The SOVA-M kit was a solution to the problem posed for this version of the phantom. The US Navy J version had significant differences from the E model often featured at this scale.
However for the great panel line work and good representation that this kit offered, its still missing several components. These include the ECM pods on the intake shoulders and slats on the elevators for instance.
As with the other aircraft in my Jolly Roger project, I chose to weather the Phantom. This was done with marbling (which didn't show up well) and a bit of weathering on the decals. It makes the bird significantly more abused. Hopefully it doesn't look too smudged.
The decals themselves when on very well if a bit fragile. I had to be extra careful with the Microsol. The tail decal comes as a single piece OR as a section for those who, like me, airbrushed the black tail and yellow tip. Thanks designers for the option!
The canopy was an absolute disaster though. While I used the kit cockpit which was well, not the worst in 144th scale, but once in place the canopy didn't fit at all. I had to remove the seats, very tricky since the kit was already in the final dull coat, and trim them down significantly. Luckily maybe you can barely see them through the distortions of the really miserable piece. I had to hand paint the rails using reference photos as there were no panel lines on the canopy at all.
I used the kit air-to-air missiles but really should paid attention more to the pylons for the 2nd and 8th stations. The moldings is really terrible and I should have just scratch built something.
The landing gear also were nothing but stubs. I added wire for the actuators and some other parts. Shaved down the doors as much as possible but really I could have trimmed them much more to get anything close to a better thickness.
Scot R Thanks guys. She's a dirty girl to be sure, but I'm glad I have her in the line up. If I was a better modeler and more patient I would have spent a bit more time on the wheel bays and gear, but I couldn't find great reference photos. Probably should have bought a book. 🙂
14 April 2023, 14:48
Spanjaard You can use pictures of detail sets for bigger scales 😉
The third build to my Jolly Rogers project is the SOVA-M F-4J Phantom II kit. This build left me with a lot of hard choices to make. There are not many US Navy variants of the Phantom available. And I was not going to spend for the very pricy F-4N available from Tomytec (AC128) although its still on my wish list and I think still a better starting point. So I instead reached out to the community and located this kit and decals from Y-Kraft for VF-84 #212. I would like to be respectful to SOVA-M since this is a limited edition set, but it is not for the faint at heart. The build almost broke me on a couple of occasions. While the recessed panel lines and overall accuracy were what I was looking for, the mold was terrible. Several deformed parts and a lot of work to bring the parts into alignment. The canopy I will hope to source from an aftermarket vendor later on as the kit part had no details whatsoever. Still, I finished the build. I hope you like the pictures.
Andrew P
Scot R
