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1/32 Revell F-4E - What could possibly go wrong!


RichieB

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  • 1 month later...

Continuing the weathering theme, I decided to move on to the under-fuselage and inner pylons. I used a medium gray panel line wash generally and a dark wash in any grates and grids before dirtying up a number of areas, but especially the engine areas. I've seen very few F-4s with clean undersides, except perhaps for special scheme birds, but didn't want to turn it into something that looked like it had landed wheels up in a farmers field - leave that to the armour dudes. It is therefore a relatively fine line between over and under doing it. What can be said though is that rarely does a plane look the same colour all over even if it is painted in the same FS paint. Natural light, wear and tear, and environmental conditions all make a difference to the final result and so unless you are making a portrait of a plane for a very discerning patron, it's all in the eye of the beholder! This is my convoluted way of saying I'll just make it up as I go along and hope it resembles something realistic at some point in time. I used a brown exhaust wash to tone the rear fuselage and then added various grime and oil streaks. Hopefully it adds enough interest without looking like its just had a double engine failure (!) and I need a bit of contrast for the large central fuel tank.

 

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The pylons were treated the same with a PLW followed by some light streaking and a touch of pigments around the locking mechanisms. To make these pylons fit the jet I had to thin the sway braces and make room for the belly strap to pass under. The chaff and flare dispensers have been added as the Revell kit just had the fairings. The rails were adapted from the Revell ones which were too long. They've also got some really small magnets in to allow the winders to be attached and detached at will. The winders also have magnets in but getting them all to line up and with the right polarity was a bit of a nightmare!

 

 

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I also had to make sure that whatever weathering I did on the pylons matched in intensity, that on the undersides of the fuselage as they were rarely removed and would have weathered at the same rate. Next up - missiles!

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 it's all in the eye of the beholder! This is my convoluted way of saying I'll just make it up as I go along and hope it resembles something realistic at some point in time.

 

                                                                       j0j903N.jpg

 

 

Yeah !!

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Thanks chaps. A small benefit of not having a lot of time to do this stuff is that you have a lot of time to reflect on what you want it to look like and doing it in small steps allows a little more of the 'next-day viewpoint' to quell 'in-the-heat-of-the-moment' additions! 

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I've never been a fan of clean jets and by that I mean with nothing hanging off them (though a clean, clean jet is probably my least favourite!). Something about a fully loaded jet that just means business. To that end the Revell F-4 provides you with 4 Aim-9s and 4 Aim-7s but they are not the right marks for the early years so it was off to the spares box to raid some Aim-7Es from a Tamiya kit and some cutting edge Aim-7Js as no-one seems to provide a correct plastic version. This seems odd as loads of cold war era pictures seem to have this type of winder and it was exported widely. The cutting edge resin pieces are very nice but very fiddly, especially the front fins where I had to guess where to place them. I also managed to lose one of the fins so had to fabricate another one from plastic card. As cutting edge don't provide you with decals I had to use Two Bobs missile sheet instead. These are great and add a nice touch of detail.

 

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I might add a little bit of weathering just to add interest but they were generally well looked after.

 

The Revell kit also comes with a jamming pod, an ALQ-119 I think, and since the front Sparrows will be removable I decided to paint this one up as an alternative fit. The piece looks reasonably accurate though the decals are a bit rough and ready. As they sit under the jet I dirtied it up a little more than the missiles.

 

41360812554_0d2d13252e_z.jpg

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Good question Sgt, I have to say that I've sort of avoided that moment when you realise whether your homemade electronics have survived the build!

Mostly because I'm trying to finish the model in a manner where the lighting is a nice addition not the end game otherwise it could feel like show's over when the switch is thrown and nothing happens. LEDs are pretty robust but my main fear is the soldered joints as its not my strong point (perhaps literally!). Not too far away now from the home truth.

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I've never been a fan of clean jets and by that I mean with nothing hanging off them (though a clean, clean jet is probably my least favourite!). Something about a fully loaded jet that just means business. To that end the Revell F-4 provides you with 4 Aim-9s and 4 Aim-7s but they are not the right marks for the early years so it was off to the spares box to raid some Aim-7Es from a Tamiya kit and some cutting edge Aim-7Js as no-one seems to provide a correct plastic version. This seems odd as loads of cold war era pictures seem to have this type of winder and it was exported widely. The cutting edge resin pieces are very nice but very fiddly, especially the front fins where I had to guess where to place them. I also managed to lose one of the fins so had to fabricate another one from plastic card. As cutting edge don't provide you with decals I had to use Two Bobs missile sheet instead. These are great and add a nice touch of detail.

 

27210211367_1544b3710a_z.jpg

I might add a little bit of weathering just to add interest but they were generally well looked after.

 

The Revell kit also comes with a jamming pod, an ALQ-119 I think, and since the front Sparrows will be removable I decided to paint this one up as an alternative fit. The piece looks reasonably accurate though the decals are a bit rough and ready. As they sit under the jet I dirtied it up a little more than the missiles.

 

41360812554_0d2d13252e_z.jpg

 

I could be wrong, but, I believe that the blue stripe you have on your Aim-9 missiles would indicate they are inert!  I don't think you want that unless you are depicting a training mission load.

 

Bruce

Edited by Bruce
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Many thanks chaps, this forum is great for inspiration and the rest I just make up as I go along!

 

Bruce - Thanks for the timely observation, I hadn't really checked as I just assumed Two Bobs knew their stuff, maybe not!

Any steers on what that band colour should be, I'm presuming black or brown?

 

I've marked up the sparrows using Two Bob decals as well. They look great on (presuming they are the right colours!) but you need to split them up a bit as they come as 2 large decals for each missile which is a bit of a pain to get right in one go.

 

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Again, might add a touch of dirt as they would have been underneath the aircraft and subject to all the muck through up by the wheels and airframe.

The Tamiya missiles are quite nice really and fit the Revell kit just fine. The front two Sparrows have magnets on so they can be removed easily but because Revell put the slots in the wrong place on the rear stations I've decided to fix those in situ.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Quick update, engine exhausts have been painted up using Alclad and various washed to add a weathered and stained look. The exhausts are from GT Resin and are much better than the kit ones. They also fit nicely, unlike the Aires ones. The associated exhaust tubes are already fixed in the aircraft and have a similar level of detail (though you won't see much after I've inserted the rods that will hold it in flight).

 

 

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Getting there!

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