In 2012 Academy delivered the first new-tool 1/48th scale Phantom (B) seen in decades. This was followed up with their 1/48th Academy F-4C Phantom II establishing their kits as the best available, with improvements over all the older models. Better details were almost everywhere you looked, and the kit came with an assortment of weapons (which was long a gripe of the Hasegawa F-4 Phans).
Notable Kit Features:
Very nicely detailed cockpit with instrument consoles for USAF types
Good ejection seats
Pilot figures included (2 seated and 1 standing)
Internal boarding ladder included
Full intake trunks with engine faces
Nicely detailed gear and wheel wells
Parts fit is generally very good
Separate ailerons
Weapons include: MER,TER, AIM-9 AIM-7, Mk.82s, ECM as well as gun pod
Wing and centerline tanks provided
Build Inspiration:
Sometime back in the 80s when I got interested in Vietnam era aircraft, I started collecting reference material (well before the Internet - when you had to complete an order card found in the back of some aviation fan magazine, include a bank issued money transfer, snail mail the book publisher, to have your highly anticipated selection mailed back to you some weeks later...like 6-8 weeks coming from the U.S.). I acquired the Detail & Scale series of books this way. I also purchased (this time at a local model shop) a copy of Lou Drendel's "...And Kill MiGs". Now, I pretty much have worn this book out over the years flipping through it over and over. Contained in it, was a few photos of an early F-4C aircraft that was used by Bill Swendner and Duane Buttell to down a MiG-21 on 14JL66. The image always stuck with me as the quintessential representative of that long air war, with the camouflage paint shown to be wearing away. I always thought, "it would be amazing to do up a model aircraft to look like that"... and here we are, just a few years later... ;) Once I had a chance to figure it all out and finally commit to the build.
Heads-Up Report:
Watch your parts # as the kit includes parts not belonging to a F-4C build
Ejection seats need harnesses
Some visible pin ejector marks will need attention
Engine intakes required careful fitting an a bit of filler on the lower join
Take your time with the nose join to get everything aligned as best as possible
The underside nose panel join required a bit of filler
Splitter plates cannot be added after painting (as in the case of the Hasegawa kit, which make for easier painting behind these)
Fuselage spine cover door required filler
The shape of the front nose air scoops seemed a bit off to me
Watch how you glue together the wing tanks as you can reverse a part and the panel lines will not line up
The TERs / MERs seem to be missing some detail and maybe off-shape in places
The metal exhaust area is a separate part and I considered gluing it post paint
Pay attention to the engine exhausts mounting to get then both aligned equally
Use the non slotted horizontal stabilizers for the USAF C (the metal demark line isn't where it should be here)
Kit Additions / Modifications:
Reshaped the small nose intakes to give them a little more taper
I backed the forward nosewheel door with a piece of styrene sheet to get rid of the seam
Slight seam running down center of canopies requires polishing out
Used third-party decals from Furball Aero Design - 48-029 "Gunfighter Phantoms" (Highly Recommended)
Finishing:
This aircraft paint job was a bit of a process as I had to essentially do the paint finish twice to obtain the desired look. I used Vallejo Air paints on this build. The paint sprays (and keeps) well however, I found it was more easily damaged, (when handling) so I have resorted to adding a bit of Pledge (floor finish) to the paint to improve the durability. The initial paint finish on early USAF F-4s was the same scheme that was used on USN Phantoms, consisting of Gull Gray (FS 36440) over white with white control surfaces. Next came the gloss spray to prepare for the first set of early F-4C decals (which had the U.S. Air Force and sometimes "Buzz numbers" down the fuselage as well as the aircraft number on the tail). After all that was done, I applied a sealer clear coat. The next stage consisted of finding a liquid mask that could handle the job at hand and produce fine paint flakes that could be controlled. (I considered using a "hairspray method" however I wanted to have the chipping in fairly specific areas according to some reference photos that I had, so the liquid mask was thought to be superior to achieve this.) I did some testing with a few products and found the Mr. Hobby - Mr. Masking SOL neo to be the best solution for my chipping project. This solution was applied with a toothpick to any areas I wanted the Gull Gray scheme to show through. Working with a small bit of solution at a time I was able to eventually get the pattern I wanted applied. The liquid mask was then allowed to dry for several days.
As I would have to apply masking tape over the masking fluid to get the 3-tone TAC finish, I had concerns as I would have to get the camouflage pattern correct without much trial and error as lifting the masking tape up to correct a curve may lift the masking fluid as well. Typically the USAF left the white undersides intact when they field painted the TAC Jungle camouflage onto the aircraft, therefore this area was masked in preparation. Weathering was done at the time of painting the main colours. I typically lighten the base coat and then slowly darken the paint in a few stages to its true tone while painting only the panel lines and other repaired areas. The key here is to have a reference photo while working and not to overdo it (if you are trying to replicate an aircraft). Now came the moment of truth... lifting the liquid mask chips to to reveal the undercoat. It probably took me at least five passes to find and remove all the masking fluid. Every time I though I was done, another pass with the magnifiers on (under bright light) would reveal a little bump in the paint indicating more masking fluid was underneath!
The metal tones were painted using several shades of metals across the exhaust areas. Once all the paint had dried, I applied the (Pledge) gloss coat in preparation for the second set of decals and more weathering. Note: You want a great gloss coat so the decals set without "silvering". If it isn't quite there, I will use superfine sandpaper (wet) and re-spray as necessary. Once the next level of decals were completed, I applied various panel washes and wiped these down to get the desired weathering. After allowing everything to dry for a couple of days, I over-sprayed with a matte clear coat to seal things in and dull down the finish (except for the metal areas). The final stage (which always takes much longer than I expect) is the task of adding the gear details, stores, canopies and antennas and phinally this Phantom was ready for The Hangar roll out and photo shoot!
The After-Build Report:
The Academy 1/48th scale F-4C Phantom II established itself as the best USAF F-4s shortly after its release. The detail and price point hit a sweet-spot, as the kit cost was comparable to its rival Hasegawa, however it had better all around features and included an assortment of weapons. Since this 2013 release, several other new tool F-4s have arrived. The best F-4C kit would now go to the Zoukei-Mura SWS kit, however it is more than double the cost of the Academy version (in Canada) so you may have to balance your desired detail level and budget to determine which kit is best for you. Either way it is great to have a number of choices for our F-4 Phantom II projects.
Feel free to comment or ask any questions - Keep on building, gain experience, challenge yourself if you like, but try not to stress yourself out over the build - it is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby after all - Cheers
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