Hi everybody

Here is my tread on the building of my entry into the Vietnam campaign.

I am making the Italeri kit in 1/48 OOB. The only thing I will add is some bombs from Hasegawa's bomb set.

My main references are the old Squadron/Signal book on the subject and information from various other books and the internet.

I have started on the cockpit and the missiles.

The seats have some pinmarks on the front of the headrest and sink holes in the seats. Not to difficult to remove.
The Sidewinders are moulded in one piece and look great once they are cleaned up.

I shall be watching this with interest Jesper.
I will be keeping an eye out for any problems you have with the Italeri kit, as it is a lot cheaper then the Hasagawa F-4s.
I'll need to pick up the weapons set for my Sabre as well.
Andy

The weapons set is great. I have used some of the bombs earlier on a F-16. Good details, easy to work with. Good information on the various ordnance anf good decals.

Work is continuing on my Phantom II.

At a closer inspection of the landing gear I found some really nasty pin marks. Lots of them in strange places That will require some time and finesse to remove and fill.

Well, my build is moving along nicely except for the cockpit. This is only my fourth plane and my second jet fighter in years. There is a difference between painting tracks on tanks and modern cockpits :-) :-)
It is sort of okay, but I do not really know where to go from here. I could try some drybrushing to bring out the dials etc. Paint a few buttons etc. Anybody has some good suggestions?

Jesper

Try a bit of dry brushing - I'm building a Hasegawa Phantom - mine looks like this at the mo




Drybrushed the dials with white humbrol, switches etc with red and yellow.

It still needs the ejection seats finished and a wash to bring out details. I'll be posting further photos under the Aussie phantoms thread.

HTH

Andy

Hhmmm... The cockpits are actually quite different. Are you building an E version?

Anyway, I will try to bring out the detail with some drybrushing. Should my instrument faces be black? The instructions say light ghost grey.......If they are black it might be a little earsier to bring out the detail.

Jesper.


I've used this as a reference, so black it is


Yes it is an E version - I'm building it as an RAAF Phantom - the kit and RAAF decals were given to me by a mate in AUS, so thats how it's being built.

Hope this helps

Andy

Incredible that two companies that make the cockpits that different Not only in the level of detail, but sinply the layout of the cockpit.

Thanks a lot for the reference picture. I will redo some of the parts of the cockpit.

Jesper

Have a look at us cockpits - very useful photos

HTH

Andy

Wow! Thanks for sharing. It is now added to favorites

I have made a little further progress on my build and it is now ready for a basecoat.

The landing gear and the underwing stores have had their first coat of white paint and a few details added. Next is the touching up were mould lines were missed the first time round and have been corrected. Finally some detail and weathering.

Thanks for looking

Paint your dials black. When the paint is dry, add a tiny drop of Future...or Kleer on the dial with a toothpick. It actually looks like the glass face of a real dial when done properly. I picked up this little trick from a few other members here and have had great success.

hope this helps.

@VonCuda: Thanks for your advise. I will try that - when I have my bird painted up and after removing the masking

I spent 4000 hours in the backseat of USAF F-4C/D/E and RF-4Cs. I don't recognize much in that kit "pit". I'm not sure what version your kit is using; maybe a G model, NWDS modified E model or Phoreign Phantoms? I didn't think the Foreign Military Sales aircraft were too different; heck, I even delivered a brand new F-4E to the Shah's IIAF back in 1975. it was identical to a USAF jet, even had the TISEO out on the left wing. The TIS was a long range visual id camera we had on late block models. It wasn't too popular for use and was just more drag on our Phlying barn doors.
The gauges were essentially black; the background panels were glossy medium gray when new, but the maintainers quickly took the shine off. The "kick" panels on the lower sides had black scuffs and the floors rapidly turned to bare metal.
Keep up the good work. I enjoy looking at well made models of my trusty,old "steed". Phantoms Phorever!

Very interesting to know. It is supposed to be a E version, but they cockpit does not really look like the Hasegawa cockpit or what I have seen in pictures of the cockpit.
Anyway, it is coming along nicely so far, but might take some time to finish as my airbrush needs a overhaul before it is functioning again.