1/32 Revell RF-4C 14th TRS

[Martinnfb]

Hello Frank, how could I missed out on your fantastic build. Splendid work! Pulling out my comfy chair

Cheers

Martin

[harv]

Frank, lovely work. Looking really good mate.....harv 

[SapperSix]

Lots of busy work, correction and receipt of a great reference.  The reference being "The Modern Phantom Guide".  I wish I would have had it to begin with.  Pretty awesome book!

The tail was identified as being too sharp.  I almost overlooked it and had to make a correction despite having already painted it.  Ended up pretty happy with the change.

 

I traded for this kit.   I think it might be the same kit run two different times or from another version.  Different colored plastic and some misaligned body lines are the clues, maybe I am wrong.  There is going to be a fair amount of re scribbing. If I pushed it all the way back to line up the intakes would have had a pretty good gap.  So I chose to re-scribe.

 

There was some decent gaps between the fuselage and the wings.

 

I used some plastic stock to cut some gap filling strips and make sure it had strength to secure the wings properly.  I have since filled both sides as it worked out pretty well. 

 

I began detailing the landing gear.  References in this case have been very helpful.  Many modifications learned for the next Phantom.

 

The ALQ-71 F-4 Short Tail is all put together awaiting a good coat of primer.

 

And lastly the Vertical portion of the back deck is smoothed out.  Ready to have wiring drilled through it....

[SapperSix]

Lots of big parts glued together with still more prep work.  I have started on the exhaust base coats and color experimentation on a test plane.

 

Gluing the body parts together has been brutal.  I haven't seen such huge gaps in a long time.  Basically where light and grey plastic meet there will be lots of body work.  Low score on the fit and finish on this model.  There will be another week or more making this right.  And its just not gaps, its elevation as well.

 

The little triangular NACA intake forward of the right side auxiliary air door has been filled (white triangle).  And still more body work.

 

The nose is fitting pretty well.  Some minor sanding and maybe a bit of checking the panel line depth and it will be good.

 

Its starting to look like a Phantom.  Seeing it like this after many months feels pretty good.

 

Fuel tank re-enforcement made from left over brass.  It wasn't very straight and required a bit of work.  Still not perfect but well on the way.

 

Last of the rear deck wiring was completed.  Now just to add some details, clamps, rivets and retainers.

 

My first attempt at scribbing was less than desirable.  I will have to do it again.......and probably again still..

 

[GazzaS]

Frank,

    Some good progress.  I don't envy you fixing those gaps.  I hate re-scribing.  My lines always look horrible to me.  I wish there was a better way...lol.

 

Gaz

[SapperSix]

On 3/14/2019 at 9:45 PM, GazzaS said:

Frank,

    Some good progress.  I don't envy you fixing those gaps.  I hate re-scribing.  My lines always look horrible to me.  I wish there was a better way...lol.

 

Gaz

Thanks Gaz.  I think I have it down a little better.  Patience is key when re-scribing and I have to really go easy.  everything else when well and smoothed out pretty good.  Despite the models many issues the build hasn't been fighting me, just lots of attention required. 

[SapperSix]

This kit was traded for as mention prior. This kit has had at least three missing parts.  And with that comes some challenges.  Such as it is, I have been making the missing pieces.  It was time to learn and so far my initial attempts have been ok.

One of the missing pieces was the right side avionics intake scoop.  I cut it out of stock plastic and shaped as need.  The inlet hole for the scoop was cut with with an exacto blade and is very shallow.  I am still working on a method to get a deep cut in the thin plastic without messing up the part.  I also need to take  a mm off the bottom to straighten out the lower edge. 

The left stab was missing so again I took a stab at making the stab...see what I did there?  initially just a flat sheet that I cut to shape and bent to replicate the shallow downward angle of the stab. The joining tab was just some excess that I doubled up and super glued so I can recreate the standoff of the stab to the fuselage with some realism.

I added a second sheet and blended to recreate the thickness of the stab nearest the fuselage.  I cut the arrow shaped reinforcement plate, for top and bottom, out of the thinnest sheet I had and will give a light sanding to thin it a touch.  Pictured here it is just placed for reference.  Now to scribe and prime.

[GazzaS]

Nice work on creating those parts!

[coolboxx]

Frank iam  just catching up, looks amazing..

[GusMac]

Nice scratch work!

[SapperSix]

On 3/28/2019 at 11:30 PM, coolboxx said:

Frank iam  just catching up, looks amazing..

Thank you for your kind words. 

[SapperSix]

On 3/29/2019 at 2:38 PM, GusMac said:

Nice scratch work!

Its a beginning and I have much to learn.  Thank you kindly!!

[SapperSix]

She now has legs.  The brass landing gear is absolutely fantastic. The hydraulic actuators for the main landing gear need a little work as to their attachment to the main wing.  Now that I have proper reference books and new found confidence,  I would like to rip out the landing gear bays and start over.  The next model of choice will surely get the full treatment.

 

Upon putting on a good even primer coat (Mr Surfacer 1200 diluted 50/50 with lacquer thinner) I realized that I had to pay more attention to some body work.  I will spend the remainder of tonight touching her up.  Its the first time I have ever used a primer for the whole of the airplane.  I am hoping to make it easier for the white under fuselage coat to adhere using less paint.  And to spot body work imperfections, so far on target for this one.  The primer eased some of the sharp panels lines I had scribed prior.  And made them look better than what I had originally produced. 

 

She will have the SEA camouflage scheme when done.  I am thinking of black basing the tan and lighter green camouflage areas.  And then use a wash to pull the panel lines out, ever so.  What and how much weathering is being looked at in detail.  I have some thinking to do on how this is going to happen. 

[ScottsGT]

Looking good!  I gotta get back into a Phantom build soon.

[SapperSix]

I have been doing a lot of studying on the Phantom as it was around 1970 when at Udorn Thailand.   I found a great web site, Picciani Aircraft Photos, to look at the many faces of the Phantom at service.  If you go to the website and look you will find Phantoms in many states of up keep.  As an example, some Phantoms have two, even three types of tan or light green on them.  You will also see varied colors, olive drab used in some cases and large areas that have been repaired using varied colors.  Many are very weathered and many are looking as though they are pretty fresh.   I have also looked at various other builds, sources and books.  And what I found is the possibilities are many (Imagine that....).  I dont know if certain paint schemes, such as how the wing fuel tanks were painted, were phased in over time or was it a free for all?  The rabbit hole of how things came to be, when or why became very deep.  So finding a path in the near term was to topographically scan the options and deciding on a plan of action.  I also noticed the Phantom doesn't seem to lend itself to very defined panel lines.  I dont know if this is an outcome of how its built, paint scheme, lighting and or photo effects.  Testing my capability and learning new things have been very much the them of this model. 

For Christmas my wife bought me a new Iwata HP-CS.  My my beloved Passache had seen many faithful years and I had ruined the fine needle ages ago and had to go to the medium tip.  So the addition of the Iwata was a god send, and to be honest I was excited about the possibilities.  The Iwata has not failed to please.  What a great brush.  So I began to learn about black basing.  And of course tried a few versions on my trusty test plane, a P3 Orion. 

 

In the many possibilities theme....On the above mentioned web site there are many examples of both the "straight edge" paint job, "wavy" paint job and completely colored wing fuel tank for the phantom.  Also examples of the pylon remaining white, partially white or painted the same color of the tank.  I chose white pylon, straight edge tank based on what I had found on the 14th.  I will likely go back and soften the edge by free handing it. 

I was disappointed to have the white paint come off in a few places even using Tamiya tape, this has never happened to me.  The pylon will be properly covered during the repair of the tank.  I also need to bring down the dark shades a bit. 

 

This begins my experimentation with varied types of and black basing in general.  I am sure many are wondering if I have any sanity.  My wife will tell you there is little and what remains is clustered by high priced whiskey, prolonged field operations and bouncing off the ground from high altitude during airborne operations.  What you are seeing in this picture is the phantom that has been "black based" by spryaing paint through a Scotch Brite cleaning pad that has been cut along its horizontal axis and further thinned by using scissors to thin areas for better paint penetration (Yes I said penetration, you can stop laughing........Clunkmeister.)   I learned this on another plane based web site from another modeler, and have been experimenting ever since.  I have further this by using lighter and darker colors and integrating standard black basing techniques.  Creating what I see as a truly random color adjustment, integrating what I can best determine to be true weathered effects. 

On the right intake you can see where I started to fill in some of the less busy places with standard black basing.  I didn't want to go overkill on the panel lines as the phantom doesn't really lend it self to highly defined panel lines to the best I can determine.  And I plan on doing a panel line pin wash with a undetermined color.   

You can see here where I started to apply a slightly modified dark tan (Testors MM  Dark Tan with a little dark sand and minute flat black.) using the black basing technique and filled in as appropriate.

Various shades of the above techniques with a lightened formula on the top parts (horizontal) of the fuselage to recreate sun bleaching. 

I was working on using very fine sand paper (1500 and greater) to work out additional fading or shean creation of weathered panels.  Here along the in the transition between the dark and light green.  I darkened up the light green with olive drab and a little flat black.   I also began to ready the base layer for vertical weathering "stripes".   The overall paint job was done free hand.  While I started off horrible, I ended better than what I started.  so I will have to go back and tighten up color boarders.  I forgot to be very mindful of the direction of my spray gun as it relates to the target.  I was quickly reminded when the green paint road the vortex of air in to the seam of the dark yellow. 

 

A general look at the uncorrected first pass and a long day....

 

The white under fuselage was also black based using the same method as above.  I will be adding grease smears, panel lines and a million decals so my thinking was it was going to be very crowded.  So in the end I smoothed it out more than I had originally intended.   The landing gear wells were given a nice even coat of white as I will go back and give them special attention.

 

 

Lots of learning and lots of experimentation.  I often got tired during painting with all the new attention to detail and had to stop a few times to let my arm muscles relax and eyes re adjust.  All in all a great time.Any input is greatly appreciated. 

 

 

[harv]

I like your style. One tip. For white, I use tamiya fine white primer. Works great and then you can do so much with it afterwards.....harv

[coolboxx]

Love that black basing idea, can't wait to see the true affect. 

[GazzaS]

Frank,

    I really like how this is coming together.   The paint already has a worn appearance, which is very cool!  I too love a bit of fine paper rubbed over the paint.

 

Gaz

[Martinnfb]

Nice!

[DocRob]

The black basing looks a little psychedelic at first, but I can see how this will work out. Nice job on the worn Colours.

Cheers Rob

[Barry]

Hi Frank,

Did you use white for the underside? It should be F.S. 36622 Camouflage Grey.

Build is coming along nicely!

Barry

 

[SapperSix]

12 hours ago, Barry said:

Hi Frank,

Did you use white for the underside? It should be F.S. 36622 Camouflage Grey.

Build is coming along nicely!

Barry

 

Barry,

Well hell, I was tracking grey over white for this plane and year...I forgot where I read that.  Then I started looking at references and see that some are saying white.  Now I am questioning the undercoat....

 

Thank you for pointing that out. 

 

-Frank

[SapperSix]

On 4/17/2019 at 6:16 PM, harv said:

I like your style. One tip. For white, I use tamiya fine white primer. Works great and then you can do so much with it afterwards.....harv

As always Harv with the solid information.  I will give it a try next time now that I am probably going to prime all my models.  Thank you! 

On 4/18/2019 at 8:22 AM, coolboxx said:

Love that black basing idea, can't wait to see the true affect. 

I have much to learn.  I tried to adapt it to a more realistic, less patterned, shade.  I really have gone to far for my forst attempt and probably should have learned more of the basics.  Fairly happy with it so far, in some places I need practice.

20 hours ago, GazzaS said:

Frank,

    I really like how this is coming together.   The paint already has a worn appearance, which is very cool!  I too love a bit of fine paper rubbed over the paint.

 

Gaz

Thanks Gaz, I might have picked up the sand paper thing from one of your pots!?!?  These days I have to check multiple times to make sure I have put my pants on  ...Thank you for the kind words.

14 hours ago, DocRob said:

The black basing looks a little psychedelic at first, but I can see how this will work out. Nice job on the worn Colours.

Cheers Rob

Many subtleties with this scheme and base.  I bit off much and am looking forward to really getting good at the idea.  Thank you for the kind words.

[SapperSix]

18 hours ago, Martinnfb said:

Nice!

The testing never ends.....

[GazzaS]

A black wash will turn white to gray as well as highlight your details.  Of course...  this all depends how fanatical about such things you are, Frank.