spindrift007

Another update, sorry for the delay but hopefully the hard stuffs over with and now progress should be quicker I have now finished the major airframe modifications, installed the cockpit and primed the kit. Still needs a touch up here and there but 99% "airframed" to an FR1. Next will be the wings and tail section, nose and trying to get the rest of the parts into the cockpit! Look forward to any comments and recommendations.

Hi Lee, If you are talking about the engines, lets say the WH kitparts were very usful, and have saved alot of time. The rear bottom airframe "plug" was made from a plaster of paris mould from the WH kit as I did not seem to be able to get the shape right as in the tutorial. The rest is by the book (tutorial).

Some more progress images from my FG.1 build. Slow going with some earthquaking distractions over here. But back into it now! Work done on intakes, decided that I will use covers, changed my mind , then changed it back! I have 4 other 1/32 Phantom projects planned and all have seamless intakes ready and waiting, so one without I can live with. The rear underside plug has been cleaned up somewhat, but still needs some work. One of the sprey engines can be seen in aprox in the correct place.

Hi Lee, sorry to hear about the paint on the intakes. I was intending to make some intake covers for mine, but all this work it seems a shame to cover them, so I will try and de- seam the puppies! Looks like we are at about the same stage, will get my build moved to this group build thread. If you need any info, measurments, scans from the wild hare kit , let me know. I am not using it for this build (except decals) and its been a great help for me. Steve

Try this link, its for part 4 but has the links for 1,2,3 FGR2

I expect you will need to drop the fronts slats on the wings as well. I will be putting intake covers on mine ( easy option I know). Will use the WH seamless intakes when I make the FGR2. PM me if you need any docs as I have some I can send you.

Hi Lee, Good to see im not the only mad person tackling this project. You have managed to get the rear airframe nailed. Much better than my effort. As you can see from my post, I am going down a different process. What are you planing to do about the engines? That I believe is the hardest part. I have done the front air intakes and that was not really an issue

Here are some images relating to the my post above ( resin “plug in”) As you can see the resin part will need a good clean up. I also need to shorted by about 2 -3 mm. The pitting will be the major problem. I have seen that some guys use mr surfacer 1000 to smooth out these sort of things. If anyone knows about this method I would be very interested. The conversion part is just sitting on the kit part at the moment and looks to wide and high in the photo, but it’s about right. Have included images of the original kit part and the Wild Hare conversion set also to give an idea of the differences for the Spray engines. To answer you question Lee, I had issues with the angles at the edge and also the cuts down the center of the bottom of the airframe. I would love to see some of you photos if you have any.

Having major problems sorting out the rear airframe for the sprey engines. The plastic strips and cutting did not seem to work for me. I decided to try another approach. I have made a resin part from my WH set. It was made using a one off plaster of paris mould. Its dimentions are from the rear lower airframe to the two access bays. The width stops at, but includes, the rear weapon troughs. I have cut out the original area and hope to slot in the new part. Needs a GOOD clean up as my moulding skills are not great, but I think it will work. There are a lot of concave pits on the surface of the resin that I will need to fill somehow ( any advice would be great). I will post some images later. Small note: This thread should be called FG:1 NOT FGR:1. The R is only used for the RAF Phantom (FGR:2). Something else I have learnt !

Hi Doug, I have seen Franks build of an FGR2 in a simlar scheme but not an FG1 with the cheackered black and white spine.

Have done some work on the cockpit as I need to glue airframe together to get the rear section sorted. The front tub and rear are simlar to a J (for an FG1). I only have a spare C cockpit available so I have made the rear side walls from a J cockpit I have for another project and converted the right console. Not finished as yet, still have to do some work on the consoles.

Hi Chris, I intend to do this as a Phantom FG.1, 43 Sqn, RAF, XV571, Checkerboard Spine. Image of intended scheme The Wild Hare kit has 11 schemes to choose from! The WH conversion will be used to make an FGR2 in standard camo colours.

Thought I would post the start of my build of my favourite aircraft in my favourite scale. If there is much interest I will continue until (hopefully) the completion of the project. I am using the Tamiya J kit as a donor and also have parts of a C/D kit as well if I stuff anything up. I’m very lucky to also have the Wild Hare conversion kit that I am using as reference. The decals will be used from that set as well as a pair of MB seats as there are two sets in the WH kit. I have been using Frank Mitchell’s excellent “how to build an FGR” series . I would not have attempted this without it, so thanks to Frank for spending the time putting it together and posting. After reading through the guide I thought the intakes look harder than the rear end of the airframe for the FG only Srey engines. I was sooooo wrong. So far I have completed the major surgery on the airframe and the intakes have been widened. The intakes were quite easy really (due to Frank’s images), and so was the front end surgery . I was feeling very confident and started the rear end. That has been a nightmare so far. Don’t seem to be able to get the right shape for the engines. As I said before I have a spare lower airframes if I need it, and I might! My plan now is to attack the engine area with both top and bottom parts of the airframes attached together. So the cockpit will need to be installed. Black Box F-4C Box cockpit will be used. I know that the J cockpit would be better to use for an FGR but I only have one J cockpit which will be used with the Wild Hair conversion (FGR2). Most changes are to the rear pit and I have moulded two new side walls ( from the BB F-4J cockpit) and done some surgery to both left and right consoles. Any input about the rear end would be appreciated, I know it looks a mess at the moment!

I have used http://www.ericyymodel.com/ a number of times and have found them very good. best prices around and not bad shipping prices to New Zealand.

Anyone know if I can use one of the Aires engine detail sets for my Academy F-16I Sufa. I believe from reseach that it is a Block 52. Does that mean I can use: 1: F-16C block 30/40/50/60 exhaust nozzle. OR 2: F-16CG/CJ Block 40/50 exhaust nozzle. OR 3: none of the above!!

Just finished my Fw190 Nightfighter. Made from the Hasegawa A-5 kit using Owl's great conversion set and decals. The hardest part was changing the A-5 to an A-8! I had the A-5 in my stash so used that and exchanged and begged the parts I needed to convert it to a A-8. Thanks to Dave Pratt. I have also used Eduards flap and cokpit set. Thanks for looking.

Thanks Dave, looks good to me

Mine arrived today, looks great. Was not really interested in the F-16 untill I saw the kit build on the Academy site. The Sufa version looks great to me. Over 600 parts, with 200 not needed for the Sufa! I hope Aires are going to bring out a cockpit set.

Hi Guys, I want to convert my Tamiya F-4J Marines Phantom into a F-4J (UK) aircraft. I also have the F-4J black Box Cockpit, True details wheel set and Wolfpack hard wing flap down set. Still looking for the Yellowhammer decal sheet if anyone can help. Is there any major problems in doing this conversion from the Marines kit. I understand there maybe some tweeks to do in the cockpit as the RAF may have changed some electronics in this area. Thanks for looking.

Hi, Has anyone seen a review for the new Wolfpack cockpit set for the Academy F-16I Sufa? Cannot find anything on the net, close up images would be to see. Cant see much from their site. The Academy Sufa looks quite cool and the kit markings shown on the Academy site build have "made" me get one.

Thanks guys, great help. I will post photos when model completed.

I am in the process of building a Fw 190 A-8/R11 nightfighter using the Owl conversion set. My kit I am using is the new tooled Hasegawa A-5, 1/32. I have all the parts to convert this to an A-8 ( I hope!) It would be of great help if someone could send me a scan of the A-8 instructions. I can the distinguish between the A-5 and A-8 parts. Tail wheel, etc. Thanks for reading.

I have a Dragon 1/32 c-7 and would like to make the Owl option for the Bf 110 D-3 mitt Spanner Anlage. Is it possible with what I have in the box? I think the tail maybe a problem. Thanks for reading.

I was hoping the next release would be the G version. Any confirmation that Dragon are going to release one? I will be giving the Super bug conversion a miss.

yes, your right about the nose, some of the camera windows are different also. I think that will be difficult but do-able