1/72 Scale USN F4-L USS Hancock 1978

[Gondor]

Decided to start a proper build thread so I don't loose the ideas and conversations I have had so far in my blog.

So below are the main points of the idea behind the build so far and the discussion around that idea.

I am having thoughts of building an F-4L, should be simple enough depending on the date it's supposed to be modelled from which means it either will or will not have the ECM fitted to the air intakes, under the wings and to the fin top. Only thing that will give me some concern is modelling the under wing aerials. It will though depend as I said on the date and that would come from the decals I need, these would probably do nicely http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/X72160

Gondor

Really thinking that I should do a later variant of the F-4L with the AN/ALQ-126 DECM fit which means it has to be after 1969, (this was the introduction date for this fit to other versions of the F-4) this limits the operational window a little as the Essex class carriers were being phased out of service by the end 1976. This means that decal choice would have to be very careful indeed unless I used one of the options for a shore based aircraft from the decal sheet I mentioned earlier.

Gondor

Don't forget they were phased out of service because the need reduced with Vietnam coming to an end but also because they didn't have a replacement for the Crusader that could operate from a modified Essex. A Phantom that could operate from the ships would have extended their usefulness into the 80s when the mix of super carriers and the new CVNs would have replaced them (The USN did look to bring some back into service in the Reagan era and his 600 ship navy but the aircraft issue scuppered that). Plus it would have allowed for more viable exports to allied navies (such as Australia to replace Melbourne as the ship would have already been converted, rather than paying for a ship to be converted as was offered back in 65 !).

Good point and well made. I will have to look up the tail codes of the various Carriers to see what options there are or I could go the Australian route as you mention.

Gondor

So I have made a quick decision about the Carrier that the F-4L will operate from, next step will be to find out the tail codes and if there are any decal sheets for aircraft from that Carrier prior to 1976 when in the real world she was decommissioned. If nothing matches then I will have to look at another Carrier instead.

Gondor

[Gondor]

So this is the base kit that I am starting with, a Fujimi F-4M



And here is a picture of the undersides



This is the Fujimi Phantom which I had cut the nose off to allow me to add the nose from an RF-4M but I gave up on the idea when I had a lot of fit issues between the hight of the RF forward fuselage hight compared to the hight of the F-4M fuselage. The additional parts to add the AN/ALQ-126 comes from my spares box of Hasegawa Phantoms.

Not sure if I should use the extended nose leg as per the F-4K or if I should stick with the normal length nose undercarriage leg, reserch into the Carrier class will lead to the answer to that question.

Gondor

[Martin H]

cool. A decent F-4L. I did one a fair while back using a matchbox kit, and i used the extended nose gear, to make the point of what version it was

Im looking forward to seeing your one on the Sig stand in the future

[Gondor]

cool. A decent F-4L. I did one a fair while back using a matchbox kit, and i used the extended nose gear, to make the point of what version it was

Im looking forward to seeing your one on the Sig stand in the future

Checking the size of the Essex Class CVA carriers against the Ark Royal R09 the beam is different by a few feet and the length is not horribly different in size either so I will go with the RN type double extendible nose leg. I must remember to check to make sure that the tailplane is slotted as well.

Gondor

[zenrat]

Having miss-read the thread title I was expecting to find you building a 1/72 USS Hancock...

...this is just as good although you've lost me with all the technical stuff like talk about leg length.

[Captain Canada]

Love Phantoms. This is going to be sweet. I know you said it depends on what carrier class, but I have always liked the look of the extended nose leg.

[Thorvic]

cool. A decent F-4L. I did one a fair while back using a matchbox kit, and i used the extended nose gear, to make the point of what version it was

Im looking forward to seeing your one on the Sig stand in the future

Checking the size of the Essex Class CVA carriers against the Ark Royal R09 the beam is different by a few feet and the length is not horribly different in size either so I will go with the RN type double extendible nose leg. I must remember to check to make sure that the tailplane is slotted as well.

Gondor

Well you could always go for the HL with the Fuselage plug and the increased cord wings and tail for the true High Lift capability to allow the full range of operations from smaller carriers 

[Gondor]

Having miss-read the thread title I was expecting to find you building a 1/72 USS Hancock...

...this is just as good although you've lost me with all the technical stuff like talk about leg length.

Sorry for any confusion zenrat. Royal Navy F-4K's had a double extendible nose leg to increase the angle of attack when they were launched from the Ark Royal. All other versions of the F-4 had a normal nose leg.

This is the normal leg



And this is the extendible leg



The picture above shows the nose leg in both compressed form, painted white, and extended form. Hope this helps.

Edit: Oh yes, I did consider building the Hancock but gave that up after a half hour   

Well you could always go for the HL with the Fuselage plug and the increased cord wings and tail for the true High Lift capability to allow the full range of operations from smaller carriers  

That's for another build which I need to get a Matchbox F-4 K/M as the base kit

Gondor

[PR19_Kit]

Well you could always go for the HL with the Fuselage plug and the increased cord wings and tail for the true High Lift capability to allow the full range of operations from smaller carriers 

Didn't OGL do one of those already? I recall one of his 'toons with a wide chord wing at a show recently.

[Gondor]

Well you could always go for the HL with the Fuselage plug and the increased cord wings and tail for the true High Lift capability to allow the full range of operations from smaller carriers 

Didn't OGL do one of those already? I recall one of his 'toons with a wide chord wing at a show recently.

He does and I plan to do one. The Matchbox kit is the best basis for that as it has separate wings which makes increasing their chord far easier. The other obvious changes are the stretched fuselage, neutral incidence tail surfaces and the Rolls Royce engines.

Gondor

[Thorvic]

Well you could always go for the HL with the Fuselage plug and the increased cord wings and tail for the true High Lift capability to allow the full range of operations from smaller carriers 

Didn't OGL do one of those already? I recall one of his 'toons with a wide chord wing at a show recently.

He does and I plan to do one. The Matchbox kit is the best basis for that as it has separate wings which makes increasing their chord far easier. The other obvious changes are the stretched fuselage, neutral incidence tail surfaces and the Rolls Royce engines.

Gondor

Don't forget to save the spare canopy from the Fujimi kit for the use on the Matchbox Phantom, once the canopy framing has been removed from the fuselage. Aftermarket Nose gear bay, cockpit, engines and wheels also greatly improve the look of the Matchbox kit. That's what I did with the FVS version, although they came from a damaged Fujimi kit I picked up for spares on that build  .

[Captain Canada]

Thanks for the canopy tip Geoff !

[Gondor]

Don't forget to save the spare canopy from the Fujimi kit for the use on the Matchbox Phantom, once the canopy framing has been removed from the fuselage. Aftermarket Nose gear bay, cockpit, engines and wheels also greatly improve the look of the Matchbox kit. That's what I did with the FVS version, although they came from a damaged Fujimi kit I picked up for spares on that build  .

Yes, the extra canopy has not gone unnoticed Geoff, not heard of a whole nose wheel bay though although there is replacement undercarriage to use as well.

Aeries do the Spey for the K/M version of the Phantom so that's another option or conversely that could be used on a Fujimi K/M and the engines from that on the Matchbox Phantom.

Gondor

[Gondor]

After a thorough search of all my UK Phantoms and the spares, I have found that I do not have the correct tailplane's for this build. This gives me a couple of options, I can rely on the kindness of my fellow modellers here to provide me with a set of Fujimi slatted tailplane's or I can swap the un-slatted ones with a Hasegawa set of slatted tailplane's. I will of course exchange the set of un-slatted I have with anyone can send me a pair of the slatted variety.

Gondor

[zenrat]

Thanks for the explanation Gondor.