RichieB

Smeds,
 
Regarding the fit of the intakes, you may well be right but until I can fix the exhausts into the rear fuselage and wrap up the front fuselage there is just to much flex to know for sure.
 
Right chaps onto the next installment - engine exhausts. You may have guessed that I jump around a lot - I drink too much tea.
 
I mentioned that this bird is going to fly (hopefully not into the bin) so we need a mode of display. My chosen method is to stick two acrylic rods up the exhausts. I like this method because it looks like it propelled itself there and sticking a metal rod in its belly just looks like the poor things been harpooned. I'm using 10mm clear acrylic rod because I'm hopefully going to put some light down the tube and make it look like the burners are lit. Whilst this method looks cool it is technically challenging to put all the electronics in an airborne kit and demanding from an engineering pov as the weight of the aircraft can cause quite a bending moment especially around the exhausts. Just super gluing then in would be insufficient, the stress would snap them off straight away. And so to work. Using the GT resin exhausts I cut a 13mm diameter hole in each of the flame holder areas before gluing them to the exhaust tunnel. As this is a weak joint I then sandwiched 2mm of plasticard behind it with miliput to hold it then reinforced the joint with superglued plasticard straps.The result is this:
 

 
 
Although a strong bond, this is only sufficient to hold the tube the rods will go into in place with little movement. I will now have to securely fix the exhausts to the fuselage and provide at least 2 other attachment points in the fuselage for the rod/tube to try and spread the load as much as possible. Too much flex or stress in one point means critical failure as it will be hard to rectify when its all wrapped up. Anyway, so far so good!
 
In another line of activity, I've started removing as much weight as I can from the Resin cockpit as weight that far forward is not good and the Legend cockpit has loads of it. I think I must have removed over a third of the resin and its still in working order! You will also note from the piccie that I've started to fill in the gaps that my placing of the sidewalls seems to have generated and I've started drilling the holes for the cockpit lighting.
 
 

 
The sharp eyed amongst you will spot that I've added the Revell part to the WSO's radar display as I thought the Legend cockpit looked a bit off in this area compared to pictures of he real thing and even Tamiya's kit cockpit. Not shown is the pile of resin dust I also got from hollowing out SH's Resin nose which is an excellent replacement but again is solid and very heavy for my needs. And yes I did use a respirator - the only real drawback to Resin, that and the warping, and the brittleness ......

Hi chaps,
 
Tony - Many thanks for the synopsis. Most of the jets I'm looking at going are pre FY 70 so looks like I may need to go for the belly strap, presumanly they were fitted at the same time as the LES?
 
I've been slicing and dicing the intakes to check fit. Top view its looking good:
 

Bottom view, hmmmmmm, not sure if I've cut too much of the Revell intake area away as the Resin seems smaller than the remaining plastic area. This could be Potential error #2:
 
 

 
If I fit the resin intake to the wing edge it looks like it leaves a gap. I cut away the plastic so the intake would sit flush against the plate that holds the intake away from the fuselage, which it does but this seems to raise a wing root fit issue, Ir it might just be that I can't seem to accurately hold all the pieces together without gluing and It doesn't help in that there are 5 pieces that need to be held simultaneously! Might have to do some of that old fashioned plastic fettling (gonna need a bigger can of super glue). 

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.

Smeds,
 
Regarding the fit of the intakes, you may well be right but until I can fix the exhausts into the rear fuselage and wrap up the front fuselage there is just to much flex to know for sure.
 
Right chaps onto the next installment - engine exhausts. You may have guessed that I jump around a lot - I drink too much tea.
 
I mentioned that this bird is going to fly (hopefully not into the bin) so we need a mode of display. My chosen method is to stick two acrylic rods up the exhausts. I like this method because it looks like it propelled itself there and sticking a metal rod in its belly just looks like the poor things been harpooned. I'm using 10mm clear acrylic rod because I'm hopefully going to put some light down the tube and make it look like the burners are lit. Whilst this method looks cool it is technically challenging to put all the electronics in an airborne kit and demanding from an engineering pov as the weight of the aircraft can cause quite a bending moment especially around the exhausts. Just super gluing then in would be insufficient, the stress would snap them off straight away. And so to work. Using the GT resin exhausts I cut a 13mm diameter hole in each of the flame holder areas before gluing them to the exhaust tunnel. As this is a weak joint I then sandwiched 2mm of plasticard behind it with miliput to hold it then reinforced the joint with superglued plasticard straps.The result is this:
 

 
 
Although a strong bond, this is only sufficient to hold the tube the rods will go into in place with little movement. I will now have to securely fix the exhausts to the fuselage and provide at least 2 other attachment points in the fuselage for the rod/tube to try and spread the load as much as possible. Too much flex or stress in one point means critical failure as it will be hard to rectify when its all wrapped up. Anyway, so far so good!
 
In another line of activity, I've started removing as much weight as I can from the Resin cockpit as weight that far forward is not good and the Legend cockpit has loads of it. I think I must have removed over a third of the resin and its still in working order! You will also note from the piccie that I've started to fill in the gaps that my placing of the sidewalls seems to have generated and I've started drilling the holes for the cockpit lighting.
 
 

 
The sharp eyed amongst you will spot that I've added the Revell part to the WSO's radar display as I thought the Legend cockpit looked a bit off in this area compared to pictures of he real thing and even Tamiya's kit cockpit. Not shown is the pile of resin dust I also got from hollowing out SH's Resin nose which is an excellent replacement but again is solid and very heavy for my needs. And yes I did use a respirator - the only real drawback to Resin, that and the warping, and the brittleness ......

Carl.
 
Many thanks for the offer, that's very kind of you. I'm going to stay with the figures I have at the moment as the quality is great. Hopefully I can massage them so the difference isn't that apparent. If that doesn't work standby for emergency Tamiya transplant!

Hi chaps,
 
Tony - Many thanks for the synopsis. Most of the jets I'm looking at going are pre FY 70 so looks like I may need to go for the belly strap, presumanly they were fitted at the same time as the LES?
 
I've been slicing and dicing the intakes to check fit. Top view its looking good:
 

Bottom view, hmmmmmm, not sure if I've cut too much of the Revell intake area away as the Resin seems smaller than the remaining plastic area. This could be Potential error #2:
 
 

 
If I fit the resin intake to the wing edge it looks like it leaves a gap. I cut away the plastic so the intake would sit flush against the plate that holds the intake away from the fuselage, which it does but this seems to raise a wing root fit issue, Ir it might just be that I can't seem to accurately hold all the pieces together without gluing and It doesn't help in that there are 5 pieces that need to be held simultaneously! Might have to do some of that old fashioned plastic fettling (gonna need a bigger can of super glue). 

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!

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Thanks for the update, I'm staying tuned in on this one!