SPA Modeler

Here's a shot of one of the projects I've been working on since I completed the Hasegawa A6M5c in 1/32 for the review build.
This is the 1/48 F-4B from Academy. I did add some AM goodies to this one, just to spruce it up a bit. Instead of the box-art decals, I went with Furball Aero Design Mig Killers for VF-161 Chargers from the USS Midway, circa 1973.

I'm building it as BuNo 153045.

Overall, the build was pretty smooth. As most people who have built this kit can attest to, there are a few fiddly areas that need to be dealt with. I had some gaps around the intakes that I had to fix. Not a difficult chore, just time consuming. The odd part was that during dry-fitting, the gap wasnt there, but once I tried to glue in place, I couldnt make it line up for the life of me. Some plastic sheet and putty and it all worked out. For this build I primed with Stynylrez Grey and then painted with Mr. Paint and a hybrid of Alclad and AK Xtreme Metals for the exhaust areas. The Furball Aero decals were perfect to work with, I used mainly Micro-set and sol on the decals, for a few spots I had to break out the heavy hitter Walthers Solvaset.






You'll notice, right behind the cockpit, the black strip had a bit of a step that I missed when I was masking. I did get this fixed later on.


I will get some further pics taken and posted soon. I've got more done than what is documented in these photos, its now sitting on its gear and has the pylons and most of the stencils added.

Very nice! Phantoms are cool... especially back in the day when they had such colorful markings.

speedgraflex wrote:Beautiful Build! Great Job! I see what may be some pieces painted Insignia Red in your last photo. If I am misreading this, apologies in advance. What brand Insignia Red are you using?

I used Mr. Paint Insignia Red. for those pieces, then for the edges of the gear doors I used red Ammo of Mig Oilbrushers.

Nice phantom! learned yesterday while watching the Age of Aerospace from Boeing that the phantom was almost called the Satan and it was the last McDonnel jet named after a "spirit". Who knew?

Very nice!! I have an Academy F-4J in the stash. Could you tell me where the trouble spots are?

Medicman71 wrote:Very nice!! I have an Academy F-4J in the stash. Could you tell me where the trouble spots are?

The major "trouble-spots" that I ran into are around the intakes. While dry fitting the parts, I wasnt seeing any issues whatsoever....that is until I started to cement things in place. Some of the gaps can be large enough that they need to be filled with strip styrene or stretched sprue. I have seen several builders experiencing the same issue I did, and then there are a few who did not run into this problem. I did remove some of the plastic on behind the intake that appeared to be having the most impact. I dont have a picture of what was removed, but you'll easily be able to figure that out.
The main gear can be a pain! They have you add the gear to the bottom part of the wing early on in construction, due to the way that they designed the wing structure and the gear fits into a "box", there is virtually no way do get around this....I broke one side off during the build and it was tough to get it lined up properly.
Other than that, the fit is pretty good. I think I learned a few tricks that will help when I break into my Academy F-4J that I have as well.

Looking great so far. I need to get one.