My Luftwaffe RF-4E build

Started by Greg Kittinger · 35 · 8 years ago
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    Greg Kittinger said 8 years, 10 months ago:

    I was originally going to go with the lizard scheme for this one, but after seeing Bernd's lovely Norm72 scheme build (http://imodeler.com/2014/07/mc-donnell-douglas-rf-4e-phantom-ii-revell-172/), and seeing his comment for the AirDOCS stencil decals, I decided to go that route. The original decal sheet has enough of the main decals, so I think I'm set there.

    Found a set of the stencils in Florida, so didn't have to order from outside the US! Ordered yesterday (pic). Built out my research PPT deck yesterday, so as soon as I'm done with the FH-7A, I'm on to the RF-4! (any one else have issues with Trumpeter decals? They are giving me a bit of a fit on the Flying Leopard...)

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

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    Robert Royes said 8 years, 10 months ago:

    That should look great. the German F-4's always look interesting. Not familiar with the trump decals though.

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    Bernd Müller said 8 years, 10 months ago:

    That will be a stunning RF-4E build, Greg. Happy modelling.
    The decals from Trumpeter work quite good if you can use them. They are often useless while wrong.

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    Greg Kittinger said 8 years, 9 months ago:

    Received the AirDOC stencil set in the mail this weekend. Also got my JH-7A to the point where I'm in finishing mode, and can start on the Testor F-4E. Wow - very few parts, and not much detail in the cockpit. Trying to decide just how much I want to try to spruce it up, since it will be covered with closed canopy and have a couple of pilots in the seats. Probably go with minimal work to the instruments on the side and instrument panels. Just need to decide if I'm going to go for relief, or just decals...

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    Greg Kittinger said 8 years, 9 months ago:

    meant to post stencil pics...

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Bernd Müller said 8 years, 9 months ago:

    The decals are fantastic, Greg, they are also fun to apply !
    A Testors F-4E ? Never seen this kit but when you close the canopies you just need good looking pilots and instrument panels. A nice headup display will be a good addition as well.

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    Greg Kittinger said 8 years, 9 months ago:

    Yeah - after looking at some pics of cockpits, I think I'm going to add some relief to the two main panels, and just decal/paint the side panels. That'll probably be enough seen through the cockpit.

    It's an old Testor/Italeri kit. Really weird the way it goes together. Still trying to decide if I'm going to sand off the raised panel lines and re-scribe, or what...

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    Bernd Müller said 8 years, 9 months ago:

    Old kits can be fun, if the fit is o.K why not just prime the kit in a dark color ( some say black ) and give it after the camo is on a very slight sanding, more a polish and than the primed dark panel lines will appear. The difference won t bee seen from a normal distance.
    That worked on my Airfix Hurricane quite good and saved a lot of time.

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    Greg Kittinger said 8 years, 9 months ago:

    Nice idea, thanks for the suggestion Bernd. What I've found is that in trying to eliminate fuselage seems, intake seems, etc, I often lose the raised panel detail as they get sanded away! I've got an old Hasegawa RF-101 built but unpainted, sitting there waiting for me to make a similar decision! I lost lots of the thin raised panel lines in trying to hide the seams. Maybe it's the scale - 72 is tough. I could see where that might work on a nice-fitting kit (as the new Airfix molds seem to produce).

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    Bernd Müller said 8 years, 9 months ago:

    Thats the problem of raised panel kits, because of that, i have masked the panels on my Hurricane. The first attempt to do this was on Monograms F-4D kit and it worked only on the undersides.
    Its worth a try may with your Voodoo ( also a fine aircraft from Mc Donnell )

    Beside that, if you find a Revell RF-4E in 1/72, its worth to buy/build. Good fit and a totally relaxing build. The RoG Phantom kits may have shape problems but they are among my favorite kits in that scale.

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    Greg Kittinger said 8 years, 9 months ago:

    Thanks for the tip on the Revell kits. My problem is I have so many Phantoms already in the stash that I'd have a hard time justifying another buy at the moment!

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    Greg Kittinger said 8 years, 9 months ago:

    The cockpit of this old kit was pretty plain - no dimension to the instrument panels at all. I added some styrene and sprue remains to provide some semblance of dimension,



    then a variety of decals (spares box and some kit) and some painted dials.


    Will tone back the stark white/red dials before I close it up. I'm also thinking about adding some dimension to the back of the rear instrument panel, and the the area behind the back seat. Not sure if I'm gonna bit that bullet.

    Since I do not plan to use the clear plastic parts provided to cover the camera ports, but rather Crystal Clear, I decided to put some hint of camera apparatus behind there in case it was somewhat visible. I decided to paint those grey vs. black so that they might "show up" a little better. Before I'm done I'll work on added some coating to the camera lens to make it look more realistic, both in color and in sheen - haven't figured out yet what that will be.




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    Robert Royes said 8 years, 9 months ago:

    Great cockpit detail , nice touch on the camera bay, Maybe I'll give that a try on the RF-4B I've got in my stash, when I get to it.

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    Greg Kittinger said 8 years, 8 months ago:

    I test fitted the cockpit into the fuselage and laid a couple of canopy pieces over it. Although the clear plastic on this old kit is a bit thick and distorts, I decided you could still see enough of the rear bulkhead, and the center missing bulkhead, that I'd do a bit more work to it. So...built a center bulkhead, cut up various pieces from the spares box and some small pieces of styrene, added some wire, and now like much better what I've got! You'll see seams in the seat cushions, but once I add pilots those won't be visible.

    7 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Greg Kittinger said 8 years, 8 months ago:

    While still working on the cameras in the nose section, and getting the fuselage mated to wings and the bare metal on the tail section painted, I've been tackling the stabs, since they are a complicated combination of various metal colors along with the camo. Got them pretty much done, although the photos don't seem to do justice (in this light) to the variations in metal.

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.