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Sebastian Meyner
Well done mate 👍

Jan Peters
Very nice Schwalbe!

Martin Oostrom
I have been drooling over this kit since it was new, so definitely following

Bozzer
Yeah, I agree with Martin. This has always been a kit, I wanted to get my hands on. I actually saw the built model, at Bolton IPMS in January. Those tyres are amazing and the vehicle itself, looked almost space-like.

Bozzer
This build excites me 🙂

Sergej I
Funny scheme 😄 Watching 👍

Augie
i'm in watching

David H
I'll try to make it an interesting ride !😉

Nathan Dempsey
Watching 👀 Great idea 🙂

Dave Flitton
Watching!!!!!!!!

Maciej Bellos
In!

David H
The more I look into this the more work I find. The tail decals are too large and are going to need some "creative adaptations " 🤣

David H
Oh, and welcome to the the party guys !!

Gareth Windsor
Pulling up a seat David. I love the story behind this aircraft. I spoke to someone who was there and apparently the Commanding Officer blew his top when he saw what the Americans had done to one of his aircraft.

Augie
Well 892 had done the tail of a US Marine jet earlier.;..

David H
😆😆if you look carefully at photo 5 , you'll see that all 3 were in various stages of , how shall we say, adornment 😂

Augie
This

[img1]

Maciej Bellos
Augie I think this Marine Phantom was disguised as a British one because the Royal Navy carrier it was on, had to dock in Malta. There would be a diplomatic incident if there where to be an American plane in Malta. So it was a necessity, hastily and crudely performed.

Augie
Yeah I know Maciej 🙂 I'd heard the plan was they were going to stick it below decks.. couldn't fit it so sprayed it.. much to the Marines surprise.

One of those banter stories that over the years that it was a tit for tat zapping.

Like this one [img1]

Which resulted in

[img1]

Augie
And Maciej, I fouind the story behind the US Marine phantom with the 892 sqn tail..

"Ark Royal cross decked with USS Forrestal in the Med about 1973, and had a couple of F4's from VMFA-531 operating for a few days. Came time to go into Grand Harbour and one F4 went U/S, and went U/S and went U/S as we came very close to Dom Mintoff's anti-USA dominion. The only solution was to strike the offending machine into the lower hangar away from prying eyes whilst we were in Malta.

After a couple of days it was snuck into the upper hangar and repaired by 892, who had this really nice tail fin colour scheme. A few days before we departed Valletta a light grey RN F4 appeared on deck to carry out ground runs, with brown paper stuck just where USMC markings might have been

Within 2 hours of clearing the harbour, VMFA-531 CO's personal airplane was returned with one of the best zaps: so good, he took it all the way back home"

Sorry for thread hijack.. 🙂

Mark
Great anecdote @Augie. 👍

David H
Anecdotes like this are always very welcome, and are one of the great things about this hobby.😎 👍🏻

Robert Podkoński
Thank you, Augie, for sharing this story...and these photos, I believe (and I hope) there will be someone to paint a Harrier model in this "special" livery 😄

Dean Harpster
That is a great story, never heard that one before!

Jos Jansen
Interesting stories(s)...watching this one David, great start! This Revell, a Hasegawa rebox is fun to build with almost no problems, only some intake fitting issues.

David H
👍🏻 No real issues so far apart from I think mine is a poor pressing, with plenty of flash and very soft to non existent and variable surface detail..

Thomas Bischoff
I join the show as well! Would like to build this also one day - hoping for a new mould however

David H
I'd love a new mould fg1/2 but sadly I don't think there's enough interest. But I could be wrong 🤞

Gareth Windsor
There's a whole conversation right there David. I think there is a want for the FG.1 (F-4K/M) which is why RAM and Master Decals produce the after market decals and newer companies like Reskits are making detailed Spey exhaust cans. The problem really is that almost every Phantom has the same airframe, so produce a regular Phantom and you've created and covered a lot of subjects. The Spey is just British (the Canadians almost bought it) and you might not get a big enough profit margin to warrant your efforts. Thank goodness Revell love a good re-box.

David H
The problem as I see it, whilst there may be interest , there's not a lot of variation in what can be done with markings etc, so it becomes a bit of a one trick pony… sadly, never mind thanks be to Revell for at least keeping this going

Gareth Windsor
I posted the question of a FG.1/FGR.2 on a "Models for Manufacturers" page. Apparently Zoukei-Mura SWS are looking into it as part of their Phantom series. No doubt driven by Tamiya's new 1:48 offering.

Sergej I
Technology and virus work hand-in-hand in favor of modelers! 👍 😄
So many new and top quality models that are coming out... no doubt that also a FG.X will see the light of the day... I mean, I would consider Avro Anson a far more niche model...

Augie
My only grumble, is that there are soo many that have not been done yet and yet we keep getting new molds where there aleady existing kits.. 🙁 I know seems ungrateful, but there are some really great aircraft everyone would love that just have not been done.

Sergej I
Augie, 3D printing tech is improving monthly. I could imagine that there will be business in selling 3D data for such airplanes. We already have that with scale figures.
Imagined in Australia, designed in Vietnam, downloaded and printed in Slovenija 😄
No more stash 😮

David H
And those that have tried (good on them for trying) have, unfortunately, made a right royal pigs ears of it with poor research. Luckily I got my cougar before kitty hawk went belly up ..

Dean Harpster
Amazing work on the cockpit, very impressive!

David H
Thankyou Dean , that's very kind.

Robin (WhiteGlint)
Looking very nice 👍

Neil
I agree! 🙂👍 Following from here 👀

Vincent
Great work until now!!!

Guy Rump
Looking good 👍

David H
Ok, I swear this model is jinxed. I'm now onto my third set of decals and third respray of the rear end. They have just not settled properly. I've now decided to spray the red and just add the omega as a separate decal.

David H
I've decided this one's going to the shelf for a bit. Let's start something new as this is killing my mojo

Michael Kohl
sometimes a rest on the shelf is necessary. We are looking forward for the final steps

David H
Cheers Michael. I'll give a couple of weeks 👍🏻

Gareth Windsor
So frustrating mate. I'm having a similar issue right now with one decal position on a wing. Grrrr 😖

David H
Thanks for the support mates 👍🏻 Much appreciated and will definitely help with fg1 part2 , return of the mojo ..

tyu
ResKit instructions are in my experience far from complete unfortunately. Just fit any ResKit item before completing kit assembly is my advise. I don't get what is wrong with the tail decoration size in pic 22/23: painted area seems the same as decal area. Are the Xtradecal items oversized? Or a case of decal application going wrong?

David H
Hi tyu, and welcome

The decals come as one piece with red white and omega and are way oversized. What you see is the decal AFTER I have cut it into 3 pieces and resized the individual parts by trimming the edges , then aligning them so they match each other again. When my third set arrive I'll upload a comparison picture.

tyu
Thanks for the answer, confirms my feeling about Xtradecal: most of the times they seem to be not quite correct, proceed with caution.

David H
So , this has been staring at me across the desk now for a while and I think I have enough desire to restart it. I've added photos comparing the fin decals as they come as as they should so you can see the mess that xtradecal have made of these.

Robin (WhiteGlint)
Your work on the tail really paid off. 👍

Thomas Bischoff
Glad you fixed it! Your experiences with the Xtreadecals made me buy yesterday from an IPMS mate the Aeromaster Decals.
Now I only need a nice FG kit 😊

David H
The rest of the decals aren't that bad with good opacity and register, but these tail flashes really are a deal breaker. Just shows poor research. TBH I have the hasegawa set for the Marines F4, and they "look" oversized as well, but I won't know until I try to use them.

Gareth Windsor
This popped up on FB today. We know the story by now, but a better colour picture of the "zap" CO's aircraft.
m.facebook.com/NavyW..type=3&source=48

David H
Yup, that's going in my library .. thanks for pointing it out 😁

Dean Harpster
I love this unique subject! Beautifully done, those exhaust cans look great and the colors are very striking. Glad to see your frustration with the tail worked out looking great in the end!

David H
Thankyou Dean, that's very kind of you. I've got my enthusiasm back a bit.. just finishing my lanc, then back to this properly

bughunter
Oh yes, looks nice 👍

Andreas Lux
This is a beautiful bird and a very beautiful model! Great Job👍

Torsten
😎

Munkyslut
That's fantastic!
My favourite Gerry Anderson TV prog back in the early 70's, such cool machines, the SHADO's, the Interceptors, even Strakers car

Konrad -
Nice 👍

Spanjaard
Fantastic job gorbygould!!! I have to remember your gorbygamy technique!

gorby
I'm glad you like it, I'm quite pleased how it turned out.
Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂

Kesa Tiho
That astronaut on the ground reminded me of something. I saw a clip from a movie about some war on the moon. It made me think about the fact that war on earth is bad enough but war in space is horrifying. When you get shot on earth you can hide in a ditch, take some rest, tend to your wound and either go back to base or into the fight. If you get shot in space and it penetrates your suit your done for, you just die, no amount of bandages can help you in the few seconds you have. The last thing you see is the vast emptiness of space and/or the person who killed you. Your body dosent even decompose into the earth. You just lay there till you get back to earth or incinerated. Wow, see gorby a good build makes a person think about more than what meets the eye, this build is a perfect example. It makes you think. 11/10

Roland Sachsenhofer
These pictures are the start of a model project that I had long shied away from with respect: the kit parts promised a lot of fun and a highly interesting aircraft as a result, but also a lot of 'toil and trouble'. On the other hand: the adventure simply beckons.... 🙂
Here you can see the parts in almost raw condition, I only started to detail a little with round and flat wire. The tricky question was how to treat the sensitive and already somewhat battered transparent part of the unusual cockpit glazing. I decided to cut off the two side parts, mask the inside and outside of the windows and only attach the central clear part at the very end. I like the pictures with the over-designed radial engine: what a power-to-weight ratio for these racing machines!
The last two pictures show the current state of construction and detailing.... Well, we'll see...

Robert Podkoński
Taking a first row seat!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Feel very welcome of course! 🙂

Roland Sachsenhofer
There she is now - at least on her own two feet, even if the appearance with engine and mighty cowling - not to mention the upper wing - will change a lot. The construction steps up to this point were accompanied by a lot of sanding, but the accuracy of fit turned out to be surprisingly good.

Skyhiker
Ok now that's one interesting plane. Certainly not a Laird a**. What a huge engine!

Roland Sachsenhofer
You're right!
A friend asked if I was building a flying washing machine - in fact, the empty mount for the huge motor still reminds me of it. All the more so now that everything is white: it went well with all the white that Martin Mars is currently applying and forms a good basis for the following 'lemon yellow'.

Skyhiker
Looks a bit like a cement mixer to me, but I can see a washing machine in there.

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you Skyhiker, Cement mixer - I'm laughing my arse off, the Solution is obviously an inspiring sight: how apt!
It's probably time for the massive cowling with the mighty radial engine to go on the front end. One step towards this is the colour yellow, which will remain on the wings and tailplane. I would like to use Gunze's 'Emerald Green' for the fuselage colour.

Roland Sachsenhofer
From this morning with freshly applied decals: everything seems to shimmer and shine appropriately - but it turned out that the decals are absolute 'self-destructors'. The ones you can see here on the model fortunately went reasonably well, but the large markings on the wings and fuselage were beyond repair: just crumbs. Now I'm looking for someone who might be able to make me some painting masks on a PC. Luckily I scanned the decal sheet beforehand.

Skyhiker
Gosh that's lovely.

Lex Jassies
I always enjoy the surprise you reveal to us. Often with a type of aircraft that I had never seen before. Please keep it up! 👍

Robert Podkoński
The colours are just psychodelic... I love it!

Ben M
Beautiful paintwork!

I don't know if this helps but I've sent scans of decals to stsdecals before and they were able to make replacements for the ones that shattered.

Lex Jassies
By the way, I really like that "Skyways Inc." logo

Roland Sachsenhofer
Hi mates, I'm sure you can imagine how motivating your reactions are - thank you very much! I'll try that, Ben, thanks for that too!

Juergen Klinglhuber
Looking gorgeous !! let me know if you are succesful with stsdecals, I might have other contacts too.

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you Jürgen! I've just returned from the 'Bavarian Modelling Days' in Erding - a most enjoyable modelling weekend! 🙂 STS really doesn't look bad, but I may have found a quicker way: A modelling colleague has taken on the task of creating adhesive masks for the outstanding identifiers on his PC. The way things are going, it should be possible to spray soon.
This morning I was able to brace the Super Solution using what I think is a good method: The flat wire is stapled into one hole with cyanoacrylate, the other end is drilled through so that the wire is fixed in place with a drop of super glue while one end is pulled hard. Once everything has hardened - with a spray from the 'activator' in seconds - you can let go - the wire tightens perfectly and all is well. Now all that remains to be done is to sand the excess wire and glue flat before applying a new coat of paint.

Ben M
Oh it's looking so good!

I use a similar approach to wires but I use fine rubber string. I learned from Elias K on here to drill the holes and then patch the finish like you're doing.

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thanks Ben! That sounds very interesting with the rubber strings! Can you explain that in more detail? I would be interested!

Ben M
I use a product called "ez line" - maybe the best example is on my tiger moth or deperdussin builds. It is a very fine rubber string. This makes it easy to stretch tight. I drill holes and use a drop of super glue with accelerator as you do. I can do one end, stretch it tight, then do the other. The only drawback is the kind I use isn't perfectly round which is visible when it's twisted. Maybe some other modeler can comment on a better (round) brand of fine rubber line.

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you very much for this explanation - it helps a lot and puts me on the right track: well, to my surprise, I'm already using the material! 🙂 I know it under a different name from "Uschi van der Rosten". Excellent when it comes to depicting round wire. You have already described the shortcoming of the material. Many thanks for this tip!

Roland Sachsenhofer
A couple of new pictures show the surfaces that have been sanded smooth again in the places where I fed the tensioning wire through the holes yesterday. Now it's time to paint and touch up again - then nothing stands in the way of applying the final markings!

Roland Sachsenhofer
There are also a few new features on the Laird Super Solution - especially the huge engine changes the appearance! But it looks good on the little thing, no more traces of 'egg-plane', but pure power!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Now it's almost done! I was able to paint the missing markings on the fuselage and the upper and lower wings after a friend generously created exact masks for me on his PC and cutting plotter - thank you very much!
I drilled out the headlights on the leading edge of the upper wing once, the pitot tube on the left strut is improvised from two pieces of silver wire and the peculiar cockpit canopy is mounted - now a few small touch-ups will follow, but the Super Solution is close to the finish line!

Ben M
It's looking great so far.

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you Ben!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Well, now it's actually finished: it was actually a very entertaining build, which required a bit of initiative, but was also very informative. I'm really learning to love the kits from Williams Brothers - the choice of models, the research into the original and the approach to realising it in plastic - it's almost all great enjoyment and leaves plenty of room for personal creativity!

Skyhiker
Really nice addition to your collection. Top results as always. Congratulations.

Robert Podkoński
I can only echo the words of Skyhiker, Roland. Chapeau bas!

Alex K
What a beauty! 👍 👍

Rui S
A Beauty indeed 👍

Dave
That's Beautiful

Lex Jassies
A real gem that exudes speed. Congrats with this beautiful result!

Neuling
Colorful build, well enacted against the dark background. 👍

Juergen Klinglhuber
Great result Roland - I hope you will bring this one to the show next week?
👍

Roland Sachsenhofer
Now it's time for me to thank you all for your interest, fine observations and positive comments! It is all quite appreciated and very motivating! Thank you very much! Jürgen, the "Super Solution" will be part of my exhibition 🙂

Robert Podkoński
Thanks for sharing. Fantastic photos. When I was visiting Duxford, this hall was closed for the most part of the day...I had only half an hour to walk around...

David H
I'll add more but I need to tidy these up first. These were mainly for details and colours as the planes are so tightly packed you couldn't get the whole airframe in 😫

Robert Podkoński
That's annoying indeed...

Andreas Lux
Hello David, thank you for sharing the many detailed photos with us 👍