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1/32 F-4J Phantom (Complete)


gmctaggart

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Thanks Out2ghtcha. Another quick update. After more time sanding and filling I am starting to get somewhere. I also did a pass of primer to see the areas that still need some work. A little bit more work and I think these will be done. Let me know what you think.

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At the same time I have also continued cleaning up the AC paneling. Removing the raised panels and also adding in some panels and screws that were not part of the molding. I filled in one of the access panels which didn't seem to exist on the photos I have. I am hoping this is correct. Its also interesting that in doing these photos how much clearer things are such as the errant holes in some of the panels. Will need to correct that.

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As always feel free to comment or correct my assumptions.

Gord

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks stusbke and Shawn for you nice words. It has been a bit since I posted and the delay is largely due to summer break and vacations. That said there has been some progress and some unprogress. It seemed like I was on track for vanquishing the intake issue and I was thinking, yup, a couple coats of paint and we can call it done. So as I was working up the intakes and cleaning up the splitter plates, I decided to dry fitted these to the intakes. What I hadn't taken into account was the bowed nature of the intake housing, and so when they were set into place, it created a vertical crack and showed a 1mm offset between the front and back portion of the intake. A picture would probably make sense, but I did not take one. This was highly frustrating and so this was set aside for awhile. To maintain progress however, I decided to work on the cockpit and exhaust. The cockpit comes together fairly easily and this is enhanced with some Eduard coloured photo etch. I tried to be strategic where I used it as some details are better represented in styrene. The other challenge with the photetch is that the colour of the instrument panel is a light gray colour and not the Dark Ghost gray that should be used. I could paint the areas in question but likely would result in a poor result. Instead I found a match for the Eduard colour and used that for the upper portion of the displays. The lower portion is done in a darker gray but one that is not to far off so its not as jarring. From photos it seems that there is a bit of colour variation in the front office so this may work to my advantage.

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Some light weathering and this part seems ok. Let me know if I missed something.

I also started onto the resin exhaust. I really like how this has been rendered as the fidelity is quite nice. A primer coat of black followed by Tamyia Titanium. Then a light spray of copper to get some colour variation. Once I get the rest of the tail end together, I will layer in the exhaust and burnt metal colours to darken everything down uniformly. Last  note was the use of nato green for the inner portion of the can. Not sure what the ideal colour should be, but it seemed close to what I have seen in photos. Finally the intake was dealt with by using chrome and aluminum. Again, any thoughts would be helpful.

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Thats it for now. I do have some questions for the folks on this forum but that is a tomorrow thing. Thanks for reading.

 

Gord

 

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So I am hoping to get some information from the knowledgable folks on this forum. I have settled on doing the Jolly Rogers VF-84 and the A/C 7298 during 1971. This is using Hobby decals set of markings. So here goes.

1. Does this A/C or F4J's during this time period have slats. I have read that this was something that was on certain airframes. 

2. Looking at ordnance loads. What would be a typical air to ground package? I have read various sources and they tend to differ. I was looking at Centre fuel tank, 2 sparrows in the rear and then 6 Snakes and 6 regular MK.82 on TER's and MER. Does that sound reasonable? as the TER mounts to a pylon that carries sidewinders, should I include the rails for the sidewinders and /or add include some missiles?

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3. As I am setting the bird at launch, I am trying to understand how cables are attached. I can see that 2 of the cables attached under the intakes but the others are a mystery.

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Hopefully there are some answers out there.

 

Gord

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Hey Gord, here’s some answers that may help. no slats on the J...came later with S airframe. As for ordnance, VF-84 was an east coast squadron and only made 1 deployment to Vietnam in 65 and Med cruises were notoriously short of everything as it was all headed to SE Asia. So likely A/G ordnance is  nill... you can make an educated guess with period photos though.

 

As for the bridle and how that is used, best thing I can tell you is to check out my old build of a launch scene from a few years back. The bridle is essentially one cable that has ropes attached to keep it from being flung off the bow (no ropes if it’s been used enough, in which case they flung it off the bow!) there’s a holdback bar/fitting that attaches beneath the tailhook, which is what keeps the a/c in tension until the cat fires.

here’s  the  link (not LSP, but a large display at 30”x30”) http://www.zone-five.net/showthread.php?t=29067

HTH Peter

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Thanks Peter. It seems I missed a key step in my research and made some assumptions. I will adjust my approach for ordnance to reflect something a little less aggressive. As for the bridle , I looked through some more posts and videos and I think I now understand a bit more. I'm still not sure about where some of the cables go and hopefully you can add a bit more to this. As for you diorama, that is quite something. That must have taken quite some time. Very nicely executed.

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I found this video very helpful.

Thanks for shedding some light on this.

Gord

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Gord,

 

check posts 47 and 48 in this (even older) thread: http://www.zone-five.net/showthread.php?t=15441&page=3 

 The part you have questions about is actually rope that is tied down to keep the bridle from being tossed overboard. Over to you if you want to keep it—the bridles were good for a few dozen shots.

 

As for your next post, those are the leading edge flaps.

peter

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Progress continues. Having now done the intakes, I feel that if you have money to burn then you should definitely get a set of seamless intakes. If you are being economical as I have, then you can make a valiant effort but there are definitely challenges. From what I have leaned it seems that getting the intakes totally seamless and to fit properly is challenging. I expect that my struggle is from inexperience and not anticipating the problems that would appear, however it is definitely worth a try. To summarize the major issues are addressing the flex in the outer cowl when putting the pieces together. In addition the horizontal seam that is created between the trunk assembly and the portion that is left on the A/C.

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Finally I struggled with mounting the intakes so they would sit flush against the fuselage and ended up getting a major gap and offset.

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This gap was then filled and sanded back.

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I believe the culprit to the offset was the screw that holds everything together. At any rate Step 1 in the instructions is done ;)

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A few other points. The antennas that sit on the cowls are not part of this aircraft and should be omitted. Ie. don't drill the holes as indicated in the instructions. duh. I also cleaned up the splitter panel so there is a cavity inside and added the 2 vertical supports.

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Finally, and further to Peter's information I believe that this panel is the point where the holdback cable attaches. Perhaps someone can confirm this. 

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More to come.

Gord

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Building on my last post, there has been a bit more work. Primarily the removal of the leading edge flaps and the trailing edge flaps. This was done by carefully scoring the panel line until the piece could be carefully snapped off. 

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Also some attention to mid canopy assembly with the holes drilled out, paint and the addition of some photo etch.

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In addition the exhaust was also cleaned up and assembled and is ready to be installed.

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Finally some focus on the tail with the assembly of the horizontal stabilizers and tail cone.

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Thanks for reading.

Gord

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Ok, so finally making some head way. With the intakes in place and the tail set up I have dry fitted the cockpit. Everything seemed to fit well except for a bit of gap behind the pilot seat and the painful transition between the cockpit tub and the fuselage behind the RIO. Both of which can be easily tidied up.

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With the tub screwed in place, The engine cans were added followed by the bottom of the aircraft. It's nice to see some progress.

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So next question. At the point where an F4 was being launched from a carrier, where would the pilot and RIO hands typically be placed? Appreciate some insight and feedback.

Thanks for reading.

Gord

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