Eduard 1/48 Bicentennial F4 phantom.

[strawnobi]

Well, over the last couple of weeks, I've been working on this puppy. It's the Eduard 1/48 "Bicentennial Phantoms" F4 Phantom. The kit is the same as the "Good Morning Da Nang" kit The paint scheme is from America's bicentennial celebration in 1976 (I was born in 1977 so I missed out). I chose the Sundowner's decal scheme. The only difference in the "Good Morning Da Nang" Sundowner's scheme is a blue stripe and 76 on the vertical fin. Otherwise it's the same build. But, I didn't put it in the Vietnam GB.

As I have been watching other guys tackle versions of this kit, I couldn't resist throwing my hat into the ring as well. It's a cracker of a kit. So, here are a couple of notes:

First, I put this kit in the "fun, but a pain in the butt" category.

There are a number of slight fit issues that had to be dealt with. Mainly this was putty work around the intakes.

There was a slight step (maybe 1/32 of an inch. Very slight) in the fit of the top to bottom fuselage near the nose of the bird. It could of been a little warping in the one piece fuselage top. But, a little putty work, sanding and rescribing solved this. The landing gear had a couple of minor issues as well. But, it went together relatively smoothly. The resin wheels are an improvement over the kit version.

I didn't have any problems with the exhausts. The resin and PE here is a nice touch even though it's difficult to see.

Also, I love the resin and PE ejections seats. But, a lot of work is involved. Each seat took about 5 hours each. I used about 95% of the PE parts. The seat belt material is a mixed bag. They lay nice, but its delicate stuff to work with. I think PE belts would work better here. If you don't like tiny or fragile parts, don't attempt this one.

I don't like Eduard's instructions very much. I know some guys sing it's praises. But, I find Tamiya's easier to deal with. On the one had, they are very colorful and professionally made. But, there are some minor mistakes in them. For example, they don't tell you to drill a couple of holes needed for ordinance and surface detail attachment. Also, the panel lines in the instructions are inaccurate in a number of places to the mold of the kit. It's not a big deal. But, when you put the stencils on, certain land marks are not in the molding of the actual kit. Just a slight annoyance here. Paint chart is adequate at best. They only give general colors though. Also, if you want to paint the pilots, there is no paint chart for them. Not a big deal here though either.

The decals are awesome however. I love cartographer decals. It's just amazing stuff to work with. I used them with my P-51 too. Whenever possible I will never use Tamiya decals again. I only used about a 1/3 of the stencils. There is probably 400 or 500 stencils. Too many in my opinion. Knock yourself out if you want to use all of them though.

That being said, I think it makes a stunning build. It's not quite a Tamiya kit as far as fit is concerned. But, the detail is fantastic especially in the cockpit. It's quite tricky. But, the cockpit is just as or more stunning than a Tamiya build. Especially in 1/48 scale. It's totally worth it. I would gladly build another one. But, it's not a beginner's kit. Get some PE experience under your belt before attempting this.

I probably have to tweak a couple of things yet. But, it's 95% finished. So, I hope you enjoy the photos. There are some photos from the build in the works in progress section as well.

Happy Modelling!!!

Matt

[UKguyInUSA]

Wow....she is gorgeous....I'd leave my wife for that one!

[strawnobi]

Thanks for the comment. It seems I'm never %100 satisfied with my work.

[Nige201980]

She is stunning mate got to love the phantom.

[Paul]

Superb looking Phantom Love the sundowners scheme