View Full Version : 1/48 Monogram Phantom II
This is my latest main project....an old Monogram kit of the Phantom; still a good one.
The fuselage is taped together in the shot because it has warped at some stage since the 70s...am trying to force it back into shape. It will need some very careful gluing when the time comes.
I have put together the cockpit tub, instrument panels and ejector seats and started on the painting. There's no decals for the instrument panels, so its brush painting all the way....it will be difficult to do more than drybrush the dials with white and perhaps pick out a couple of dials like the horizon indicator.
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u310/McIvanNZ/Models/2010_0616-RosehillBall0024.jpg
Oh...and I see the decalled Daimler peeking out from behind the box...
Do you buy old kits or are you emptying your attic. :)
I buy old ones on the local internet trading site...there's always heaps for sale and good bargains to be had. I have to restrain myself now....running out of space to put them all in. Which is why I'm making a flurry now....so I can, um, buy more :)
This one would have cost me about 10 pounds.
My best deal so far was a bulk purchase where I sold the ones I didn't want and reduced the overall purchase to about 40 pounds for a:
1/24 scale Me 109
1/24 scale Mustang
1/35 Marine Supercobra
1/35 Mobelwagon 37mm AA
1/48 Val
1/72 Flanker
1/72 Auster
1/48 Su35 dual seater
1/72 Israeli Kfir
um, and some other stuff.....a made up 1/350 Yamato (unfortunately with its AA gun barrels ruined by some brat in the past, but definitely restorable)...and a 1/24 Stuka which needs some remedial work....but a fantastic bloody haul, including about 50 paints, 10 paintbrushes, sprue cutters, craft knife, decal setting solution, masking fluid and heaps of glue.
It pays to keep an eye out!
Two views of the cockpit, now ready to go into the airplane. This next bit won't be easy, because I have to glue it to one side, with NO guides whatsoever on the other side of the fuselage to show whether it will all marry up when I close the fuselage....and I have to hope it stays in position while the glue dries.
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u310/McIvanNZ/Models/2010_0627Models0070.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u310/McIvanNZ/Models/2010_0627Models0071.jpg
You can't really tell, but the back radar scope is green and the front one is red....don't ask me why, they just are on the real thing.
AirborneBob
06-29-2010, 04:41
Funny.....my Dad flew the backseat of F-4E's during Vietnam.....brings back memories.....He came home..but really doesn't like to fly anymore.
My Dad in 1972, McDill AFB, Tampa FL:
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb20/AirborneBob/45TFS_F4E_2_0002.jpg
That's the colour scheme for the plane I'm building; probably going with the Phantom flown by Col Robin Olds. I might check if I remember and list the decal options....one of them might be your Dad's....
Got the Phantom halves together.....managed to get the cockpit sitting just right on the second attempt...the first was a little askew. Have kept it clamped now for three days because the fuselage is a little warped after so long.....not TOO bad. It's tendency, unconstrained, would be (if I kept the main fuselage together) for the nose to separate about 7-8mm open and a little out of alignment up and down. I glued the nose first, taped around it, and then added glue along the fuselage and held it all together for a whle before taping it again and adding some clamps. Seems to be holding together well. Have glued the wings together and next step tonight will be joining them to the fuselage....then there will be a bit of sanding and puttying to do.
Forgot to check the decal options, will do that tonight hopefully. Took an updated piccie too, but haven't put it on photobucket as yet.
Here's the updated piccie of my Phantom in bondage vile......in amongst the present debris that constitutes my modelling desk after a search for something or other.
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u310/McIvanNZ/Models/2010_0710JuneJuly0084.jpg
Decal options are:
F-4C 555th TFS 8th TFW - Col Robin Olds, Thailand 1967
F-4D 555th TFS 432nd TFW - Capt Steve Ritchie, Thailand 1972
F-4D 23rd TFS 52nd TFW, Spangdahlem A.B., Germany 1976
Have now added the wings, and started a laborious filling and sanding job to eliminate....or at least reduce...the centreline ridges where the parts didn't quite marry.
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u310/McIvanNZ/Models/2010_0710JuneJuly0088.jpg
AirborneBob
07-12-2010, 22:02
You gotta go with the Tripple Nickle: (Wikipedia)
In June 1966, the 555th TFS moved to Ubon KTAB and joined the 8th TFW "Wolfpack." There, the squadron led the first strike against MiG airfields in North Vietnam. The Nickel launched the first night bombing attacks against North Vietnam September 29, 1967. While at Ubon, the Nickel downed an additional 14 aircraft, including four MiG-21s January 2, 1967. The Nickel was now the only "Quad Ace" Fighter Squadron, with 20 MiGs to its credit.
In 1968, the Nickel participated in the campaign against the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the Linebacker campaigns against the NVN heartland in 1972. During Linebacker I and II, the Nickel returned to its air superiority role and brought its MiG tally to 39 confirmed victories--10 MiG-17s, 3 MiG-19s, and 26 MiG-21s, producing the first and second USAF aces, and earning the motto, "World's Largest Distributor of MiG Parts."
hey hey, check out the books..steel tiger, yankee station and rolling thunder. they are about the f-4 in the vietnam war and they roll they played. good reading.
"the F-4..if you put enough power to a brick it will fly." quoted from a air nut friend.
Finally some progress on the big F4......three colour camou on the top. Light grey to come for the underside, then black for the nose and metal for the rear areas in the path of the exhaust...
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u310/McIvanNZ/Models/2011_0131Minecraft0001.jpg
ACSpectre
01-30-2011, 20:35
Great looking bird. I love the F-4.
Slow progress on the F4....the real thing I hate about it is seam lines...everywhere, on everything. Sanding, scraping. I might have had it done now, but decided the lines on the fuel tanks were too prominent and sanded them down, so they need re-spraying.
Anyways, a few views to show progress. Missiles are all painted and ready for decalling then affixing to the model. There are a hundred or so stencil decals to go on when I can be bothered...
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u310/McIvanNZ/2011_0309Minecraft0029.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u310/McIvanNZ/2011_0309Minecraft0027.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u310/McIvanNZ/2011_0309Minecraft0030.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u310/McIvanNZ/2011_0309Minecraft0031.jpg
cillmhor
03-09-2011, 10:12
Looking good, like the pre-shading, it works well.
Well, disaster strikes. We live at the bottom of a cul-de-sac and on Friday there was a quite short, very intense and localised rainstorm. The drains overflowed in the streets, the cul-de-sac filled up, and came down our driveway in too large a volume to avoid a minor stream through our ground floor.
And what should happen to be on the floor in my computer/modelling room, put there at the worst possible time? The Phantom box....with the decal sheet inside.
The sheet was in a plastic bag, but some water got into it and was soaked up by the paper, resulting in the decals coming free and sticking to the plastic bag. At the moment I'm leaving it to dry slowly...hoping that when it is dry the adhesion to the decal paper will be stronger than to the plastic bag, but I'm not overly hopeful. If I can't rescue them, I will have little choice but to buy an aftermarket set...which will be an expense I can't justify atm with so many other models waiting to be made....or junk it.
cillmhor
03-20-2011, 11:09
Hope there was not too much other damage, and I hope you can source a set of decals, or that the ones you have dry out. I was looking forward to seeing the Phantom in all her glory.
AirborneBob
03-20-2011, 17:46
You might try Two Bobs: http://twobobs.net/index1.html
Oh I'll source something.
We had a much bigger flood a year and a half ago, and learned a few things from that, so not much damage done this time. A few kit boxes got soaked, but the ones in contact with the floor were nearly all with everything still sealed in plastic bags. The Phantom box was an exception...someone had just put it on the floor for some reason, and the plastic bag was unsealed...just meant to stop other parts damaging the decals.
Anyways, I'm not going to junk it...put far too much work into it for that. Will give the sheet plenty of time and then peel the pastic away from the decals...hopefully they will stick to the decal sheet and not the plastic. Otherwise I'll get some aftermarket stuff one day.
ACSpectre
03-21-2011, 02:00
I will sniff around some of my favorite modelling spots and see if there is anything out there for a decent cost.
Weapons on....undercarriage attached.....looking pretty good
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u310/McIvanNZ/Models/2011_0604Minecraft0006.jpg
Almost ready for its first mission, Ivan .- :nod:
As an end user of this aircraft, I can personally attest for it's awe inspiring capabilities, as well as the steel balls of their aircrews. Im sure glad SA-7s weren't around.
AirborneBob
06-04-2011, 14:50
Great panel lines!...awesome work!!
The Fisher King
06-04-2011, 16:48
Very nice work
Hiram Sedai
06-04-2011, 17:20
I confess to being a bit jealous of anyone that can do jets/planes etc. I've proven time and again that I can only do ships and tanks and the occasional wheeled vehicle. I cannot do cockpits and glass.
very nice jet you have there.
ACSpectre
06-05-2011, 02:13
Looks great!
...more or less, anyway. Some of the decals need a bit of work to prick them with a needle and soak with varnish, as they have some air trapped under them.
Man, that took a lot of work with all the sanding and fitting and sanding and sanding and fitting....I'm very proud of the finished result, though.
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u310/McIvanNZ/Models/2011_0604Minecraft0007.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u310/McIvanNZ/Models/2011_0604Minecraft0004.jpg
cillmhor
06-06-2011, 09:09
Very nice work McIvan. A lot of work went into it and it shows.
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