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Great looking build Anthony. I like the way you've pre-fitted the keel area, so it just slots into place with no clean up required. I'll have to try that on my next one, instead of cutting out just the area under the stab hinge and adding it back with some clean up needed.

Ah, Spey intakes eh? Well as someone once said, we choose to do these things and do the other things not because they are easy but because they are hard. Or in the case of adapting Spey intakes really *%$+g hard. This will take more than one post because I don't have the time to find all the best comparison photos, but in this post the underside of the Spey (on the left) and J79 (on the right) intakes are shown with their salient differences indicated. Suffice to say the intake ramps differ, with the outlet vents being wider on the Spey version both at the rear of the ramp and the louvred outlets behind them. I'll add the top sides and ramp profiles later, but that's all for now.

Hope you're feeling better Thierry, or at least improving daily. Regarding mirrors, before going off and buying sheets of mylar or bags of sequins, the foil packs used to package potato crisps (or chips depending on what they're called in your country) have a silvered finish on the interior which works well.

That's very decent of you Max. My only experience of the Matchbox biggies is the Griffon Spitfire which I acquired to donate the engine to a Hasegawa Spitfire before discovering the cowling was the worst and most unusable part of it. Nothing that a young Radu's superb reworking of the Warbird's part couldn't fix. Which rather made the Spitfire redundant. I'll let you know regarding spares. I think the prop and cowling front are present, but the sample photos weren't the clearest so I'm fingers crossed until it gets here.

Well, for reasons I don't as yet fully understand I decided I needed a DH82 to complement the Bu 131 I acquired for nostalgic reasons. I couldn't believe the boutique prices on evilBay expected for the 1980s issue Matchbox kit, but eventually snagged one at roughly it's release price. I must admit I was expecting like a fiver, but then Outoftouch is my middle name. Anyway, it all looks quite basic in the photos so I'll be brazenly stealing all the good mods and additions you're adding to yours Max. Hope you don't mind.

That is some great painting on the hot end. I just want to remind you that the vertical panels leading to the stab pivot surround were a type of stainless alloy (Inconel X nickel/chrome as I recall) and remained a bright looking silver metallic colour. As can be seen inc Chuck's QF-4E jet nozzle photo

For anyone interested, the F-4B coded VE-16 in VMFA-115 at the time was BuNo. 152245

I saw a very nice one some years ago done in a silver topsides with white undersides USAF SAC scheme with blue sash which suited it very well.

I#ll bet she'd also like a Viggen kit!

Great looking work so far Anthony! One thing I did once on a 1/48 version and would feel obliged to include on my 1/32 one if it ever materialises is to grind out those vents between the hook and the the stab hinge. It appears as a horseshoe shaped plate with three guide vanes. The plates are quite easy to make (I impressed the vanes into plastic card as I recall). But grinding the shingle cover immediately in front down helps further the illusion that it's a collection of metal sheets fastened together rather than a solid lump of plastic.

I've seen a late '50s promo film of a Lockheed engineer (I presume) actually slicing up a tomato on the leading edge of an F-104.

For the faded day-glo, apply a good undercoat of white, then spray your day-go orange over it, taking care to apply lightly toward the upper surfaces where the fade is most extreme. There's no need for any other colours to be harmed in the making of this effect.

Weird thing happened to me on the pay site. It wouldn't accept my details - just kept red flagging my name in the name box. It said surname on the form, so I tried just my surname, then with one initial, then with both initials, with and without full stops. Still nothing. Messaged Jetmads for help but all they could suggest was try again, as nothing was showing on their payments received or attempted page. Just enter your name as it appears on your card they said. So I did, again. And again no luck. Nothing. I pay my bills online, but I have a sheaf of unopened postal statements going back about two years, so i decided to open one to check my details. And there it was. As soon as I prefixed my name with 'Mr' on the pay page the payment went through. Then about ten minutes later I got an automated fraud check from my credit card company checking it was me making the payment. Then I got the order confirmation from Jetmads. I'm just relaying all this in case anybody else has trouble with making online payments. I've never had a problem with making online payments since forever before. But even something as minor and inconsequential as your bloody title can make a difference.

That's an interesting opinion Cees, because I've always thought the slab-sided Tamiya rear fuselage was quite Spey engine influenced. As well as the Tamiya navy kits' hard wing/nose etc.

That's the thing isn't it? If just doing the one single example, all the corrections are an enjoyable means to the end of having a model the best you can make it. I find though with wanting multiple versions (for example an F-4B an F-4E an F-4G an F-4J etc. I'd prefer the only differences to be what changed on the aircraft in real life, not what the kit manufacturers made incorrectly. And repeating the same corrections gets to be a chore if not outright drudgery.

None that I can find with useful markers on it. Here's the old 1972 issued original Revell F-4J, which looks in the right ballpark, judging by the highlight lines. I don't think anybody should junk their Tamiya kits, but it would be nice if a resin insert to correct the contours from where the turbine stripe is on USAF Phantoms to just aft of the vents above the jet exhausts were available. For me the blockiness of the Tamiya fuselage as provided just makes it look wrong.

I've borrowed an image from PhilB's build on this site from here It's a very nice looking build so I hope Phil's OK with it. The first thing is to notice is how flat the N, A and V are on the model. On the real F-4B, the Y starts curving at about 1/3 rd of its height, but only about the upper 25% on the model. The Tamiya's nacelle contours are way off and beyond salvaging by sanding. Ideally an insert such as Hypersonic made to eliminate the incorrect crease on the ZM kits would be great, but Jeffrey says he's sticking with only working in 1/48 scale.

It becomes more apparent if you apply the NAVY or MARINES titles on the F-4J. But it's also there on their F-4E and F-4EJ and F-4C/D.

I'm in the throes of planning an F-4 build and have some options to consider The Tamiya is a good quality kit, but has issues, namely the rear fuselage contour abortion and the raised detail. Otherwise I'd be fine with the hard wing the kit provides. I'm just not happy about getting a symmetrical rear end if sanded down/filled to approximate shape. Also I have the GT intakes and jet pipes. The Revell kit has a slat wing which is good, and I have the GT nose replacement and a set of Tamiya canopy pieces to fix the squashed canopy. Again, also GT intakes and jet pipes. As the Revell kit comes with engraved panelling that will save a lot of otherwise extra work. Has anyone who's built and or examined both kits got an opinion on the best route at this stage? I'm thinking standard vanilla SEA with sharkmouth currently. Although a white wing/SEA overall toned down ALCM chase plane is tempting too.

It's due to the short nose types being based on Navy aircraft, and the top of the nose was flattened for better over the nose visibility. Below is an F-4C 63-7477, but there were no engineering changes in that area from the Navy F-4B it was derived from. photo credit: Mike Lawson

I'll go to that price for a Viggen or two as it'll be a bespoke piece of custom casting, printing and etch extras if the similarly produced Lukegraph Rapide is any indicator. Otherwise, like the Mirage IIIE I'll wait and see if Revell re-pop it at a more realistic price. Although what a realistic price will be in impoverished brexit Britain is still anybody's guess.

That's F-100D 56-3376 FW-376 of the 353rd TFS at Aviano in 1960. The 353rd used red trim with white arrows.

That's it, thanks. I found it in my own files a couple of hours ago but hadn't got round to calling off the search. But thanks all the same for the back up.

I recall spending a lot of time identifying this F-4E Phantom a few years ago, but can't lay hands on the research now. Pilot's name on the distinctive red painted canopy rail is Major GD Bushey. Can anybody more organised than me help with the serial?

I cheekily, or recklessly depending on your POV put in for a second one - so I don't know if my confirmation is for one or both at this stage. But I'd really like a grey scheme and a fields and meadows one too, as it's such an iconic scheme. I've been collecting Viggen material since 1998 off the web and it's hard to credit what we once considered adequate resolutions for photos (600 x 450 anybody?) But I attacked the folder and tied up serial numbers and got them into a reasonable order and along the way got to understand the AJ/AJS and related upgrades as a bonus.