Academy 1/72 F-4J to S VMFA-321

[jeroen_R90S]

Been off on vacation and just got back, here's how the F-4S looks now, stored in it's box while I get the normal life going again after the vacation! I hope to do some more to the wings later and also careful inspection of my subject's picture seems to show it had walkways applied so I need to add those as well.

The eagle-eyed among you may notice I did something to the camouflage contrast near the cockpit and rear sides to show the blue-grey demarcation a bit better. I used a very thin mist of lightened dark grost grey to do this.

[jeroen_R90S]

BTW I had a lot of trouble doing the dark lines near the panels, I normally airbrush in the winter and it was very warm/hot at the time. I also noticed airbrushing is a skill you need to keep using or you'll get rusty -I guess that does show here. Hopefully washes and further weathering will lessen the effect, but really something to keep in mind for my A-6 (although that is 5 times as large!)

[jeroen_R90S]

Walkways masked and painted (the obvious 2 hours masking, 10 minutes painting...), due to the gloss varnish mixed in I shot a thin coat of gloss afterwards so as not to lose too many details.

My home printed decals (laser printed) worked above expecations, they did not need their own glosscoat to protect the printing, have fairly thin film, and respond to Daco Medium Sol quite well.

The remaining decals are unfortunately typical old Superscale, with wrong colours and sizing (the MG tailcode is too large, the trident the wrong shape/size, and the 10s on the nose too large for example) and they should be Navy Grey or Gunship Grey -I did the large 3860s in Gunship Grey and they were slightly darker when compared to the Superscale decals on the sheet, but after application the Superscale stuff is too light, looking more like Dark Gull Grey. Darn...

 

The formation lights are from the Superscale sheet, but somehow they forgot the wingtip ones so I'll have to paint or cut up remaining decals for that (the other 2 subjects on the sheet are entirely unusable as the letters/codes are printed the colour they are supposed to go on to...

Letting go of the subject photo as they are obviously wrong I'm still pleased with the results and pushed on, as there are no alternatives, available low-viz F-4S decals being really scarce or no longer available in this scale.

 

The large 3860 and small s/n were home printed and worked above expectations

Obviously I still need to paint details such as the navigation lights, antenna's, and finally the metal areas near the engines and the exhausts themselves.

 

Jeroen

Edited August 7, 2022 by jeroen_R90S

[jeroen_R90S]

Added a  thin coat of gloss to protect the decals and make it a bit glossier for the decals; I used payne's grey for the control surfaces, slats, some deep vents, etc, and a mixture of payne's grey with white results in a blue-grey colour that I used for the rest.

Finally raw umber + payne's grey was used on the panels and fastners I shaded by airbrush earlier (above the wing root, behind the cockpit, etc) Still dusty from wiping the excess away:

As this is a practice for the A-6 which is covered in dimples I carefully accented only the detail I felt needed it with the was, as I did not want all the dimples to show up on this model, and neither on the A-6.

 

I also (rather subdued, according to photo's!) added the leaks and stains, and the pressfit nature of the model helps as it allows me to press the fuel tank in place to make sure everything matches up, yet is different too (the tank was removable, after all)

I wanted to add a blue AIM-9 and instrumentation pod on the pylons but had nothing suitable in the spares box (the kit stuff is for a Vietnam era F-4J and looks bad on top of that)

Next up is a satin/flat coat for more oil weathering (the satin/flat absorbs more, I find blending easier than on gloss as you tend to wipe it off) and finally a flat coat. Then onto the last challenge: the metal area's and the exhausts.

 

Due to the decal colours it may not look exactly like the real thing any more, but I find this a lot of fun and (other than my 1/32 D.VII) I can't really remember having put this much effort in the paint finish. (I like building more)

 

Jeroen

 

Edited August 31, 2022 by jeroen_R90S

[jeroen_R90S]

Forgot to take any WIP photo's. The effect is a bit starker due to the sun at the moment.

The lighter spots were not intentional but somehow my payne's grey + white mixture stuck really well to the flat coat and would not respond to my thinner any more, so I kind of winged it and used a cotton bud to make it less obvious. I have to say I'm usually my own worst critic but, exaggerated in places or not, I do like where this is going It would have looked even better if all the decal were their proper dark colour instead of just the big fuselage numbers...

Edited September 7, 2022 by jeroen_R90S
shoddy spelling