My Hasegawa F4 E/J KAI Phantom Project.

Holger Kranich
Oh, i´m in, too!
The carrier film of the decals looks very yellowish, do you think you can use them though?

Joseph Johnson
yea the flim is peeling and there are what seem to be scratch marks or cracks I have used old decals in the past
these seem to be pretty old I could probally try and bleach them out in the sun but the carrier flim has what seems like degraded and peeled off in some places. I called Hobbi Co yesterday have them contact Hasegawa
and as far as I know a newer version of this kit is still in production with more updated decals but it is the same kit just different item number I think mabey I might get lucky an Hasegawa can send me a replacement decal set. I will just have to wait an find out but ill start building it no need to worry about the markings right now any way.

Joseph Johnson
but this is a really nice kit for it's age. I am really going to enjoy this build.

Holger Kranich
If Hasegawa cant send you replacement decals, you can try this stuff. Its great for making custom decals and to repair them. But apply it before you cut the decals off the paper or it will stick to it forever;);)

Liquid Decal Film (Microscale MI-12, No)

Joseph Johnson
OH ok thank you Holger I did not know they made liquid film how does it work spray it on or brush it on?

Joseph Johnson
I ordered a bottle of the clear film just incase I don't hear back from hobbi co also just ordered some colorful Cam marking for the the kit but no stenciling data comes with so the most important thing will be to do is try and save all the original stenciling data on the old decal sheet and my Rhino seamless intake trunk kit arrived a few minutes ago and sence it is molded in white I wont have to paint the inside of the trunks that's great.

Clifford Keesler
I'm in.

Joseph Johnson
yup check back every now and then ill be adding build pics as I go along.

Steve Wilson
...
Hi Joseph. Back when I was a modeller without sausage fingers and didn't need a powerful magnifying glass to see what I was doing, I built 1:43 Cars and stuff, for friends, neighbours and family. Some of the kits I was given to build were quite old, they had also been stored incorrectly, this had affected the decals considerably for the worse. I contacted a company here in UK called Grand Prix Models, a company started by modellers for modellers.
Now I'm not saying don't use Microscale liquid decal film, it's great stuff, I use it myself... BUT!! it's expensive and not logical for a large sheet of decals like yours, plus I've never found a successful way of applying it on large areas. I tried airbrushing it using an older cheaper one of my airbrushes but it didn't work, it b*gg*red the airbrush though. With an ordinary paint brush was the most successful way which is fine for the odd decal and my 1:43rds, but it applies far too much of the stuff on large areas, so you use an awful lot of bottles of the stuff
>>£XP£N$IV£<< and after it's applied and dried, it's noticeable...
On contacting GPM with my problem, they were extremely helpful and agreed yes for the odd decal Microscale was the way to go!!! But for a large sheet of decals it was best to purchase a Rattle Spray Can of clear from a local craft/hobby shop, hang the sheet with pegs from a line and spray the sheet with the clear and allow to dry. Check the sheet incase it needs a second coat. This method has worked fine for me, for years now;)

Steve Wilson
...
BTW. You hang the sheet from a line so the clear doesn't pool in places on the decal sheet.
So if you use my method, don't spay it on a flat surface like your workbench!!!

Christian Ristits
Very cool project Joseph, I´m in!

Joseph Johnson
Thank you Steve I really appreciate the info it actually was not to expensive got a bottle off Ebay from a shop that had an over stock of film so I got a bottle of it for 3 dollar's plus a dollar or two for standard shipping it is funny too last week before I even got the kit somebody was selling the original sheet from this this kit an it was perfect for like 8 bucks of course I had no idea what kind of shape my sheet was in so I thought nothing of it. had I known then what I know now well somebody already beat me to it lol oh well you win some you loose some. but ill try the flim if I cant get a replacement sheet it's all about trial an error in the world of modeleing.

Steve Wilson
...
Trial, error and CORRECTION Joseph, never forget correction;) Let me know how you get on👍

Joseph Johnson
well the cockpit is painted and done as are the pilots right now in the process of cutting out the sections for installation of the trunks ill post pics tomorrow.

Wim van der Luijt
I'm following this one! and BTW I have succesfully bleached yellow carrier film. Put the sheet in a ziploc bag and tape it to a South facing window...the sunlight will bleach it back to normal in a couple of days...the bag protects the sheet from condensation. I got this tip from another model building site and after trying it I can only say it works....

Clifford Keesler
Looking very nice , I will be watching this one.

Joseph Johnson
yup I like this kit if cloud figure out what I did with my pen light I would shine it down the trunks to show off those pretty detailed fans. I went ahead and added some weight to the nose just incase even though most f4 kits don't sit on their tails I decided to be on the safe side.

Joseph Johnson
and surprisingly the kit came with weapons which is something Hasegawa normally does not put in their kits.

Joseph Johnson
Well the Gull gray an white is done gas tanks an weapons are all painted just need to paint the stripeing an the sparrows and side winders and you guys will be happy to know I purchased a factory decal sheet in perfect condition so I wll be able to add all the stenciling data along with my colorfaul after market CAM sheet.

Choppa Nutta
Looking nice 🙂

Es-haq Khosravi
Great job!

Joseph Johnson
Thank you gentlemen

Joseph Johnson
You have to give the Japanese credit with the US navy Flare of Gull gray and White on this 10th Anniversary show bird I love it so far man this thing is going to be colorful.

Joseph Johnson
along with the black.

Augie
looks slick so far 🙂

Joseph Johnson
thank you Augie

Joseph Johnson
Well guys as pretty as it is looking these decals are not for the faint of heart they were thin an Brittle they did not fall aprt in water but some of them did break in a couple places but iwas able to save 90 percent of them get them worked in an of course some were either over sized or under sized so as you see my attempt to touch up these areas with touch up paint as best I could considering the arthists in my hands I did not do to terrible a job of trying to it. but opinions my vary LOL.

Clifford Keesler
It still looks awesome to me.

Wim van der Luijt
Looks good to me!

Joseph Johnson
thanks guys unfourtunetly the rest of the meat balls did fall apart and I could not save them but when my factory replacement decal sheet arrives ill use the remaining ball'a off of it along with all the stenciling data.

Joseph Johnson
it will look really good when it is all said an done I just don't think I will be using any more of decals from CAM.

Clifford Keesler
I hope that is not a Cam trait, I have a set of Cam decals for my 1/32 F-14.

Joseph Johnson
Im not sure Clifford after thinking about it with long production run's in decals maby I might have ended up with one that maby did not get enough film in the process or it was an older sheet that did not show any age cause it looked like a brand spanking new sheet but maby the guy might have had sitting around for a while who know's it could be a number of things but just be prepared for when the time comes to use them.

I have had this problem before with after market decals I was disappointed but once I started there was no turning back and soldered on through with it and it still looks good mostly for now I do like colorful birds and it is darn pretty.

Clifford Keesler
I think it looks great.

Joseph Johnson
yea I like it. having to stop on it now till the factory decal arrives it supposed to come today but with the US postal service it will come when it comes. I should have my Tornado Friday if im lucky its coming priorty.

Joseph Johnson
ok she is almost done guys. now I need another coat semi clear to seal the decals then a weathering job.

Wim van der Luijt
Looking good, on to the weathering. Will she be very dirty? 😉

Joseph Johnson
well being as this was a show bird at one point of time ill try not to make too diry.

soheil moghisi
very nice.

Christian Ristits
Great job Joseph on this bird!

Joseph Johnson
Thanks my friends
. Im in the process of doing the dirt wash once I get it all wiped down and mount the side winders it will be done.

Clifford Keesler
Looks very good.

Joseph Johnson
Well she is done guys my center tank fell off during the final photo shoot I glued it back and it looks good sitting next to my crazy custom painted Revell F4 C.

Clifford Keesler
I like it.

Joseph Johnson
thank you sir. I enjoyed the build.

Choppa Nutta
turned out nice 🙂
May we have a photo of the whole bookshelf please ? 🙂

Joseph Johnson
lol ok

Joseph Johnson
there you go I had to back so far to get the whole shelf the rest of the kite are at the hobby shop

Choppa Nutta
🙂

Clifford Keesler
Looks like my work room, wall to wall airplanes.

Joseph Johnson
well I would not say wall to wall not just yet anyway but I have a modest little collection so far.

ahmad hekmati
very very nice........ .

Murad ÖZER
Japs do know how to paint their jets for sure, very nice job Joseph - planning on doing more colorful JASDF birds like these?

Bill Gilman
Looks really nice! Don't you just love the Japanese Kai Phantoms? Here is one I did a few years back, in 1:72 scale.

McDonnell Douglas F-4EJ Kai (Revell) | Album by Navy Bird (1:72)

Cheers!

Joseph Johnson
thanks guys yea if I can find the decals ill do some more colorful Japanese birds down the road

Joseph Johnson
wow Bill that is down right beautiful F-4 you got there.

Augie
very nice 🙂

Joseph Johnson
thank you Augie

Ulf Petersen
Nice and clean build.👍

Joseph Johnson
thanks