Thanks MR. Actually I’m planning on the Death Rattlers, since the tail top antenna configuration matches what the kit has. And I always liked seeing their aircraft at El Toro during the air shows there years ago… 
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323 was actually my original favorite USMC F-4 scheme back in the day. If I had to pick three schemes from that sheet it would be that, the “EC” Grey Ghost , the VMFA-323 bird, and that black finned VMFA-314 bird. Always liked those unit’s no matter the version of the markings.
I’m with you on those schemes. I used to see all three squadrons at El Toro during the Air Show/Open House there almost every year from the late 70’s until they closed the base in the 90’s. My personal favorite of their Phantom schemes isn’t on this decal set though. It was a low vis 323 scheme before they traded their Phantoms in for Hornets that I saw one year… either '82 or '83…
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Well, this project is going on indefinite hold for now. Long story short, I purchased the kit secondhand from a member of another forum, “free to a good home, just pay for shipping”. Unfortunately the kit is quite incomplete. I contacted the seller about the missing parts and was told that he never checked the kit for inventory and had obtained it secondhand. I ordered parts to cover the obvious missing ones. But now as I get ready to start painting, it turns out plenty more are missing. Had the poster said “kit incomplete” I would have saved my money. Now between shipping, buying replacement parts, and now needing to buy more replacement parts to make the basic kit, it would have been cheaper to have bought the kit anywhere else new. Not sure what I’m gonna do now…
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Bummer … That is an unwanted setback
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How was that described in “A Bridge Too Far”?
British understatement?
My bloodline is primarily German and Mexican, and I was taught to swear by some outstanding NCOs…
My dogs slink out of the room during unwanted setbacks… good thing that I did my BP check for VA today before that discovery.
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Feel your pain! I’ve been unlucky to get a couple of second hand kits with bits missing myself. It’s never a good feeling when you realise, but we adapt and overcome. Might be something you could do with it in the future. Airfield wreck or an in-flight display piece are a couple off the top of my head.
The seller really should have checked before offering it up.
Still got time to go if you want to get a new and complete Phantom for the campaign.
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Agreed Stephen. I have two possibilities at the moment for this kit. If the best option doesn’t pan out, this kit will become a donor of parts to other Phantoms in my stash. The burner cans in particular are better than what comes in a couple of my other Phantoms… keeping my fingers crossed for a best case scenario and starting to plan for an alternate Phantom build, just in case…
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Good idea. Should be plenty of useful parts to use on others from it.
A few years ago I got a Matchbox Jaguar I thought was complete, but it turned out to be missing a rear landing gear leg. Partly my own fault as full sprue photos were on the listing, I just missed it. I only bought it because I wanted the Omani and Empire Test Pilot School decals from it. The plan will be to to do as an in-flight piece mounted on a perspex rod. It’s a fairly basic kit anyway (still better than the old Airfix tooling), so it’s not really worth putting too much work into it. Probably in the old green/grey cammo.
Which reminds me, I need to resurrect that Jaguar build log I started ages ago and never finished.
Good luck with the build.
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A little tidying up the rear fuselage today.
The details along the spine are quite poor compared to the rest, a limitation of the moulding process. They get so far and vanish! Ordinarily I wouldn’t worry, but the refueling socket hatch is quite prominent on the Air Force versions. I have a plan though.
First step, rescribe the panel lines.
Then, draw out the hatch on some Tamiya squared masking tape, using some plans as reference. Then stuck to the thinnest plasticard I have.
Cut it out and sand the reverse to thin it out even more.
Then stuck to the fuselage with Gunze ultrathin.
It’s sitting a little bit proud so I’m going to leave it overnight and give it another sand.
It does occur to me now though that I could have fixed it with a more temporary glue and just scribed around it, but you live and learn. Will do that the next time.
Because Hasegawa have tooled this as a multi variant kit, the nose section has the Navy IFR probe hatch. So I’ve had to fill that with Mr Surfacer.
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Finished my Smoker last weekend but had not the time to post the photos here earlier.
F-4E Phantom II
Türk Hava Kuvvetleri (Turkish Air Force)
Eskisehir Air Base 1993
Kit is Hasegawa 1/48, paints come from Revell and Vallejo, decals are from CAM and some stencils from the kit.
The kit is from the 1990’s or earlier and has its flaws. But I’m happy how the model came out finally. The decals didn’t give me any problems, though they lolled around for 20 years in my stash 
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That looks great. Congratulations on finishing. Really must do a Turkish F-4 one day.
Managed a bit of work on mine tonight.
Got the fin top and covers for the RF-4 photoflash ejectors in place. Fit was a bit sloppy, especially on the covers so they’ll need a bit of work. I remember having the same problem on the J boxing a few years ago.
And got the intakes cleaned up and together. As I’m fitting FOD covers, I didn’t do anything more than necessary here. I’ll fit the splitter plates during final assembly as it makes painting behind them easier.
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Thanks Stephen, never thought I would build a THK machine but the tiger heads were really tempting.
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Wieder mal ein tolles Modell von Dir, Torsten! Glückwunsch! 
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Me, too, Stephen! I have a weak spot for the special markings they wore at RIAT in Fairford. But not while Mr. E… is still in office. 
Cheers
Peter
P.S. Probably will try a Greek Phantom first…
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Thanks Peter! 
As I mentioned somewhere else, I’ll have a look at the new F-4E from Meng. Though I still have a few Hasegawa and Italeri Phantoms in my stash. But I guess with the Smokers it’s the same as with Spitfires and Bf 109. You just can’t have enough of them … 
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Noticed a couple more things that need fixing before I stick the wings together. These four antenna bumps under the intake and wings need to go. Can’t see them on the C or D, but they are present on the J.
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No photos, but have made a bit of progress starting with taking those bumps off. Looking through the plan drawings in the World Airpower Journal F-4 book (my bible on all things Phantom, at least up until the mid-90’s), they’re the antenna for the AN/ALQ-126 ECM system fitted to the J and S. So definitely not needed on an early C model!
Assembled a few bits like the centreline and port drop tank. Also got those fuselage panels and rudder top cleaned up and smooth.
Should be able to get the major components fitted together by the weekend.
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The FG.1 is done in it’s launch ready position. Since I have a little time left, I might be able to add a hooked up launch bridle, but still looking around for a good photo reference. If I don’t get to it in time, I’m still pretty happy with the outcome.
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Nice!!!
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