Tamiya 1:32 F-4C/D Clear canopies and parts

[WheelsUp]

The method of attaching the canopies to the sprue “D” by Tamiya in this kit is horrible. Every piece has stress crazing at each sprue attachment point. They all extend well into the clear section where no paint is applied.

I have tried every method in the book to eliminate these flaws to no avail. Even tried applying extra thin cement hoping it would bleed into the plastic, no joy. I use Bondic a lot in my assembly processes and tried cutting out a section of a scrap clear plastic piece. Made a dam around the piece and filled it to lay in the Bondic. The result was great except you could see where the edge of the plastic was cut, so while it is a great product that cures with UV light crystal clear, it does not melt the adjacent plastic thus leaving the mating surface visible.

I have sent requests directly to Tamiya explaining the problem and asking for a replacement sprue but have not heard back.

I found one sprue for sale on eBay, contacted the seller and unfortunately only two of the pieces on his sprue are free of this issue.

If anyone has any ideas that can fix this problem, or if there is a vac form company or third party vendor selling these parts, I would appreciate the feedback.

I can’t believe they elected to attach these pieces directly in the no paint area, I mean it’s not like it’s a critical feature of any aircraft model kit!!

Thanks in advance,

John

[thierry laurent]

Hi,

 

Here's my method:

 

1. Do not use a sprue cutter but a thin razor saw to remove the parts out of the sprue gates

2. Use a large file to remove any gate residue

3. Polish the edge with micromesh

4. Paint the edge with black paint

5. Glue the part with gator glue or UV glue

 

This is the strategy I'm always using in such cases. 

 

Hth

 

Thierry 

[Tony T]

^ what Thierry says ^.   Plus I've sawn my clear parts off on stock F-4s and put them in bubble wrap to prevent stress marks occurring because of a sprue later coming under pressure and flexing due to box stacking. 

 

A lot of modellers use a thin line of pale grey on the outside to hide the polished-back sprue attach points. It replicates the reinforcing tape used on the real thing — especially useful on the lower windshield quarter panels. With the main hoods a dunk in Future can help.

 

Masking is best done with flexible masking tape from a mini roll (e.g. 2mm wide) rather than using pre-cut masks, and referring to photos.

 

Such a great kit in need of just a bit of a refresher.

 

Hope you resolve it to your satisfaction,

 

Tony 

 

 

[WheelsUp]

Tony and Theirry,

Thank you for your input. My parts had been subjected to some stress before I received the kit, so, the crazing was already present and hot knife or meticulous saw and mesh removal won’t help. The crazing goes far enough into the canopies that the thin sealing tape painting would end up looking like an amateur paint job for something so minimally visible on the real thing.

Im hopeful that Tamiya replies with a clean replacement sprue, fingers and toes crossed!

Otherwise, it’s back to the drawing board. Very frustrating to say the least!

onward and upward.

Thank you,

John

[chuck540z3]

While I agree with the advice given above, I use a black Sharpy pen instead of black paint, which I've done (and maybe started?) for many years.  The ink dissolves with the extra thin cement and doesn't act as a barrier like paint often can.

 

To further "mask" this chronic problem with this kit, many F-4's have a clear gasket along the glass to canopy frame boundary.  If you use thin strips of vinyl tape on the inside, the irregular stress cracks are covered and you will never see them.  Here's an example on my F-4E.

 

 

Cheers,

Chuck

[WheelsUp]

Chuck,

Interesting approach, I’ll have to experiment with it.

Thank you,

John

[AlbertD]

I just took a close look at the canopy sprue on my new F-4J kit and they look perfect. Is it a different sprue from the C/D kit?

[WheelsUp]

Albert,

I don’t know if they are different or not to be honest. I can try to look at some on line references to try and see if I can tell.

What are you asking for them?

Thanks,

John

[Dave Williams]

I believe that the clear parts in all of the F-4 boxings are identical, at least for the canopy/windscreen parts.  There may be some smaller parts like gunsights on subsprues that vary, but not the canopy.

[WheelsUp]

Dave,

So far I’m guessing you are right. The information I’ve read is that the J’s were created from modified B models. Much was added including a larger radome, tires, leading edge slats on both the wings and horizontal stab. So far no mention of changes to the canopies.

Thanks,

John

[AlbertD]

2 hours ago, WheelsUp said:

Albert,

I don’t know if they are different or not to be honest. I can try to look at some on line references to try and see if I can tell.

What are you asking for them?

Thanks,

John

John, no I don't need them but I thought it might be another source for people who need a replacement. Just more options for them.

[thierry laurent]

Dave is right. The canopy sprue stayed identical in all the kits. 

[WheelsUp]

Albert,

I'm a little confused. I need a replacement sprue, are you willing to part with it?

If so, I am willing to pay for it.

Thanks,

John

[AlbertD]

1 hour ago, WheelsUp said:

Albert,

I'm a little confused. I need a replacement sprue, are you willing to part with it?

If so, I am willing to pay for it.

Thanks,

John

No I’m sorry I don’t. I just thought it might be another option for you to look for on eBay and such.

[Chek]

It's hard to believe there isn't at least a vac form set of Phantom transparencies for the Tamiyas that would sit over the frames all the way down to the sill.

Although these days a clear but more expensive resin option is just as likely.

I'd prefer the vac form version as it could be applied after detailing and painting the frames, with only the exterior masking to then worry about.

 

That and a 1/32 scale version of Hyper-Sonic's resin rear fuselage inlay fix for the ZM kits would rejuvenate interest in the Tamiya F-4s, which we appear to be stuck with for the foreseeable.

As it is, the extremely noticeable NAVY and MARINES lettering look all wrong due to Tamiya's rear fuselage shape error.