F-4J 1/48 HAS Jolly Rogers
This is a very old kit - definitely not up to the same standards of today’s Zoukei Mura or Meng kits in the same scale, but who can resist assembling a Jolly Roger’s jet?
First thing I noticed on this kit is the distinct lack of rivets where there should be in the other phantoms I have seen - so out comes the riveter…
More riveting
This kit’s been reboxed numerous times, so some mods had to be made to navalize this kit - starting with the removal of the slime lights
…which was a real pain. I masked off a lot of areas to keep my fumble-fingers from erasing the details around them.
The burner cans in this kit was also sub-par with no details inside. I don’t like buying after market cans, so out came the styrene sheet. I added them in as petals and scratched them horizontally to match the cans found in the F-4. Took this photo to show the differences between the vanilla can and the touched up version.
both cans now upgraded
The cans were masked off for detailed painting to recreate the unique staining found on the Phantoms
Not going to win any beauty contests, and definitely not going to be obvious to the casual viewer, but I like it.
Pre-shade
Mottling
In go the crew
First pass of paint
Final underside paint
The heat shield is first painted using Titanium metallics- then this was striped over for exhaust staining. Some panels were completely covered to illustrate the inevitable panel replacements.
Masking and painting of leading edge silver
Some weathering
Decals done
Almost there… Just a few more seconds…
More maskin
Mounting of Pew-Pews! One surprising thing with this kit is that it came with BOTH missiles AND pilots! A rarity for Hasegawa
I used a weapons kit to add on some Mk82 bombs with extended fuses to them. I also noticed in reference photos wires attached to them - so I replicated that.
Some staining to show fuel spills
I love a nicely painted Phantom heat shield….
The Mk82s were a bear to glue on. Next time, I’ll try using ND magnets to make this easier
Added quite a bit of extra riveting to make this bird look a bit more realistic
Also had to rivet the tail planes.
I was supposed to have removed the Re-I for cement plate on the tail stabilizer, but opted to keep them on on account of the PTSD I got when I had to file off the slime lights. ?
Nobody is ever going to see the engine details - unless they shine a flashlight to take a look.
Komentarzy
78 30 December 2023, 05:25
RandoAmazing build, love the detail. What tape did you use to mask off for the sanding? Looks thick and rubbery.
31 December 2023, 00:47
CaptGPFLOL! That tape was a freebie from my Tamiya International magazine subscription! It's not as good as the Yellow Tamiya tape for paint masking, but it's thick enough for sanding and scribing.
31 December 2023, 17:20
CaptGPFThank you for the kind words, Spanjaard, Michael and Guy! I used the Meng F-4 as a reference for where the rivets had to go, as well as the spacing 😀
13 January, 23:08
CaptGPFThank you for the kind words Thomas / Daniel / Nathan / Jennifer and Shar! I love jets -me specially ones that are armed to the teeth with pew-pews and boom-booms!
2 February, 17:35
DickPhantoms forever! And you made the best version.. VF-84.
What a beauty, very impressive and realistic weathering!
13 February, 23:09
Nathan DempseyEvery time this one comes up in the feed I get the urge to crack open a few more Phantoms. Inspiring work CaptGPF.
14 February, 14:10
CaptGPFThanks everyone for the kind words Dick / Rui / Olivier & Nathan! Still have a ways to go with weathering - but I'll get there someday! 😀
16 February, 05:01
Album info
VF-84 dates back to WW2 where they served in the Pacific Theatre flying the vaunted F4-U1 Corsairs. Outside of the VF-111 Sundowners, the Jolly Rogers are easily one of the most recognizable squadrons in the USN - made even more infamous in the movie The Final Countdown.
