Done - F-4EJ Kai Phantom - The Last of it's Kind ZM 1/48

[DocRob]

Meanwhile, I continued with the Phantom applying the base colors onto the fuselage and lower wings. There is not much to show, as the upper and lower color are not much contrasting to the plastic, so no pics.
The good news, the used Tamiya LP colors sprayed expectedly smooth and fine. It's the first time, I use matte shades of the LP range, but I have no complaints. The colors used were Light- and Dark Ghost Grey (LP-36 and LP-37).
After drying, there will be an extensive masking session for the black wings, canopy area, nose  cone and tailwings.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

Whoosh, change of plans. Instead of torturing myself with masking for the blue wings and cockpit section, I tried to be a bit meaner to myself and start with the canopy.

At first I found some tiny scratches on my just unpacked closed canopy and then another larger one. I decided to build the cockpit closed, so it was time for wet sanding with 8000 grit paper and then polishing with the Tamiya polishing pastes.

The masks I use are from NewWare and include three sets, for the inside, for the seals on the outside and finally the exterior color.

 

First I applied the inner masks with the exception of the to tint windsreen

Next I applied the outside seal masks

and covered the main canopies with liquid mask, inside and outside.

Then sprayed the windscreen with thinned Tamiya clear blue from the inside.

Applied the inner windscreen mask for protection.




And finally sprayed the outside seal yellow and the inside dark sea grey.

Next, the masks will be removed and the canopy installed, after inserting the bang seats and some more cockpit detail and then masked again from the outside with the third set of masks for the exterior color.
I'm lucky that I studied in a university for some years, as the process and the mistake free processing made my head swirl . The masks fit and adhere perfectly and are a definite recommendation. Newware has other sets, without the sealing, if you prefer using the provided decals or decide not to depict the seals.

Cheers Rob

 

 

 

[Martinnfb]

Ok Rob, now you’re pushing it  ,  Thank you for the detailed tutorial, finishes on a complex, modern jet canopies are tricky to render in a realistic fashion, you’re making it look easy. 
can’t wait to see it unmasked 

 

Cheers

Martin

[DocRob]

2 hours ago, Martinnfb said:

Ok Rob, now you’re pushing it  ,  Thank you for the detailed tutorial, finishes on a complex, modern jet canopies are tricky to render in a realistic fashion, you’re making it look easy. 
can’t wait to see it unmasked 

Thanks Martin, it's not unmasked yet . The good thing, If I fail with the closed canopy, I can use the open version for a second try.
Generally, I have to say, the clear parts are not the strong side of the kit. details are softer in parts and there is a slight blur, even more noticeable in the one piece canopy, not to mention the scratch. I've seen worse of course, but I expected a bit more, given the quality of the rest of the styrene.
The softness is noticeable on the canopy sides, so maybe ZM made a compromise with preventing a middle seam in mind.

Cheers Rob 

[DocRob]

Bad things happen, in modelling and otherwise. When I peeled off the masks first thing in the morning, I was shocked, how well the liquid mask stuck. It was from a new bottle of Mr. Masking Neo, stuff I used before often. I had to use flattened wooden toothpicks to remove the gum and after an hour of frustrating peeling, the canopy looked like a total mess, scratches and smears everywhere, unusable. 
First, I thought about using alcohol, not for me, to clean up, but fear to smear the color and still had to deal with the scratches.
Miraculously my eyes went to the Tamiya polishing set, still on my bench and I tried it on the canopy from coarse to fine and lastly finish. It worked. The colors were not smearing and I removed all the scratches and residues that way, indeed a miracle and made my day.
This stuff is a phenomenal canopy saver, which is highly recommended by the way.
Lessons learned, the liquid mask seems to bite into the polished canopy surfaces and I will use Kabuki to fill in the final masking from the outside for the black exterior color.

Cheers Rob

[Martinnfb]

Well, that sounds scary, but the results looks outstandingly shiny and crisp. 
Good show Rob 

[DocRob]

3 minutes ago, Martinnfb said:

Well, that sounds scary, but the results looks outstandingly shiny and crisp. 
Good show Rob 

Thanks Martin, it was, after half the peeling was done, I was about to bin the thing, but I too much want to finish the Phantom. 
The good thing, I learned a lot again, this time about scary things like sanding canopies and later polish them. These Tamiya polishing compounds are so good and real canopy savers.
I will try their polishing wax, which is still in the mail somewhere, on the finalized canopy outside for a high shine result.

[Bomber_County]

Stunning canopies Rob, we cannot buy the Tamiya polishing compounds in the UK for some unknown reason. I’ve tried every where. If anyone knows this side of the pond……please…… I need them to polish the ZM P51 canopy as there is a tiny seam down the middle of it, been using that as excuse not to get back it…

[DocRob]

1 hour ago, Bomber_County said:

Stunning canopies Rob, we cannot buy the Tamiya polishing compounds in the UK for some unknown reason. I’ve tried every where. If anyone knows this side of the pond……please…… I need them to polish the ZM P51 canopy as there is a tiny seam down the middle of it, been using that as excuse not to get back it…

Thanks Phil, Amazon.co.uk has them listed. They are not from UK vendors though. Is that a problem?
I buy from big A's German-, Spanish-, UK- and US-site and had only some probs with the US based side. I hate to admit my dependency of Amazon, but retail isn't the strong side of my island .

Cheers Rob

[BlrwestSiR]

Nice save on the canopy Rob. Good to hear you didn't have to strip the while thing and start over. 

When I built my F-4D, the canopy had been sitting out for a while and was covered in dirt and overspray. I thought it was a goner but ended up cleaning it off with Tamiya's lacquer thinner. 

Not only did I get all the paint off without it ruining the plastic but it ended up smoother than before. 

The thinner does work as a polishing agent but a very fine one. 

Carl

[DocRob]

Thanks Carl, I never would have thought, that lacquer thinner isn't causing any damage to the clear plastic. Good to know, my clear canopy toolkit expands momentarily .

Cheers Rob

[GazzaS]

Very nice save, Rob.  The result looks super crisp and clean.

[BlrwestSiR]

1 hour ago, DocRob said:

Thanks Carl, I never would have thought, that lacquer thinner isn't causing any damage to the clear plastic. Good to know, my clear canopy toolkit expands momentarily .

Cheers Rob

Rob, both Tamiya and Mr Color lacquer thinners are cool enough that they won't melt the plastic. Don't try it with of their Tool cleaners though as that stuff is much stronger. 

To be safe I'd recommend trying it on a spare part first or piece of sprue. 

[GusMac]

5 hours ago, Bomber_County said:

Stunning canopies Rob, we cannot buy the Tamiya polishing compounds in the UK for some unknown reason. I’ve tried every where. If anyone knows this side of the pond……please…… I need them to polish the ZM P51 canopy as there is a tiny seam down the middle of it, been using that as excuse not to get back it…

Hi Phil, I got my Tamiya polishing compounds from Wonderland models in Edinburgh a few years back. Don't know if they still have them though as I've never bought from them online, only in person when I've been passing.

[Bomber_County]

19 hours ago, DocRob said:

Thanks Phil, Amazon.co.uk has them listed. They are not from UK vendors though. Is that a problem

Thanks Rob / Gus, I’ll try both places for the compounds. I was told by a LHS, albeit run by a real curmudgeon that the compounds are banned in the UK……not sure if that’s true…….

[Peterpools]

Rob

Nice save on the canopy and the glass looks absolutely perfect. Thank you for the "How To" as it will come in very handy down the road. I've lived through the Phantom canopy issues in the past and now try to deal with the canopy as a removable part, just in case of he dreaded interior staining at the very end of the build.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[DocRob]

2 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Nice save on the canopy and the glass looks absolutely perfect. Thank you for the "How To" as it will come in very handy down the road. I've lived through the Phantom canopy issues in the past and now try to deal with the canopy as a removable part, just in case of he dreaded interior staining at the very end of the build.

Thanks Peter, I almost forgot the fogging issue due paint or whatever, thanks for the warning. I will try to only glue the canopy in place on two or three tiny dots, if I need to pry it open. I will use Tamiya Lacquer and Lacquer gloss, so I want to be on the save side.

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Rob

best way to avoid what we went through. Fingers crossed and I'm sure all will be perfect

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[DocRob]

I went through some troubles on the way to finish the cockpit and have to rant a bit.
I bought some Kits-World 3D decals for the seatbelts and other bits and found that there is no manual whatsoever supplied. I tried to assign the Kits-World decals according to different Eduard manuals and failed. What is this company thinking. What might work on a Fokker Dr.1, is a no go on the delicate multi part belt system, like the Phantom's.

I assembled one with a fantasy layout and decide later after touch ups, if I can get away with it under the closed canopy. The other option is to loot my -B Phantom's resin seats, but I guess, it's a different type. As I want to go on with the build, buying new seats is no option, as they take minimum two weeks to arrive here. 

Another rant is directed to Zoukei Moura. There is no seatbelt option in the kit, no decals, no PE, no molded on belts. Okay by me, but they could have provided a harness layout in their other ways over precisely manual.

Enough ranted, I will look for solutions now.

Cheers Rob 

[Peterpools]

Rob

Agreed on all points. I’ve used the KitWorld seatbelt once already in 48th scale and found the same issues. Quinta’s 48th scale seatbelt are better and the instructions are good but could be better.
As far as ZM goes, you’re so right ..... they try to add loads of details (F4) and no seatbelts whether PE, molded on or whatever! In today’s day and age that’s a huge step backwards. They worry about internal details that will never be seen and such a prominent detail that is up front and seen nearly first, totally missing in any form.

 

[Kaireckstadt]

Great build and perfect recovery actions Rob!

I especially like how all the metal surfaces turned out!

[DocRob]

8 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Agreed on all points. I’ve used the KitWorld seatbelt once already in 48th scale and found the same issues. Quinta’s 48th scale seatbelt are better and the instructions are good but could be better.
As far as ZM goes, you’re so right ..... they try to add loads of details (F4) and no seatbelts whether PE, molded on or whatever! In today’s day and age that’s a huge step backwards. They worry about internal details that will never be seen and such a prominent detail that is up front and seen nearly first, totally missing in any form.

As I only wanted the seat detailing, I opted for KitWorld this time and wanted to use the kit decals for the pit. When I build the Tamiya Tomcat, I will try the Quinta set.
I found the KitWorld 3D decals to difficult to use in 'free space', like the pull circles for the top of the seats, because they curl up, when contacted with CA.

Your thoughts about ZM are exactly like mine, Peter. Way over the top in parts and missing out big time, like with the seat belts. But I see a big improvement plastic wise compared to my ZM TA-152 build. The non clear plastic is absolutely fantastic and that's good news.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

3 hours ago, Kaireckstadt said:

Great build and perfect recovery actions Rob!

I especially like how all the metal surfaces turned out!

Thank you Kai, the recovery was nothing compared with what you have thrown up to yourself lately . As always it's good to learn new stuff and in this case unwillingly, I learnt a lot about canopy recoveries this time.
I like the metal as well and I'm constantly trying to improve my metal application techniques. Actually, it was the part of the build, I was really looking forward to.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

Today I finished the cockpit, adding the visor and the ejection seats and after some touch ups, I will close the canopy soon.

 

Afterwards, I felt like masking the canopy for the final time, which proved very concentration intensive, as I had to fit the masks very exactly for an hopefully equally wide sealing. The masks again fit like a glove, well made New Ware.

Cheers Rob

 

[GazzaS]

 

Cockpit looks brilliant, Rob.  I'm surprised that ZM didn't supply belts.