CANicoll

Thanks, Peter. Have to agree with you. Spending hours upon hours just doing stencils is sapping my will. Trying to alternate working on other parts - which does help. I wish I would have started this build a month sooner, however. Not sure I would tackle the stencils again in 1/32 scale although I cannot imagine doing them on a 1/48 build. And it is amazing how they look on the aircraft. I did screw up a few stencils, mostly folded over and I could not correct, and I tore them. One wonderful aspect of the stencils is they are very thin. It only takes a few second in the water to loosen them. And I got the colors wrong on some - white on the brown and black on the green which I mostly corrected. The stencil sheet diagrams are fairly generic as the diagrams do not match the wing/fuselage configuration I have so where the stencil sheet called for stencils to be placed on certain panels/access ports, some of those don't exist on my aircraft. Also, the stencils in white are extremely hard to see and the number call-outs are not always clearly placed. It takes a while to see exactly where the decal is, and then CAREFULLY cut it out. On some of the stencils there is not a lot of room between them. Something else I learned, some of the decals are fairly long, and better cut into 2 or more pieces. I guess what I'm saying is that in addition to the sheer number of stencils, it is a bit of a chore to 1. find the right one, 2. ensure the proper color, 3. cut it out, 4. put it in place. Time consuming so I've taken to get three or four ready at a time Put another 30 or so on the wings and started on the right side of the nose... I really want to get to those Sidewinders!! Hope you and Diane are doing well.

Art, Congrats on the progress on the house! This is awesome and thanks for sharing - very cool to see your house coming together.

Making progress on the stencils and other wrap-up details. Stencil count is nearly 100 at this point. Got the wings to approximate the 12-degree angle but they are dry fitted at the moment. Wrapping up the left side stencils before moving over to tackle the other side. The bottom may just have to wait. Still need to assemble the sidewinders. Each only needs the front four fins attached, but the attachment point is small so they have to be attached carefully. Won't be fun... Seats are in (just placed) but looks like there is sufficient clearance for the canopy to be closed - but the canopies will be open - and the windscreen to cover the HUD. More to come!

Thanks Peter! You are always good with an encouraging word!!

Great start, Peter! The cockpit is looking terrific, those small details are amazing.

Hey Peter, Yeah, I know I was going to miss the July 3 deadline, but I'm going to keep going. The stencils are a build onto themselves. I have applied 61 stencils on the left side of the fuselage alone, and I messed up 3; I still have a few more to do. Thinking about just doing the one side and calling it a day. Plus, the wings, etc. Starting with the AN/ALQ. The fit is good (just sitting there here). You don't see the seam at the bottom of the intake. (Ugly, gotta fix that). And on to the stencils. Canopy is just fitted - will be displayed open but it doesn't stay that way on its own. BTW, Carl's suggestion to use the Gundam markers on the canopy was spot on. Made a huge difference doing the edges before attaching to the frames. Have not applied a clear coat over the decals yet.

Minor update for tonight, but should make a lot of progress over the weekend. Got the AN/ALQ-87 ECM pod assembled/painted and stenciled. The mounting to the aircraft is not exactly clear but based on a few photographs it looks like it was winched pretty tight against the fuselage, or tight enough, see JV551 below. Also noted that the JV aircraft did not carry the 'Slime' formation lights: This was found on a posting at the other website. It was noted that application was highly variable and many F-4E's did not have them. Engineering Change Proposal 852S1 (T.O. 1F-4-776) introduced the so-called slime lights as a production feature with Block 45 (and subsequent) F-4E models. First fielded between mid-1970 and 1971. First Phantom II with production slime lights: F-4E-45-MC, 69-7579. Notice No slime lights above, but they are on the aircraft below: Also how tight the AN/ALQ is attached to the airframe. The Reskit AN/ALQ-87 ECM pod is very detailed however I did find one minor issue: The instructions call out decal #9 to go on the long nose cone. Except on the decal sheet, there are no #8 or #9 decals, something I did not notice until I was at the end of decaling. I emailed Reskit and within 12 hours had a response that they had caught the error and current kits have the correct decal sheet. They are posting one to me as well. Super customer service! Fixed my earlier miss: More to come!

Thanks Peter! There are still SOO MANY to go.I've hit the pause button on the stencils for a bit so I could work on finishing the cockpit/canopy, the resin tires, the AN/ALQ, getting the right angle on the wing tips and started looking at the Sidewinders. This group builds end July 3, 2025, right?

Martin, Happy Birthday! Good to have you here and thanks for working for us. Many happy bdays to come!

I received a note from Debbi Corley this morning saying that AAA Hobbies is closing and she is in the process of shutting down the website. Sounds like all of her husband's products are no longer available. She is trying to find a buyer for all of his equipment, molds, etc.

Carl, thank you but I'm going to keep up with the kit one for now. I appreciate the offer. If it was more noticeable I'd jump at your offer. For the life of me I can't think of how the scratch got there but oh well! I just looked at the canopy after a second Future dip and while I see the scratch there, I don't think I'm going to mess with it, as Rob suggested. Part of it will be covered by painting. Like you, I may display with the canopy up, but may display it down as the canopies are pretty clear.

Carl, The Canards are an inspired choice and definitely add to the uniqueness of the aircraft. Nice job on the missiles - I'm looking forward to seeing how you finish them. The canopy fit is frustrating as that is so much a focal point of the aircraft but you did a terrific job on the sprue attachment and the polishing. The seats look terrific, especially how the belts sit differently on each seat. The molded-in seat belts on the plastic or resin seats just doesn't look right.

Made a bit more progress on the nose stencils (over 30 of them just on the left side!!) as well as touching up the canopy framing and matching the fuselage camo pattern. With the canopy piece in place and I notice there is a huge scratch on the side of the front canopy - lower left corner. Dipped it in Future again and it looks better but will see how it turn out when the future dries. Overhead view. These are the kit pieces after an initial Future dip are extremely clear. I may have an errant stencil in there - white stencils are for green backgrounds. Black is for tan/brown backgrounds.

Using the kit pieces for the canopy did some painting of the frames while the Future-dipped clear pieces dry. There is still a bit of final painting to be done on the center piece to match the fuselage camo line, but while that dries, worked on some of the nose stencils. Should make more progress this weekend.

John, Great modulation on the OD, nice work! Chris

That must have been very cool to see.

Carl, excellent idea about the sealant. I was very careful about how I clipped the sprue attachment point but I like your idea of cutting it a bit long then carefully sanding it down. I'm not as clever with the styrene bits so that would take me a fairly long time to fix. I really am trying to hit the deadline, even if not with the full armament build out.

Looking Good John! What seatbelts did you use? Great job on the props - not sure I would have taken that on. Well done.

Following on from Peter's problems with his 3D printed seat, my attempts to separate the clear resin canopy pieces from their pour blocks was 95% successful. Yeah, not 100% successful. Ugh I got nearly all the way around, using my small razor saw when at the very last connection, a small part of the canopy frame snapped off and I have no clue where it went. and what it SHOULD look like on the other side: SOO CLOSE!!!! ARRGG. The windscreen also seems a bit out of whack as well, running just a bit long (the windscreen rear needs a little bit more trimming). Will have to see about may be adjusting the HUD which may sit a bit proud, for both windscreens. Compared to the kit piece: I may end up just using the kit pieces. Here they are test fitted: Lots still to do.

Wow, the stonework is awesome as is the painting/washes - beautiful work!

I still have a bunch of the Model Master Acryl paints, thinner and cleaner. They were terrific!

Peter, That issue with wings and flaps is a strange one. Like you said, they are not posable, so why not just mold them in? And we really don't expect to have major fitment issues with kits these days. Not everyone will be at Tamiya-level of precisions, but decent fit should be expected from a major brand. Good luck!

Thanks Peter! I'm making slow but methodical progress on the stencils. OMG why am I doing this to myself!!! Taking it stages so doing a little bit at a time.

Carl, Thanks for pointing that out. I originally had missed that so am planning on going back and repainting that and a couple of other places. I have to do some alterations to the side pieces to allow the burner cans and tubes to slide in anyway. There is a tab on the inside I need to remove from those pieces.

Thank you, Martin. Much appreciated. Started on the stencils for the wings and put the Sparrows in place for the moment.