FighterControl

Yep..., it`s that time of year again......

With the T.7 Hunter on hold as I await supplies, I went into the spares box and come out with these....





So that`s one old manky Monogram F-4, sprues, bits and bobs and one cut to size dio base.

More soon.

Rocket assisted take off?

Flyingmonster wrote:Rocket assisted take off?

Not this time mate...

So with the afternoon off work, I`ve started prep work.

First I`ve built some ladders and a step ladder thingy.....



.... then I started playing with the sprues and making the A frames needed....



.... and finished off by digging out the intakes as so that you can see through the aircraft......



Pretty sure this will give the game away.

The Rocket sled test F-4 that they used against a concrete bunker to prove it could store nuclear waste (or whatever it was) and survive an aircrash ???

Tim S

Vulcanone wrote:The Rocket sled test F-4 that they used against a concrete bunker to prove it could store nuclear waste (or whatever it was) and survive an aircrash ???

Tim S

Funny enough I did consider that dio Tim....,

however....,

..... I started working on some of the dio bits and scratch built the stands from sprue bits....,



..... and I would imagine the next picture will pretty much give the game away....

I've got it! It's an ex U.S Navy F-4J undergoing rework into an RAF one!

Steve.

Or an F-4 about to be moved to a museum (or worse....)

Its being Sunday Brain won't engaged any more tonight....


Tim S

F4 in davis monthan diorama?

Allan

And we have a winner.....

sufa 36 wrote:F4 in davis monthan diorama?

Allan

For those interested in the how, first I stuck sand paper down onto the base. I then placed blobs of superglue here and there to add some different texture. Then a spray coat of Humbrol `sand`, some dark wash around the superglue areas finished of by adding the pre made tufts of dry grass.

Obviously this dio is inspired by the Davis Monthan bone yard.

Looking good already! I wish I had the brains to think of stuff like that!

Steve.

Looking good so far, will be interested in how you do the spraylat.

I have some close up photos if you need them

Atech

Cheers guys.

atech wrote:will be interested in how you do the spraylat.
Atech

That is a very good question and one I`ve been thinking about.

I`m gonna play around with some fine electrical tape. You know the stuff you wrap around screws if the fit is a bit loose. Cut to fit and lay flat on top carefully. Then just press it on so it fits the contours.

One major problem I do have however is the fact that one of the canopy tops is missing.

So this may just be a derelict F-4 rather than one in storage.

So I`ve started to rebuild the Phantom and correct the many many issues with it. This involved a shed load of glue, both standard and super, a lot of use of the file, heavy duty clamps a about 5 miles of masking tape to try and get the shape back to how it should be.



One area that sticks out and really shows it`s age is the front windscreen and instrument panel cover.





Not really sure how the pilot would get to see whats in front of him judging by this design??

However on a brighter side, my 74 Sqn Hurricane is enjoying it`s temporary dio base......

tc2324

Very Nice,

I'm in a seemingly never ending struggle to get some Airfix Canberras done, or should that be struggling with disaster after disaster. I gave up posting work in progress photos after the last one! At this rate there may be a Canberra scrapping diorama coming soon.

Someday I will get the silver paint that works right (not keen on the ALCLAD option) I tried Halfords silver on a couple today, having got speckles on an attempt with Humbrols tins in an airbrush. And got the same effect again, and even worse, a wrinkly effect afterwards (possibly spraying directly over the previous colour I planned to do them???

Any suggestions

Tim S

Vulcanone wrote:tc2324

Someday I will get the silver paint that works right (not keen on the ALCLAD option) I tried Halfords silver on a couple today, having got speckles on an attempt with Humbrols tins in an airbrush. And got the same effect again, and even worse, a wrinkly effect afterwards (possibly spraying directly over the previous colour I planned to do them???

Any suggestions

Tim S

Hi Tim,

I personally use Humbrol silver rattle can and I pretty happy with it. Look at my latest 74 Sqn update and the Hunter T.7 to give you an idea. I also give it two or three coats from a reasonable distance once every 10 mins so that I avoid the speckle effect. Also don`t forget that you never spray over anything that is enamel as that can blister. Other than that it`s just a case of practice. I`ve had a fair few `disasters` so don`t get dis-heartened if plan A turns int plan Z.

A bit of a long update on this so bare with me....

Had a look over the weekend at how I could apply faded markings on the aircraft. One idea was to gently rub the decal with a fine abrasive. So I tried that and got this.....



I then placed in water and got this....



Oh dear.

So on to plan B and that was to apply the decal normally and then give it a very light spray so again it was placed in the water......



oh fudge...!

Turns out the decals themselves are so old that they have become allergic to water.

So I then tried the same technique to a new decal......



It`s not going to well is it?

So I binned the idea and just put the rest of the decals on normally.

BTW, if anyone have black NAVY or MARINE decals they don`t need in 1/48 scale I love to hear from you.

Onto the plan for recreating the Spraylat.

Had the idea of using thread seal tape and here`s the result.





Not perfect by any means but gives you an idea of what I was trying to achieve and I`ll be redoing this when I have more time.

I`ll finish off with a couple of `overall` pics.





More soon.

Just a suggestion but you could also try putting the decal onto the aircraft and then gently sand when its dry? This can also be used to make the paintwork look old/used.
Kind regards
Stu

tc2324

I think you have answered the cause of the blistering problem (in that)

Yep I over sprayed the enamel Light aircraft grey on three Canberras....

It was worse on the two that I have set aside as trials airframes, and they look a tad rough, but apart from a light speckled effect the other B.2 isn't too bad

Ah well, to quote a certain Monty Python film..... Its only a model

Cheers for the advice


Tim S

So an update on this experiment using two pictures with different light and shade.....





..... and tried to use items at my disposal without having to buy anything and a bit of skill, if you can call it that, to make the F-4 look a bit `old`.

Up to you lot to tell me if I`ve done it.

Hi Buddy

I have been on hols, in a 'Wi-Fi' desert for 18 days, so please excuse no replies

That looks a corkin' result

Best regards

Patrick

Cheers paddy.

So I started looking into staining and `rain` effect and played around with a few ideas. Came up with this....