MDuv Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 Love this build ! Would you have more pic on the scratched part of the leading edge? Early bird would mean clean tail wing ? have I done my homework correctly ? lol Cheers. Mathieu Anthony in NZ and easixpedro 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony in NZ Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 Oh man, I always get excited when I see a new post from you with this! Totally loving it. Already looks like a 'B' with what you have done.... Adios Amigo easixpedro 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easixpedro Posted July 4, 2021 Author Share Posted July 4, 2021 24 minutes ago, MDuv said: Love this build ! Would you have more pic on the scratched part of the leading edge? Early bird would mean clean tail wing ? have I done my homework correctly ? lol Cheers. Mathieu Yup...the RWR fairings didn't start showing up till after 65 or so. And almost all on squadrons bound for Vietnam (i.e. West Coast squadrons...but there's exceptions as some east coast ships sailed around the world to the Tonkin Gulf). You're doing an early Jolly Rogers jet and they made one deployment to Vietnam on the Independence in 65...dont think I've seen any RWR fairings that early in the war. Based off rhe markings you showed, I think its pre-Vietnam. Here's my pics of the flaps--both leading and trailing edge. (Sorry, no in progress pics). Essentially cut them out of the wing and assemble separately. On the leading edge, the flaps pivot around the bottom edge, which is a piano hinge. I cut a small strip of styrene and glued it to the wing--angle it down. As long as you get the bottom portion flush, you can rotate it up so that the upper portion meets your little strip. I studied lots of photos to get the angles close, but it is by no means perfect, rather TLAR (that looks about right). Same deal with the trailing edge flaps. My edges on the bottom are nowhere as clean as I'd like, which means lots of sanding and rescribing in my future.... the more time you spend test fitting, the better the results. Go slow to go fast, but sometimes I'm my own worst enemy in that regard! -Peter Cicciuzzo, blackbetty, Starfighter and 11 others 13 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cicciuzzo Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 you are doing professional work Rockie Yarwood, easixpedro and Anthony in NZ 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easixpedro Posted July 5, 2021 Author Share Posted July 5, 2021 (edited) Ok gents, did some research last night while hunkered in the basement with the dogs (the neighborhood does its best to recreate the battle of Hue City or Fallujah, take your pick). First up, ran across this photo on the interwebz. This is the scene in my head! Next, I found this pic Lots of details jump out at me...supposedly taken in April 67, during Kitty Hawks 66-67 deployment. That jibes, and is likely early April. I say that because after a short port call, VF-114 went to air-to-air rolls. (Remember I have their squadron history, which is useful for research like this). Check out the different antenna configurations...jet in the foreground doesn't even have RWR gear! That jet would be lost on 21 May 1967 with Denny Wisely at the controls. If you recognize the name, he bagged 2 a/c on this cruise, the first of the war. He's got a great autobiography that I highly recommend: https://www.amazon.com/Green-Ink-Memoirs-Fighter-Pilot-ebook/dp/B079DDZQJ6 His RIO was Jim Laing, and this was his second ejection in less than a month! Here he is punching out after the first strikes against the MiG base at Kep. They'd just bagged a MiG-17, but were hit by AAA and losing a bunch of fuel. A year later Laing survived this. Their Phantom lost a main mount and plunged over the side. His pilot ejected and he tried, but the seat failed and he climbed out of the sinking Phantom. He was 23 at the time and had survived all that! Following this tour he helped start Top Gun. But back to the build...I think I'm gonna build 205 in the 2nd pic. Oddly enough that jet was lost in December 67--the Kitty Hawk had left the Tonkin Gulf and was already back on Yankee Station! I'll have to build out the RWR fairing on the tail. Some other details in that picture. There's no stiffener plates on the wing above the main mounts. Also check out the different styles of the Aardvark on the fin cap. Rhis is before their transition to really gaudy markings with the orange fuselage stripe and bigger Aardvark on the tail. Plenty of other details to highlight when I get to it...more soon! -Peter Edited July 12, 2021 by easixpedro Starfighter, Derek B, John1 and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 What a fantastic build. Just discovered this. I'll be starting the F-4C shortly, I'm taking lots of notes. Thanks for all the info on the real thing as well, I really enjoy builds that add some background instead of just step by step gluing and painting. BTW, what did you use for the panel line wash? easixpedro 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finn Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 Peter here is another 205, in 1968 according to the caption: note it looks to have the chaff door going by the notch on the fuselage. Jari easixpedro, JeepsGunsTanks, Anthony in NZ and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scvrobeson Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 It looks great! The conversion work looks really smooth, shouldn't be able to tell that it didn't come from the base kit. Matt easixpedro 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easixpedro Posted July 5, 2021 Author Share Posted July 5, 2021 5 hours ago, John1 said: What a fantastic build. Just discovered this. I'll be starting the F-4C shortly, I'm taking lots of notes. Thanks for all the info on the real thing as well, I really enjoy builds that add some background instead of just step by step gluing and painting. BTW, what did you use for the panel line wash? Thanks! For the wash, it's Vallejo black. I just brush it on, then use a piece of 000 steel wool and it comes right off. The steel wool also helps smooth out the plastic. 4 hours ago, Finn said: Peter here is another 205, in 1968 according to the caption: note it looks to have the chaff door going by the notch on the fuselage. Jari Thanks Jari! Somewhere I've got this pic in color (its Glorious!) This plane is a replacement for the 205 I'm planning on doing, which was lost on Kitty Hawk's first line period of the 67-68 cruise. They did 61 or so days on the line covering Khe Sanh and Tet as well. First carrier to win a Presidential Unit Citation since WW2. Cool thing about the replacement though...all that glorious orange! I've even seen their planes in mid-paint, with the orange stripe but not the fancy tail. On another note, I forgot to mention this when showing the flap details. Do yourself a favor before making the cuts on the wing, and measure where the cross brace is in the gear well. With a little planning, your seam will be hidden. Managed it on the first and plumb forgot about it in the month break I took. Photo to illustrate...the seam isn't too bad, and frankly won't be seen unless someone uses a dental mirror, but I know it's there! -Peter Derek B, HerculesPA_2, Rockie Yarwood and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easixpedro Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 (edited) Stopped by the local hobbybigboxstore and grabbed a frame for the base. More on that process in a moment. Really wanted to do a fit check and proof of concept. Here it is, bad photo and all! Edited July 7, 2021 by easixpedro Isar 30/07, JeepsGunsTanks, allthumbs and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfighter Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 Super dynamic. I love it! I absolutely have to do something like this one day... Anthony in NZ, Derek B and easixpedro 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony in NZ Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 Oh wow that’s super awesome! On an awesomeness scale of 1-10, it’s 11 Like Ben I too must do something like this one day! Starfighter, Derek B and easixpedro 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easixpedro Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 (edited) 6 hours ago, Starfighter said: Super dynamic. I love it! I absolutely have to do something like this one day... 3 hours ago, Anthony in NZ said: Oh wow that’s super awesome! On an awesomeness scale of 1-10, it’s 11 Like Ben I too must do something like this one day! Thanks gents! I love to build displays--especially if it's capturing a dynamic moment. Of course the imagined scene in my head sometimes means that the build gets long and drawn out as most kits are meant to be a static display. Case in point--dropping the flaps and extending the oleos on this build has already exceeded any amount of time I've spent in the conversion to a B. Hopefully I'm showing enough detail to walk folks through the process. All I can say is welcome to the dark side. You'll never be able to make a simple static model again! I say that, as I'll see a picture and my mind will immediately think "that would be fun to recreate." I keep having to tell myself no--too many ideas and not enough time to finish them all! That being said, Sprue Brothers now has the 1/32 SB2C in stock. My favorite plane of all time (crop duster that sprayed around our ranch when I was a child flew them in World War 2, and I remember sitting on a fence post listening to him swap stories with my father). Am toying with the idea of a 1/32 dive bombing scene on the Nagato in the final weeks of the war. Really shouldn't, but that would be a fun scene to do! -Peter Edited July 7, 2021 by easixpedro Starfighter, JeepsGunsTanks, John1 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easixpedro Posted July 12, 2021 Author Share Posted July 12, 2021 Quick note, and a shout out for Ben aka @Starfighter. Just finished an order of his padeyes over on Shapeways. You can see them here, and his shop is at the bottom of the page: 3203 - 1/32 padeyes w/closed bottom, 120 pcs. (Y7UKU26EP) by Bendenden (shapeways.com) More when they arrive and I can show you what I'm doing with the flight deck. I will say however that they are a godsend! The first Phantom I built, I made the padeyes by scratch and it took forever. Since shapeways became a thing, I've been ordering Ben's padeyes, both 1/48 and 1/32. Even better, he's got the correct version for the different class carriers! Kitty Hawk and newer carriers have a 5-sided star shape while the older Midway and earlier have a cross. A small detail that helps make any scene. Just came home from a whirlwind weekend of campus visits and showing my daughter my alma mater. Looking forward to getting back into this build! -Peter Starfighter, Anthony in NZ, JeepsGunsTanks and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easixpedro Posted July 15, 2021 Author Share Posted July 15, 2021 Not much to report, have been sanding and checking my work. Bottom turned out ok...I'm showing the good photos, not the details I obliterated! Love the look of the panel lines with the wash. Also made the RWR antenna for the tail, which is just sitting there Next up is sanding off the last few raised panels. Then I need to make a punch list to knock out items before I start painting. Included in that list is getting the cockpit finished and closed up. I like to do that before painting to help eliminate seams. -Peter LSP_Kevin, Landrotten Highlander, Anthony in NZ and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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