Tamiya F-4E Phantom II
The front of the engines as they are in the kit
Drilling holes to assist in removing the moulded turbine blades
Cutting along the dotted line
All the moulded bits cut out
A 'crown' of plastic card is added to act as support for the new blades
Fitting the blades with some PVA glue
All of the blades fitted
Area to be removed from one of the fins on the center fairing
... and on the other
And the final product
The nose prior to surgery
First, take an impression of the hatch covering the hinge ...
... then stick the impression to some heavy foil ...
... and then CUT
The parts scuffed up a bit to make working with them easier
The radome with interior 'ribs' removed
The mounting plate for the gun and radar will need to be trimmed
Post-Op II
The nose dry fitted
The bulkhead and ribs for the radar bay ready for painting
The bulkhead showing the ribbing, the gun gas vent hose (which was later replaced) and the housing for the securing bar for the radome, made from a bit of syringe needle
The parts painted in a custom interior green mix
The parts test fitted into the nose section
The interior component of the gun gas vent scoop, before paint
The revised gun gas vent hoses are fitted to the bulkhead
The parts are glued into the freshly painted nose section
The nose closed up (only with tape for now)
The area to be removed for the seamless suckers is marked off
Comparison showing the sections that were removed
Fitting the splitter plate to the resin part required some serious clamping
The custom engine face was added to the resin
Looks quite good in the end 🙂
The PE document box from the Eduard interior set. This was my first ever PE part so fogive the sloppy bending 🙂
I decided to liven up the document box with a manual and a map. The image on the manual is the cover of Phantom Pilots Handbook, rediced to 4 mm wide. The map is a map of SE Asia, also reduced to 4 mm wide. A toothpick provides some scale
The document box with it's contents added
The right intake leaves a potential gap at the bottom
On the left, there was a large gap between intake and fuselage
Plastic card as gap filler
The left sanded and cleaned up
The right cleaned up
The burner cans qare smooth in the kit but in reference shots they have hundreds of little holes that act as air vents to cool the metal
so, using my Rivet-R Mini, I added random dimples in the plastic
before and after (with an ink wash to show the holes)
I also noticed a number of bands around each can so I added these with plastic strips
All together and ready to have the seams filled
I got myself some Master Models replacement barrels for the Vulcan. This is after 4 hours of construction!
Compared to the kit part
Front comparison
To fit them, a little work was required on the breech part as they are slightly longer and wider at the base
So the inside of the breech was ground down to make space
Compared to the completed kit part
And the parts test painted and fitted
The stand components
The spare is test mounted on the stand
The stand gets a coat of silver, folllowe dby some hairspray and finally some flat yellow. Then a gentle rub with some water to chip away for the worn look
The breech gets a dry-brush with some Mr. Color metalizer
All metalized up
And finally mounted on the stand
Yet another front view
Rear view
Used some lead wire to ad one of the cables.
The Eduard PE cogs after a spot of semi-gloss black
The business end. I see the paint has started to wear off. Where's my brush?
The cover over the radar scope on the rear panel is the wrong shape for an F-4E. So it needs to be removed and replaced
And it's GAWN
A replacement is fashioned out of heavy foil
Painted up using semi-gloss black and fitted to the panel
A bit more painting and some extra detail (T handles made out of styren rod and strip)
And fitted to the pit
With the other extras added, the rear pit is basically done. Time to move to the front
T handle for the front with toothpick for scale
T Handle fitted with a scratch built gear lever
The kit stick and throttle added
Some detailing on the bulkhead. The PE document box (right) and the scratch built emergency canopy actuator
All fitted in
Another shot of the fit. At the moment, it's soft-fitted as I want to do a bit more detailing
Коментари
2 6 May 2014, 09:34
Hayden Scott-Williams
Thanks Mike. It's a start, although there's a chance I won't actually be using these in the build. I've ordered some seamless suckers and it looks like they have their own engine face. I'll see which looks better and use that one
Thanks Mike. It's a start, although there's a chance I won't actually be using these in the build. I've ordered some seamless suckers and it looks like they have their own engine face. I'll see which looks better and use that one
6 May 2014, 09:57
Hayden Scott-Williams
Thanks a lot guys.
@Holger - Thanks for that. I often wonder, whenever I do this, whether the end result is really any improvement on painting the moulded kit parts
Thanks a lot guys.
@Holger - Thanks for that. I often wonder, whenever I do this, whether the end result is really any improvement on painting the moulded kit parts
6 May 2014, 12:26
Soeren R.
Looks like a lot of work and so far it looks really great! Can't wait for the final model 🙂
Looks like a lot of work and so far it looks really great! Can't wait for the final model 🙂
1 September 2014, 08:04
Hayden Scott-Williams
Thanks guys. I have a feeling this is going to be a loooooooooong build. i keep finding things I want to add 🙂
Thanks guys. I have a feeling this is going to be a loooooooooong build. i keep finding things I want to add 🙂
1 September 2014, 08:06