04-02-04
Hi Guys. Just looking for some advice on weathering the Black Bunny Phantom.
I am using the Hasegawa Blu Angels Kit to do this, but as the kit will be finished in black, what would be a good color for the panel-lines?
Liam
Off hand I would think the Black Bunny Phantom would be kept fairly clean and show very lttile weathering. Best bet is to find as many pictures as you can of it. I haven’t tried accentuating the panel lines on black paint jobs. Don’t think anything would look “realistic” myself.
I have seen the F-4J “Black Bunny”. There was no weathering on the aircraft at all. Only the area behind the exhaust was dirty. The aircraft was kept clean at all times and was always in inspection order. The maintenance troops even had to wear soft cotton covers ( booties) over their boots when they were walking on the wings or back bone.
Melgyver made the most valid point one could in regards to researching a subject; find as much documentation as you can.
There were at least three different Vandy 1 Phantoms, so you’d have to decide which one you’re going to build. Then you’d have to find as many photos as you could of that particular aircraft.
On the whole, each Vandy 1 was probably given somewhat more attention than other VX-4 aircraft. But they were operational aircraft, not just showbirds, and so would have been subject to the same day-to-day wear and tear as any other bird in the unit.
Here’s some photos of the various Vandy 1 Phantoms:
This is 158360 in 1989. Looks to be kept up very nicely.
This is 153783 which, as far as I can tell, was the first Vandy 1 Phantom. It’s hard to tell in this shot, as the image is a bit small and some details are indiscernable, but it looks as though the finish on the aircraft is not in as pristine a condition as one would expect.
Here’s 155539 which wore the Vandy 1 livery in between the previous two aircraft. (Late 70’s - early 80’s?) It is definately not totally pristine, as you can see in these photos.
Now, if I were to build one of these Phantoms I’d choose to put as nice a finish on it as possible so as to provide a contrast to any other Navy Phantoms I might build. After all, the scheme was certainly meant to look sharp, especially at airshows. But the evidence proves that even the Boss Bird gets grungy-lookin’ now and again. Hence one of my modeling maxims: NEVER say ‘never’ and NEVER say ‘always’…
Fade to Black…
If any weathering at all, just add alittle exhaust staining in the rear, and maybe a little duller sheen on top. Say a semigloss to satin finish. JOHN
05-02-04
Actually maybe I mis-spoke. I was looking for a suitable color to highlight the panel lines, rather than actually weather the plane.
I really don’t want to dirty the ship up as I think it’s much sharper and sexier clean and pristine, and only because it’s the Bunny.
And, while I think on it, I saw a photo in Combat Aircraft, vol5, no.5, March 2004 of the White Bunny, side-by-side with the Black Bunny. See page 58. Where can I get more information on the White Bunny?
And thnaks for the info. Really appreciate all the help and advise.
Liam
You can try a variation of grays to get the effect you want, the darker the better. Just go easy and see what’ll look good.
I saw that plane back in 92/3 and it was very clean.