F4-F Phantom 1-100 scale

**CMDRTED** · #1 04-20-2024, 06:57 PM

the next project is a repaint of one of Bruno's Phabulous Phantoms. he designed many of the versions from b to m versions in a variety of liverys but passed over the F version. The phantom was an update of West Germanys aging F104 fleet. The first units arriving @ 1970s to JG71 Richtoffen squadron.
The F model was basically a F4E model, with nose mounted 20mm wing slats and a simplified radar system. The German phantoms at first did not have aim-7 sparrow capability but that changed with an updated F4F ICE version. This was another updated version capable of amraam missiles. This re-paint is the older F version with some retained US labels and markings.
I took the F4E version, rasterized it in paint shop pro 11 and changed the colors to a basic green grey over light grey undersides. The patterns did not always blend from one surface to another, wing to fuselage for example. The first part of this thread is some of the developement of the repaint. I'm not very software savvy so some things are slow and simplistic...

**Don Boose** · #2 04-20-2024, 07:33 PM

Another great project, Ted. I'll be tracking closely.

Don

**CMDRTED** · #3 04-21-2024, 07:42 AM

where to start? Well the wings were one of the parts that I wanted to detail a bit better. The F4Fs had the advanced wing slats that later F4Es had. These were to give the phantom a bit more ability to fight low and slow in a turning dogfight. Prior to this addition the phantoms strengths were high thrust climb and dive and of course its longer range sparrows.
back to the mods. I originally tried to model the slats by just printing the details on the as designed wing. phase one was less then satisfactory. It looked passable but I wanted MORE! No pics of that. Phase 2 was a modified approach. Printed on lower slats and cut out uppers backed by the original piece. the slats themselves were simple folded over affairs that attached would give the drooped effect. here are prelim pics of the mk 2 wing, arrows showing the printed on lower details.

**CMDRTED** · #4 04-21-2024, 10:26 AM

Well not to leave well enough alone plus a little getting ahead of myself. With the other phantoms that i've built in the past There was always minor imperfections in the builds. One was the wing to fuselage fit forward, there was always a gap. The other the wings on the bottom when fit to the fuselage always had an unsightly gap that was usually filled with the belly tank, I tried my new Mk2a wings and folded spindled mutilated the engine pods to try and remove those flaws and failed. So On to the Mk3 wings which IMHO are where I want them to be. I also added some cushion to before said flaws to allow trimming to fit later...

**CMDRTED** · #5 04-21-2024, 10:41 AM

You might ask, Ted how did you get there? Well here are most of the steps.
Here are the parts needed for the wing. First score, really grease the after part of the wing. That's the trailing edge anyways and you want that sharp. the fold. Note if you are modeling the airbrakes open you should cut that out now. Also in case you forget when you start to close the forward edges you should glue the airbrake backing piece now.
Next curve those leading edges inward to each other, top piece going down bottom segment going up. this is BEFORE you mount the slat mounting edges.
The 4th pic shows my shamelessly pirated Brent repainted gearwell. this is printed on, I guess you could print out those pieces , cut out the corresponding area on the wing and mount them as for the airbrake wells. Brent did such a great job on these The 3d effect so good I didn't feel it neccessary. Great job sir!

**CMDRTED** · #6 04-21-2024, 01:14 PM

The next task is to curve the inserts that the slats mount to.. Curve the pieces as shown, top wing portion in blue gets curved downwards red arrow, the lower portion gets bent as shown in red, which in wing orientation is also bent downwards. then carefully lining up the leading edges fold and glue the wing together, The slat mounts act as tabs sort of keep them aligned. You may have a little overlap of the slat mounts, this will be trimmed when the wing is DRY. allow plenty of time for that. Slats are then folded and glued over the mounts and when these dry bend them downward at an angle that pleases the eye.

**CMDRTED** · #7 04-21-2024, 01:50 PM

The last tweaks done to the wings are characteristic bulges. These were found on phantom F4C models and up. It was found that the airforce model phantoms needed a fatter main wheel. These were added to The F4C series and required a fatter area of the wing to include the fatter wheel. Rather than an extensive wing rebuild these panels were added to enclose the wheel. The F4B had the original thinner tire as did the F4N model which was simply an updated F4b. To simplify the change an area on the upper wing was copied and printed out. This was then burnished to give the characteristic bulge. I didn't mess with the lower wing but simply burnished out the lower landing gear doors to simulate the effect. The last pic shows the difference between the flat lower slat effect on the left and layered right(red arrows). The blue lines show where the fwd portion of wings that need material added to mate up flush with the fuselage. The green lines show where material has to be added to eliminate the center line gap. Note the material to be added will be done via image editing not physically adding paper to the areas!

**Siwi** · #8 04-21-2024, 03:35 PM

Enjoying seeing you add these enhancements to the kit. The bulges are very realistic after burnishing to get the shape.

**Don Boose** · #9 04-21-2024, 05:24 PM

Wonderfully complete narrative and excellent images.

Nice model, too.

Don

**CMDRTED** · #10 04-21-2024, 07:08 PM

Thankyou guys. Don, I figure this may not be released as all the computer work is in bitmap/raster format. In all these years still haven't gotten the hang of vector work. But if it does credits to Brent and Bruno for their parts. This is a roadmap sort of for construction. Last few parts for tonight are the simple rudder and aft stabilizers. these were straight forward, fold and glue. The F4F stabilizers did not have rudimentary slats that the F4Es had. The variation of parts on the various models of phantoms is staggering even in a specific model, F4E for exmple. Early mods did not have manuevering slats, had different 20 mm cannon mounts, gratefully internal changes not applicable to us modelers.
Anyhows thgis is it for tonights build, tutorial.