F-4 "Phantomax"

[Silverfox]

Hello everyone, it's me again. I haven't posted for a while, but finally, I'm back with something else at last.

As with most of my WHIF's, this new one is based off of something in a story I'm writing. In this case, a post-apocalypse, where much of the technology survives, and is salvaged to allow people to continue fighting and surviving against their problems in the world that now faces them.
One such group in the possession of aircraft, protecting people against hostile forces, are the 'Roughriders' who fly a variety of modified aircraft, one of which is the heavily modified F-4 Phantom, the 'Phantomax'.



The Phantomax was made from a 1/48 Revell F-4 C/D Phantom kit.
I made the CFTs from the FAST packs off of a 1/72nd scale F-15E kit. I replaced the tail surfaces with those from an Italeri Tornado, and added a nice fairing from a 1/72nd droptank off of a blackhawk. A greeble was added from a gundam kit, and then I swapped the intakes for those from the - you guessed it - 1/72nd scale F-15E.



Unfortunately, they were added before I got my nice new multitool, and as such, they aren't exactly straight, and as I'd already torn it to pieces once and then added and smoothed the putty, I couldn't be bothered to do it again.



I also scratchbuilt some pylons for the wings, as I wasn't keen on using the droptanks. I also decided to scratch up some missiles from spare parts from the other kits, and ended up with the pair of honkin' massive AGMs in the picture.



The only problem I have now is that the rear-seaters' canopy was flattened in an chair-related accident, and I now need a replacement.
I saw that on Revells' USA site you can order replacements - but there doesn't seem to be any facility to order them if you're outside the US and I also e-mailed Revell in Europe - so fingers crossed, folks!

[Howard of Effingham]

very nice model! 

[ysi_maniac]

Love this concept bttb!

[Tophe]

I replaced the tail surfaces with those from an Italeri Tornado,

The new tail makes your F-4 very elegant, interesting addition to the Phantom family, thanks

[Silverfox]

Thanks! I especially like the effect of the rudder. I looks much more exciting that the regular Phantom in my eyes.

Should be some more pics later on!

[Silverfox]

Well, I sprayed the beast with an undercoat today - eventually!

I generally use Citadel paints to undercoat my models, and my spraycans had been out in the garage, which is where I do all of my spraying, in the winter at least.
The cans were so cold, I couldn't hold onto them long enough to spray the model - it hurt! And I think the cold temp had affect the paint too - it didn't have any thickness or colour to it. So, I bought them back indoors into the heat for a while, and then watched Tony Jaa's Warrior King while they got comfy - then I sprayed the Phantomax



She's looking a bit better now. I can see a few flaws here and there in my puttying, and the undercoat is a little uneven - but I've never been one for masterpieces, so I'll touch up by hand (which is how I do all my painting).



I've got a very flanker-like paint job with a few 'personal' touches in mind, lots of blues and tan, with a grey underside.

The back seat is bugging me. I could wait for a message back from Revell - but I'm tempted to fair over it with plasticard, and build her as a single-seater, which could be fun.
More so, since I was considering giving the Phantomax's co-pilot her own plane, which I was thinking of making an A-10... simply because it gives me an excuse to build (and modify) one!

I'm also looking forward to tidying up a little after I finish this one - my desk is a mess!

[Jschmus]

In the top photo, what are the outermost stores?

[Brian da Basher]

That's very cool, Silverfox! The new tail fits like a glove!

Looking forward to your next update!

Brian da Basher

[Taiidantomcat]

Phantom on Steroids!! 

[Silverfox]

In the top photo, what are the outermost stores?

Jschmus, they're Air To Ground Missiles I built myself. I was originally going to mount a single bomb on each hardpoint, but they didn't look very exciting, and I didn't want to use LGB's, so I decided to build some missiles of my own to go with the concept and backstory.

I'll post a close-up photo of them soon. The main problem is recharging the batteries for my camera!
I've also built up a fairing over the rear cockpit, so I've got more photos I want to take so I can show you all too!

[Sauragnmon]

Quite the interesting beast you have here, looking forward to more.

You know, those AGMs you have remind me of the KAB-1000Kr or so, for the blunt nose, the extension forward of the fin, the step up to the main body and the rather squared off tail fins.

[Silverfox]

Well, more news. I built a fairing for the back cockpit, and it looks pretty good, and well along the lines of what I want



It's made from some spare gubbins from various other kits, and I wanted it to look the part - sleek and kind of futuristic.



Unfortunately, the milliput I've used, despite carefully measuring out same sized portions to mix, and spending at least five minutes kneading it together, has refused to set, despite being left for about 48 hours, as I wasn't at home most of yesterday, and did the mod on Monday evening.
So, I'm going to have to tear it out, and then refit it. Sod using milliput now too. It's let me down too many times on this build, so I'm going to have to look for an alternative. Anyone got any good recommendations for a decent putty that's easy to get hold of in the UK?

[John Howling Mouse]

Looks great.  I noticed your filenames are all "Bronco" but your text description is "Phantomax."  Is there a reason in your backstory for this?  Or did I miss something in this build thread? 

[Cobra]

Very Cool Small Q:do you plan to put a Shark's mouth on it when you go to Paint & Decal your Jet?? just asking,Can't wait to see more!!!!!!!!!

[Silverfox]

I noticed your filenames are all "Bronco" but your text description is "Phantomax."  Is there a reason in your backstory for this?  Or did I miss something in this build thread?

Haha, no - that's just my camera naming things. Because the first WHIF I took pics of for the forum was a Bronco (in this thread - http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,25461.0.html), and the pics for all my models go in the same folder on my PC, so they all end up with the same name.

Good news, of a sort too - Revell E-mailed me back, and said they'll send me a replacement canopy, so I don't have to worry about puttying as much. However, it'll take 4-6 weeks for it to arrive, so I guess the Phantomax is on hold for a little while, I'm afraid!