Wolfpack Phantom - 8th TFW F-4C

[mattcour]

Nozzles look great and the rest is a good progress!

[John1]

Starting a bit of detailing on the cockpits.   This is challenging but unlike the camo / exhaust painting, I'm in my comfort zone and find this phase to be quite enjoyable.    Still looking for some references that show the aft bulkhead areas for both the pilot and WSO's cockpits.    Didn't have much for the area behind the WSO's instrument panel but then I was pointed over to FB and found these very helpful pictures:

 

 

 

 

So I've got my work cut out for me.    Hopefully I'll make some progress this week and have a real update to share with you guys. 

[Uncarina]

You da man John! Just getting caught up, and I’m looking forward to seeing your magic work on the cockpit.

 

Cheers,  Tom

[Dragon]

Great progress on your build and looking forward to you detailing out the cockpit.

[John1]

Slowly making progress on the cockpits.    I'm still amazed at how complex both cockpits are.   I've got a lot of work to do.   Before I go on - my philosophy on detailing parts like this is to avoid slavishly replicating every nut, bolt and wire.   The less a particular fitting is visible on the finished kit, the less I invest in scratch building it.   I do my best to keep things as accurate as possible, but my goal is a give a good general representation, not to make something that is 100% accurate (if that makes sense).

 

Here is where I started - Just the basic tub with the side consoles sanded down for the Quinta replacements and a rough coat of primer.   I also started to add some of the items that Tamiya left out, including avionics boxes and a map holder in the WSO's cockpit.  I also added more of the fabric soundproofing material that's present (and cut away the areas forward of the pilot's footwell, per the real thing).   The color for this material is a bit bright.   I'm going to see how it looks when I dry fit this into the fuselage and if necessary, I'll tone them down, followed by a dark wash.  Note that they are pretty crude but from the limited viewing angles, they will work just fine (see approach to super-detailing above).  

 

I also cut away a portion of the WSO's right side console, per the real deal. It's a rough cut but it will be cleaned up and pretty much hidden once I install some scratch built avionics boxes. 

 

A bit more progress.  Added avionics boxes in the opening I cut in the console, topped them off with some Airscale placards (these things are indispensable IMO).  There will be much more added (wiring, more fittings, etc) in this area, so please take all of this as a starting point, not the end result.    I also added the prominent vent cover on the WSO's side panel.   Still need to add some bolts and a dark wash to highlight the openings.    Lastly, I couldn't help myself and had to try a few of the Quinta decals.  They are beyond simple to install.   Soak for 30 seconds, while soaking, coat the plastic area with diluted PVA glue (or Future or whatever floats your boat), slide on decal and you are done.   If necessary, once dry, go back and let a small bit of thin superglue flow underneath.  

 

 

Close up of the detail on these Quinta bits.   Not apparent here is the glossy, glass-like finish on the gauges.   Very impressive stuff.   I still plan on toning down some of these bits with a dark wash and/or pastels, especially the grey portions which aren't really a perfect match for Dark Gull Grey.

 

Dry fit of the ejection seats.   I'll also be adding some of the Quinta bits to the seats.   

 

That's it for now.   Got much, much more to do in this area. 

 

Thanks for looking. 

 

[Anthony in NZ]

Great stuff John, I am taking notes on the cockpit.  You really are doing an awesome job on this build, keep it up

 

Cheers Anthony

[allthumbs]

On 2/8/2022 at 4:25 PM, John1 said:

Starting a bit of detailing on the cockpits.   This is challenging but unlike the camo / exhaust painting, I'm in my comfort zone and find this phase to be quite enjoyable.    Still looking for some references that show the aft bulkhead areas for both the pilot and WSO's cockpits.    Didn't have much for the area behind the WSO's instrument panel but then I was pointed over to FB and found these very helpful pictures:

 

 

 

 

So I've got my work cut out for me.    Hopefully I'll make some progress this week and have a real update to share with you guys. 

Scott Wilson, a Phantom maintainer and modeler, has this walkaround spread over on the ARC website. It features several pictures of both crew stations with seats removed. I believe the subject is the F-4E, but most of the bulkhead details differ little between variants.

[John1]

Plugging away on the cockpit.  Added additional Quinta decals for the pilot's and WSO's instrument panel.   Also touched up the paintwork (I decided the colors on the side soundproofing blankets were too green) and added some weathering.   For scratch-built additions, not much (yet).   Just a couple of wires added and the small "gates" that were on the pilot's throttles.  These were moved upwards to allow the throttles to go into afterburner.    Lastly, I added some weathering.   A bit of grime on some of the side consoles to tone down their brightness, plus additional scratches on the sides and floorboards. 

 

 

 

I need to touch up the metal "snaps" on the fabric side panels.  

 

 

And a few shots with the seats in place.

 

 

 

So that's it for now.   The weathering is still very much a work in progress.   Some effects need to be toned down a bit.   Thanks very much for looking!

 

 

 

 

[Bruce]

On 12/24/2021 at 11:16 AM, John1 said:

Thanks guys!   

 

Not much of an update for today, unlike the later Tamiya kits, this one is making me work!  First off - I had to sand off those triangular reinforcing plates on the upper surfaces of the horizontal stabs and re-rivet and re-scribe .   The early F-4C's didn't have these.   Not hard but time consuming nonetheless.   I shot the area with some Mr Surfacer 1000.  It tends to smooth the scribing a bit, plus it highlights any areas that need repairs. 

 

 

Next up is the aft exhaust area.   Got some additional detailing and PE to add but the first order of business was to sand off the prominent seam that runs the length of the part and to carefully open up those "slit" exhausts on either side.  

As always, pictures tend to highlight details I missed.   I'll be cleaning up the edges of the upper exhaust opening.   The seam towards the top will be covered by the tailhook so I didn't waste any time on it. 

 

Next up are the exhausts themselves.   As the kit parts are significantly undersized, I opted to go with the GT resin corrected nozzles.   Very nice resin, you get the early version short nozzles, the exhaust itself (nicely cast as a single piece so you have no interior seam to deal with) and the aft turbine face.   

Here's the nozzle.  Much superior to the Tamiya part in detail:

 

Turbine exhaust face.   Nice looking resin but it really won't be very visible once installed in the fuselage.

 

Exhaust nozzle with the greenish interior.  I used multiple shades of paint, followed by drybrushing, followed by Flory wash to bring out all those smaller details

.   

My plan is to go back and do some addition light-ish tan drybrushing on the interior.  Also, in looking at the picture I posted at the bottom, of the real thing, the ring at the very end of the tube should actually be a burnt metallic color, not the greenish tan of the rest of the interior.   I'll fix that as well. 

 

My only issue with the GT bits is figuring out how these things go together and how they install in the fuselage.   The nozzles don't fit very well on the ends of the exhaust tubes and there are no positive connections provided (the nozzle interiors came with locator tabs on the inside but there is nothing on the end of the tubes for them to slot into and besides, the instructions tell you to remove those tabs.   At first I thought the nozzles slipped over the exhaust tubes back to the prominent collar on the outside of the tubes but they don't.  If you push them that far on (after removing a great deal of resin), the aft end of the exhaust tube will be way too far into the nozzle itself.  Regardless, it's a very poor fit.

 

Here is what I'm dealing with. 

It's not a question of just trimming a bit of resin off the tube, the two parts really don't match up at all.   I'm guessing I'll just get the nozzle aligned and superglue the heck out of it.    Afterwards, it appears that I just insert the assembly into the openings in the fuselage and hope for the best since these parts aren't joined together and provided with screw holes like the Tamiya bits are.

 

Here is what I'm trying to get close to:

Note the differences in color between the two engines. 

 

Anyway, that's it for now.  Thanks for checking in and Merry Christmas to all! 

 

 

John,

heads up n the tailplanes for the Tamiya kit, they're small.  If you can get your hands on a set from a Revell RF-4 they are the correct size.  Tamiya's E model tailplanes are correct but not the C/D ones.  I have access to an F-4 here at the Robins Museum of Aviation and have measured actual ones.  Your build is looking good.

 

Bruce

[John1]

Making a bit of slow progress.   Most of the work is on the WSO's cockpit.   Slowly adding more details including O2 hoses, g-suit hose, multiple wires and little fittings.   Much more to do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking! 

 

[Uncarina]

That is looking spectacular John. That cockpit is coming to life!

 

Cheers,  Tom

[John1]

Thanks very much Tom.

 

Still plugging away, my focus now is on the pilot's cockpit.   Plenty of pictures out there, with the exception of the aft bulkhead area.   Many of the ones I've found are from semi-derelict jets, which aren't fully representative of the real deal.   That being said, they have given me enough info to get started.   Nothing exotic for the bits I've added, just plastic sheet and copper and lead wire.   I just got a delivery of various diameters of lead wire and this stuff is great. I've never used it before but it's much superior to copper and/or styrene rod.   Extremely pliable and easy to work with.   Note - I won't be adding much to the upper bulkhead at this point.   I'll need to have the cockpit installed in the fuselage and then I can go back and add those details. Got a lot more details I need to pack into this area. 

 

So my standard caveat - Still much to add to both 'pits but I'm getting there!

 

The hydraulic (assume that's what it is) reservoir isn't really working for me.   I'm thinking I'll do this part over.

 

 

It all looks a bit crude in these closeups but I'm confident that when done and viewed from a normal distance, this will improve.   You guys gotta trust me on this one!

[John1]

Decided to take a break from endless hours of cutting, gluing and painting lead wire to replicate various pipes and wires in the cockpit.   My break consisted of a few hours of cutting, gluing and painting lead wire into this nice little bit of aftermarket resin:

 

 

It's a drop-in replacement for the horrid auxiliary engine intake interiors that Tamiya molded into the fuselage underside:

 

I just added some additional wires / fuel lines to augment what was already on the resin bits, did some quick painting (a lot of this will be mostly hidden) and called it a day.

 

 

 

Not my best work by any means (although that bar is set pretty low) but when viewed through the intake door openings, it should look pretty nice.   Here's a couple of shots of the real thing.   I'm not even close to what is really there but it's better than what comes in the kit and definitely easier than trying to scratch build all this.

 

 

Now back to adding electrical lines to the cockpits.  Thanks for checking in. 

[John1]

Adding some details to the cockpit sidewalls.     Nothing elaborate but once the cockpit tub is in place, it should look nice and "busy". 

 

I'm thinking the forward section of the pilot's cockpit is pretty much done.   Added some linkages for the drag chute handle (the yellow / black fitting under the left side of the IP and the remaining Qunita parts.   Also added a drop of clear orange to the knob on the gear retraction lever right above it.   Still have to add more details to the pilot's aft bulkhead.

 

 

That's it for this weekend.  I'm (slowly) getting there! 

 

 

[Uncarina]

It is definitely looking the business John!

 

Cheers,  Tom