McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II "HAF 40 Years of Phantoms" [Zoukei-Mura 1:48]

[Alex]

The instrument panel decals worked pretty well - couple doses of MicroSol and some judicious tamping down with a cotton bud got them settled in.

 

I had thought about adding wiring to the backs of the navigator/weapons position's instruments, but decided that between the canopy support arch and the pilot's ejection seat you would not be able to see them, so decided not to.  The above photo is before flat coat, so there's a lot of glare off the decals that doesn't look great.

 

 

This is after a coat of acrylic flat, dry-fitted to the starboard fuselage side.  The cockpit module fit was a bit off - some trimming was required to get the fuselage to close cleanly around it.  In general the molding quality and detail is pretty darn good on this kit.  I'd say it's at least 90% of the level that the best Tamiya kits achieve.

 

[Brett M]

Nice work, Alex. Looks good using the decals (and tiny!)

[Alex]

9 hours ago, Brett M said:

Nice work, Alex. Looks good using the decals (and tiny!)

Thanks Brett.  I'm sure that one of these fancy 3-D printed decals from Quinta would look even more amazing, but the decals have the advantage of coming with the kit at no extra cost!

[Brett M]

13 hours ago, Alex said:

Thanks Brett.  I'm sure that one of these fancy 3-D printed decals from Quinta would look even more amazing, but the decals have the advantage of coming with the kit at no extra cost!

Ha, I know what you mean. F-105G is available from them now…….

[The Madhatter]

I can see why you chose that scheme: its downright beautiful ! 

Great work on the cockpit too! 

[Alex]

5 hours ago, The Madhatter said:

I can see why you chose that scheme: its downright beautiful ! 

Great work on the cockpit too! 

Thanks!  It is a really striking scheme as camo goes.  The HAF also operates F-16s painted in the same "Aegean Ghost" color scheme.  I might have to do one at some point just to have the set...

 

[Tony T]

On 7/30/2021 at 11:11 PM, rock1947a said:

I think the doohickeys you're referring to are Electronic Counter Measure antenna fairings originally added to U. S. Navy Phantoms.

 

Yes, something like ALQ-126 DECM antennae. The Greeks bought US Navy style electronic countermeasures and pyrotechnic dispensers for its A-7Es and F/RF-4Es.

 

Tony 

[Alex]

Couple of views of the cockpit with the fuselage now closed around it.

 

 

Z-M designed this kit so that there's a full-length pair of panel inserts that cover the spine of the plane behind the cockpit back to the vertical stabilizer.  This is great in that it eliminates the need to close and fill/smooth a dorsal seam where there is no panel line - the edges of the inserts follow panel lines.  The problem is that they made the main one just a BIT too small, so it has an exaggerated "panel gap" around it.  So what to do?  Filling the gap completely, sanding it flush, and re-scribing would end up killing the subtle detail molded into the spine panel - and there's no way I will be able to reproduce it looking as clean as the initial molding.  Alternately I can just fill the gap ~nearly~ flush, and have a more pronounced "panel line" that hopefully disappears somewhat into the overall weathering of the paint job.

 

The fit of the piece that covers the Vulcan cannon is rather better.

[Brett M]

That spine panel is surprisingly bad, for as good as I’ve heard these kits are. Maybe reach out to ZM?

[Alex]

8 hours ago, Brett M said:

That spine panel is surprisingly bad, for as good as I’ve heard these kits are. Maybe reach out to ZM?

My impression so far is that the kit is quite good in terms of the detail that they’ve managed to capture.  Molding precision is what I’d call “good but not great” by 2021 standards.

[Juggernut]

Curse you Alex.....  Your build has made me want to do a Hellenic F-4E...

 

There is a soon-to-be-released (as in today) 1/48 F-4EJ Kai that will probably be a good start for an HAF F-4E.  I decided that Greek Phantoms look cool and the only REAL option for me is using the new ZM 1/48 F-4EJ Kai kit and modifying as needed (which at this point remains an unknown, unknown).

 

UPDATE: Aw crap, this kit doesn't include the leading edge slats either; I guess I'm not going to buy it...pity.

 

I just ordered some HAF decals today from a Greek decal producer: Procal Decals - Hellenic Air Force.  I have no idea how they perform, I can't find any reviews online but there is some facebook comments and they seem to be favorable.  We'll see.

 

Edited August 6, 2021 by Juggernut

[Alex]

6 hours ago, Juggernut said:

 

UPDATE: Aw crap, this kit doesn't include the leading edge slats either; I guess I'm not going to buy it...pity.

 

 

You can always get the AM ones that I ordered from Hypersonic Models...

 

6 hours ago, Juggernut said:

 

I just ordered some HAF decals today from a Greek decal producer: Procal Decals - Hellenic Air Force.  I have no idea how they perform, I can't find any reviews online but there is some facebook comments and they seem to be favorable.  We'll see.

 

 

Cool - I look forward to seeing what you do with them!

[Juggernut]

44 minutes ago, Alex said:

You can always get the AM ones that I ordered from Hypersonic Models...

 

 

Cool - I look forward to seeing what you do with them!

 

Im almost thinking of buying the F-4S as well as the F-4EJ Kai.  Then I could build a Greek F-4E using the slats from the F-4S kit and the rest from the F-4EJ kit….and have the leftover parts to build an F-4J.  The aftermarket stuff would be a lot less expensive though, wouldn’t it?  I’ll also need to find out where I can get those antenna on the sides of each intake ( which the F-4S kit does have although they’re not the correct length).

 

About the time I did that, ZM will release a late model F-4E.

Edited August 7, 2021 by Juggernut

[Alex]

1 hour ago, Juggernut said:

 

  I’ll also need to find out where I can get those antenna on the sides of each intake ( which the F-4S kit does have although they’re not the correct length).

 

I’m planning to just scratch build them from half round styrene stock, assuming I can get some in an approximately scale correct size.

[aircommando130]

F-4S slats are different from F-4E slats.......

 

Cheers....Ron