SapperSix

Work has been getting done in between so many other home projects. The main push to get all modeling operations inside and out of the garage been slow. The focus being long winter day building sessions with consistent spray temps. And therefore, greater quality production. In the mean time, little things, lots and lots of little things are getting done on the Phantom. The Flaps have been installed after being cut out of the wing and filled. Over all very smooth with a few edges to be touched up. I have heard a pretty fair amount of input from maintenance folks for this plane. And in those stories I have converted one story of the the left flap. For instance......Apparently a left flap was being fixed/replaced and required painting upon completion. The spray gun was put on the wing and quickly malfunctioned, leaving a blotch of the once contained dark green just above the flap. As the paint rolled towards the gap between the flap and wing, crew's used their hand and towels to stop the mess. Another paint gun had been set up with the medium green for other repairs. So medium green was used on the flap to get the job done. And there you have it.... Working very hard on tones of color in the right places... The fuselage seem next to the right engine split upon installation. Messing with it I messed up the NMF on that seem. It will have to be fixed. Getting on all the details on her tennis shoes. Painting and using foil to replicate colored hydraulic connectors and adding placards. The camera's seeing the light of day for the first time in a long while. More color gradations along the tan on the fuselage. Also getting the nose gear detailed. I used foil on the strut after its success on the tail feathers. The remainder of the protective cotton will be removed as I go around the horn and add additional parts. I am declaring the tail complete. I have worked to make this very different from the normal "clean" tail. The arresting hook is now installed sans retention band. I will add that as one of the last little fiddly pieces. The custom made rivets on the tail walk a bit. Luckily it is hardly noticeable unless one is looking from that very view. Which coincidentally is when I noticed it. Pictures seem to really make me notice all the little imperfections. I will look at how to finish the tip of the hook. I am guessing that it smashing in to the carrier deck at speed would give it a uniquely worn tip. Speed breaks, and all other access doors have been set and are now being detailed. Speed Break internals set to initial fit and now being weathered. Thanks for stopping by.

Thank you!

I have a "D" for you John. Pay for shipping and its yours.....

Happy Birthday John! All the best! Did Tamiya send you a birthday card?

Both sides of the canopy ready to go. The main mask is very light compared to the Tamiya tape. If I do it right it should be reusable. This is important as there is another Phantom to spawn from this... In the ancient and dark recess of my mind, I remember doing this with a testors paint brush and a 1/4oz Pactra paint bottle in about 15 minutes......We have moved the marker to be sure. I cut the ailerons off the wing and filed all ends with putty/plastic, measured to fit the newly created gap in the wing. The old girl has been flown...Trying to apply many new lessons and balance it at the same time. Weathering is your friend....but that dude will sucker punch you if you go to far.... The gap in time on this project has allowed for many lessons to be etched in my brick like mind. Other lessons may have never penetrated and others have since left. An excellent example being how I did the NMF on my tail feathers. I had to go back and remind myself how I did this....Washes to be applied. A study on the affects of J-79 exhaust to follow in the coming days. The decals that came with the the ALQ-101 were dang thick. I haven't attempted to adjust that issue yet, but its coming. So many details. Its really nice to see this getting close to completion. Worlds away my most ambitious model.

Thank you Gaz. You are so very correct sir. Excellent advice to be sure. This model has been, and continues to be, a journey. Along the way I have learned much. Of note are the many kind deeds and excellent advice I have received from others. Most of the finish work is taken from examples by folks on this site. I might have fixed the tail without stencils, if it doesn't work, I have a plan...... I hope you folks down under can catch a break soon. I have flown to Australia many times. Never have I landed in that plane. I would like to visit this time without bouncing off the fine Australian outback first (I was going to say Autralian bush but the censors might have something to say. ). I have a few friends in the ADF and RAAF that I will be visiting, god help my liver. Jeff....dude....Thank you for your kind words. Today I actually read this entire thread from the start, I have never done that as odd as it may sound. I hit and run so to speak. I am home tons more for sure and for that I am ever grateful. Being less busy doesn't seem to have arrived as of yet, I am sure its in the mail. For the longest period I didn't know how to act or what do with all the time I suddenly had..... Thanks Harv. I am glad you clarified it was F4's you like dirty...I have heard some questionable rumors about you. Something about a police chase, a few liters of fine, naturally processed go juice and some questionable women. But I am sure it was just.....a rumor. I do think it odd that your picture is in the Post Office though.... More to follow my good man.

The Devil is in the details......And its the details that we are working on. I spoke to the person for whom the build is being done. we made some decisions as to the kind of detail the model will have. Based off photo's I had thought about not doing a panel wash as the Phantom didn't seem have pronounced panel lines. However, the panel wash/line detail will appeal to the eye of the owner and will hopefully inspire discussion about the plane and its mission. A bridge in the form of a model that will allow the driver to talk to his company about flying the plane and its missions. And so I moved forward. The Revell kit doesn't come with the canopy seal/foot step/ledge (I have no idea what its called.) in the cockpit. The top portion came with GT resin Cockpit kit. The Photo etched sides came from the F-4C Eduard Interior set as its all I could find. The tabs on the ledges helped to level the piece. I just cut the tabs off after the cement set and sanded. Take care to not put cement on the tabs. They aligned well with some miner adjustments to the forward cockpit ledges A shot of the photo etched sides after they were installed in the back seat left. Lots of detail as sub-assemblies are introduced. All four ledges installed and painted flat black. The ejection seats are still to be finished. They are not glued in position just yet because of it. This is the last good picture of the Aux Air intake internals. I cant help to feel I spent a ton of time on something few will know about or see. As they say, "I know its there.".... The wing has been washed and the fuselage has not as of yet. I tried to make it subtle, but still create detail. The tail decals are creating a bit of friction. A couple things, none too good, added up to make things a bit complicated. When I air brushed the tail it seems that I embedded some very fine granules in to the paint. The decal also suffered from not wanting to sit. I have been fighting decals a bit on this build. I am using some three separate manufacturer decals sets. If you look at the decal number 6 on the tail you will see that it has extra material on the while of the decal. The edges of the number 6 are artificially built up as if the print device put ink upon ink right on the edge of said decal. At this point I know I need to move to masking/painting the tail information. I have planned to do so, just not on this model. I will have to fix the tail decals....just going to think on it a bit.

I am looking forward to this build with this kit. As I have a few German kits waiting in the wings, I am wondering what brand/color Green are you using for the camouflage? I would like to use something very similarity for a Panther Kit I have.

I only do bronze after my one experience with SAC. Definitely use bronze....(Aerocraft)

When I saw this post I was thinking John = Corsair post. And that quickly went to"Is there a version of the F-84 Corsair that I am not aware of?". I mean, if anyone knows...Its John. Then my brain caught up to the fact that John is building the F-84, nothing at all to do with said Corsair...Man this world has gone mad..... I am not sure what to believe at this point....

Great idea and a great build! The weathering looks damn good. I have never done a winter subject. This build certainly gets one to thinking.

Hear Hear!! Every transaction and interaction has been impeccable. Old guys rule.....

Jeff, Thank you for the link. It is a massive wealth of information. I have spent a ton of time there and did my interior based off many of the pictures. I continually get lost in places like this. I go to look at a part color or position and divert for an immeasurable amount of time. My models take longer now as I wonder about in the information mass. Good stuff!! -S

Thank you Rob. Its a great kit.

Lots of work to report. The interior of this model is fantastic. Now I must say I am no expert. But this things builds itself. The parts are crisp, the plastic is strong. Lots of detail still to add, weapons, food, ammo, etc. Trying to work on a decent wood grain sans decal. That is tonight's goal....learn to wood grain. As I built, I began to realize that much of my detail work was soon to be buried by further armor plate or gear. So my pictures are a lot about capturing what I did for the next 251 I build. The first time the 251/1 and the Gun have been so close since I started. I am trying to build the kit in such a way that I can entertain multiple options, in terms of set up and layout. This for the impending diorama. The Gun can be unlimbered or in towed position fairly easily and gently. As for the 251/1 focus on making sure the doors open and such has been sweet. The kit is designed with this all in mind so it made things easy. I have offered only one modification in replacing the plastic hinge pins with a small cooper wire. But again, I am no expert in 251's. I did have to lightly fill some seams. Getting the top half of the hull to match up to the lower took some time and patience. I am beginning to work out the details for the eventual diorama. I have a couple of the Verlinden German Pillboxes and therefore the luxury of a choice. So as I build the setting might become less murky.

Ernie , Hubert et all, Thanks for the information as I have to admit the wiring has been the biggest "thing" for me when I think about WW1 planes. Well......that and some of the camouflage patterns. I bought a couple of cheap bi planes to start in on. Theory being I don't want to do all my learning in the middle of a Wing Nut build. I will add this thread to my WW1 build stock pile. -S

Looking really, really good Harv!!

So I have been catching up on stuff. And as usual there is a ton of fun and interesting builds. During this time I have been able to wipe the dust off some projects that have been sitting. As luck would have it I was able to procure a 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D. So naturally I start getting ready for that build. Looking at other builds, all that good stuff. Upon doing so I noticed that our man JohnB has cornered the market on the F4U. Holly mackerel man, John you're a beast. I have no excuse not to make a decent model with all his examples and information. I presume John is deeply invested in polystyrene futures as they relate to the F4U. Job well done without question. I don't think a hall of fame exists in this regard. But if it doesn't, JohnB should be the first person to be called for induction and or outright ownership.

Hell man this is awesome!! I am sorry I am late to the build. Excellent job and I am learning a ton. Between the comments and build this is gold. Good stuff Ron, as always.

As I have been working on the interior I realized that I have been accidentally used desert yellow instead of dark yellow.....So I will see what I can do but its likely I will finish the interior using desert yellow and shift to dark yellow on the exterior.

Biggtim...as I was looking at the link you provided, I also found spray booths. Man have things moved along since the last time I checked. My mind, my vision, of what spray booths are is easily 10 - 15 years behind reality. It seems that I can get very nice spray booth for little more than what it would cost me to build from scratch. My prior life would keep from experiencing "normal life" or even caring about current pop culture. Hence years would pass and someone would talk about a popular movie that I had never heard of. Reason being I was not "connected", I might as well been on an island. The good thing is I now have a wealth of good movies and music to catch up on. This is another one of those moments in that I had no real idea of how much time had passed since I last looked at hobby spray booths. I am probably not making much and buying it outright as it seems to make more sense....Although Amazon might prove to be a bit tricky during this time.

Desmond, I presume you will have fun with any of those kits. However Tamiya, by in large, are smooth builds. Enjoy the new medium. I became better at planes when I learned armor. Enjoy!

When you want to do some funky German scheme an open pallet is a joy. Much agreed!

It wont be long before I am swearing up a storm when I start messing up parts. I am glad to know you have also used one.

No Worries Doc. I found it humorous that worlds apart we found the same solution to form handles. As you described it, I was able to visualize it succinctly. I hadn't thought too much about the blade. Looks like I will need to revisit that one. Much appreciated.