RR Spey powered RAF Phantom conversion

[Anthony in NZ]

Now we are talking Cees!  That looks 100x better than Tamiya's back end.  In fact the contours look more Spey than J-79 straight out of the box.  Nice find with that Revell kit!

Barry, you always seem to find such great info buddy!

Loving watch this come together

[Barry]

Derek and I scrounged a lot of info a long with a number of others during our thoughts about doing a conversion.

Barry

 

[Wingco57]

Thanks chaps, I am not after the most accurate result but something that is close and resembles the intended model.

And thinking about a problem, how to tackle it and solve it is part of the fun. And the sharing of experiences and information

greatly adds to that.

And I plan to use the Revell wings. In fact crosskitting will be the best option using the strongpoints from both kits.

@Barry, will you continue on your magnificent work? Looks strange with one modified bum.

Cheers

Cees

[Anthony in NZ]

21 minutes ago, Wingco57 said:

Thanks chaps, I am not after the most accurate result but something that is close and resembles the intended model.

And thinking about a problem, how to tackle it and solve it is part of the fun. And the sharing of experiences and information

greatly adds to that.

And I plan to use the Revell wings. In fact crosskitting will be the best option using the strongpoints from both kits.

@Barry, will you continue on your magnificent work? Looks strange with one modified bum.

Cheers

Cees

Me too Cees, probably why I have so many half finished projects 

I like the challenge of solutions and bouncing ideas off others....really enjoying this thread.

Cheers

Anthony

[Wingco57]

Really liking this progress. Still tweaking the cutout at the spine (still too much tension) the starboard side is already fine and the port to follow.

[Wingco57]

More tweaking, getting there slowly.

Trialfit between the Tamiya fuselage and the Revell wing. It fits beautifully. The Tamiya plastic is very brittle whereas the Revell parts are nice and flexible.

Cees 

[Anthony in NZ]

Nailing it Cees.  That was definitely the way to go looking at it now....brilliant stuff mate.  Plus you dont need to worry about that tricky insert piece above the cans either.

Excellent thinking outside the box

[JeroenPeters]

Really cool Frankenstein stuff going on here! 

[ThomasProbert]

Really enjoying this, Cees.

I suppose you could argue it's an expensive way to make a Brit Phantom (using two kits) but it still works out a lot cheaper than using the conversions when (and if) they become available!

Tom

[Wingco57]

Thanks Tom, but I swapped the Tamiya kit for something I had laying around for quite some time and the Revell kit was on discount.

What happend to your 1/24 Combat vac build by the way?

In the meantime one side has been glued with the other to follow. I have cut away the top part as that was impairing the fit. Easier to 

fit the loose panel later. I want to make sure the join is as clean as possible. Both kits are quite close in that area.

[woody37]

So this is the beast, great work so far mate, I'd of had sleepless nights cutting up a Tamiya 1/32 Phantom kit!

[ThomasProbert]

3 hours ago, Wingco57 said:

What happend to your 1/24 Combat vac build by the way?

Erm.... it’s back in its box in the loft. Maybe I’ll resurrect it one day when the mood takes. I got bogged down with making the cockpit and lost momentum. 

[Wingco57]

Hope you get to it again, an unique project.

well, the two halves have been joined in holy matrimony. Very pleased about the fit.

Cheers

Cees

[Anthony in NZ]

Nicely done my friend!  How does your modified lower wing fit now...I suspect probably pretty good??

 

[Wingco57]

Well, it fits pretty good and in fact better than the Tamiya lower wing especially at the front near the intakes. The two halves have been firmly glued together and I am very happy how it has turned out. Minimal sanding requited by the looks of it and most of the Revell panellines can be retained.

Will post pics later today.

Cheers

Cees

[Wingco57]

Here are some pics. Nothing done to the join yet.

Cees

[Wingco57]

Sanding mostly done, some putty required but not much. The two kits match very well. The top panel from the Tamiya kit is flatter than the Revell spine. Perhaps replace it or tweak it a bit.

Choices, choices.

Cees

[Anthony in NZ]

Well I'll be....thats brilliant mate!

I never would have believed it had I not seen it.  Which begs the question....is the Revell Kit a better option for a brit Toom?  There seems to be as much work in converting the Tamiya one???

Lovely clean work by the way

[GusMac]

Very impressive Cees. As Anthony says it's remarkable how closely they go together. The top panel looks a bit of a pain but the rest looks really good.

[Bomber_County]

Cees, you are a bolder man than I, this epic bit of cut and paste.....Congrats 

[woody37]

You've well and truly sorted that join out, excellent

[Wingco57]

Thanks chaps.

@Anthony, if you ask me the Revell is a better option than the Tamiya kit. But it would have to be a C/D or a J obviously. The E I am using has the hose-nose. That is why I use the Tamiya fuselage. Strangely enough it seems the Revell lower wing fits the converted Tamiya intakes better than the original wing.

[Clunkmeister]

A real clinic as usual. Looking great!  

[Wingco57]

The gap in the spine has been closed.

some careful fitting to address the slight mismatch in the spine.

[GazzaS]

I'll be interested to see what this turns into.  I was in a USMC F4 squadron for a few months, but have never had more than a casual interest in Phantoms.  I even built a 1/72 scale kit of one back in the 80's.  But I couldn't definitively tell one variant from another.