in that the F-4 was the greatest jet fighter ever! Two very worthy examples! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 Nice Job, Richard! Shame that Tamiya did not scale down their 48th scale F-4B kit. The Hasegawa Phantoms (right now) are the best F-4Bs out there, but they're definitely over engineered which really becomes a buzzkill in the assembly process..... -d- 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remus389 Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 Both Phantoms are very nice 👻👻 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy54 Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 Nice Phantoms, thank you for sharing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spruecutter Posted January 13 Author Share Posted January 13 2 hours ago, David H said: Nice Job, Richard! Shame that Tamiya did not scale down their 48th scale F-4B kit. The Hasegawa Phantoms (right now) are the best F-4Bs out there, but they're definitely over engineered which really becomes a buzzkill in the assembly process..... -d- You're right. David. Hasegawa's F-4Bs are not a quick build by any stretch. A small example - instead of providing stabilators with and without the triangular strengthening plate (I think that was what it was), the builder is required to scrape off the triangle, being super careful to achieve a smooth surface and then rescribe the missing panel lines. What should be a 10 second clean up of a part ends up taking an hour! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 1 hour ago, spruecutter said: You're right. David. Hasegawa's F-4Bs are not a quick build by any stretch. A small example - instead of providing stabilators with and without the triangular strengthening plate (I think that was what it was), the builder is required to scrape off the triangle, being super careful to achieve a smooth surface and then rescribe the missing panel lines. What should be a 10 second clean up of a part ends up taking an hour! i have a nearly completed Hasegawa Marine Corps F-4B on my Shelf of Doom. Nothing went wrong per se, but the last steps towards getting it over the wire are like pulling teeth..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurricane39 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 Outstanding builds and thanks for sharing your assembly tips. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sluffer77 Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Awesome pair of builds 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latinbear Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Phantoms - what's not to like? Absolutely lovely builds and helpful construction tips too! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now