Matchbox 1/72 Phantom F-4M/K

[Maverick231]

Evening all!
This is my first ever group build entry on ISM and I'll be entering with this special one.
Matchbox F-4M/K Phantom II as FG.1 A&AEE IAT 25th Anniversary:

I'll be using the Freight Dog Doppler nose resin conversion set and the Xtradecal X72296 set.

Spreu shot:

Please note I forgot to take a spreu shot as I was so keen on getting started so used another Matchbox kit from a different boxing from the stash

Review of a different boxing of the same kit(not mine):
https://modelingmadness.com/review/mod/mcdf4.htm

Royal Air Force/Royal Navy F-4 Phantom II Background information:
The United Kingdom operated the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II as one of its principal combat aircraft from the 1960s to the early 1990s. The UK was the first export customer for the Phantom, which was ordered in the context of political and economic difficulties around British designs for the roles that it eventually undertook. The Phantom was procured to serve in both the Fleet Air Arm and Royal Air Force in several roles including air defence, close air support, low-level strike and tactical reconnaissance.

Although assembled in the United States, the UK's Phantoms were a special batch built separately and containing a significant amount of British technology as a means of easing the pressure on the domestic aerospace industry in the wake of major project cancellations. Two variants were initially built for the UK:
The F-4K variant was designed from the outset as an air defense interceptor to be operated by the Fleet Air Arm from the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers.
The F-4M version was procured for the RAF to serve in the tactical strike and reconnaissance roles. In the mid-1980s.
A third Phantom variant was obtained when a quantity of second-hand F-4J aircraft were purchased to augment the UK's air defences following the Falklands War.

The Phantom entered service with both the Fleet Air Arm and the Royal Air Force in 1969. In the Royal Navy it had a secondary strike role in addition to its primary use for fleet air defence, while in the RAF it was soon replaced in the strike role by other aircraft designed specifically for strike and close air support. By the mid-1970s it had become the UK's principal interceptor, a role in which it continued until the late 1980s.

Airframe information:
XT597 was a pre production varient of the F-4K and first flew on the 1st of November 1966, she spent her entire life on various trials work, including the initial carrier suitability trials on USS Coral Sea. Moving from the MoD(PE) to the A&AEE, she became a laboratory aircraft from 1974 onwards and had the long nose probe fitted at the time prior to having the Doppler Nose fitted. She was used as a high-speed chase and calibration aircraft and on retirement was earmarked for lightning strike trials before finally being donated to the Boscombe Down museum where she was one of the star exhibits. Sadly the museum's plans to open to the public on a regular basis were stymied by the MoD bureaucracy and with a recent massive increase in rent the Collection moved out and had to leave the F-4 behind. Efforts to get her to Bruntingthorpe and return her to ground running condition were sabotaged and she apparently became one of the first F-4s to be disposed of to Everett Aero (in November 2012), who are now building up quite a collection of them.
She wore special titles to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the F-4 Phantom at the 1983 RAF Greenham-Common International Air Tattoo.

A few reference photos off the net of XT597 wearing the IAT scheme:







Heres a walk around video of XT597 at her current "home" at exRAF Bentwaters:


Please note these are not my photos or video, all credit goes to the various photographers and hosting sites, I've only used these as a reference.

On a side note I think this is the nicest looking Phantom to ever grace the skies and one I've wanted for a good few years.
I was originally looking for the Fujimi boxing but could only find it for £50+ and that was out of my budget so I traded a couple of WWII aircraft with a friend for the kit and bought the decals and nose from Hannants for a fraction of the cost so it worked out just nicely.
I also got lucky with the nose as it was the last one in stock!

[DRUMS01]

WOW! This is going to be a wonderful (meaning colorful) bird....

I will tune in for this one for sure....

Ben

[Maverick231]

Thanks pal I sure hope it turns out nice .

Spent abit of time on the Ripple last night.
Managed to get the cockpit done and the nose sorted out so that the new one will at least fit into the hole I've bored out for it!

I'm going to be adding maybe a few more details to the ejection seats before moving on to what's next.
Also glued, bonded, sanded and rescribed the Recon Pod that will be mounted on the center pylon amongst the Sparrows.
Please note that the cockpit has been detailed with a hairy stick.

[Maverick231]

Sorry folks 2 updates in one as I took the photos and was so keen I got so carried away I forgot to post them!
1).
Wings are assembled, fuselage thirds are together and everything has been sanded, there's a tiny hole on the spine but I'm going to fill that when I fill the around the nose cone:

2).
I used tippex to fill the fine joins on the wings and the tiny hole on top of the fuselage which worked really well, so well intact I think Tippex is going to stay as one of my 2 primary fillers!
I also glued the nose on with a ton of Gorilla Glue, I'm gonna fill around the nose with Squadron White Putty.
I also finished off the drop tanks.

She's sat on the recon pod in the pic and is really starting to look more like a phantom now!

[pourquoi61]

Loving it, loving it.

[Maverick231]

I'm glad you are mate, I am too.

In the last few hours I've finished filling and the sanding on the nose using Squadron White Putty, the 2 lumps on the nose went on and I can't really think what else I've done haha!
Oh yes I framed the decal plan as I just love it and wanted to keep it!
I'm really pleased with this build!
Definitely more enjoyable than the new tooled Airfix Harrier I've been building!


I'm not doing too badly considering my mojo only allowed Harriers until recently!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Mojo be damned!! This is coming along great
Love me a Phantom and this one will be no exception
Good work

[smokeriderdon]

Great work sir!

[Maverick231]

Thanks guys!
I was going to do more but decided it was best that I'd done enough for one day, I masked off the open cockpit area this mornjng, I came to the conclusion that I'll have to hasn't paint the canopy as I just can't get the masking tape cut into a good enough shape that resembles the real things frame!, once I've finished with our dealings for the day I'll hopefully put the gear legs on minus the wheels and get a layer of primer on!

[pourquoi61]

I do like the old matchbox models, they are so quick and fun.

[Maverick231]

Me too!
Alot complain about the trench like panel lines but I actually think they look quite nice.
She is now primed ready for paint, looking forward to doing this one as it looks like I've got alot to learn.

[alextheblue]

Now that's what a Phantom is supposed to look like!

[Maverick231]

It sure is mate, I'll be working on 2 Revell German Phantoms soon.

Just a quick update.
I totally forgot to take a spreu shot so I've used another Matchbox of a different boxing but the effort was there and we now have one :-D.

[Maverick231]

So tonight I was figuring out how to mask under and around the arrow on the tail:

And upon looking at reference photos(and the one the model is sat on in the above pic)
I discovered the real thing doesn't have that:

So tomorrow possibly I'll be taking this off and repriming before starting the long task of spreying a multi colored scheme using Vallejo Model Air in high tempretures and a highly humid environment.
Its a good job I have just bought a bottle of Vallejo Retarder.
Let's see how tomorrow goes.

[Maverick231]

Ok so the "arrow" has been removed, I rescribed the panel lines and primed her again:

[pourquoi61]

Have fun with the spraying in the hot weather.
She will look fantastic when done.

[Maverick231]

Thanks mate haha as it happens I did have abit of a tiff with spreying the white so I've put it on the shelf of doom for a few days to fully cure and turned my attention back to the Op Telic Harrier GR.7 in an attempt to save the mojo.

[Maverick231]

Well a few days turned into 19 and as RIAT week has come to an end for another year I finally worked up the courage and nervously bought the A&AEE Phantom back out of the cabinate tonight expecting the worse and I was very surprised to see just how nice she actually looked!
There were a few fibres but overall after a tough time I think she turned out very nicely!
So I lightly sanded back all the rough spots then masked and painted the main red areas, I plan to do the fuselage stripe once the red has cured properly, with this heat I don't want to rush anything!
I am very surprised how nicely the Vallejo Model Air Ferrari Red ran through the airbrush with how hot it is!
So here she is:

Since this pic the remaining tamiya masking tape has been removed.

[Maverick231]

Heres a pic from this morning after taking the masking off last night:

[alextheblue]

That's really starting to come together now that it's got some colour!

[Maverick231]

I've just this minute found a good walk around video of XT597 so if anyone is interested I've added it to the first post.

[Maverick231]

I need some help folks.
Does anyone know if the ladders supplied in the kit are accurate for XT597?
If so would her ladders have been yellow or another colour?

[Maverick231]

I'm really enjoying this build again, I just really hope that the blue flows aswell as the red has!

Ok so started with the final bit of masking for the red stripe and touch up then had another go at the red paintwork that went so well:


And after paint:


Again the Vallejo Model Air Ferrari Red flowed flawlessly unlike the original white.
Also the purple masking tape was a cheap curious purchase that my wife made and were trying it out to see if it works well so if anyone wants to know keep an eye on the next update.
10 rolls for 52p on Amazon isn't bad!

[Maverick231]

Wow ok so I've just done the 4th layer of Ferrari Red, this is the only time I've had problems but I'd finished anyway and was running the last bit through when it clogged up only a tiny bit so I can't fault it at all!
So heres a couple of pics taken a few hours after the masking was removed ready for the blue just to try out the new forum flickr feature:

Before I paint the blue I need to just mask the red.
I'm a little nervous about spreying the blue as the red went so well I really don't wanna mess it up!

[Maverick231]

I didn't let my nerves get the better of me and here are the results:


Couldn't resist taking one with her sisters:

[smokeriderdon]

NICE!!!!! Well done sir!

[Maverick231]

NICE!!!!! Well done sir!

Thank you sir!

She's almost ready for decals:

I've been going through theories in my head for weeks on how I'm going to replicate the metal work at the rear end and tonight I just went for it, the plan is silver then variations of weathering shade and colour.

[DBMiller]

Wow! Very daring paint scheme!

[Maverick231]

It sure is!
I did have my doubts but I'm happy with the results so far!

Ok so I spent the last couple of hours spreying various small pieces including the "horizontal" stabilizers silver, the droptanks red, tyres black and the wheel Wells and gear legs white.
I think someone mentioned the wells were red but as I'm on a time limit with this I decided to go for white for simplicity.

[Maverick231]

So last night I was about to put 597 down for the night but yet again Sal(SWMBO) pushed me further in the build and she's now just about ready for decals.
I literally have married the best women ever in every way possible!

Heres a rundown of how XT597 stands at her current state:
The aircraft's fuselarge paint work is without a doubt finished and just needs a coat of klear before decals.
The "horizontal" stabilizers are painted ready to go on.
The burner cans are spreyed black, I'm going to lightly dry brush these with silver.
The gear doors are painted, inside red outside blue and she now sits on her tyres ready to have the doors glued on.
The intakes are on their way up, both parts spreyed white with the bit that attaches to the fuselage has the red stripe, that now just needs the blue on.
The outer piece needs both the red stripe and the blue.
I'm still going to weather the silver rear end but I'll do that after the decals are on.
I'm going to hand paint the clear parts as I found it very difficult masking them and they will be glued open as alot of info says matchbox's attempt although a good try looks to low down.
Plus then atleast you can see the scratch built ejector handles!
The Recon pod and Sparrow Missiles still need to be painted.
I'm unsure what colour to paint the recon pod, I may just paint it the standard light grey as if theve just received it for testing from an active RAF Station and haven't repainted it yet.
The drop tanks are just about finished but took longer than planned as the paintwork didn't quite go to plan due to a mess up on my part.
Also there's a triangle support thing on the front of the nose gear leg(no idea what the technical name for this is) but Matchbox haven't modeled it and I'll be adding that another time too if I can find a suitable piece of plastic that fits the bill.

So that's were she stands, not a great deal left to do at this stage.

Cheers everyone if your still reading this at this point!
Heres a couple of overview pics:

[Maverick231]

So I've been trying to push on with this one.
The air intakes are painted and half are glued onto the fuselage aswell as the "horizontal" stabilizers and afterburner cans.
All of the gear doors are now paintes but only the biggest 2 on the main gear are on.

[Maverick231]

Test fitting the canopy:

[gaz45]

Looking great there mate

[Maverick231]

Thanks Gaz!
A few days ago I got the 4 main wing decals on but after clear coating I found a shed load of dust under the clear decal film so I'm abit unsure of what to do at the moment:

[Maverick231]

Ok since these pics were takrn the stencils have been added and I'm calling this one done, I'm leaving off the drop tanks and centre pod and just entering the aircraft into the completion thread:
viewtopic.php?f=667&t=25525
Thanks again guys for your comments, guidance and appreciation.
I really have enjoyed this despite the set backs.
Heres to the next one!