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QF-4S Phantom "VX-30" - Tamiya/Cutting Edge, 1/32


Starfighter

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This may be off-base, but there seems to be a difference between the antennae(?) on the wingtip between the model and the reference.  It's in 3 sections on the reference, but 6 on the model.  Don't want to cause more work if it is a difference.

 

Superb work on the paintjob, it looks real.

 

 

Matt 

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You are right Matt, the slime lights on the wingtips are slightly different. I will fill 50% of the groove lines before painting them - thanks for the heads up! :) 

 

Almost no time for modelling this week, I have to prepare a new room for my little daughter as she'll get a little sibling in April 2021.. But there was time for a bit more fading with "faded white" oil paint. We're getting closer... According to Brian Plescia from Fightertown Decals who photographed Scooby in detail back in 2004, the wing top insignia was apparently really heavily faded, pretty much as on the photo I have posted earlier. 

 

img_6788hkjqa.jpg

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I really like this effect, too much more and you have to let the red/International tone go a bit more too.  I think it looks about right.  But if you fade it out more careful it dosent get too disjointed from the rest of the airframe paint/weathering effects. If you are brave you could go a touch more....

 

Great job!

Edited by Anthony in NZ
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That Phantom is looking pretty spectacular. Really cool looking paint job, with excellent execution. I really must get a paint mule out and try some of these techniques. I never go much beyond a wash and a few oil streaks, then complain months down the line that my finishes don’t look realistic enough. 

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Of course I forgot to take a photo of the national insignia - I will do that later today. Just a short update: I have sealed the entire model with Gunze GX-113 followed by a coat of MRP matt varnish. Pretty much exactly the finish I personally prefer; the initial coat of Gunze varnish prevents the MRP one to attack the base coat. 

 

Then, the tail fin was equipped with a fuel dump from Quickboost (not really necessary) and painted International Orange. I will add a few stiffening plates later on. I have also started playing around with the "hot" sections on the fuselage and stabilisators. Not my favourite task as I don't have tons of experience with bare metal finishes. I have ordered some AK Extreme Metal paints but was not too happy with the shades I have received, so I switched back to what I personally know best - Humbrol Metal Cote combined with metal pigments. The base shade looks rather good IMO, now I'll have to bring it alive by adding as many different shades as possible. 

 

img_6823scjlv.jpeg

 

AK Metal powder applied directly onto the (masked) fuselage. No need for a high shine basecoat or so. 

 

img_6824lxkp9.jpeg

 

img_6820dmk6n.jpg

 

The distinctive pattern on the stabilisers was masked with liquid mask. I'm still playing around with them with no satisfying result... stay tuned! 

 

qf-4s_153821_rest_024_of_191.jpg

 

img_6803t5jf1.jpg

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Thanks Rick and Marcel! 

 

Rick, I just rub the liquid mask away with my finger.

 

I spent the evening fiddling around with badly fitting Aires PE parts (special thanks to my Buddy Fred aka Stusbke!) on the canopy frames. I'm really bad at that kind of stuff and it's not fun at all. Anyway, not using PE on the canopy frames is  not an option either...

 

img_6829dgkyh.jpeg

 

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Here is the proimised photo of the more faded national insignia. It looks even heavier in reality - interesting that my camera simply does not seem to be able to capture the real look.

 

img_6832ezk8q.jpg

 

Bonus: cockpit unmasked. I am pretty happy with the busy look of the Black Box Cockpit. 

 

img_6833wojnd.jpeg

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More progress on the canopy frames. The fit of the PE parts was not concinving again and required a lot of cutting and adjusting. The empty mounts for the helmet display sensors were built from scratch; the cable running on the inside of the frame is a prominent detail and was made from lead wire. The bent plates under the cables were made of surplus PE fret frames cut to shape and bent accordingly. 

 

The parts are rather hard to photograph - sorry for the rather bad image quality. 

 

img_6839bikzs.jpg

 

img_6841xok5e.jpg

 

This was among the least enjoyable steps on this build; I hope painting them will be more fun again. I am not looking forward to fitting the clear parts, though... 

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Impressive as always, Ben. I like that cable. It looks very convincing.

 

7 hours ago, Starfighter said:

The parts are rather hard to photograph - sorry for the rather bad image quality. 

 

Do you know how "Focus Stacking" works? It's a great technique when you need more depth of field (DOF) which is a common problem in macro photography. With focus stacking you can get unlimited DOF, if desired.

 

Cheers

Rainer

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