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Tamiya F-4C


cklooMY

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Barry,

 

Am I understanding correct that you actually worked on 8th TFW F-4's in Viet Nam....and particularly this A/C??

 

I am about to begin an Old's build soon and have some questions.

I am assuming that the jets from this era were repainted camo over ADC grey. About the chipping ...I read in an article that the paint wore off down to the "Corroguard". What color is that? I am assuming that the worn off areas showed an ADC like grey color under...or was it something different?

 

Thanks,

Darren McTee

Darren,

 

Without completely high jacking Ck loo's thread; yes I was a member of the 8th TFW and yes I work this particularly A/C if my memory hasn’t failed me.

 

Early USAF F-4’s were delivered in the standard USN paint scheme of Gray over White not ADC Gray just for clarity. So yes when adding “worn or chipped” paint weathering there would be some gray or White that would likely be visible. The initial applications of SEA camo to the Phantoms was often done very hastily and did not weather well. I’ve seen many photos where there are “large” areas of Gray showing through the upper Green and Tan colors.

 

Corroguard is a multifunctional stain inhibitor for aluminum alloys and was applied to the leading edges of the wings, intake lip, vertical and horizontal stabilizers to inhibit corrosion and it “looked really nice and silver” when polished up. On USN/USMC F-4’s this was not painted over nor was it when USAF Phantoms were still wearing the USN scheme. I do not “recall” (key word) seeing any camo painted Phantoms where the corroguard was left unpainted.

 

Now; you will find photos where the corroguard appears to be unpaint on camo Phantoms but my experience was it appeared so in high traffic areas where maintenance has worn the camo paint away. The intake lips were a “very” high traffic area because the intakes and the engine blades had to inspected before and after every flight. Climbing in and out of a Phantom intake can be a little challenging and the lips were subjected to a lot of bumping and scuffing. It was also a nice cool place to catch a nap!

 

Another area was the wing leading edge at the external wing tanks. Once the engines were started or if the canopies were closed and the canopy operating system was “flat” no air pressure. We would hop up on the tank then over the wing leading edge.

 

Another reason the corroguard protected areas would weather quicker was that unless the polished smooth area was "scuffed up" prior to painting then there was no "tooth" and the paint would peel away. Tons of high speed air flow across these areas which is also why these areas had corroguard applied.

 

I hope I’ve helped a little. We could probably start a separate thread just to discuss Phantom weathering. Please keep in mind that what I’ve stated here is from memories that are now 40 years old.

 

Phabulious Phantoms Phorever!

Barry

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I hope I’ve helped a little. We could probably start a separate thread just to discuss Phantom weathering. Please keep in mind that what I’ve stated here is from memories that are now 40 years old.

 

Phabulious Phantoms Phorever!

Barry

 

Barry,

 

Thanks so much. Awesome info! You have confirmed about everything that I had found thru my own research...but its hard to tell from B&W pictures. Great to hear from somebody that was actually there. A separate thread would be awesome. I am about to start my own 1/32 F-4C build of Col Old's jet and know questions will come up along the way. Do you have pictures of any of the 8th TFW jets from that era?

 

Darren McTee

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Yes Barry. You need a seperate thread to cover, not only weathering, but anything else that WILL pop up. Seems we are blessed with several builds going on here, and maybe this will intice others to join in. I would start one of mine now, but I want to finish my P-38 first....Harv :yahoo:

 

Harv,

I am so tempted to start one of my own Phantom builds.

I had though about starting from the beginning like Mr. MAC with the F4H-1 but I really want to do a USMC VMFA-122, F-4B loaded with three of Harold's HIPEG 20mm Gun Pods.

Between CklooMY and Big Matt the jucies are really starting to flow. :speak_cool:

 

Barry,

 

Thanks so much. Awesome info! You have confirmed about everything that I had found thru my own research...but its hard to tell from B&W pictures. Great to hear from somebody that was actually there. A separate thread would be awesome. I am about to start my own 1/32 F-4C build of Col Old's jet and know questions will come up along the way. Do you have pictures of any of the 8th TFW jets from that era?

 

Darren McTee

 

Darren,

 

You are more than welcome.

I do not have any pictures of my own but you can find photos of Wolf Pack Phantoms in just about every book on the Phantom.

I will gladly answer any question I can if not me then there are several others here that know the Phantom as well if not better than I do. If you can scare up the Squadron Signal; Vietnam Studies Group "Air War over Southeast Asia" Three Vol. set. Specifically Vol. 2 covering the period 1967-1970 you'll find lots of Phantom photos and many are 8th TFW Phantoms.

 

Barry

 

Barry

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Reading how much passion you guys have for the Rhino makes me wanna go out and get another kit for a different version....

One can "never" have too many Phantoms!

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ask the risk of offending someone I feel a need to make a couple observations concerning the build of Olds' airplane. First let me say overall its a beautiful job. From an accuracy standpoint there are a couple things that others should whatch for if building a F-4 of that time frame. I'm pretty positive that F-4s of that era did not have the reinforcement panels on the horizontal tail , wings , and fuselage that Tamiya has molded on their kit. I also don't believe that the fuse extenders on the bombs were in use at that time.

 

Bruce

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Bruce,

your observation on the reinforcement panels are duly noted. May just correct that the same time when I do the paint chipping.

 

What do you guys reckon is the most interesting Rhino scheme whic I can get aftermarket decals for?

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