I have been working on this HUGE monster for a while and have not been photographing each step. Was not planning this commission as a detailed WIP so here is some of the progress.
The markings will be from the 469th TFS, 388th TFW AFB in 1973. This aircraft had 2 kills scored in Vietnam Nam. This particular example is of the earlier type of E but having the newer gun muzzle door. The earlier E was non slotted at the outer wings and the kit has the later type of tips that have to be retrofitted to the older style. More on that later.
A resin pit was used to replace the Revell one so lots of fiddling was done to get things to fit, pictures to come.
The parts fit is generally ok till I came across the side air intakes that had gaps and had to be wrestled into shape.
Plst I Weld does a great job at melting the plastic and creating a solid join without the use of any putty. The bottom came out looking great too. The discoloration along the join line is just that, a lighter grey shade created from the pooling of the Plas I Weld used To even out the area which is sanded smooth when fully cured leaving a smooth invisible join.
Here I used some plastic sheet stock cut into thin strips to fill in this part that will be sanded smooth once cured.
I found a couple of more pictures that didn’t get deleted earlier.
The forward fuselage section has a great fit to the main rear fuselage. I added a huge hunk of lead up front to make certain it does not become a tail sitter. Here I was fitting the beautiful resin pit.
the IPs and pit sides were painted using enamels. Drops of Testors clear parts cement were used for the instrument glass.
Nice job on the wing work. I opted to trade my late wing for an early wing (1/48 Hasegawa) to avoid all that work. I fortunate to find someone who was looking for the swap.
The IP looks great - at first glance I thought they were those new Quinta Studio sets.
Wallabaloo, THIS is a major project that is really progressing well Ernie. The pit details are super realistic, any F-4 drivers out there will love seeing this one. I will be following this closely, thanks for the post and photos.
I almost forgot to remove the elevator reinforcement plates found on the later and upgraded Phantoms. This one being an early E did not have them but did have the upgraded gun muzzle that prevented gas ingestion into the side air intakes causing the engines to flame out.
Reinforcement plates removed and details re scribed
Completed early style elevator ready to be repainted black.
Thanks cb. The Legend resin pit is quite nice. I had taken several pictures of the painting process but got accidentally deleted. I was able to find this one showing the nice molded side panel details.
This is a commission build and the customer is not interested in the extra cost of super detailing the pit so the back of the rear panels got some free minor scratch work. Once painted black it will blend right in and will make it look busy enough. That area is screaming for tons of wiring.
