Revell Rf-4C convert to a B question

[kap64]

Hello all, what would it take to covert Revell's 1/32 RF-4C into a USMC B model? Can it be done without too much headache? Thanks.

[Lee White]

Well, you need to thin the wing, for starters. For most folks that's a deal breaker. 

[Dave Williams]

47 minutes ago, Lee White said:

Well, you need to thin the wing, for starters. For most folks that's a deal breaker. 

The last 10 RF-4Bs were built with the thick wings of the F-4J.  The last 3 of those had the rounded nose.

[Oldbaldguy]

There are several posts here and there on various sites that outline how to make a thick wing F-4 into a thin wing B model.  Looks like a royal pain to me, but your mileage may vary.  If you are building one of the last ten USMC RF-4s,  then you don’t have to do anything except build the kit.  If you’re going for one of the earlier airplanes, then you have a lot of work ahead of you.  Root canal might be more fun.  

[thierry laurent]

You also need to add all the Navy features such as the refuelling probe door, the catapult hooks, different antennas, wheels and LG doors, rear cockpit, etc. Keep in mind the B were used during a long period. So they evolved noticeably. Besides the nose and wing variants, the J79 exhausts also changed from the short to the long ones you found on the RF-4E.

[allthumbs]

 

You can read about this very involved build here (navigate to Models - 1/32).

 

 

Edited November 20, 2021 by allthumbs

[Tony T]

To build any of the seven RF-4Bs in the BuNo 157342 through 157348 range you only really need to change the stabilator to the inverted slotted type, add the hook wells and hooks to the lower inner wing, and install a Navy-type NLG door. 

 

Anything else is unnecessary nit-picking. 

 

It's that easy. Finding the right markings, however, will be the real task.

 

Tony 

[Avenger2614]

In the for what it's worth department, the Revell RF-4C isn't a terrible build, but it sure as hell isn't Tamiya quality. I have one on the bench right now (doing one of the very early USAF examples which was originally slated for the Navy), and I feel like for every hour you spend gluing parts, you spend two hours filling and sanding seams. The inserts for the rear Sparrow wells were a real pain to blend in, but for the most part things go together well and fit "decently." If you take your time, test fit, and swap some parts here and there to update things, you can have a very respectable model on your shelf. But, as others have said, your real challenge will be finding markings for it, but if you have the ability to make your own decals or masks, you're in business.

[thierry laurent]

Decals? 

 

https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/CTA-012?result-token=CLXOP

[thierry laurent]

11 hours ago, Tony T said:

To build any of the seven RF-4Bs in the BuNo 157342 through 157348 range you only really need to change the stabilator to the inverted slotted type, add the hook wells and hooks to the lower inner wing, and install a Navy-type NLG door. 

 

Anything else is unnecessary nit-picking. 

 

It's that easy. Finding the right markings, however, will be the real task.

 

Tony 

I would also add the rear cockpit station and mainly its starboard side to that short list of obvious changes 

[Tony T]

16 hours ago, thierry laurent said:

I would also add the rear cockpit station and mainly its starboard side to that short list of obvious changes 

 

True, but the horrible canopy shape would ward me off looking inside — though opening the hoods disguises that a bit, so maybe the rear cockpit would merit some attention!

 

If, like me, you're not a master builder, 1/48 scale offers an easier route. To some LSP'ers saying this is tantamount to heresy, but Tamiya's new 1/48th scale F-4B and Hasegawa's very passable FG.1/F-4K and RF-4B makes me think increasingly about retro-dabbling with Naval Aviation in "medium sized" scale. 

 

Tony 

 

 

 

 

[thierry laurent]

Heresy! Heresy!!!!

[Starfighter]

On 11/21/2021 at 2:05 AM, thierry laurent said:

Decals? 

 

https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/CTA-012?result-token=CLXOP

 

I have the decals at home - they sadly are unusuable. They are well researched but digitally printed, so the "dot" structure remains visible.