1/72 F-4B Phantom II

A break from the stressfull world of high tech kits and
paint schemes gone wrong. I decided to do something
simpler and less complicated. The old Revell 1/72 F-4B
Phantom, it came out in 1965, just when I was getting
seriously into the world of styrene at 12 years old. I
am not correcting the cockpit, it can't be seen but I will
add some ejection handle rings to the "seat tops" molded
into the upper fuselage. I have had good luck with this in
the past using thin copper wire from phone or computer
wiring and wrapping it around a small pair of needle nosed
pliers to form the rings. So far the cockpit is painted and
pilot figures installed.---John

blimey, this is an old one, look forward to seeing it go together

from an era when aircraft looked interesting

Awesome aircraft. It's always fun to take a break with serious modeling to enjoy yourself.

Awesome John, truly one of my favourite aircraft. I love these old kits and look forward to seeing how it turns out. Watching a fully loaded F4 take off is impressive.

Cockpit in, fuselage and wings on. I have a nasty seam to fill where the wing
fuselage join is, but not all that bad for a 50 year old kit. I also corrected the
burner cans attitude. Revell had them straight out parallel with the fuselage,
the real ones are angled down somewhere at 5 to 10 degrees off the fuselage
center line. I stuck a piece of .020 card stock in the top to "cock" the burner can,
now I need to fill the offending gap. It's an easy build but not without some filling
and sanding, can't seem to get away from that.---John

This just came yesterday, Hasegawa 1/72 F-4B/N Phantom II. Same plane basically
that I am working on but light years ahead on technology and cost. It is at least 4
to 5 times the cost but much better detailing and fit. The parts count is about 130
parts compared to 50 for the old Revell kit. The Hasegawa decal sheet is a work of
art in itself! The only thing I never cared for was Hasegawa doesn't give you weapons
for the kit. They make you buy weapons kits separate. The Revell instructions are at
the bottom of the picture, simple compared to the Hasegawa kit.---John

Nice one John.

That cockpit must be tiny!

Wow! Already 130 parts....and no weapons?

I dug out some fine copper wire from my fly tying kit and wound it around a sanding
stick to form my loop. There will be 2 of these on the top of the ejection seat just
above the pilot's helmet, I believe they are technically called face curtain pulls. Just
need to paint them black and yellow stripped then super glue on.---John

All done , installed and painted.---John

Very nice cockpit, John.

I have the canopy painted inside and installed, the intakes in, the horizontal
stabs and nose on. I have done a bit of filling and sanding and there is still a
bit more. I also have to make a new pitot tube for the tail, one broke off during
a sanding bout, I wish they would leave all those small antennas and such off
until the last step.---John