Zoukie-Mura F4J Phantom II Marines - 1/48

[Bomber_County]

8 hours ago, GazzaS said:

This is a nice, yet strange kit.  

Thanks Gaz, probably going to be pillared here but the Mig 25 isn’t very pretty  so not sure ............

[Peterpools]

Phil

One awesome Phantom ... beautiful finish and work.

I have all the ZM Phantoms and the F-4S is well underway and almost ready for priming. With the on coming Tamiya F-4B, except for wishing for 32nd versions from ZM and Tamiya (which will never happen), I'm a happy camper..

Decal wise, silvering under the clear film is trapped air between the paint and the decal carrier film, from the paint or clear gloss not being very smooth. ZM's decals are Cartograph and the best of the best. Clear gloss is not needed at all to decal if the paint is smooth. I've played around with the Tamiya new Mustang (my brother is a car builder) and he was blow away with the finish and decals - no clear gloss at all until after decaling.  After the paint work was done and really dry, I used Wet & Dry grits of 3000, 8000, 12,000 and the paint was smooth as a baby's rear end and the decals went down perfectly and we're talking Tamiya kit decals. Clear gloss on top and repeat the process and then the finish of your choice: gloss, semi gloss, semi matte or matte. Takes a bit longer but the decal go down flawlessly and the final finish is perfect very time.

For my aircraft builds, I skip the polishing of the paint, apply a good gloss - two coats at a minimum, let dry and polish. You will be amazed at at the finish.

Just my two cents worth - hope this helps. 

 

[Bomber_County]

Peter, much appreciated, I did use Future before I decaled, it was the first time I used it. I’ll try your technique on the Mustang. The ZM kits are an engineering dream. Its still learning time, I did enjoy my first jet though........