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Playing in the Sandbox Group Build Sept 1, 2024 - Jn 1, 2025

Tamiya F-4B Phantom

Peterpools

By Peterpools
in Non LSM 'WIP

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Clunkmeister

Clunkmeister

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OK, I admit it.  I’ve been picking away at my best friend Rick’s jet that he crewed back seat on in the Navy. 
VF-202.  He usually flew backseat for the CO in double nuts. 
He’s even a member of the Martin Baker Caterpillar Club, although he has little remembrance of the initiation after he said “I Do”. 
His stories of being backseat in the Navy during carrier quals are quite interesting..  he was literally a passenger right then.

 

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68EA5D47-8756-4534-A672-1C4A87EA8B23.jpeg

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JohnB

JohnB

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On 7/31/2021 at 9:21 AM, Peterpools said:

SUB ASSEMBLIES 7/31/21

 

Picking up the pace a bit and making steady progress again. As I am nearing finishing up the fuselage and getting close to the paint shop, my trusty compressor coughed, gave up the ghost and needed repairs. I ordered what I thought was the correct parts but of course they weren’t. What I actually needed was the regulator, pressure gauge and moisture trap (sold as a single unit) and cost nearly $105 plus shipping. With my Iwata Powerjet II compressor being well over five years old, my wife thought spending that much on parts was silly and I should just buy a new compressor, patch up the old compressor and to be used as a spare if needed. I have to be the luckiest guy in the world, as my wife Diane is a Princess for sure. I ordered a Sparmax TC-620X and it arrived yesterday: WOW , what a machine. A lot more bells and whistles then the Powerjet II and now completely set up and ready to go. In the meantime, I was able to use the Powerjet II on small sub-assemblies, where not being sure of my working pressure and moisture build up wasn’t a big concern.

Back to the build

 

While waiting for my new compressor, I built up both the nose and main gear assemblies, the four wing pylons, gear doors and all were first painted with MRP FS17875 … looked good in the bottle but after the paint had an opportunity to dry, the MRP paint (Interior White) looked a bit creamy / tan in shade. Jumping to the rescue was Tamiya X2 Gloss White; a pure glossy white – fitting the bill perfectly.

I edged all the doors in red, the numerous oleo’s where painted chrome and then spent a few hours applying Tamiya Black Panel Line Wash very carefully, so the gloss white stays gloss white.

Next up all the Sparrow and Sidewinder missiles. BTW, the Sparrow missiles seem to be exactly the same as the ones in the ZM kit and  virtually interchangeable, while the Sidewinders aren’t only by the means of attachment to the launch rails With a little work they would work as well as the Tamiya missiles. I dead read on one of the kit reviews, that the Missiles in the kit are from a previous kit and were not made specifically for the Phantom – doesn’t bother me a bit as they are just fine. By the time I finish up the missiles, I’ll be ready to jump back onto cleaning up the fuselage and getting ready it ready for priming. 

Thanks for checking in

Peter

Most of the smaller sub assemblies ready for installation when the time comes. All the parts are gloss white and the lighting created some shadows that cause some to look a bit gray. The canopy has bee masked and the interior details added as they will be seen through the closed canopy on completion.

b3XP5l.jpg

WK3OeQ.jpg

 

The gear - loads of parts - they all fit and the detail is amazing.

aXDlQP.jpg

Sidewinders from both kits: the four in the front (still missing the paint work on the tailfins). 

ugixwO.jpg

 

The Sparrows - almost all brothers

jQjopW.jpg

 

Paints used and to be used

bJppye.jpg

Pylons - ready to go. Please excuse the red tips on the rails. What is facing forward will be hidden by the Sidewinders so I wasn't as fussy as need be

GRdvng.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

Excellent!!! :)

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Peterpools

Peterpools

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IT’S PAINTING TIME

 

8/8/21

 

Finally, the Big F4 was rolled into the paint shop, with the masking completed, canopy in place, I gave the model one last going over, looking for sanding marks, hints of Tamiya Extra Thin and then a final wipe down with Isopropanol. The last remaining parts had been glued in place and yes, I have to admit, the kit isn’t perfect and there were a few items that needed attention.

I’ve attached a photo of how the nose cone is glued in place, using the key slots, the fit should have been perfect but for some strange reason, it wasn’t. There was a distinct step between the front wind screen and the nose cone requiring some sanding, Tamiya filler and all now seems well. Of course, we’ll see how it looks after priming.

Deciding to go with the closed canopy option, led to a few minor fit issues and after priming and the first color cotes, there was a gap behind the rear canopy, requiring the need of some filler: two treatments of Tamiya White Filler, three treatments of Vellajo Plastic Putty and it keeps coming back. My thought is the filler/putty is actually shrinking into a small void and filler isn’t going to do the trick.  At this point, I’m not sure what I should do including doing nothing as the gap does represent an actual edge of a major moving part. The other fit issue with the canopy, is the windscreen face is a bit narrower then the actual canopy. With the primer on and the Light Gull Gray done, I’m leaning to just leaving well enough alone and pushing on to actually finish the Phantom. It still eats at me at what caused the gap – Tamiya or me and my money is riding on me somehow; as a mild faux pau on the builder’s part. Once the semi-gloss black is done, I don’t think neither of these issues will be as much as I’m making of them – but who knows.  

Painting:

MRP Light Gray Lacquer Primer was applied at 15-18 psi working pressure with an Iwata Revolution AB and a .5 tip for bit wider spray pattern. Allowed to dry overnight and then the first color cotes:

Tamiya Gloss White went on first and after drying over night the MRP Light Gull Gray FS36440 was air brushed on.

It’s been nearly 18 months since I actually painted a model, with the vast amount of that time due to my cancer and then all the issues with my hands. In the end, I elected to keep pushing on, as finishing is so important to me. I was surprised how smooth the color cotes went on and then it was time to start tackling the masking for the rudder - oh my, was I out of practice. A simple task of masking the rudder took a good hour and a half and another 30 plus minutes to lightly air brushing on the gloss white (smooth as silk). All seems to have gone well and next up will be masking and painting the flaps gloss white, masking out the semi-gloss black upper nose area and lastly masking out the gloss red on top of the vertical stabilizer and wing tips and then the rear end and to play around with all the burnt NMF colors – going to be fun for sure.

I’m so glad I took the time, built and painted the gear doors and gear, pylons, missiles and drop tank, as all these parts are now ready to be installed when needed.

Thanks for checking in

Peter

 

hLQYTb.jpg

aiSwMB.jpg

lYWUJx.jpg

PBcHX6.jpg

 

 

 

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DocRob

DocRob

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Hehe, I like, what Tamiya is doing to us. They've developed an image, where they come away with flaws, because everybody thinks, they made the mistakes themselves :D. That's where quality pays.
The message is,  even Tamiya kits are not perfect, but the are up to a very high standard, as I could see with my KI-61 build and the recently finished Ford GT.

Anyway, your painted finish looks ultra smooth and clean and will look perfect in the end. As you said, the burnt NMF parts will be fun, I look especially forward to this part with my soon to start Kai-Phantom build too.

Cheers Rob

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Peterpools

Peterpools

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Rob

How true❗ Tamiya is surely the gold standard but not perfect but I'm willing to bet, I had a big hand in the two small fit issues.

Awesome work on your Ki-61, beautiful work for sure.

Getting ready to air brush on the anti glare panel today and then start the exhaust rear end area. I have no idea why I use so many Tamiya gloss paints as I am still going to over-cote everything with clear gloss and finish up with semi clear gloss; I guess it just how I always do things.

DN has new paint masks out for the ZM Kai Phantom - they do look mighty good. I have ZM's new F4E and it is on my build schedule hopefully for this.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

 

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DocRob

DocRob

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49 minutes ago, Peterpools said:

DN has new paint masks out for the ZM Kai Phantom - they do look mighty good. I have ZM's new F4E and it is on my build schedule hopefully for this.

Thanks for the info, but I plan to use the Cartograph decals, if this doesn't work, I have the DN-masks in mind ;). The glitter blue would be hard to mix with an airbrush.

Cheers Rob

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Peterpools

Peterpools

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Rob

Got ya. I'm on DN's email/newsletter list and this was from their latest email. You're right in that there is nothing like Cartograph decals and I'm planning on finishing up my ZM F4J along with the F4B and going with the Cartograph decals in the ZM kit as well.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

 

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JohnB

JohnB

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On 8/8/2021 at 1:55 PM, Peterpools said:

IT’S PAINTING TIME

 

8/8/21

 

Finally, the Big F4 was rolled into the paint shop, with the masking completed, canopy in place, I gave the model one last going over, looking for sanding marks, hints of Tamiya Extra Thin and then a final wipe down with Isopropanol. The last remaining parts had been glued in place and yes, I have to admit, the kit isn’t perfect and there were a few items that needed attention.

I’ve attached a photo of how the nose cone is glued in place, using the key slots, the fit should have been perfect but for some strange reason, it wasn’t. There was a distinct step between the front wind screen and the nose cone requiring some sanding, Tamiya filler and all now seems well. Of course, we’ll see how it looks after priming.

Deciding to go with the closed canopy option, led to a few minor fit issues and after priming and the first color cotes, there was a gap behind the rear canopy, requiring the need of some filler: two treatments of Tamiya White Filler, three treatments of Vellajo Plastic Putty and it keeps coming back. My thought is the filler/putty is actually shrinking into a small void and filler isn’t going to do the trick.  At this point, I’m not sure what I should do including doing nothing as the gap does represent an actual edge of a major moving part. The other fit issue with the canopy, is the windscreen face is a bit narrower then the actual canopy. With the primer on and the Light Gull Gray done, I’m leaning to just leaving well enough alone and pushing on to actually finish the Phantom. It still eats at me at what caused the gap – Tamiya or me and my money is riding on me somehow; as a mild faux pau on the builder’s part. Once the semi-gloss black is done, I don’t think neither of these issues will be as much as I’m making of them – but who knows.  

Painting:

MRP Light Gray Lacquer Primer was applied at 15-18 psi working pressure with an Iwata Revolution AB and a .5 tip for bit wider spray pattern. Allowed to dry overnight and then the first color cotes:

Tamiya Gloss White went on first and after drying over night the MRP Light Gull Gray FS36440 was air brushed on.

It’s been nearly 18 months since I actually painted a model, with the vast amount of that time due to my cancer and then all the issues with my hands. In the end, I elected to keep pushing on, as finishing is so important to me. I was surprised how smooth the color cotes went on and then it was time to start tackling the masking for the rudder - oh my, was I out of practice. A simple task of masking the rudder took a good hour and a half and another 30 plus minutes to lightly air brushing on the gloss white (smooth as silk). All seems to have gone well and next up will be masking and painting the flaps gloss white, masking out the semi-gloss black upper nose area and lastly masking out the gloss red on top of the vertical stabilizer and wing tips and then the rear end and to play around with all the burnt NMF colors – going to be fun for sure.

I’m so glad I took the time, built and painted the gear doors and gear, pylons, missiles and drop tank, as all these parts are now ready to be installed when needed.

Thanks for checking in

Peter

 

hLQYTb.jpg

aiSwMB.jpg

lYWUJx.jpg

PBcHX6.jpg

 

 

 

Coming along nicely Peter. :)

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JohnB

JohnB

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1 minute ago, Peterpools said:

Thanks John

Continued with more airbrush work today, adding a lot of the color trim. it's been a long time since I actually got this far on a build and feels so good

Keep 'em comin

Peter

I know what you mean Peter. That's my favorite part of a build. :)

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Peterpools

Peterpools

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TRIM AND COLOR

8/11/21

 

Pushing forward and starting to add some color and character.

The canopy still bothers me and I dropped in a bit more filler to hopefully clean up the two issues that I saw and time now to move on.

Flaps: I decided to paint them with Tamiya Gloss White, which is my go-to and favorite gloss white paint. Masking took a while; all went well and they do look white to be sure.

Wing and vertical stabilizer tips were up next, masking was a bit tricky but once done – no issues at all. Paint of choice: Tamiya Gloss Red and went on like a charm. All the red tips will need to be edged with black boarders, which will be decals added a little later on.

Anti-Glare panels - that extends from the nose tip to a way behind the canopy. I used Tamiya 2mm to frame out the area and then a boat load of Tamiya 18mm tape for all the masking. Paint of choice: Tamiya semi Gloss Black.

Up next: The exhaust NMF areas

Thanks for checking in

 

Peter

r2JYzQ.jpg

 

9gG4K1.jpg

Xkai8H.jpg

GrP4MN.jpg

 

IJY35d.jpg

 

 

 

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Kaireckstadt

Kaireckstadt

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Wow Peter! That’s awesome and absolutely flawless paintwork you are doing!

She will be a stunner in the end with the red and black eyecatchers on it. 

Painting is also my favorite work. Great that you have come thus far with the model.

Curious to see how your exhaust section will turn out. That’s one of the most complicated areas on an F-4, but makes a lot of fun. 

 

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Peterpools

Peterpools

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Thanks Kai,

Feels like I'm breaking new ground, as it's been so long since I've reached this stage of a build and glad to say, no issues so far. I'm right with you and today the fun starts on the exhaust rear portion of the F4 - which I'm guessing is going to take quite a few painting sessions to work out and finish. The more I'm thinking about it, Tamiya must have been assuming the stabilator assembly being movable would make life easy. I glued mine in place as moving control surfaces are only going to scratch and mare the paint every time the model is moved after constructions passes the painting stages. I still think I would have preferred an assembly method somewhere in between the traditional way add adding them after painting and how Tamiya did and where the anhedral would be self locating - talk about laziness!  

Keep 'em comin

Peter

 

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