F-4J Phantom II

David Lengyel
I dryfit a lot and try to improve the fit before I reach for the glue. I was pretty pleased with my spine insert fix, the part that usually gives people the most grief. The cockpit sill is another common problem area that was a fairly easy fix. I separated the intake trunks and added them to the intake shells separately which made seam cleanup and painting much easier. The part that gave me the most trouble is the outer intak shell-fuselage joint. Like most manufacturers, they put the separation on a panel line, but unlike Tamiya, they fucked up the fit. If the outer skin is aligned properly you end up with a gap at the bottom at the Sparrow wells. Also the edge of the parts is very 'soft' so instead of a clear panel line you end up with a v-groove… and that's an area that is covered with rivets. I think I'm over the hump now and once I sort out the other LE flap it's going to go together easier from here on. Look through my previous posts, I've shared some of my fixes here.