Airfix 1/72 Phantom FG.1

Post by **alextheblue** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 7:31 pm

Hold up, wait for me!!!

Apologies, a bit late for the start, but I got here in the end. I bought this kit a couple of weeks ago after seeing Chiefs superb reveal photos and thought, why not enter it into the Cold War GB....so here I am! I've only really been building aircraft since about March this year and everything I have done so far has been RAF WW2, so this is my first proper foray into something a bit more modern. The Phantom is an iconic plane and as my Granddad served on the Ark Royal (although, his service had finished by the 70's), this was a bit of a no-brainer for me.

Love the box-art for this one. Say what you like about Airfix, but they know a decent pic when they see one!

Instructions

Customary bag stuffed with plastic

And various sprues

Clear parts

Colour call out of the scheme I'll probably do

And the decals. Are you kidding me!!!!!

The guide for all the stencils. Now, I've followed a car's wiring diagram more than a few times and this confuses the hell out of me!

The nice thing about the kit, is that it comes with many different options to model it. Wheels up or down, wings folded or not, plus ready for tkae-off.

What better place to start than the began and is the norm, we start proceedings with the pit-a-la-cock!

I turned my back for a second and all the parts jumped off of the sprue and fell together. Stopping only to dip themselves into the relevant pots of paint on the way.

The instrument panels are the standard kit decals and they do look a a bit naff, but once it's all together they're not too bad. If you dim the lights and squint a bit of course!

Now at this juncture I must apologise as I know nothing about aircraft, so I haven't really got scooby as to what all the bits and parts are called. Please feel free to correct me/point me in the right direction etc. The fuselage and the underside were prepared ready for the cockpit to be installed.

The fuselage was buttoned up and it shouldn't need more than a scrapping of filler...hopefully!

Greebles and widgets were painted ready for assembly

It was then that I realised that I don't have any metallic effect paints. Building mainly armour, shiny bits don't really go down too well, so metal paints aren't really needed. I ended up using Tamiya gun metal, X-10 I think it is.

To finish off the session, I quickly dry-fitted the underside and it looks like everything should go together without too many dramas.

Well, I might be a bit late to the party, but hopefully I've gone some ways to catching up!

Thanks for taking a look!

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 8:12 pm

Might be late but your are flying along
Coming along very nicely

Post by **NathanielR002** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 10:26 pm

Can't wait to see this kit come together.

Post by **smokeriderdon** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 10:57 pm

Glad to see you dropped the targets for the target killers.

Looking good so far.

Post by **Maverick231** » Sun Jul 01, 2018 1:03 am

Wow nice looking Phantom buddy.
This makes us the only Phantom builders so far in this GB!

Post by **alextheblue** » Sun Jul 01, 2018 5:58 pm

Twokidsnosleep wrote: Sat Jun 30, 2018 8:12 pm Might be late but your are flying along
Coming along very nicely

Thanks Scott. Don't blink or you'll miss this one!!

NathanielR002 wrote: Sat Jun 30, 2018 10:26 pm Can't wait to see this kit come together.

Thanks

Planning on having it done by next weekend.

smokeriderdon wrote: Sat Jun 30, 2018 10:57 pm Glad to see you dropped the targets for the target killers.

Looking good so far.

Thanks

I won't lie, individually, I recognise all of those words, but put together in that sentence, it means nothing to me! In the words of Manuel, "I know nothing!"

Maverick231 wrote: Sun Jul 01, 2018 1:03 am Wow nice looking Phantom buddy.
This makes us the only Phantom builders so far in this GB!

Thanks Maverick!

I've been following your build and yours is really looking the business so far!

Post by **alextheblue** » Sun Jul 01, 2018 6:46 pm

Update One

Maybe it's just the heat, or maybe I got out of bed the wrong side, but I'm really not feeling this build. It's not that it's a bad kit, it's not, far from it, it's just that it's, well, ok! This may sound a little harsh and a bit unrealistic, but just ok doesn't really cut it for me. For some people, finagling kits so that they fit together is just part of the hobby, but not me. This is the 21st century and we have highly sophisticated CAD-CAM technology that can design tolerances to those smaller than a gnat's chuff. Granted, if it's an older kit, you have to expect some dubious seams and joins, but if its labelled "New Kit", or worse, "New Tool", I really do expect better. If I wanted to spend my afternoon filling and sanding, I'd decorate the hallway!!

Deep breaths, deep breaths! Like I said, it's not a bad kit, after all, it fits where it touches. It's just that it doesn't touch everywhere. I do concede that a lot of the problems that I'm having are down to my own inexperience and if I were to build a second one, I would tackle it slightly differently.

Anyways, onto the pics.

I meant to post this one on yesterdays post, but completely forgot. Dry-fitting the under-side.

Painted as per the instructions and scraped clean ready for TET......

And this is what you see once fitted.

Had a hell of a job getting this piece to fit.

I appreciate that it's really only there so that there's something to see when you look up the intakes, but still, call me old fashioned, but I like bits to fit.

Underside glued into place

Wings glued on and this is where the gaps started to appear.

I'll sort this out once the wing halves have cured.

As I started to attach all of the covers etc, each one fitted a little worse than the last. For example, I managed to get a great fit on the underside at the back, but the front part was out. I'f I started at the front instead, the rear was out. From here, it was a case of, which will need less filler. In the end, I just chucked everything on, held it together with pegs and bands and left it to one side.

As I said earlier, it's not a bad kit and it won't need a huge amount of filler, but for me, every minute I spend on these arduous tasks, is time that I could be painting and weathering instead and for me, that's where the joy of the hobby lies.

To calm myself down, I assembled the guns from the Panzer IV Wirbelwind that I'm building and this went together like a dream. Dozens and dozens of tiny parts, but everything just fits. Granted, I can no longer see, but at least I know the gun fits together nicely!

Apologies for the rant, I'll be in a better mood tomorrow. Promise!

Thanks for taking a look!

Post by **smokeriderdon** » Sun Jul 01, 2018 9:51 pm

I feel your pain on those intakes. The Phantom kits, no matter the manufacturer, seem to have issues there. The older the kit, the worse the issue. I am hoping when i dig into my Tamiya and ZM kits, THOSE wont have that problem.

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Sun Jul 01, 2018 9:52 pm

Ya go do something also for a bit....Maybe not even modelling
I know that feeling for sure

Post by **Maverick231** » Mon Jul 02, 2018 1:52 am

Wow this must be common amungst new tooled airfix Kits as I'm having issues with their GR.9!
On the bright side though mate she'd looking the part!
Thanks for taking an interest in my build mate I'm so glad you like it!

Post by **pourquoi61** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 2:41 am

Well mate she is looking solid so far.

Post by **alextheblue** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 8:54 am

smokeriderdon wrote: Sun Jul 01, 2018 9:51 pm I feel your pain on those intakes. The Phantom kits, no matter the manufacturer, seem to have issues there. The older the kit, the worse the issue. I am hoping when i dig into my Tamiya and ZM kits, THOSE wont have that problem.

Yeah, I did read some horror stories about the intakes on some kits, but as in most things, my optimism far outweighs my skill!
Good luck with your kits, those Zoukei Mura Phantoms look really nice!

Twokidsnosleep wrote: Sun Jul 01, 2018 9:52 pm Ya go do something also for a bit....Maybe not even modelling
I know that feeling for sure

Do you know what Scott, you're right, I'm going to go and do something else.

A bit more to the Halifax methinks!

Maverick231 wrote: Mon Jul 02, 2018 1:52 am Wow this must be common amungst new tooled airfix Kits as I'm having issues with their GR.9!
On the bright side though mate she'd looking the part!
Thanks for taking an interest in my build mate I'm so glad you like it!

It's such a shame as like most people, I have such nostalgia for Airfix kits. When I heard that they'd brought out some new kits and even some with new tooling, I thought I would have to give some a try. Don't get me wrong, they're not bad and a couple I have tried have been really quite good.
It's just, they're not quite as good as I had been hoping for!

pourquoi61 wrote: Fri Jul 06, 2018 2:41 am Well mate she is looking solid so far.

Thanks pq, you're far too kind!

Just don't go looking too close!

Post by **alextheblue** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 9:17 am

Update Two

Well, undeterred, I decided to press on with the Phantom and going back to it after a couple of days, I couldn't help thinking that it didn't look quite as bad as I had remembered. And then I looked again!

Oh well, Out with the filler and sanders. Thank god for Vallejo's acrylic putty is all I can say. A quick wipe with a damp cotton bud and you could almost retire the sanders. It does shrink a bit once dry, but a bit of Mr Surfacer 500 and you're good to go. The filling didn't take quite as long as anticipated and feeling energised, I decided to have a go at a bit of re- scribing. Only one problem, I don't own a scribing tool. One pin vice and sewing needle later and I'm good to go.

The seams are not perfect by any means, but I'm up to the point of being happy enough to lay some primer down.

Made up the drop tanks and some of the stock.

The canopy is only for spraying purposes, I intend on showing this with the glass open. Well, I guess I'll have no choice once the one-piece is covered in primer and paint!

As always Ultimate grey. I should have used white, bearing in mind the colour of the underside, but there's one slight problem. I don't have any of this either. No worries, I was planning on using Mr Hobby Aqueous for the white and with thin coats, I can use the grey of the primer to give some shadowing etc.

I must apologise at this stage to any aircraft aficionados that are still with me at this point. As they will have noticed, the flap configuration on the wings is completely wrong. I did follow the instructions to the letter, but to me, the silhouette just didn't look right. I sat there for ages trying to convince myself to leave it. Go with the instructions, accuracy is important. After all, this is what it would really look like.

Unfortunately that little demon voice in my head got too strong. "Fudge sticks and ass-cakes", it cried, "it's your model........(you know what's coming next)..........build it how you want!"

Thanks for taking a look!

Post by **pourquoi61** » Sun Jul 08, 2018 7:54 pm

With you on that one, she is looking great and ready for paint.

Post by **smokeriderdon** » Mon Jul 09, 2018 3:05 am

I must apologise at this stage to any aircraft aficionados that are still with me at this point. As they will have noticed, the flap configuration on the wings is completely wrong. I did follow the instructions to the letter, but to me, the silhouette just didn't look right. I sat there for ages trying to convince myself to leave it. Go with the instructions, accuracy is important. After all, this is what it would really look like.

Unfortunately that little demon voice in my head got too strong. "Fudge sticks and ass-cakes", it cried, "it's your model........(you know what's coming next)..........build it how you want!"

OK< I cant believe you did that! You should be ashamed!!! *huffs* I am not sure if I can follow this anymore. i am just too distressed.

All totally being silly of course. Looks good!

Post by **alextheblue** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 7:49 pm

pourquoi61 wrote: Sun Jul 08, 2018 7:54 pm With you on that one, she is looking great and ready for paint.

Thanks pourquoi!

I have managed to get a bit of paint down.

smokeriderdon wrote: Mon Jul 09, 2018 3:05 am
I must apologise at this stage to any aircraft aficionados that are still with me at this point. As they will have noticed, the flap configuration on the wings is completely wrong. I did follow the instructions to the letter, but to me, the silhouette just didn't look right. I sat there for ages trying to convince myself to leave it. Go with the instructions, accuracy is important. After all, this is what it would really look like.

Unfortunately that little demon voice in my head got too strong. "Fudge sticks and ass-cakes", it cried, "it's your model........(you know what's coming next)..........build it how you want!"
OK< I cant believe you did that! You should be ashamed!!! *huffs* I am not sure if I can follow this anymore. i am just too distressed.

All totally being silly of course. Looks good!

Thanks smoker!

Post by **alextheblue** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 8:05 pm

Update Three

I've been picking away at this one whilst finishing my entry to the Cold War SiG, but as that it finished now, I can press on with the Phantom. The problems I had are now a distant memory and I'm actually thoroughly enjoying this build again. I think my earlier rant about certain fit issues were mainly down to having a bad day. Either that or I was having a case of PMT. Post Modelling Trauma!!

I don't have any Humbrol paints and the VMA equivalent for the dark sea grey seemed too, well, grey. I opted for the Tamiya equivalent as it seemed to have a hint of blue. I did contemplate darkening it a tad as it does appear a bit light, but I quite like the colour. For the gun metal, I also used Tamiya's X-10 rather than a metal finish paint as I wanted something that I can mask without risking all the paint coming away. As you can see, I'm painting this in stages - mask a bit then paint and repeat. It's not a massively complicated masking project, but I always get confused with this stage, so I thought slow and sure was the best strategy.

Here's the paints I used.

And here is what I was left with

Thanks for taking a look!

Post by **Tat2bhoy** » Thu Jul 12, 2018 11:06 pm

Well done so far, looking good

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Thu Jul 12, 2018 11:42 pm

I agree, looks really sharp top and bottom

Post by **smokeriderdon** » Fri Jul 13, 2018 1:16 am

Yep, even with that horrendous flaps issue, it looks good!

Post by **warpedcrisis** » Fri Jul 13, 2018 1:11 pm

Looking very nice.
Great work so far.

Post by **pourquoi61** » Fri Jul 13, 2018 9:47 pm

Beautiful paint work.

Post by **alextheblue** » Mon Jul 23, 2018 6:42 pm

Update Four

Thanks fellas for all the very kind words, it is very much appreciated!

Just a quick update on this one, just to prove that I am still working on it - honest!

For those following the Bomber SiG, you may have noticed that my latest entry is Airfix's new Wellington and what a beautiful kit it is. The interior is, well, detailed to say the least and this has pretty much grabbed most of my attention for the last few days. But in between painting air tanks and instrument panels, I have managed to get some Klear on the Phantom and have made a start on the decals.

As you can see, all the main ones are down and I've made a start on the three gazillion stencils.

I've got to be honest, I'm going to put these things on until I either go mad or decide to take up an easier hobby like brain surgery, using only a blunt axe and a knitting needle for tools!

On a slightly more serious note, I think I'm going to ditch the Klear as it seems to have reacted in a couple of places, especially the nose cone. No biggies, but it will need sanding back and re-painting once the decals are done. Having only ever built armour in the past, I had no real need for a gloss varnish, but now I seem to have been bitten by the aircraft bug, I'll have to invest in some product of a better quality.

Thanks for taking a look!

P.S I've just realised, the stencil situation isn't as bad as I first thought. The black "rectangle" by the front wheel well, I masked and sprayed that when there's actually a decal for it - so that's one less to do. Only 2 gazillion, 999 trillion, 999 billion, 999 million, nine hundred thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine to go!!!

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Mon Jul 23, 2018 6:47 pm

Loving the look of her tummy

This kit and your painting skills are shining through here, great build

Must not buy British Phantom, must not buy British phantom

Oh don't mind me, just having a moment there

Post by **DBMiller** » Tue Jul 24, 2018 1:19 pm

Post by **Maverick231** » Wed Jul 25, 2018 3:41 am

Lovely looking Rhino mate!
Nice to see another in the GB!
Will you be adding the refueling probe extended?
I've always thought it ads to a model when they are extended.

Post by **chief5437** » Thu Jul 26, 2018 10:29 am

Just caught up with this build. Great work so far, looking good! Just so you know, I felt exactly the same when it came to all those damn stencils, lol! Keep it coming buddy!

Post by **alextheblue** » Thu Jul 26, 2018 5:00 pm

Twokidsnosleep wrote: Mon Jul 23, 2018 6:47 pm Loving the look of her tummy
This kit and your painting skills are shining through here, great build

Must not buy British Phantom, must not buy British phantom
Oh don't mind me, just having a moment there

I have a slight hearing defect that you might be interested in sharing - my ears and brain won't register the word NOT.........
"I will buy......I will buy.....I will buy".

DBMiller wrote: Tue Jul 24, 2018 1:19 pm

Thanks!

Maverick231 wrote: Wed Jul 25, 2018 3:41 am Lovely looking Rhino mate!
Nice to see another in the GB!
Will you be adding the refueling probe extended?
I've always thought it ads to a model when they are extended.

I won't lie to you Maverick, I know nothing about aircraft and if I'm ever asked a question that ends in the word "probe", my answer is always an emphatic NO!!

On a serious note, I did check into this and by some fluke, I have actually missed the panel that covers the refuelling probe, so I could add it if necessary. Big thank you for alerting me to this as I probably wouldn't have noticed!!

chief5437 wrote: Thu Jul 26, 2018 10:29 am Just caught up with this build. Great work so far, looking good! Just so you know, I felt exactly the same when it came to all those damn stencils, lol! Keep it coming buddy!

Thanks Chief!

It was actually seeing your build for the 72nd/76th GB that prompted me to buy this kit. I'm just chipping away at the stencils doing a dozen or so at a time and I've virtually finished the starboard side now.

Post by **Maverick231** » Sat Jul 28, 2018 2:56 am

Haha glad I could Help mate.

Post by **alextheblue** » Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:00 pm

Update Five

By jingo, I think I've finished with the stencils!!!

I surprised myself, as I had no intention of putting all of them on, but once you start, you quickly realise that it just wouldn't look right unless you put them all down. I did have a couple of casualties and there's a couple that aren't in exactly the right place, but the rest are there or thereabouts.

As you can see, I have added the landing gear and some of the ordinance, I believe these are sparrows (I'll feel a right (blue) tit if I've got this wrong!

). I'll give the gear and wheel wells a wash once everything is dry etc.

Thanks for taking a look!

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:50 pm

That looks awesome, just superb

Well done

Post by **Fridgy** » Tue Aug 14, 2018 10:42 pm

She is looking awesome mate!

(And yes they are "sparrows"

)

Post by **DRUMS01** » Wed Aug 15, 2018 12:04 am

This is really looking good....

Ben

Post by **alextheblue** » Wed Aug 15, 2018 7:01 pm

Twokidsnosleep wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:50 pm That looks awesome, just superb
Well done

Cheers Scott!

Fridgy wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2018 10:42 pm She is looking awesome mate!

(And yes they are "sparrows" )

Phew! That's a relief. That's the great thing about this hobby, you learn a load of stuff each time you build something new!

DRUMS01 wrote: Wed Aug 15, 2018 12:04 am This is really looking good....

Ben

Thanks Ben!

Post by **warpedcrisis** » Sun Aug 19, 2018 2:43 pm

Nice work there .
You really did a good job on it.

Post by **alextheblue** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 6:51 pm

warpedcrisis wrote: Sun Aug 19, 2018 2:43 pm Nice work there .
You really did a good job on it.

Thanks warpedcrisis!

Post by **alextheblue** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 7:01 pm

Update Six

I'm slowly running out of time with this one, but I should get it finished in time. I've only got until Friday as I'm away after that and will miss the end of the month.

With all the stencils done, it's time to add a final gloss coat and make a decision on how to weather it. I quite like the "clean" look for these more modern jets, so I think I'll put down a dark dirt wash, but will take most of it off. The stores are all done, but I'll leave tow of the drop-tanks until the very end as I can see me knocking these off all the time.

Had another little disaster - self-inflicted of course. I thought that the nose was looking a bit grubby, so I decided to give it another quick spray. I carefully masked it up and wrapped the Phantom in kitchen roll. Dusted on a light coat of Mr Hobby black and sat back to wait for it to dry. On removing the masking tape, I noticed that the end had folded back on itself somehow and it was covering the "007"!!!!!

No matter how carefully I peeled the tape off, it took two-thirds of the decal with it. Nothing for it, I'll have to have a go at painting it back in by hand. It's not great, but I think it looks better than just the top third of the decal. (Only just!!)

The canopies are primed and painted and I've applied a light gloss coat. I'll wait for this to dry overnight and I can apply the decals tomorrow. These will need attaching along with the drop-tanks and I think I'll call it done!

Thanks for taking a look!

Post by **gaz45** » Wed Aug 22, 2018 7:59 am

A very nice build there mate looks cool

Post by **alextheblue** » Wed Aug 22, 2018 6:44 pm

gaz45 wrote: Wed Aug 22, 2018 7:59 am A very nice build there mate looks cool

Thanks gaz!

Post by **alextheblue** » Wed Aug 22, 2018 6:48 pm

Update Seven

Final stages now. The canopies are painted, decals on and a quick polish. Last two drop tanks fitted and just the refuelling probe to finish and attach.

I've only got until Friday to finish her up, but there's only about an hours worth of work left (barring any disasters of course!

).

Thanks for taking a look!