WIP | Israeli Air Force | F-4E Phantom II Kurnass 2000

Jos Jansen
The kit is chosen, the colors are chosen and the aftermarket stuff are ordered...what can go wrong...? 😄

James C
I'm in with a grin😉👍

Sergej I
It will practically put itself together 👍 🙂

Nathan Dempsey
Oy vey! I'm in!

Maciej Bellos
Nothin'! Looking forward to it.

Michael Phillips
Now THIS is gonna be sweet! Count me in!

Patrick Hagelstein
Check, check aaaaaaand...check! Seems good to go to me! 👍

Eric Thornton
Following

Jos Jansen
Welcome aboard guys, great to have here 👍!

Also the load-out is chosen: 2 x AGM-65 Popeye, 1 x AXQ-14 Data Link Pod and 1 x AIM-9L sidewinder...those Popeye's are huge...😄

Nathan Dempsey
I remember once trying to put those Popeyes on an F-16. It looked like the weapons were flying the jet. 😄

Maciej Bellos
The green guys is wondering were the popeyes end 😄

Robin (WhiteGlint)
I'm in as well. 🙂

Jos Jansen
@Nathan, exactly....👍 comparing with a F-4 they're still huge...!
@Maciej, the green guy couldn't see the end...LOL, bigger than life 🙂

Welcome Roland and WhiteGlint, stay tuned mates...👍

Konrad -
Count me in here as well!

Jos Jansen
Welcome Konrad!

Finally my ordered stuff has arrived. Today I started with the cockpit, I will brush the side panels, the fronts will be made of PE.

Jos Jansen
Tonight made some progress with the pit...

Augie
Have to watch a rhino

Jos Jansen
Good to have you here Augie. Starting with the pit and seats...

Celliers
Following

Nathan Dempsey
Nice work on the cockpit. Using the AK pencils? I've loved mine so far.

James C
That's a great start Jos. Nice work on that cockpit👍
That MiG Ultra glue is fantastic stuff as well... I found it invaluable for securing canopies and phot-etch etc.

Slavo Hazucha
Ha - somehow this eluded me in the Newsfeed!

Very nice start on the cockpit and a skillfully pulled paint/PE combo 👍.

I´m very much looking forward to this - the Isreali camo being one of my all-time favorites and something of a topic - on many models it is de-saturated, faded, shaded and panel-accentuated to a level which looks truly great on a model, but this is hardly backed by any modern photo-material, which usualy shows neat, clean and rather saturated surfaces in +/- pristine state (some may even use the word boring...) with hardly a panel line or stain to be seen - curious how you will walk the line here! 🙂

Jos Jansen
Many thanks gentlemen! Finished the cockpit, created clock glasses through to add some drops of Micro Kristal Klear.

@Slavo; The light IAF colors are perfect for the Black-basing technique, and which will certainly help to get a good contrast to adjust the right panel line wash to these colors.

Rui S
Your work on the that pit is excellent 👍

Jos Jansen
Thanks Rui S...! Iam still waiting for some ordered seamless intakes so it's still cockpit time. Beautiful resin seats from Eduard, after the painting I did some dry-brushen. Next step is to put a lot of PE on it... 😄

Jos Jansen
Still waiting for some ordered resin...started with the data-link pod AN/AXQ-14...

Erik Leijdens
Nice progress Jos!! Your start is great, but hey, what else could we expect 🙂 Definitely following mate, to snort some inspiration..!

Daniel
Oho, nearly missed that 🙂 impressive work already 👍

Eelco Gregoire
The pit looks stunning

Jos Jansen
Thx mates!
Started to add the resin seamless intakes from XMM...

Jos Jansen
I made a lot of progress this weekend, both fuselage parts were glued, the resin intakes placed and a start was made with the resin exhaust nozzles...

Patrick Hagelstein
Just chiming in after a while and seeing a beautiful model come to fruition. The work so far is clean and crisp. Reading Slavo's post and your answer to that, isn't Slavo referring to actually get the colors more saturated vs. using black basing for getting a patchy look??? I guess what Slavo means, can be seen in your cover picture (676) where the aircraft is bright, clean and with only minimal wear and tear on the paint job. Not wanting to poke in a good marriage, but I could feel Slavo and you talking about different things... 😉

Jos Jansen
Patrick, I understood what Slavo meant, my point may not have been very clear but what I mean is that the Black basing technique is my favorite. No matter how sleek and dull these IAF Phantoms may be, you will always have different tones, through users weathering and fading of the colors by the sun. It is precisely this technique that allows me to apply the colors very subtly. Incidentally, in various operational deployments of the Israelis, some Phantoms were really worn out. Besides mate, you may always interfere or poke...I appreciate good feedback from good modelers 👍!

Slavo Hazucha
Yeah, what I mainly meant is that the Israeli camo often seems to tempt modelers to create what I consider a "wet" kind of weathering - dark panel lines, and faded colors either to the center of each panel or in irregular but strong marbling patterns. While I by no means call these bad models, they IMHO mix 2 things - a cool camo + a cool type of weathering that (almost) never met in real life...

Real Israeli planes as I know them, even old Kfirs & such, display either hardly any, or a "dry" kind of weathering - paling in the sun & such... which on a model may be less spectacular when seen from the distance, but is IMHO much more true to the original... In any case, whatever course is taken here I´m in to see it through and marvel😉

& the single mold intakes looks very good indeed - and twice so attractive now while I´m sorting the gaps on my 5-th gen curved tubes...

James C
Taking shape very nicely Jos. I too am quite fond of this Israeli paint scheme. 👍

Patrick Hagelstein
😄 Thanks to both Jos and Slavo for commenting. I just wanted to make sure you guys were talking about the same here. 😉 That being said, I can only add that all my comments are merely meant to poke around a bit, but in the end are always intended to be a positive criticism. 🙂 👍

Lucio P.
Nice work!!

Eric Juvyns
Looks like another top model in the works. Question, is there a difference between ultra glue and micro kristal clear? IMO they both are glorified wood glue.

Jos Jansen
Thanks guys! @Eric...IMHO the Ultra Glue from Ammo is more sticky and dries quicker than Micro Krystal Clear.

Eric Juvyns
Thx Jos. Good to know, sounds better so gonna buy me some.

Spanjaard
a bit late, but still on time to see this beauty unfold. cockpit looking great.

Jos Jansen
You're welcome Eric...and welcome aboard Spanjaard!

Progress on the pit and the wings are glued on the fuselage...

Jos Jansen
Added lots of real nice PE for the Kurnass version.

Jos Jansen
Just installed the huge in-flight refueling boom...!

Robin (WhiteGlint)
Interesting place for the refueling boom. Reminds me of some Harrier variants.
Really nice job so far. I like what you did with the cockpit and the cables, Jos. 👍

Slavo Hazucha
Growing nicely - the intakes look great and so does the scratch plumbing! 👍 A worthy base for an upcoming benchmark-setting paint-job!😉

Konrad -
Agree with all above mentioned comments. Nice to see all those steps.

Nathan Dempsey
That refueling probe is certainly adding some interest to this F-4. I admit I can't wait to see your paint work for this build 🙂

Jos Jansen
@WhiteGlint...thx mate! Yes, that's true, also smaller versions on the Mirage2000, Rafale, and Intruder.

@Slavo...there is a saying in the Netherlands: "a good start is half done!" 😉 Thanks mate for your kind words!

@Roland...stay tuned, I am far from finished in my playground, haha..hopefully, the upcoming days' primer time!

@Konrad and Nathan, thanks mates...nice words! 🙂

Jos Jansen
Beautiful masks from New Ware Masks, I'll try to get black thin canopy framing lines!

Patrick Hagelstein
Oh wow! So, those are masks for the sealant around the frame and the for the glass panes themselves? Cool set!

Alexander
Great work so far! The kit seems to really show its age, with all the detailing and modifications you made - certainly worth the effort. 👍 👍 And I also really like the small masks you used for the seat - how did you make these or did you get them from somewhere?

Jos Jansen
Thanks Alexander, these small PE templates are included with the resin seats from Eduard.

F-4C/D/E/F/G Seat (Eduard 648009, 1:48)

Alexander
Uuhh, interesting, good to know.

Jens J.
Nice job so far. Those small upper wing bulges need removing though. They were only present on USN/USMC Phantoms.

Jos Jansen
Okay thanks Jens, will look closer in my reference book...!

Konrad -
Very nice Jos! Looking incredible just only with the primer👍!

Jos Jansen
Thx Konrad....can't wait to airbrush those real nice IAF colors on it...👍!

Konrad -
Yep I'm looking forward to this Jos 👍!

Kees Kleijwegt
Great progress mate! Following the build, I'm sure it's leading to another masterpiece! 👍

Urban Gardini
Great job so far mate!

James C
That sure is a clean looking build Jos👍

Daniel
Getting the popcorn for the painting! 👍 I hope the little antennas survive, I know they wouldnt last a day in my world 😄

Does anyone know if they could use both boom and drogue with those jets? Wondered as the recepticle still opens:
[img1]

Sarunas D
Awesome detailing 🙂

Slavo Hazucha
Already looks awesome in Vandy One outfit!😉 👍 Primer or full-black confirm the flawlessness of the surface and joins - that´s why I rarely use them! 😄

Jos Jansen
There you are right in Slavo, code word after the black primer is sanding, as smooth as a baby bottom. 😉

Jos Jansen
Thanks, Konrad, Kees, Urban, James C, Daniel, Suranas, and Slavo...!

@ Daniel...In my reference book that contains the entire history of the Kurnass, I have not seen that with the Kurnass 2000!

Spanjaard
nice work in removing those bulges. I feel your pain (had similar issue with some formation lights that did not belong to a F-4j...). I was also grateful that it was pointed out before it was too late.
it is going to be a fantastic Spook, by the way

Nathan Dempsey
Nice work with the bulge correction.
Question: Does this kit have the wing mounted TISEO camera fairing? I want to do an IDF F-4 at some point...

Patrick Hagelstein
Oh man, Jos! I feel ya.... Still, good save there! 👍 Luckily this happened in the primer stage and not when paint and other effects have been applied. 🙂

Jos Jansen
@Spanjaard...thanks, fortunately it worked out and it was not to late indeed 😄!

@Nathan...yes mate it's in the box, I decided not to place the TISEO because my reference Kurnass hasn't the thermal camera in place. Not all the late versions from them has this camera. My plan is to use this thing on a Zoukei-Mura F-4E project.

@Patrick...yeah, thanks to Jens Jensen my eagle eye! 🙂...

Nathan Dempsey
Thanks Jos! Those Hasegawa E models are getting hard to locate here in the US. At this point I may just wait for the ZM kit. I hear they are going to release a "late" E that includes the TISEO.

Gidge
Very nice! There is definitely a Phantom build in my future and I'm a sucker for Israeli markings. Will be watching this build closely.

Daniel
Perfect sand+rescribe Jo's, I am always amazed by the crispness you achieve on your models 👍

Mark D
Great, clean and precise build so far.

Slavo Hazucha
Belly first, building-up the tension in the audience..!😉 👍

Jos Jansen
Thank you very much, guys I really appreciate your kind words! I am ready with the first base color, one down..two to go 😄 !

Jos Jansen
I started with the second IAF scheme color, just what Slavo said earlier, the IAF color scheme is usual neat and clean not to much weathered and saturated, this takes a lot of work and dedication not to overspray it...😄

Nathan Dempsey
Looking good. The Gunze colors seem to be working well.

Jos Jansen
IAF colors still in progress...a three-color camouflage is difficult to airbrush 😄

Gidge
Coming together nicely

Slavo Hazucha
Slow-cooked´s best, and this one is picking up the colors nicely! 👍 Everything spot on - at least to my eye - tone & saturation, looking forward to the treacherous sand shades of the Sinai desert... 😉

René
Great idea, coloring these spoons!

Jos Jansen
Grab my Kurnass from my shelf of doom to participate in the Phantom GB this year...I need this kick in the butt to finish this gorgeous version of the F-4 family 😄 !

Sergej I
Sweet! Joining... again 🙂

Urban Gardini
So 2022 is the year of the Phantom here at Scalemates? That I've missed but it sounds like a good reason to build at least one as I do love that brick that proves that anything can fly if you add enough thrust...

Jos Jansen
Yes Urban...I would say the Phantom is probably the last iconic airplane ever build! See below the link to the Phantom GB:

Scalemates F-4 Phantom II Group build 2022 (1. Janeiro até 31. Dezembro, )

@Sergej...welcome aboard (again) 😉

Maciej Bellos
Fortunately Jos, you used the word probably, because the last iconic airplane ever built is definately the Tomcat 😄

Ludwig Micallef
Joining in 🙂

Spanjaard
Maciej was faster than 😄 😄

Patrick Hagelstein
Whoohooh!!! Group build is on!!! 😄

tyu
I hope you are having a bad case of poor white balance in your pictures else your paint used on the actual kit in picture #65 is VERY different to the one you used in picture #1: shows much more yellow/sand now than the actually correct brown. And those Popeye weapon pylons are definitely incorrect since the IAF used a modified pylon (TuAF as well).

Mark D
The colors is just the white balance ofcourse. The inner pylons of the F-4 in IAF service seemed indeed to be a bit longer than the standard USAF pylons, although I never saw someone with a ruler, however some one on britmodeller website took the isracast conversion set:
britmodeller.com/for..5047596-f-4e-kurnas/
Maybe this can help? Good luck with reviving this one.👍

Jos Jansen
Thanks Mark, I'm currently ignoring all comments from Hans Robben alias tye, if you can't give positive critical remarks and don't even post a single project or finished model you have no right to speak as far as I'm concerned. Thanks for the link, I'll take a look at this. The colors in the photos and certainly under the lights of the bench are very distorted... the Gunze colors are spot on.

Konrad -
🤘🏼! Well said👍🏻! Nice to see this bird back on the bench 😬

Erik Leijdens
Well said Jos! Your Kurnass looks great already and will definitely will be another stunner!

Patrick Hagelstein
Read that whole britmodeller article in one go, very interesting! Thanks Mark! 👍 Never knew those pylons existed. As far as criticism is concerned, I try to be a) positively critical to others and b) aware of my own abilities in regards to work and research performed by others. If I can't be of help to a mate, I just zip it… 😉

Dean Harpster
Nice work! Thanks for sharing your masking technique for camouflage painting. I'm going to try my first 3-tone camouflage schemes with an airbrush in this group build. Yours looks great so far! Your black basing technique works very well.

Jos Jansen
Kurnass project will be the first build of the shelf of doom to finish after I finish my Super Hornet...stay tuned mates! Glad to help you Dean to get inspiration for trying out another techniques you normally didn't know of. That's the great thing of this forum, helping out or get more mojo for modelling 😄!

Michael Kohl
Watching that one too. Looking good to me. Never saw one flying, just happen to pass by one on display on a traffic circle in Eilat or Beer Sheva, or..? (do not recall for sure)

Michael Kohl
PS: Just checked again. A Kurnass is gate guardian at Hatzerim Airfield (the location of the Israeli Air Force Museum, west of Beer Sheva), on a traffic circle in Eilat you will find a Kfir.

David H
And another I've missed , still better late than never, and that cockpit is looking fab.!

Jos Jansen
Welcome aboard Michael and David, this Phantom will be finished after finishing my F/A-18E Super Hornet. I'm currently moving to another city, so all projects will be on hold for the foreseeable future until I rebuild my new workbench!

Stay tuned mates...👍!

Spanjaard
step back in order to jump forward 😉