RichieB Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 (edited) Hi, My name is Richie and I love the smell of burnt kerosene. Having spent many hours viewing the absolute masterpieces on this site and trying to hoover up as much inspiration as I can, I've decided to take the plunge and commit my effort to the wider community in an attempt to improve my game. As way of background I suffer from: a - an over-ambitious build programme that would require the invention of time travel to complete my collection. b - a lack of resistance to nice new shiny decals (that adds to the first issue). c - an inability to recognise that OOB is just fine in most cases. d - the view that 50 Shades of Grey is the epitome of panel weathering. e - a lack of sufficient minutes in the day to fit everything in (work, family, plastic fettling etc) I am also an Optimistic 80%er. By that I mean I will endeavour to add detail/changes when it makes a noticeable difference but lack of skills / patience may ultimately limit my AMS ambition to a level of ‘Good Enough'. And so to the challenge, a 1/32 Revell F-4E. This is going to be only my 2nd 1/32 effort, the first being a Revell Hawk T1, but my first on-line build. Not entirely sure of the markings yet but it will probably be an early USAFE bird in Vietnam c/s. True to form I have acquired more aftermarket stuff than I really need including: - GT Resin Intakes and Exhausts - SH replacement nose - CE Aim 9J/P - Legend F-4E Cockpit - Eduard PE - Master Details Pilot figure - Master Pitot Probes As if first night nerves wasn't enough, it will also be the first time I have used a lot of this stuff and just to make it more interesting I'm going to put her in flight and light her up. This may get ugly. For those who like their builds quick and dirty, sorry but this is going to be a slow burn (but probably dirty!). Very happy for comments, suggestions, advice etc but don't be offended if I do something different or not quite true to life, as they say art is in the eye of the beholder. Oh, and as a cautionary tale to others I will also be keeping an catalogue of errors of all the mistakes I make. Lets hope it stays in double figures! Game on. Edited July 24, 2017 by RichieB DirkE, Derek B, Zero77 and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zero77 Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Hi Ritchie and welcome ! You got a lot of nice stuff to get this model to the best standards ! Good luck with this build, i will follow it with interest as i have 2 Revell F-4E cousins (a F and a G) in the stash and i'd be glad to see how it behaves. Harold 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Nice to see you start a build thread, Richie. It's the best way to learn how to improve, in my opinion. Looking forward to following your progress! Kev shepard 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee White Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Hey Richie, Welcome to the forums, looking forward to seeing your work! Lots of good people here to help you out in a pinch, if needed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zak Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 Go Ritchie, go, go, GO! 😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpastern Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 Go Richie! Looking forward to the build as the F4 is one of my faves. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepard Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 :popcorn: greetings from Brazil mate!! rockn'roll!!!! shep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieB Posted November 4, 2015 Author Share Posted November 4, 2015 Thanks for stopping by Chaps, this will certainly be a learning experience for me! So on with the build... I've started removing parts from the trees just to get a feel for the job in hand and the first thing that springs to mind is how big this thing is going to be when (note the positive slant) its finished. I normally have a go a 1/48 so this is my largest model to date. This may prove interesting when we come onto the in flight display aspects later. As I rarely follow the instructions to the letter I've sort of tinkered with a number of items just to get a feel for what I'be let myself in for. Firstly the Legend cockpit which looks ok to the untrained eye but apparently relies on you having the deduction powers of Sherlock Holmes as it comes with no instructions other than a small bit on how to fit the PE. The sidewalls look very nice so I cut them out and then had to figure out how they fit in the model. I also cut out the coming to fit the resin part. Possible Error #1 - I have no idea if its the size of the resin parts of my placing of the sidewalls at the top of the cockpit sill, however there is a gap at the bottom of the sidewalls before they meet the side consoles. No big deal as I will put some card filler in but I may have to add extra detail to make it less obvious. Alternatively I could just leave as is as I'm shutting the canopy anyway but the little AMS voice in my head is damn persistent. Ok question time. When looking at what loadout to give this bird I checked out the fit of the centreline tank. Now how do you suppose Revell expect you to glue this baby on when the large lump in the middle in no way conforms to the drop tank pylon? Anyone had a go at addressing this particular conundrum? ShotMagnet and MikeC 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otis252 Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 Looking forward to this build. That said, the tank you're showing is not used on the F-4E. Use the other 600 Gal "Hi-Speed" tank that is also included. Chuck tomv87 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andromeda673 Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 hell yeah man, get after it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 Richie Welcome aboard and looking forward to following your progress. Surely is going to be one interesting thread. Keep 'em coming Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 that tank is used on a Viet Nam era F-4E. The pylon for the tank is too narrow. In real life area on the bottom of the fuelage is covered by the sides of the pylon. One solution is to remove the pylon on the tank, glue only the front and rear ends of the pylon and put a couple spreaders between the halves to widen the pylon and the reattach it to the tank. two things that ned to be corrected on the kit are the length of the intakes(they need to be moved back about 1/8 inch and for a Viet Nam E you have to replace the outer wing panel with an unslatted version like the one on their RF-4 and not use the slats on the main wing. Good luck with the build. Bruce shbemo13 and Harold 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieB Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share Posted November 8, 2015 (edited) Hi Chaps and many thanks for the steers, I'm aiming to build a mid to late 70's USAFE bird. From what I've looked at so far the ones I'm interested in have slats but I'm not sure about the belly strap, Any idea when they would have been implemented? I've seen photos with the early tank and the later 600 Gal one but this seems to have been fitted more when they had the wrap-around schemes. Bruce - Many thanks for the info,I like the idea of modifying the pylon to fit. I'll see what spreading it does to the overall shape but that might also give it more stability. I'm using GT Resin intakes which should resolve the intake length issue. I'm going to have a go at displaying her in flight which means pilots (unless its a drone of course - now there's a thought!). Revell have thoughtfully not included any so I've borrowed a Tamiya figure and acquired one from Master Details. As usual, and particularly with Resin cockpits, the pilots rarely fit and some form of surgery is required. This is rarely cosmetic and would probably affect their med cat. Thats when I noticed that I appear to have pilots who fit both ends of the human spectrum. The Master Details pilot is on the right. The detail is excellent and just check out the white metal heads (you get a choice of 4! - Tamiya pilot is at the bottom): However, According to my very rough calculations the Tamiya pilot is about 1.66M tall, the Master Details pilot is about 1.9M. This could be distracting if one is head and shoulders (literally) above the other. Time for some serious modifications that would rival that of a photo-shopped celebrity! Edited January 3, 2018 by RichieB Harold, Dany Boy and jgrease 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Good luck Ritchie - I look forward to watching your progress. Cheers Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 a further note on spreading the pylon... you will probably have to cut down the width of the mounting on the fuselage bottom because the plyon can't be spread that much. Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now