I would like some critiques and your opinions on this Legend resin set for the Monogram 1/48 F-4J Phantom II. Now, aside from the obvious missing ejection hose on back seat and missing throttle, what else is missing? How can I make look better. I decided not to use the rudder peddles and ejection handles on lower seats because once pit is in place you wont be able to see them. Pilots flight control stick is OOB from the kit. Now it is not yet finished, I am waiting on some parts being scratch built for me.
Seats are True Detail resin seats but did not come with ejection hose handles for seat tops. I modified and added one from OOB of the kit and waiting on another to be sent. I had use the other one on the ESCI F-8. I painted the set first by primering with flat white brushed on and used Testors Acrylic paints to paint and detail using both dry brushing and washes. I never did find any detailed photos of the F-4J cockpit so I had to “wing it” and used what references were available. I only hope I got it right.
This set is not without problems. The biggest problem is the resin itself, it is too thin and very brittle and breaks or chips easily. You must be very careful when cutting parts off the sprue as it is very easy to break off and lose some small molded detail.
In conclusion after having actually worked on a yellow resin cockpit set I can honestly say I HATE THEM. They are more trouble than they are worth. I really prefer the gray resin over the yellow since the gray resin sets are less brittle and more flexible than the yellow. Except for the seats which are good I will be very reluctant to use yellow resin detail set again.
Let me know what you guys think and where I can improve it.
Now if you think I’m going to strip it and redo it your INSANE!!![(-D] Took a few days to paint it and it was NOT easy. I think this another reason to add to the list of why I dont like resin cockpit detail sets. They are a [censored] to paint!
Now hurry up and get those parts to me so I can finish it… please.[:-^]
The front seat upper eject handles, the yellow and black, was mounted to a rod which was painted red. The other part, which you have painted red should be flat black. Only the cross rod was red.
Both seats had a emergency oxygen handle on the left side of the seat. It was called the “Green apple” because the knob was painted apple green. You have it painted yellow.
Berny, Thanks for the advice and the critique! The Green Apple was painted apple green but the molding looked like [yuck] and in the pic they look yellow. I’ll make the O2 bottles from scratch and add them instead, this way it will look more acurate and a lot better. I’ll also go back over the ejection handle.
Sarge… Modelers are supposed to be [censored] because we are modelers![:D]
Made the revisions tonight and added “Candy Apple” O2 bottles from scratch, repainted that knob apple green and section behind ejection hoses black. Now I think this looks alot better and more realistic to what the F-4J pit really looked like.
Thanks again for your advise Berny! Comments welcome!
I started the F-4J before I started the GB. It was the kit that inspired me to start the Mig Killers GB. I am still waiting on ejection hose piece for the back seat. It’s on the way and the resin set will be finished. In the mean time I have been scribing panel lines on my Phantom. I most likely wont get around to assembling it till well after the 15th.
