Hi All,

Well it's nearly time to start another project and this time its, as the title suggests, a Phantom FGR1. I'm building this for a client and he has requested for the finish to be that of the commanders plane of 892 Sqn. Royal Navy on it's final cruise of the HMS Ark Royal.



This will be the donor for all the extra's that are going in it.



And here's the first few extras



I'm hoping to add the following as well Aries wheel bay set, Aries FGR1 Exhaust nozzles, possibly Flightpath's Phantom Ladders, and maybe some parts from Eduard's FGR2 etch set. Hopefully these will be ordered at the end of the month.

This will be interesting indeed!

First problem is that although i'm using the "Special Mark" kit, the kit aslo includes decals for 892 Sqn. but the red and white nose flash has 77 as the decal options (as this scheme was adopted for the Queen's Silver Jubilee) like the picture below and it looks like the changed it to what looks like a versionof the sqn emblem. (as can be seen in my first post)



I'm googling and finding nothing to resemble it so I can make my own decals

Surely the bigger problem you have will be remembering to deliver the kit!!!

Looking forward to seeing your progess on this one Allen. It's a great kit.

Andy

Cool project. I can't wait to see it come together.

Quick update.

I got some work done to the cockpit this weekend. Here's some progress pics of when it was up to last night although there's still some work to be done in there yet. (unfortunately the falsh makes it look alot greyer than it is)







Cheers

Been a while since I last posted but I have been slowly working away at this kit. The cockpit tub is almost finished but it is ready to go in the fuselage halves.





These arrived last week.



The detail is incredible



So I cracked on with installing them to the kit parts, first was to remove the moulded in kit parts with a dremmel







There's a little bit of filling to do and then next will be to squeeze the front wheel bay and cockpit into the fuselage (which is a very tight fit after dry fitting)

If you can get a hold of D-Molds F-4 intakes for spey engined phantoms, they are just awesome, and very easy to work with and install.
Andy

I Wish you hadn't told me about them as I'd like to get some now

Quick update: I've spent the last few weeks slowly carving the resin tub and wheel well to get the to fit. First the wheel well was glued in place.





And more light sanding continued until the cockpit tub fitted



There's still some fine adjusting to do but it's getting there (slowly) i'm hoping once i get the fuselage together this project will pick up some pace

Finally managed to get the fuselage halves together and the wings on and this where the kit stands at the moment







Next up will be getting hold of some of the seamless intake and replacement exhaust nozzles so the project can hopefully move on

Well the model has been sat on the side for the last few weeks while i waited for these to arrive



I'm at a show this weekend but work to install these will continue shortly

Love the Phantom, especially the British version for some reason. Cant wait to see it all come together.

It's been a while since my last update but life and model shows got in the way. Well heres and update of what it tinkered with over the last couple of months.

Seemless intake were sprayed inside with Halfords' white primer followed by Gloss Appliance White, while the fan blades were painted with Tamiya Gloss black followed by Alclads' Polished Aluminium. Once dry the parts were assembled and installed into the fuselage.







There's some small fit issues but I think this is because I was impatient and fitted the wings while waiting for the intakes to arrive.

I picked up the Aires Exhaust set from Telford so they have been assembled as well also being painted white followed by a dusting of Mig pigment rust and smoke. The fan blades and afterburner ring was primed grey and Alclad Steel











Thats all for now and hopefully more work will continue this weekend

Really nice work on a classic subject. I like seeing talented people building tricked out models

Thanks for the compliment but I wouldn't say I was talented Not much of an update I test fitted the exhausts but wasn't happy with the angle they sat at compared to my references. After many expletives I came to the conclusion that the small "bays" on the side of the fuselage was what was causing the issue.



So out came the dremmel and they were removed



and the exhaust fit fine now down side is I'll have to scratch some new "bays" but the doors will hide most of the detail



As always comments welcomed

Got to love the Phabulous Phantom don't you, know matter what service or colors it flies in! Looking forward to seeing your build. Russell

I like th progress you have made. It should be pretty impressive when your done.

Allen

I just found this build and am impressed with what you've done so far. I just got an F-4 Phantom (1/72) for Christmas and look forward to following your build. I can us all the inspiration I can get.

Glad you all like the progress so far, I just hope my client will as well

Not much of an update as I've been finishing my P-47 Campaign entry today but I have got the little bays scratch built



Hopefully it'll be close to applying some paint

I've not been keeping up to date with my blog lately but here's a quick run down of what I've done since my last update.

All seams were checked and re-scribed where necessary. the canopy was masked off and the plane was primed. The rear tail section was sprayed with Alclad Steel and other areas picked out with Alclad Magnesium. These were then masked of and the underside was sprayed with Halford's Gloss Appliance White. Once dry this was masked off ready for the Extra Dark Sea Grey but unfortunately I couldn't find my tin of paint today so I'll have to see if I can get to the LHS this week to get some more.

Here's a photo before masking off the white.

Another quick update the paint is on and decaling started yesterday Here's the pictures before decaling commenced.





More to follow

Lookin good. Makes me want to break mine out of the stash.

Cant wait to see the end result Allen, keep the posts coming in

Hi Allen
That Phantom is looking realy good after the money you must have invested in it. Looks well worth it, nice one.
tim

Thanks Tim, Hopefully if the weather doesn't keep me outside this weekend I might get the stencils on and ready for weathering