(DONE Pics pg2) NATO Reporting name "Farscape." Multirole Jet "Md-4"

TheChronicOne · February 04, 2017, 04:09:39 PM

Finally getting some of this together so I want to go ahead and declare this one as part of the fun.

I'm trying to have a running theme with all of my builds for this GB which basically involves Soviet Russia being on good terms with the U.S. (and others) instead of all the cold war type stuff. That's not to say we're in a threat free world here, as NATO, etc still exist and the need for weapons of war has not gone away just because we're on much friendlier terms. Long story short, lend-lease is still going and the Soviets regularly purchase and use equipment from around the globe, the US in particular.

ANYWAY!! I've always loved the Iron Eagle movies and in the second one they try to have us believe that a bunch of F-4 Phantoms are actually MiG-29s. What they really are are Israeli F-4s with Soviet markings applied. Here's a couple from the movie:

Here's a good picture of the IAF craft, a 1/48 bird by Rafi Ben-Shahar: http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2005/01/stuff_eng_benshahar_f4e.htm

So I want mine to basically look like that, but with Soviet Russian attire. This particular bird will be operating in parts of South America so I think this camo would be plausible.

I get to kill 3-4 birds with one stone... Alternate markings, a movie tribute, a whif, etc.

I chose a 1987 boxing of a Revell F-4b. It's not even listed on Scalemates, but, it's the same as(I THINK) the other 4302 kit (that IS listed on scalemates here: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/257677-revell-4302-f-4b-phantom-ii). I can't find any pics of the box anywhere, in fact! How strange?

Here's mine:

Mine came from a previous owner who trimmed a bunch and stuck it all in a candy box with part of the original box top taped on. Also, a section of the side of the box was inside. No decals came with it (fine with me!!) but it did have the instructions and appears to not be missing any parts:

Comes with loads of crap to hang from the wings, glorious!

That's all for now. No actual work aside from research and gathering things together. I hope you all like my idea and will enjoy the plane!

Oh.... before I forget... the name shall be Md-4 "Farscape."

Thanks for stopping by.

zenrat · February 05, 2017, 01:09:05 AM

Farscape eh? Fantastic series. Due to it being filmed in Sydney they used Australian and Kiwi extras meaning that like on the bridge of the Enterprise the future didn't just have a US accent.

63cpe · February 05, 2017, 01:16:16 AM

Interesting...if you lost parts, maybe I can help you out. i've got some leftovers from 1/72 Revell, Esci and Fujimi F-4's...just in case...

Cheers,
David

Snowtrooper · February 05, 2017, 02:13:43 AM

Whaaaaat? I built the 4339 grey-and-red boxing of Revell's F-4B as a kid and that certainly didn't come with Sidewinders and the belly tank. Looks like they introduced an extra sprue in some reboxings and then dropped it from the later boxings (yes, it's not in the 1965 H-110 boxing I happen to have in The Stash either).
https://www.scalemates.com/kits/140045-revell-4339-f-4b-phantom-ii
https://www.scalemates.com/kits/976830-revell-h110-mcdonnell-f-4b-phantom-ii

TheChronicOne · February 05, 2017, 10:03:34 AM

Quote from: zenrat on February 05, 2017, 01:09:05 AM
Farscape eh? Fantastic series. Due to it being filmed in Sydney they used Australian and Kiwi extras meaning that like on the bridge of the Enterprise the future didn't just have a US accent.

I absolutely fell in love with that series... I also like the aspect of the diverse crew and they nailed that in spades. Here pretty soon I plan to get Netflix again and a rewatch of Farscape is one of the first things I'm going to do. "1984" was a RIOT and I love the Dominar.

Quote from: 63cpe on February 05, 2017, 01:16:16 AM
Interesting...if you lost parts, maybe I can help you out. i've got some leftovers from 1/72 Revell, Esci and Fujimi F-4's...just in case...

Cheers,
David

Why thank you, David! I actually have two of these F-4 kits. The other is an MPC. The reason I chose this Revell kit is because the MPC one is missing the forward canopy. I have the windscreen and the rear (RIO station?? Weapons officer or whatever) canopy but I guess that forward one got lost or something. I got the kit second hand. I don't suppose you have one of those do ya? Or even a single piece canopy would work. I'll know whether or not this one is missing anything as I go along so no hurry or anything. Once I know for sure what I need we can compare notes. Much appreciated!

Quote from: Snowtrooper on February 05, 2017, 02:13:43 AM
Whaaaaat? I built the 4339 grey-and-red boxing of Revell's F-4B as a kid and that certainly didn't come with Sidewinders and the belly tank. Looks like they introduced an extra sprue in some reboxings and then dropped it from the later boxings (yes, it's not in the 1965 H-110 boxing I happen to have in The Stash either).
https://www.scalemates.com/kits/140045-revell-4339-f-4b-phantom-ii
https://www.scalemates.com/kits/976830-revell-h110-mcdonnell-f-4b-phantom-ii

Aye! I didn't know that, but, yeah, I've failed utterly at trying to research this particular kit. With the billions of things on the internet I can't find a single picture of it and according to Scalemates it doesn't exist. Weird. I should ask Kitnut about it. Maybe it's from a parallel universe?!

63cpe · February 05, 2017, 10:32:39 AM

The MPC is the same kit as Airfix.....mmmm, not sure. I've collected lots of canopies and it might have one. But size could differ between kits and brands. Please PM me picture of the part you need and include a ruler for correct size.

David

TheChronicOne · February 05, 2017, 10:47:14 AM

Quote from: 63cpe on February 05, 2017, 10:32:39 AM
The MPC is the same kit as Airfix.....mmmm, not sure. I've collected lots of canopies and it might have one. But size could differ between kits and brands. Please PM me picture of the part you need and include a ruler for correct size.

David

Most gracious sir! I'll get that to you tomorrow afternoon or thereabouts.

63cpe · February 05, 2017, 11:00:12 AM

Your welcome!

David

TheChronicOne · February 10, 2017, 06:09:30 AM

I actually started on this and did actual work yesterday. Man, I don't know what it was, but I was "in the zone" and managed to get a lot of stuff done, mainly trimming, filing, sanding, and then painting a lot of the little fiddly crap to get it out of the way. I also got the pilots and cockpit painted and installed, the two main fuselage halves glued together and even filed and sanded away some of the seams. This thing has a pretty substantial amount of flash and I'd say that has slowed me down more than anything.

Had I kept going yesterday I might have been able to finish this today but I stopped working on it. All I have in the way of painting little stuff is to paint the ordinances and ext fuel tanks and the gear doors. Otherwise the plane proper is only thing needing painting. FOR NOW... the plan is to prime it tan and then brush acrylic for the other two colors of camo. I want to see if my painting skills are up to speed. I used to be able to paint whole planes with acrylics and cheap paint brushes and have them turn out fine (all the way back 20+ years ago when I was a kid!). I think I remember all my techniques and stuff now and I have better brushes so it should go fine!

If I don't get lazy I could see myself being done with this by Monday evening. I have a ton of other things to do today so I'm not likely to get anything done.

When I get home I'll try to snap pics of the progress.

TheChronicOne · February 11, 2017, 10:23:18 AM

Back to work on this.

I figured I'd take a couple quick shots before proceeding.

Camera too close to subject I think. Oh well. You get the point.

I have other stuff done and going together as well that is not pictured. Today I plan to glue the tailplanes on and glue the main wings on. I want to glue the external tanks together too. It takes this glue over 24hours to really dry up so I can sand and file on it so I need to get it done now so it can dry up. If no problems with the plane proper, I could probably get it primed and start in with camo today!

TheChronicOne · February 13, 2017, 01:36:13 PM

This is how I masked the interiror:

Fantastic, right?! I imagine I'll have to do a bit of touch up... .. .. .

In other news, in typical fashion, one minor misstep leads to multiple blunders. I went to paint the plane body just as I was done I realized I forgot to glue on the damn intakes. Naturally, I'm depending on the paint to help with the seam so since I skipped 'em, when I DO glue them on, I'll have to do something to fix it. Another bit of paint.. I don't think I want to try to fill, file, and sand after I got my paint on there. It'll be alright. At the same time though I rushed and got the intakes so I could paint them, too, cue dropping stuff over and over, palm prints on the wings, wet intakes layin' on the damn floor etc etc... I'll be having to sand a bit once the paint dries.

Still, this thing is coming along. I have the canopy painted, all the gear and doors are painted, all the weapons are painted. I've painted MOST of the drop tanks, just have to finish up the top sides of the ones that stick out from under the wings.

If all goes as planned I can glue on the intakes in a little while and shoot it with a bit more paint then let it dry up for awhile and might be able to start brushing the camo on.

TheChronicOne · February 13, 2017, 04:18:20 PM

Moving along nicely!

Got the weird paint stuff ironed out on the plane body and just finished up the drop tanks.

Top view, then side view. I think the overall camo on the plane itself will be slightly different (because of the tan primer base from rattle can, followed by brushing the brown and green) but this gives the idea of the colors.

TheChronicOne · February 13, 2017, 04:58:37 PM

I've done a lousy job of documenting a lot of this stuff but I stopped long enough to go ahead and snap a pic of all the lil widgets 'n wares that I've painted.

Ya know... I'm not going to go to all the hassle of "explaining" the stores. I painted them the way I wanted to and they are "weapons" and that's all that needs said. Russian? American? Who knows!

I'm much less about the story this time around as I am the presentation. Of course, this is part of my overall "world" that I've created for all these Soviet GB models, though, so the same story that applies to the "Arctic Apache" applies to this airplane as well.

Please see my other GB thread with the "Harbinger" if you're interested in that. I haven't refined it all too well, but the story is there.

I will say that due to the proximity of the Southern bits of South America to Antarctica that this was painted and intended to operate primarily in South America. I think for the most part the camo scheme works for that area of the world.

The plane body itself is painted a glorious tan color of matte "camoflage" paint by rustoleum and looks sort of neat just as is so I'll try to snap a pic of it, too. Kind of reminds me of a "Wild Weasel" scheme or something.

TheChronicOne · February 14, 2017, 04:32:01 PM

Forgot to take the tan photo by time I had applied the green so decided to just press on and get it done. I just put on the varnish and I'll decal it in a little while. That's it aside from gluing the canopy on so I'd say she's done!

Weaver · February 14, 2017, 05:20:37 PM

Weapons are easy to explain: there was a Soviet copy of the Sidewinder called the K-13 (NATO 'AA-2 Atoll') and the 'missing' AA-4 Awl was actually the abortive Raduga K-9 which was very similar to a Sparrow. In whiff-world, you could have the K-9 being developed into a more Sparrow-like form, particularly with the help of a captured real Sparrow, as was done with AIM-9/K-13.