31 Sqn RAF RF-4 Phantom

[bexwh773]

Ello Gang, well just before Jennings Hellig ON Britmodeller cranked out his RAF RF-4 CG Profile WHERE I FIRST SAW IT Hatchet & I were discussing it and had I not been missing the RF nose, my last Phantom would have been this one, but now Ive got all the bits, its party time. We have an Italieri box, with Testors airframe & various Revell FGR2 parts with the addition of an Airies RF-4B Cockpit supplied by the wonderful Graham @ Relish and the 31 Sqn Decals are enroute in the post from a friend on another forum 

Heres the pre assembly gratuitous box & parts photos with a Squadron badge I found on the web.









Lets just say that pig of a Vulcan Ive nearly finished is a walk in the park compared with this pile of junk soon to be gorgeous sexy wonderful dream boat Phantom      The back story is still being worked on and will be published with the completed model.

Thanks for looking.

Bex

Edit: EDIT in CAPS

[sotoolslinger]

MMMM Phantom MMMMMM Girl model. It don't get no better than that.

[AeroplaneDriver]

Surely you mean Jennings Heilig from whatifmodelers Bex!!  He's ours dammit!




Cant wait to see a Phanotm FR.3!

[bexwh773]

Sorry folks, that will teach me to be lazy wont it, I copied this over from my own forum and I didnt realise Jennings was in these parts too   

Aeroplane Driver, its funny you should call it an FR.3, I was just clearing my emails of my latest order from Relish when your reply dropped in my mailbox,for a Hasegawa Weapons set so Id have some Sidewinders for it to defend itself 

Bex

[Bryan H.]

Can't wait for some "in progress" pics...  Where's the popcorn-eating smilie?!

Bryan

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Bex,

I hope you acquired the stores pylons from that Revell kit for your project.  The Italeri parts are a bit on the thin side, other than that, it is a good source for RF-4 parts.  Looking forward to seeing the finished model.

[bexwh773]

Ow do Jeffry, yup, got the FGR2 pylons thank god and Im hoping my weapons set wil be here tomorrow (Tues). Ive never touched an Airies cockpit before in my life so please excuse this first attempt. Ive got some touching up to do where Ive slipped with the black, got the throttle & joystick painted & rear IP so far. Wings have gone together like a dream, Ive never had that before with any kit and this ones really pants so was a huge surprise.

Thanks for looking
Bex

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Im hoping my weapons set wil be here tomorrow (Tues).

Bex,

What kind of weapons are you going to arm your Phantom with? 

[bexwh773]

Jeffry,

Im going to fit some Sidewinders on the pylons, two drop tanks on the wings & an EMI Pod on the centre line. Tonights effort then, cockpit is finished and is now waiting for the glue to dry, just got the bang seats to do and the whole Airies Office is done    So heres a couple of photos for your perusal, so as a first ever resin cockpit, please be gentle......... Pretty Please

Thanks for looking

Bex





Also, I couldnt find any photos of an RF-4 Cockpit, so I used every Phantom Cockpit photo I could find, the pic on the box and a bit of Bexy's imagination.

[John Howling Mouse]

Looking good so far (says the Mouse who's only built 3 resin 'pits himself and is still intimidated by them!).

[bexwh773]

John, thanks matey, might pluck up the courage to get another one or two for my remaining 48th Phantoms, maybe

Jeffry, I know the EMI Pod would be officially doubling up on sensors, but Im going to see what other sensor package I can come up with for it 

A small update on this mornings efforts then. Cockpit is now fitted into the airframe and Ive had to fit a piece of lolly stick into one hole and a clear piece of plastic sheet to fill another........ fine sense of humour     I also noticed that when I fit the wings Im also going to have to fill large gaps between the lower fuselage & wing roots aswell, however, i got around this with a wooden lolly stick. Plus the engines will take some serious work to fit  But, am I enjoying this build? All things considered yes I am and Ive learnt a lot so far.

Here you can see the bits of wood used to stop the forward part of the wings from dipping into the fuselage and the cross member I fitted to spread the lower fuselage out and the filler used to fill small holes behind the cockpit rear bulkhead.

Thanks for looking

Bex

[AeroplaneDriver]

WOODEN LOLLY STICK?

Bex, you have created the ultimate whif, a Phantom-Mosquito hybrid!!   

Wooksta's head will explode!   

[bexwh773]

WOODEN LOLLY STICK?

Bex, you have created the ultimate whif, a Phantom-Mosquito hybrid!!   

Wooksta's head will explode!   

       I said Id caught the Whif Bug didnt I    Once I stick the Jet Pipes in I think the lolly sticks will be making another appearence 

Thanks for the kind comment Aeroplane Driver 

Bex

[sotoolslinger]

Great work Bex , good adapting to what looks like a difficult build.

[bexwh773]

Great work Bex , good adapting to what looks like a difficult build.

Thanking yous muchlys, put it this way, I thought my Vulcan was a pig, but this pile of bits beats it hands down, but Im not giving up, Ive waited toooooooooo long for this bird 

Bex