Building the Airfix 1:72 RN Phantom FG.1
The beginning - the kit box with artwork straight from "Sailor" and the Big Ed.
The very neat coloured PE for the interior
I got two of the second PE sheet, most of it for flaps and jet exhausts.
I tend to start with the most intimidating-looking PE item. It was much easier than expected.
The kit is engineered in a quite complicated manner, but mostly it fit very well. The same can be said about the PE items - they fit very well.
Working my way through possible subassemblies, I made progress unexpectedly fast.
The heads of the SNEB rocket pods were sprayed black and picked out with True Metal Gunmetal.
The pre-printed PE makes things easier and much nicer.
Even the ejection seats with all the assorted PE were a quite straightforward build.
Fitting the cockpit into the fuselage.
Making sure of a good fit with the fuselage halves. Tamiya Extra Thin was applied sequentially and from the underside.
To protect the cockpit interior, I attached the closed canopy using Humbrol Maskol.
The resin wheels are very neat and good value for money.
This is where the very first PE part ends up.
I used very little filler. The small seams at the front end of the wheelwell are one of the areas.
The other was the seam between the inner and outer wing panel from the underside.
The intakes have been painted and decaled prior to assembly, now I´m heading towards using Alclad.
More subassemblies waiting in the paintshop.
Fiddly but necessary -working with the excellent paint masks. I also masked the undersides of the canopy parts for ease of painting.
After using Alclad on the metallic areas, quite some masking, priming, preshading and painting.
The Alclad areas look really quite nice.
The underside with some preshading.
Decaling begins - this is just the stencil placement guide.
The underside with all the decals needed. An exercise in patience and serenity.
Comments
1 14 April 2019, 10:56
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Using one of the markings options from the kit, plus the Eduard Big Ed set of assorted PE and masks, plus the Eduard resin wheels, I built one of the aircraft depicted in the classic BBC documentary "Sailor".
I am planning to add the other types flown from HMS Ark Royal, and just might do a common display for them. I am looking forward to Airfix issuing the Buccaneer later in 2019, and have the Sword Gannet AEW. That leaves the Sea King and the Wessex.
