Jump to content

Tamiya F-4E. Easy Rockin Mama.


Guest Nigelr32

Recommended Posts

Guest Nigelr32

Hi all,

 

Here's my Tamiya F-4E project.

 

I started this kit late in December for a GB over on Pro-modeller.

 

In this first pic, I've only sanded smooth the awful fit of the intakes.

I say "only", but believe me there's a good couple of hours work in those intakes already!! I hope I don't spend two hours on every four parts I stick together lol.

 

Intakes.jpg

 

Believe me, if you haven't built this kit, you won't know what I'm talking about. The intakes are kind of hexagonal on the inside, and need to be sanded round, oh, and the seams are like craters. three coats of mr surfacer to fill them!!!

 

Thanks for looking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Nigelr32

Well, it's no good, I just had to cut out the offending parts!! I figure it'll be much easier to work on the intakes this way, rather than try and handle the whole fuse.

 

cutoffintake.jpg

 

I'm also hoping that now I can glue these to the rear of the intakes, which should be much better than trying to line up, sand and fill everything??

 

I'll let you all know???

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Nigelr32

And here they are, glued to the mating parts and fitted back into the fuse.

 

Intakes1jpg.jpg

 

 

Here we can see the bits and pieces of plastic card required to get a good fit between the parts

 

Intakes2jpg.jpg

 

Intakes3jpg.jpg

 

I don't know, I've spent hours on this one, and have still only glued four parts together!!!!

 

Thanks for looking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Nigelr32

And here they are... I've given the intakes their initial rub down, and thrown a coat of primer on them as a guide to final sanding. I look forward to seeing these in their final light grey colour.

intakepainted1.jpg

 

Thanks for dropping in..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Nigelr32

Here you go, part # in this tutorial on "How to make your own seamless suckers for your Tamiya Phantom".

 

The next stage is to lay up some plastic strip to build up the massive step, and avoid having too much filler in there.

 

intakes5.jpg

 

Please let me know what you think?? I think I've gone crazy, and should have bought some seamless suckers??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Nigelr32

Here's a pic of the intakes in primer. They still need a final rub down, and probably another coat of primer, then it'll be on to the light grey.

 

intakesfinished.jpg

 

I'm pleased with them, it's been a long journey!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Nigelr32

I thought it only fair to share my experiences with fitting the Black Box/Avionix cockpit into this F-4E, so here's another little update.

 

Avionix don't tell you about this bit...

 

cockpit4.jpg

 

You need to carve away a little of the bulkhead to get the front pit to fit up to it flush. Just remove a little of the ridge in the area marked red.

 

You also need to remove some resin from the base of the front pit to allow it to fit in the ridged area as shown below, and to clear the wheel well beneath it.

 

cockpit5.jpg

 

As you can see it now sits as the plastic cockpit would. I believe this only applies to the E model, as it has the cut off fuselage in the kit. The other versions are longer, and the tub screws in from underneath.

 

Avionix suggest you remove the lug for the screw in the front wheel well. well, I might want to use that screw, so I removed some material from the tub instead...

 

cockpit2.jpg

 

Finally, here's the tub in the fuselage. Notice how the lug now clears the tub. I've removed more than necessary, to allow for adjustment and alignment.

 

cockpit3.jpg

 

I guess I'll spend the next few jours of my life sanding and adjusting the side panels???

 

This is just so much better than my last kit!!!! I'm enjoying modelling again!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Nigelr32

Following on then...

 

Here's the cockpit in the fuselage with the side panels all trimmed and sanded to fit..phew!!! what a job!!

 

cockpit6.jpg

 

But, I hear you ask...How's he fitted into the fuselage???

 

cockpit7.jpg

 

I want to be able to be sure the 'pit is never gonna come loose and fall down in the fuselage, so I made a little securing system, which can be assembled and dis-assembled as many times as I like, and then glued in on the final assembly.

 

Here it is..naked!!

 

cockpit8.jpg

 

 

As you can see the side panels are glued in with white glue. I have now marked their positions with plastic strip, so i can fit the side panels to the fuselage rather than the tub. I MUST have a good clean join on the sill!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Nigelr32

Thanks very much for your kind words Guys.

 

I've got an F-4J in my stash, and intend to do the same again!! I really do like sanding!! :party0023:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Nigelr32

Hi all,

 

Thought you might like to see this little beauty!!

 

NautilusJig3.jpg

 

It's a nautilus Jig for the Tamiya 1/32 Phantom family. It's made by Nautilus models in the good ol US of A. It only cost $21 shipped to the UK, a bargain in my opinion!!

 

Here it is assembled

 

NautilusJig.jpg

 

Thanks for dropping by..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Nigelr32

As you can probably guess, I'm catching up with my pics at the moment.....I don't really work this fast!!

 

bombs.jpg

 

The daisy cutter is from the spares box, Trumpeter I believe?? The extended shaft is 2mm Evergreen rod, the tube is 0.5mm brass tube. It has a 0.3mm bore. The wire is 0.1mm copper wire from little cars.

 

The wire needs more work yet, as it needs to loop around some pins on the Ter's and Mer's. The cable breaks when the bomb is dropped, allowing the prop to spin and arm the bomb.

 

 

You may also notice the rough finish of the bombs body. I achieve this by roughing up the surface with some 240 wet and dry, then brush Extra thin cement over the top of it. This is to give the rough cast finish seen on USAF bombs. Don't go overboard with this, or you'll end up with Navy bombs!!!

Edited by Nigelr32
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Nigelr32

Hi all!!

 

 

nose.jpg

 

This is obviously the nose section, showing the assembled nose and seperate gun cover. You can see the Eduard brass grill replacements, which are difficult to fit, especially if you do what I did, and cut away the plastic beneath in order to give the thin appearance to the grills.

 

I've decided to fit the gun to the nose, and possibly have the gun cover removeable?? It clips on and off beautifully.

 

bitsandbobs1.jpg

 

This is where I am with the weapons. I need to paint the daisy cutters and fuzes, then add the wires through the added tubes. The drop tanks are primed to check the join line. All looks good so far...

 

 

I've also started on removing the BDR panels. Here's the intakes, with three panels removed from each, then rescribed and riveted.

 

intakes7.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...