McDonnell F-4C Phantom II (1/48, Eduard)
This build came out of nowhere when Eduard issued limited edition Good evening Da Nang. SEA camo scheme is notorious, so I decided to go for genuine light gull grey over white scheme, which have seen early days on Vietnam War.
There was a lot of areas to fix in order to build correct airframe. Eduard box comes with Academy plastic, some basic PE sheet and wheels, seats and nozzles from Brassin range. I’ve added seamless intake trunks, positionable stabilizers, early inboard pylons, auxiliary intakes and correct variant of ejection seats.
Model was painted with Mr. Paint colors including the roundels, airframe number, letterings and symbols on the drop tanks. Only a handful decals was used. All the stencils (over 500) are courtesy of HGW wet transfers.
Ordnance was chosen according to pictures of the airframe from winter 1965-66 using M117 bombs from Brassin range and Aerobonus MER/TER adaptors. AIM-7 missiles are out of the box as the Brassin counterparts does not fit on the Academy/Eduard model.
Weathering is rather subtle with focus on common wear and tear. I’ve used mostly oil paints, filters and a pencil.
It was a challenging build, almost threw it away several times, but now when I know the flaws and issues, I will definitely come back for one more in the future.
12 additional images. Click to enlarge.
Tomáš Pelej said on December 3, 2017
David’s excellent work. It’s really a piece of honest work
Michel Verschuere said on December 3, 2017
Wow, really one of the finest Phantom’s I’ve ever seen! And in view of the frying pan challenge: Good you didn’t throw this one… Congrats David!
George Williams said on December 3, 2017
Definitely a challenging kit to build and complete, but when the result is this good the effort is certainly worth it.
paul e. owens said on December 3, 2017
one of the best phantoms i have seen! great job David!
Tom Bebout said on December 3, 2017
Excellent work David, it really looks nice. And man that’s a lot of stencils, you have more patience than me my friend.
Robert Royes said on December 3, 2017
Wow! One Phantastic Phantom!
Craig Abrahamson said on December 3, 2017
Having a “Fhetish for Phantoms” myself, this IS, as some folks said, one of THE best builds of this kit (or ANY F-4) I’ve seen recently. Having done a couple of these myself, however, I can understand your frustration as well. It certainly turned out magnificently, though. Really nice build, sir…REALLY nice!
Martin Dytrych said on December 3, 2017
Supr Phantom, Davide. Taky ho mám v kitniku, ten tvuj je krásně naloženej. Excellent job!
krzysztof bytniewski said on December 3, 2017
Congratulations, this Phantom makes a big impression. Beautifully painted, good work.
Greg Kittinger said on December 3, 2017
That is a gorgeous Phantom – beautifully detailed and weathered. Very realistic. Love it!
Tom Cleaver said on December 3, 2017
Very nice work indeed.
David Lengyel said on December 3, 2017
Many thanks gentlemen 🙂
Derek Austin said on December 3, 2017
It’s all been said above! I love it, very well done!
Christian WERY said on December 4, 2017
Excellent job.
Dirk Derks said on December 4, 2017
Like Christian above,
With capital letters: EXCELLENT.
Regards, Dirk / The Netherlands.
Ramon R. Lomeli said on December 4, 2017
that is a SHWEEET looking Phantom!
Bernard E. Hackett, Jr. said on December 4, 2017
Really a nice Phantom, and in the early markings, not much seen as a build.
Rapid27 said on December 4, 2017
Beautiful Phantom 🙂
Eric
David Hansen said on December 6, 2017
Wow! Beautiful job!! Makes a very refreshing change of pace from the many Phantom cliche paint schemes out there.
What is the significance of the F-105 silhouette visible on the left intake ramp?
David Lengyel said on December 6, 2017
Thanks David. Silhouette of the Thud represents crash landed F-105 which was destroyed later in an airstrike conducted by this particular F-4C. Most probably in order to prevent enemy from salvaging avionics from the crash site. I was wondering why it is marked as a kill mark and veterans told me “a kill is a kill”, haha.
Roberto Colaianni said on December 7, 2017
Great build, before start mine I will have a look back at your Phantom. I remember an American fighter in the Pacific, displaying the silouette of a US C-47. The cargo was captured by the Japanese and therfore shoot dow by the US pilot.