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RAF FG.1 XV571 WILD HARE Phantom Conversion


Anthony in NZ

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Hi Team

 

Well the time has come.  I was waiting to start this build thread until I had more to show, but with all the discussion going on at the moment I figured it was time to set this up.

Firstly to Mike Swinburne for selling me this kit and conversion for such an awesome price, for that I am indebted...thank you sir!

 

   XrGq0a.jpg

 

My main interest in modelling is NZ Aviation in 32nd (and one Mosquito in 24th).  But for some inexplicable reason  I have LOVED the Brit Phantom (I think you guys call her a Toom?) and as a kid in the 70's saving up and buying the old matchbox kit, which I flew around my bedroom uncountable times, then Hasegawa's 1/48 came out.  But I had an old Scale Models magazine that had a 1/32 conversion of the old Revell kit to an F-4M (I held onto that for years...wish I still had it!). Maybe someone could scan it and post it here for nostalgic reasons?  Then came Frank Mitchells wonderful conversion, what an inspiration for me.  I brought a Tamiya 'J'  and had dreams of converting one myself.

 

However, that went into the 'too hard' basket as there was just too much conflicting information on sizes and shapes. I didnt have access to one from over here and sadly gave up. 

 

Then came the Wild Hare Super Massive conversion done by Klaus with the Help of Frank Mitchell.  Long story short, I never got one in the end....  However Mike to the rescue and I Finally got one!!!  For all the bad press going on with supply of the kits etc I am still indebted to these guys for what they achieved. In fact, until you look at the contents and decal sheets it was immediately clear this was an enormous task he took on.  I have never seen a conversion quite like it, nor have since.  There must have been an enormous amount of time needed just to produce just one conversion for market.

 

Anyway, here we are.

 

A couple of people so far have been an enormous amount of help to me so far, that being our own Iain Ogilvie and Derek Bradshaw as well as a chap through Britmodeller called Antti (you guys rock, thank you all!!) Chek and Cees have been (unknown to them) a great and inspiration for me with their builds.

 

I am still undecided on which airframe to build, but am pretty sure it will be this one, photo courtesy of Iain Ogilvie

sM32BS.png

Love the mix of Firebird and Tiger markings

 

There is a great photo ref here on Britmodeller

Hope Julian doesn't mind me linking here, but a fantastic set of photo's

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234949864-mcdonnell-fg1-fgr2-phantom/

 

I am really relying all your input here, and hope this turns into, not just a build thread but a discussion on all things British Phantom's, modelling, conversion prospects etc.  Feel free to criticize my work and put me straight on stuff.  I dont have access to an FGR.2 so will rely on your input.  If you are aware of issues with the WH conversion, then please make them known to me.  I know of some like the intakes being too wide, panel lines mostly wrong etc.  I have a feeling the Vari-ramps are incorrect too for a Brit Phantom.  Need to be longer (?) and they definitely have a different pattern of holes on the splitter ramp.

 

I really want to fulfill my childhood dream with this one and want to get it correct.

 

Next post will be onto the build and where I am at so far

 

Cheers guys

Anthony

 

 

Edited by Anthony in NZ
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OK.....where do I start

This wont be a fast build I am sure, and it is something I am going to work on between working on and planning the next stages of my 1/24 Airfix Mosquito build.

 

The past few months have been mostly dedicated to study of the British Phantom, its differences and what I have to work with.

Drawings have been a challenge, but I have found this site which seems pretty exhaustive

http://soyuyo.main.jp/f4/f4e-1.html#bottom

As well as this site

https://phantomphacts.blogspot.com/search/label/RAF

 

The first thing I found is that the panel lines are still mostly of the US Phantom variety and many are very different to the FGR. Even there are differences between the FG.1 and FGR.2, so to be super accurate you need to decide which version you want to do.

 

Lets look at the upper fuselage for a start.  I cut the bleed air door openings out neatly and sanded the ridge out of the spine where there is a molding seam as well as give the rear fuse a general sand up to check for unevenness and blemishes in the surface.

UR7S2r.jpg

Here you can see a comparison of the 2 fuselages (Wild Hare on the left, Tamiya on the right).  Some of the BDR patches were removed by Frank and Klaus, but there were still more on the rear fuse that needed removing.  I have removed the left side ones, but still have that big one on the right to remove still. There is a ridge down the side that runs the length of the fin, this needs removing and will be replaced by plastic card later on when the fin gets attached.

 

There are still so many similarities between the 2 kits I even pondered cutting the sides off and grafting them into the original Tamiya plastic, but apart from being able to work with the plastic I wasn't going to achieve much. The reason I considered it was because the resin (mine anyway) is very brittle and difficult to rescribe.  The trick here as I have found out is to use very fine toothed razor saws.  Scribers and larger teeth saws just shatter along the line...VERY frustrating! Extra work I dont need.

I have started correcting the panel lines on the rear fuse and am adding new rivet detail to match the existing kit or finer ones where I can.

 

As this is an unprepared 'warts n all log, you will have to put up with seeing my scrappy work and messy superglue as I go.

Here I inserted the refueling probe receptacle (I will have this extended)

QFbwX1.jpg

 

Also the master had obviously broken at some stage and got repaired, so I sanded up the repairs on the casted part and now there is no evidence of it.

 

I love the look with the RWR antenna on the fin tip and glued it on.  But again, many of the panel lines on the fin were missing

More on this later

PUJiGI.jpg

 

Primer on...

FoD8MJ.jpg

Back to fixing surface details

4fSOtb.jpg

Feedback would be much appreciated

 

Cheers guys and I hope this might be of interest to some of you out there

Anthony

 

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46 minutes ago, mozart said:

So glad you’re doing this Anthony, what with all the chat etc that’s going on else where on the Forum. I hope to see an FGR2 available at some point in the not too distant future but in the meantime your build thread will be my classroom! Taking notes of course. :)

Thanks Max!  Seeing your Lightning helped light my fire too!

31 minutes ago, Kagemusha said:

Great to see a proper Phantom being built, I sincerely hope you finish it in a couple of years, as, obviously, as soon as you do the HK kit will hit the shelves! 

Hey Andy, Yep, the Spey Phantom is a REAL Phantom in my books LOL!

 

Someone has to take one for the team so you all get an IM one:lol:

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8 hours ago, John1 said:

Looking good so far, best of luck on this build but don't forget to keep working on your Mosquito!!!  I need the inspiration! 

Dont worry John, I had a 3D printed Canon bay set arrive from Shapeways, designed by Crossofiron-Steve for his build, a RP designed gunsight in the works from Robertmo and the first test print looks amazing!(Robert designed the nose gunbay set) and a few other items, incl the big Junction Box above the crew entry door.  I need yours for inspiration too mate!

 

6 hours ago, DonH said:

Oh, this is gonna be great :popcorn:

LOL, lets hope so!  Either that or she'll be a paint mule, on the SOD or in someone else's collection to finish:D

 

6 hours ago, airscale said:

Oooh, I have always wondered what was in the box having heard so much about the WH conversion

 

following along even though I mainly like things with props on - this is too interesting to miss in such good hands :)

 

Peter

Thanks Peter

I am normally a prop guy too. This build is to fulfill a childhood love of the Brit Phantom, lets hope all goes to plan :whistle: You are correct, there is precious little out there on people building the kit with this conversion...I didnt find any except Franks build.  I shall go where no man has ever gone before :help:

I took your advice on the etch primer, but your recommended brand wouldnt ship overseas, so I am trying out some other local ones...fingers crossed

 

6 hours ago, Out2gtcha said:

Love this kind of work!

Looking forward to more

Thanks very much!  I might need to pull in your experience and advice with this!

 

Right O, here is where I am at with fixing up the panel lines.

Here is the original Taniya fuselage, complete with patches etc on....

US48gE.jpg

 

Wild Hare in the correction phase, using the 'Chuck Wash' so you can see it better.

Still a long way to go on the fuselage

sOOLuH.jpg

 

Thanks for all your interest chaps, you have no idea how much it helps!

 

Cheers Anthony

 

 

Edited by Anthony in NZ
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