Phantom Phanaticism 2024 edition

That closed canopy is going to be challenge. And it’s completely lacking in detail for the middle part, no canopy frame whatsoever, it’s just smooth

Made a lot of progress over the past weekend. I’m going to pose it in the take off position so I needed some pilots, which I found in the spares box. This weekend I’ll start painting.

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That is a lot of progress!

Excellent!

Very nice Phantom John @Johnnych01, been a while since I checked in on this GB, she looks ready to slingshot off the flight deck!

Cajun :crocodile:

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Thanks Terry … I just really get drawn to the Jolly Rogers every time… Got Tomcat with it but that was on 72nd… Wouldn’t mind that in 48 or a Jolly Rogers Hornet …

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Looks good so far. I haven’t yet gotten around to trying one of the Airfix Spey Phantoms so would be interesting to know if you had any problems with the fit. Looking at the parts breakdown and instructions, the engineering of the kit looks more complicated than it really should have.

Oh and watch out for the nose gear leg, Airfix moulded it in the extended position and it really should be in the unextended (giving a nose down horizontal sit) for most of the time.

So far the Airfix Spey Phantom build has been pretty relaxing with one exception - the single piece canopy fit is terrible. In hindsight I should have used the multi piece canopy, it would have been much easier to get everything lined up. Another thing to note is that overall there is lots of nice detail. However sometimes there are very basic details that I’ve found on any Phantom I’ve ever built and yet they are completely missing on the Airfix build. It’s so weird…

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Lots more progress in the last few weeks.
Preshading

Base coat

Ready for decals


But not quite ready because when I masked off the radome, it screwed up the paint as you can see in the previous photo. Now I’ll have to gently sand it and repaint before I can apply the gloss coat for the decal base.

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Looking good with some paint.

I did notice some odd things on the one in my stash. The missing vents on the upper and lower side of the intakes for example. Present on every F-4. I get the impression they rushed it towards the end and forgot things. The nose gear leg is another example. They realised the mistake here and added that step in the instructions to chop it up and reassemble.
Some mushy details too. I wasn’t impressed with the IFR probe and cannon barrels in the FGR2 boxing. Very toylike.

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Yes, those vents are exactly what I’m talking about! Also there are missing vents on the rear of the fuselage right above the exhaust. The front gear door in particular is just a flat piece of plastic with no detail. Also, missing canopy framing. Even so, from a few feet away i think it will look pretty nice.

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