Since joining Aeroscale, all I've ever built has been WW11 USA Naval props. And while WW11 USA & Allied aircraft are my primary interests, I'm also interested in the cold war period through the Vietnam era. So I thought it was about time that I built an aircraft that didn't have at least one propeller. With that in mind, I decided on the Academy 1/48 scale F4B Phantom 11. A newer release, well designed, and not all that complicated. The perfect 1st jet model.



Since I know next to nothing about modeling jet aircraft, This is going to be a real learning experience for me.

I started off with the front wheel well assembly, which is comprised of 4 sections to form wheel well, and the bottom of the cockpit that will serve double duty as the top of the well.



The individual parts all have some detail, but the overall effect is kind of sparse, so I decided to busy it up some. The top has 5 ribs that are all the same height. The 1st 3 should be twice as tall, so I added some .040 sheet plastic to increase their height. I added some pieces of scrape plastic to represent electrical boxes, and used 2 different dia. of wire to represent electrical wiring along the two long walls and for the floor. I also added a pump and valve assembly.





I wanted to see the full effect, so I primed both sub assemblies with Tamiya Gray lacquer primer thinned 1;1, & applied with my airbrush @ 10-12 psi. The results were exactly as I had hoped. While by no means does it comes close to the amount of wiring and plumbing in the actual aircraft, it does busy up the wheel well to a satisfactory level.






At this point I'm going to skip working on the cockpit, and turn my attention to the main gear wheel wells. Then paint all three of them at the same time.

Joel

Off to a good start Joel.

Looking forward on how this one comes together.

Tony

Some nice detailing there, Joel. I got the same kit before Xmas so I'll be watching closely how you get on with it, great start so far

Tony,
Thanks. It's certainly different then the props I've been building. It's going to be a fun ride, that's for sure.




Mike,
Like I said to Tony, this is sure different then what I'm used to. the basic areas like wheel wells and cockpit are totally different. Everything is a lot more complicated and sophisticated. My intent is to build a solid model, not a super detailed one, as I'm not capable of that level of detailing.
Joel

One After Market part I already bought is the Wolfpack Martin Baker MK7 ejection seats. The kits seats are very good as is. The Wolfpack seats are just a few steps up on them. Honestly, with a little work the kit seats could be brought up to that level, they're that good.

What does concern me is the instrument panels. The kit has two versions of both IPs, and are beautifully molded. The issue I have with them is that there are no actual instruments molded in, nor are there any decals for them that I've found. Has anyone that has built this kit or the Hasegawa kit found that the IPs are to small to really need visible gauges, or should I add them? Right now I'm inclined to buy a sheet of gauges and add them.

Joel

JA
Nice start on the Phantom. Knowing your plans for detailing the Toon, is going to make for a great build to follow and enjoy
Keep 'em coming
Bro

I agree with you there on the cockpit details. Good but could have been better. There's an Aires resin cockpit set if you fancy that extra detail. Everything else about the kit is great. O love the pilots

Mike,
I've thought about getting the Aires cockpit. Since I've already bought the Wolfpack seats, which was one of the two cockpit issues I had, it would be hard to justify buying the Aires set. The biggest draw back after reading several builds, was the amount of work needed to get the cockpit to fit. Gotta admit that was a major concern.
Joel

Not much of a jet girl , but I will be following along as you make progress ....




Terri

A very nice start Joel, I love the detailing

Mal, Thanks for stopping by and having a look. Glad you like my handy work so far.

Joel

excellent start joel, i really must do a jet at some point...its been a while...

all the best

paul

Terri,
Thanks. Glad you're coming along for the ride. I can use all the friends I can on this one.

Like I said, my interest in jets is just 1st generation through Vietnam. And being my 1st jet in nearly 40 years, I'm practically clueless on what's what.
Joel

Well, I finally finished the wheel wells including priming and a coat of flat White. And yes, I realize that they were original painted gloss white. My intention is to portray them somewhat dirted-up from oil, grease, tire dust, etc. At least to the point that the gloss shine was gone. When the weathering process starts, they'll receive a coat of Pledge, then a wash of Model Master enamel flat Black really thinned. I mix it by eye, so I can't tell you what ratio. But it's way thinner then skin milk for sure. Then a final coat of Dullcoat.

The Front well, which I've already posted some detail pictures of now with a coat of flat White paint.





The main wheel wells are comprised of the top wing panel to form the top of the wheel, 4 side sections to frame it, and a dividing section to separate the two sections. The side sections have quite a lot of molded on detail representing all sorts of wiring. The tops of the well has no detail what so ever.



Also the gear hydraulic access panels are nothing more then cut outs in the bottom of the fuselage with doors. I enclosed the access hatches with sheet plastic, then added some hydraulic lines to busy them up some.





The inner section of each wheel well are basically void of detail as that's where the wheel is stored, but the outer section has the hydraulics, etc. I detailed these with thin plastic tubing rather then wiring.







After I painted the wheel wheels and access panels, I test fitted the one piece fuselage to the wing section. The fit is almost perfect. Just a very thing bead of Vallejo white putty to blend them in, all that is needed. If you don't have it, any old white glue will work just fine.

Joel

JA
Nice work on the wheel wells - details looks great and really make for a busy assembly. Can't wait to see them with some detail painting and weathering
Keep 'em coming
Bro

Bro, almost all the pictures I've seen have the wells in white, and that's everything over painted in white. Just planning on a few washes of grimy black to pick out the details.
Joel

Looks good Joel!
I'm so not a jet person when it comes to building them. But I appreciate your work and it looks nice, so I guess I'll come back to see more of it.

How convenient that everything in the wheel wells was painted white. It sure makes things easier.

/Fred

Fred, thanks, and stop by any time. You're not kidding with the all white. Makes one's life a lot easier.
Joel

Great stuff as always Joel. Who needs an Aires set when you can detail like this

Michael,
That's some compliment. Thank you so much.

I haven't done anything that's very hard to do. Some decent research material, some wire, sheet plastic, plastic strip & rod, and go at it. You'd be surprised at what you can accomplish.
Joel

Looks like you're off to a great start Joel! I too have this kit, and am not really that knowledgeable on Jets, so will be following this one for sure!

Doug

Since my last update, I've been working on the cockpit. I've spent considerable time detailing the seat bulkheads as they're just bare plastic. I used the Wolfpack Resin MK7 seats instead of the kit seats. I also scratched out a decent looking oxygen hose from wrapping the smallest dia. wire I have around the next smallest dia. wire.

I spent some time trying to figure out the best way to deal with the instruments on both panels, as there aren't any faces. Finally, I decided that they're so small and will be hard to see once the cockpit is installed in the fuselage, so I just went with black faces and Pledge for the lenses.

Here's the "pit" as it comes out of the box:




And here's how my cockpit turned out.





Normally I would install the cockpit tub, but the instructions have you assembly the lower fuselage sub assemblies of which the cockpit/front wheel well are part of, then install them as a completed unit. I've read a few reviews which agreed with that sequence, so that's the way I'll proceed. I still want to detail the rear of the IPs, and the canopy area at the rear of the fuselage, but that will have to wait for now.

Joel

That cockpit looks very nicely beaten up but I'm curious about the seat cushions. Most Phantom seats I've seen have had olive green cushions. Did the Woflpack instructions know something I don't?

Jessica, I discussed this very topic with my Brother as well. I did find a few pictures of MK7 seats with Brownish/Kaki cushions. Most were however Olive Drab. I would assume that those were either replacements, or Ad Hoc by the crews. With the basically black seats, OD belts and harness, I thought that the Kaki seats would help to define the seats, so I jumped at the chance. Even if I wanted to repaint them, they're already glued into the pit, and with my luck, I'll damage them trying to remove them.

Joel

Looking good Joel ! Do you plan on running another wash on the side consoles they seem to have a very dust look hiding the details compared to rest of the cockpit .




Terri