Because there’s no such thing as too many Phantoms

[bcauchi 250]

nice work so far

[TimHepplestone 788]

1 hour ago, bcauchi said:

nice work so far

Thank you sir

[Durangokid 997]

Nice work on the metal area! 

[Fvdm 662]

Nice paintjob on the metal parts.

[TimHepplestone 788]

Having been away for a couple of weeks not much progress made. Finally got back to the bench today. Scratch built the belly strap that were added to F4’s by the RAF. Also got a coat of black primer down. Tomorrow should be having some fun with the airbrush. Will be first attempt at this black basing technique that’s seems to be so fashionable at the moment. I’m a bit sceptical but hey, I’ll try anything once

[Durangokid 997]

Hey Tim, I'm looking forward to the paint job.  I think you will like the black basting.

 

Bryan

[TimHepplestone 788]

Next step was a marbling coat with white like so

 

to which I added some brown and buff shading to the rear of the aircraft where most the grime accumulates

 

I'll be keeping weathering minimal as I'm depicting a 74 squadron aircraft at a Tiger meet in 1988, and the airframes look quite clean on the refernce images I have. That said it is a phantom....

Then , with aching wrist, hot compressor and going crosseyed got the topcoats on. I used the main camo coulours, very heavily thinned and sprayed 6 to 7 coats. The end result looks like this...

 

Barlley grey and medium sea grey on the top. All mixed from tamiiya paints. 

 

and a coat of home brewed extra light sea grey on the bottom

 

 

In areas it looks a little stark, (and bloody difficult to photograph) but my thinking is a couple of coats of gloss coat will tone it down. If not I can always do another pass with the blending coat. All in all I'm fairly pleased with the result. IMHO blackbasing certainly has a place, especially on large grey aircraft. I was tempted to try and reproduce the colours put on these phantoms befores export from the US, (the well documented blue/green tint to the upper grey) however the decal sheet I have depicts and aircraft thet would have been overpainted by the time 1988 came around so I'm going with the standard RAF camo.

 

 

[themongoose 1,940]

I’ve gone up and down the page studying your pics. Love the top, really looks like it’s weathering. The bottom I think I agree with you, a little stark. My experience with black basing says your approach is right, look at it after the clear. I had spots I adjusted prior to clear and I lost almost all the mottling affect. Realized it soon enough but still good experience to pass along. The cool thing is I just re-mottled those sections and did it again. The paint was thin enough doing it this way that I didn’t lose any detail.

[TimHepplestone 788]

Finally got back to the beast. After several disasters with decals, finally got some markings on. The aftermarket decals would shatter when they hit water. Eventually I got most of them on and they are incredibly thin. Lots of touch ups with a fine brush and steady hand needed though. Also did a PLW with some oils, and added some streaks and leaks on the underside. The stencils are Tamiya. I would have loved some aftermarket ones as these have very thick carrier film and are US and not RAF. 

 

 

 

 

[Durangokid 997]

I think you did a great job with the black basing, they way you did it really brings out the little variations in the paint job.  Nice work...

 

Bryan

[MikeC 2,778]

It's a Phantom, it's a tiger, it's well-executed: what's not to like?  Looking forward to the RFI pics.

[Mark M 1,583]

cant beat 74sqn   'I Fear No Man' 

[Sir Spendalot 147]

Fantastic build sir. I did a USN Navy version a while back and those horrible intakes stare at me every time I sit down at my desk  Think I might add some FOD guards at some stage. Also wish I knew about the black basing thing before I built my Revell 1/32 Tornado - big expanses of nothing!

[JAWS 120]

What a great build, can't wait to see the phinished Phantom. 

 

I've got 2 of the Tamiya F-4s: 1 started, 1 waiting to be built.

[themongoose 1,940]

Ohh this looks really great! Di you end up doing a little more on the bottom?