Tamiya F-4B Phantom Conversion (Finished! 25 Sep)

[Anthony in NZ]

Loving this Peter, keep it up buddy, I am being inspired to forge on with mine when I read yours

 

Cheers Anthony

[easixpedro]

5 hours ago, Anthony in NZ said:

Loving this Peter, keep it up buddy, I am being inspired to forge on with mine when I read yours

 

Cheers Anthony

Can I get an Amen!?
 

Pretty much have the aft cockpit sorted. No pics though...too busy building!  We’ll see if I can get some paint on it tomorrow to begin buttoning it all up. Also need to make a trip to the local hardware store for the gigantic piece of steel that will hold it up. Need to get that sorted before closing up the fuselage.

-Peter

Edited April 23, 2021 by easixpedro

[easixpedro]

Ok then, where were we?

Thats right getting the cockpit sorted prior to working the tailhook so we can close up the fuselage. 

Here's the pits under a quick cote of paint. Nothing fancy and a quick drybushing to highlight the knobs and thats it. I might pick out some more later before the seats go in, but that will be after major construction and just before paint.

 

Now onto the hook. Picked up a 1/4 inch thick piece of steel. I traced the shape of the hook onto it and then used a cutoff wheel in the dremel. Pretty easy. Took me longer to file it down to fit in the corresponding brass tubing.

 

 

I trimmed the plastic out of the area between the exhausts. The brass will fit in there and I'll use JB Weld to ensure it never moves...

 

 

I'll cut the brass and round off the edges of the steel to better replicate the hook. Best part of using the brass tube is I can leave the hook off until the end and not stab myself with it!

Till next time...

-Peter

[Anthony in NZ]

That really is looking something else Peter

 

I absolutely love the fact you are displaying her trapping like that, one of the most spectacular attitudes any aircraft can look.  Nice that the F-4 hook lends itself to a stable mounting...awesome

[easixpedro]

Thanks!  The hook on the Phantom is monstrous, so makes this process pretty easy. Because of the square rods I’m using, it’s also stout and not prone to twisting. Have done some A-4s and that spindly little hook was a bear to deal with. Wish I had photos of it, but lost them when I destroyed a phone  I gave it to a fellow aviator whose dad survived 3 cruises during the height of Rolling Thunder and although he said he’d get some photos, he hasn’t gotten around to it yet.

 

I’d like to get some more done on it, but the never ending kitchen project has my attention today. The last batch of tile finally arrived, so I can get after it. Would like the kitchen back together before my son graduates in 2 weeks (and the entire family arrives).

-Peter

[aircommando130]

Awesome conversion! Always good to see a Phantom build. I agree...VF-111

was pretty colorful along with Marines VMF-451 with the skull on the tail and there 

was another Marine squadron that was marked up like a diamondback rattlesnake,

Great job so far!

 

Cheers...Ron

[easixpedro]

Not much progress for the day. Was able to glue the stabs and get the exhaust area on. Here you can see the brass tubing I cut to length. Its just tacked in place here...already has a ton of JB Weld holding it in place.

 

 

I was gonna try and get the wings on, but stopped before I mucked something up. Pretty spent after a day of manual labor. I had started to and realized I was messing stuff up, so pried it apart to prevent a monster misalignment. Sometimes  knowing when to stop and walk away is key. I don't always recognize when its time to do so, so happy I caught it and stopped.

Peter

[Finn]

Peter you can see some photos here of F-4Bs out at sea, in this case the Med on the USS America during the USS Liberty attack:

 

http://images.google.com/hosted/life/f356ea60e829b905.html

 

just click on the thumbnails under Related images to scroll thru them to find the F-4 pics, here is one of them, you can see how flat the main gear door is and the speed brake is slightly open:

 

 

Jari

[easixpedro]

11 hours ago, Finn said:

Peter you can see some photos here of F-4Bs out at sea, in this case the Med on the USS America during the USS Liberty attack:

 

http://images.google.com/hosted/life/f356ea60e829b905.html

 

just click on the thumbnails under Related images to scroll thru them to find the F-4 pics, here is one of them, you can see how flat the main gear door is and the speed brake is slightly open:

 

 

Jari

Thanks Jari!

 

Internet has been Tango Uniform in our house for over 24 hrs, so I missed this.  Appreciate you sending the pic and link. The attack on USS Liberty was an interesting incident to put it lightly. Lots of available information out there if folks want to know more.

 

Something that most people wont know is the Captain Don Engen was the Captain of USS America. Who's he?  After retiring, he became the head of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in DC until his unfortunate death in a glider accident in 1999.  He flew the SB2C in World War 2 and was awarded the Navy Cross for hits on the IJN carrier Zuikaku during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.  He's got a very fascinating autobiography that I highly recommend: WINGS & WARRIORS (SMITHSONIAN HISTORY OF AVIATION AND SPACEFLIGHT SERIES): ENGEN DD: 9781560987956: Amazon.com: Books

 

Additionally, @JeepsGunsTanks father served w/ VF-33 on the America. There's a thread here on LSP where he shares some wonderful pics of his father's 68 deployment to Vietnam.

 

Last bit--it fascinates me to look at these planes during a Med deployment in 66. In the USN at the time, Vietnam was essentially a West Coast war--all the fighting was done by units assigned to the Pacific Fleet (as always, there's exceptions). They robbed everything from the Atlantic Fleet squadrons to sustain the war. Scrolling through the pics in this grouping, the a/c are all pretty clean and none of them have EW gear fitted out.  

 

Thanks again for sharing!

-Peter

[easixpedro]

Not much to report. Got rhe wings attached and then started to sand down the raised panels. First time trying a black wash like some folks use. Looks a mess, but is handy for checking my scribing.

 

Got the outer wing panel attached and started working on the flaps. She'll have to sit on a pedestal or stand from here on out so I don't ding things. Happy that things are starting to take shape.

 

Don't know when I'll update again, as our son graduates HS next weekend and we're about to have the swarm of grandparents etc.

-Peter

[JeepsGunsTanks]

@easixpedro

I love your action builds! Airplanes should be flying, not sitting with the landing gear down, like some hanger queen or museum exhibit. That bolter is something else!

[Anthony in NZ]

Oh man, this is just getting better.  Thanks for putting the wash on as I can see much better the changes...lovely!

 

Congrats on your son graduating as well!

[Marcel111]

Nice to see you do an F-4B Peter... must say I also find that I need to take break from builds in general and the A-6 in particular, initially that model seems straightforward but then there are a lot of things to get on top of, can turn into a grind.

 

Cheers,

 

Marcel

Edited May 3, 2021 by Marcel111

[easixpedro]

8 hours ago, Anthony in NZ said:

Oh man, this is just getting better.  Thanks for putting the wash on as I can see much better the changes...lovely!

 

Congrats on your son graduating as well!

Thanks! Exciting times for sure.  Except for our youngest, everyone has been vaccinated, so it'll be the first time we've seen each other in well over a year. Lots to catch up on and celebrate.

 

Honestly, I was shocked at how the wash showed EVERY little bit, including all those sanding scratches. I've obviously gone a bit overboard with the heavier grits on the sanding stick. Felt smooth when I'd run a finger nail over it, but not so according to the wash.  Need to be a bit more refined with my approach on the other bits. 

 

Also a mea-culpa on the panel lines on the wings. I just recreated what Tamiya had on the thick wing. I checked it against the 1/48th Academy kit--pretty close! There's one row of rivets/screws that may be different. My guess is they follow the gear wells, but I'm not 100% certain on that.

 

-Peter

[easixpedro]

Well, last night I packed up the model and put away all my tools/supplies. My modelling space is in reality the basement kitchen/bar countertop...I just pull out my old wooden Japanese toolbox and spreadout. I like to stand and work, and it's a nice well-lit work area. But of course w/ guests coming over, it needed to be put up. 

 

Not going to lie--it hurt a bit.  Spending a few moments in the evening is my way of decompressing and relaxing, so we'll see how I do not having that outlet for the next week!

 

In the interim, I've been researching squadrons and markings, as well as loadouts. Am leaning towards either an Aardvark or Black Lion jet in early 67. I've actually got their squadron histories and have been reading up on the crazy missions they flew. The squadron assigned as flak suppression usually flew with at least 6 LAU-10 Zuni rocket pods--think that would look killer.  Of course, coming back for a landing would mean that the rocket packs are empty, which means scratchbuilding them as you'd be able to see through the tubes...  I've made 'em before--not terribly hard with styrene tubing. And buying that many as aftermarket parts isn't an option--I'd still have to drill them out and risk destroying expensive parts. Perhaps it's time for me to learn how to make resin parts so that I can just make one a mold the rest? Time will tell and I've got a few days to mull things over! Hoping I'll get a moment in the next few days to share some pics of the squadrons and timeframe I'm thinking of.

-Peter