New 1/32 F-4K/M (FG.1/FGR.2) Phantom kit announced by HKM

[joe]

   

Pretty sure that's box art for the Fujimi 1/72 kit.

[Luca]

Pretty sure that's box art for the Fujimi 1/72 kit.

you're right dude!! 

[Chek]

I don't see the point of having real vari-ramp perforations unless you have scale paint at scale paint thickness.

 

Tony

 

That's true Tony. However they don't necessarily have to be absolutely to scale, they just have to create a better illusion than moulded plastic has given us so far. In the same way thick walled, right-angled plastic easy chairs have given way to resin ejection seats. Because they create that better illusion.

[Chek]

I've come across this on an FGR2 back seater's control panel

 

 

 

From what I can find out, the Lepus (pronounced Lee-pus) flare is a 4.5 inch projectile intended to illuminate targets at night for the ground attack element of the flight.

 

 

Can't find a photo of it's dispenser anywhere, though. But it was carried by both RAF and FAA Phantoms.

Edited October 21, 2015 by Chek

[Chek]

 Our crack team of ninja researchers in the UK are going to crawl all over an FGR.2 in the coming days, so perhaps I'll get them to take a micrometer with them to measure the size and pitch of the holes

 

 

ISTR on the Google F-4 group it being mentioned that the USAF equivalent of 'jankers' (a punishment duty) was clearing the bleed holes of blockages on an F-4 using a 3/8" drill bit. I also think I read somewhere there were 12.5K holes per ramp.

[Tony T]

If that preposterous route is pursued would HKM please provide a plain vari-ramp and appropriate decal ?

 

I imagine this etched part would be very fragile and very easily ruined, during assembly or painting or both.

 

Tony

Edited October 22, 2015 by Tony T

[Chek]

If in fact the holes are 3/8" (which is pretty big actually), then in 1/32 they would be .298mm (0.0117"), which I would think would be easily doable even using traditional photo etching.  The trick is going to be getting the exact dimensions of the panels and the layout of the holes.  Once that's one, the rest is just copy and paste.

 

Sorry folks, that 3/8" figure I gave is wrong.

At nearly half on inch it's more appropriate to a MiG-25 or something, which was bugging me all night.

Here's the quote with the correct size (0.028")

 

"As for the FCF that just could not quite get to Vmax, I had several of those.  And on those since we did not have any indication of miss-rigged stators (that is a compressor stall), I would call for the 12,000 holes in the vari-ramp to be cleaned. The holes were created with a .028 drill at the factory but were cleaned with a .021 drill.  McDonnell had written in one of the Product Support Digests, that if 30% of the holes were dirty you could lose 10% of the engine power (or it could be 10 and 30.)  In any case the next flight would always make Vmax flat out – without any waxing.  I recall doing this three times".

[Chek]

... and the FROG box art may not be totally out to lunch,

 

Phantoms at Missile Practice Camp at Valley could carry a missile launch photo pod based on an AGM-12 Bullpup body, as seen

with XV474 at Duxford. The port in the side is for the camera to record ejection and ignition, then the forward one in the nose records the flight. The Sparrow doesn't have its proximity fuses fitted at the time the photo was taken.

 

edit: to correct serial number

 

Edited January 17, 2016 by Chek

[Luca]

beautiful photo Chek

I wanna this...

[Tony T]

Common sense would dictate a plastic (or PUR) part with teeny dimples for the holes.

 

Panel line accentuation materials - ink, clay in suspension or thinned oils - could then be used to make them appear holed.

Or, for mine, just the shadow of the dimples or divots would be sufficient.

 

If this level of detail is being taken seriously could HKM please consider separate tie-down rings for the LG, and accurately detailed pylon bottoms - they flew a great deal without much attached except fuel "bags" and empty LAU Winder rails - so that would be much appreciated. The Tamiya pylons are just lumps of plastic.

 

Tony

[Luca]

^^^ The kit will however, come with an aft fuselage, wings, and landing gear

can't wait to get my claws on the kit

[Chek]

As the 892 Sqn nose flashes seem to be a popular choice of markings, I thought an explanation of the three styles was in order.

The Queen's Silver Jubilee markings were applied in June 1977 to celebrate the 25th year of Queen Elizabeth's reign.

 

The red, white and  blue nose flash extended from the tip of the radome to the nose number, with a break in the middle for the superimposed yellow-gold figures 77 topped by a five pointed crown and was applied to nearly all the squadron's then current aircraft. The exception was XV568 which had the rounded Prince of Wales crown, applied for his own Royal visit to RNAS Yeovilton, Prince Charles having completed his Royal Navy period of service by then.

 

Rather than remove the markings after the Jubilee and air display season was over, the '77 and crown' motif was replaced by 892 Sqn's badge and that version was retained until the Phantoms left the Navy in November 1978.

 

Edited October 22, 2015 by Chek

[Chek]

Thanks for that Chek.  One note - the pic of XV586/R-010 is not representative of the 1978 appearance.  That's a recent repaint with some accuracy issues.

That's absolutely true and very well observed Jennings.

I couldn't find a period photo with the correct orientation for a neat layout, and as the squadron badge was the main focus, I let it go. 

 

Here's the period photo from '78 but it was a bit lo-res for my purposes.

You can tell the original from the restoration by the original not having the periscope on the port centre canopy section.

The restoration does. Nor does the FAA-era version have the fin ILS aerial.

 

Edited October 23, 2015 by Chek

[Tony T]

Was the non-standard 002 a quick application for Prince Charles (Her Majesty being 001) ?

 

I like the first and last schemes best. I was a first year undergrad when the Ark stood down and recall some bizarre stuff on the news - devoid of aircraft, which had left the ship, the last cat shot comprised a piano or similar.

 

Tony

[Chek]

I'm not sure Tony. My increasingly unreliable memory tells me he may have flown in it, and there seem to be a few photos indicating it wasn't overly temporary.

 

I do recall Peter Cook and Dudley Moore doing an episode of Not Only... But Also aboard the Ark which involved a dummy of Dud at the piano being launched off the cat. Whether that was the first or the last time, I don't know.