McDD F-4J Phantom II
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For our preview of this kit visit here.
Kit Review
A little while ago this was sent to me for review and build, the review is already on the site so here (at long last) is the build. My apologies to Zoukei-Mura for the time it took but I’ve had a lot of builds to do for the various books, so the web-site bits take a back seat.
Let's do this one a bit differently, just photo-based as it is good to show now the kit builds
Construction
Most people will start with the cockpit and as beautifully executed as it is, there is still room for improvement. In this case with homemade seat belts and some additional wires and fittings for the rear instrument panel. Careful painting will bring out all the well-moulded detail work.
You get two J-79 engines to build, although they are very simple versions they would be the perfect starting point for some serious detailing. The stand is made from pieces located in the sprues, which is a nice touch, but you really need both engines in the model or it will be completely see-through.
The completed engines and their associated intakes are firmly attached to the lower wing section. It all fits easily, with positive locations and check out the boxed-in main wheel bays, also very well done.
There are a couple of additions to make to get the right details for the right version. Here you can see the little extra lump on the upper wing, which on the real aircraft is a fairing covering the main undercarriage leg hinge.
The fuselage halves close up reasonably well around the interior parts and the centre line joint is well hidden under inserts along the spine. Throughout the instructions you are advised to; “Adjust the shapes to have no space between the parts and assemble.” Basically that’s Zoukei-Mura telling you to do your trial fits and trims.
I over-exposed this image on purpose to get a better view of the cockpit interior and you can see that the detail looks lovely once it’s tucked away inside the fuselage. The addition of seat belts is an absolute must. If you don’t, the whole area will look amazingly bare.
Fitting the wing section to the fuselage is not without it’s difficulties as there’s a lot to line up but the shapes are spot on, leaving no gaps anywhere if you get it right. You do have to take care though, the more you add to the kit, the more complex it becomes and the easier it is to make mistakes.
The inner flap and outer flaperon (yes that’s a real word) are a very neat fit but sadly only in the neutral position. The way they are attached and the shapes of the moulded parts mean that they cannot be drooped at all without some complex surgery. It would have been good to see them poseable to give the slab wing a bit more character.
The outer wing panels also need to be carefully aligned to get the right Anhedral, even though they are moulded with big location tabs on them.
The transparent parts are beautifully clear and have neatly defined framework, so they are easy to mask and they also fit perfectly. Sadly the same cannot be said for the intake structures, which need considerable fettling to get them to nestle into the right spot. The detail work on the exterior surface is excellent though.
Colour & Markings
The start of the paint process and even though it doesn’t look like it here, the main colour is actually an off-white, with gloss white for the gear and airbrake bays. The underside of the Phantom is complicated and the shapes look perfect on this kit.
Light Gull Gray FS16440 has any number of shades, depending on the paint manufacturer but I find the Gunze Aqueous Hobby Colour H315 is a really good starting point before all the weathering goes on over the top.
Note the small areas of black at the wingtips and the intakes on the nose. These are going to be the only markings painted, I’m going to see how the decals perform for the rest of it.
Alclad 2 metallic lacquers and lots of different mixed shades to get the hot and dirty look to the Titanium and Inconel metal section of the tail. It’s important to get this bit looking right, as it’s an iconic bit of the airframe.
The upper section of metallic bits is just as important as the bits underneath. The slab tails need to be carefully masked and the application of the shades needs to be as close to the real thing as possible because the human eye is so good at picking out things that just don’t “fit”. If you get it wrong you’ll know it.
Here you can see the multiple stages of the weathering process all in one shot. There are some of the smaller panels picked out in a lighter Gull Gray to give it a bit more character, then the dirt streaks are applied with various colours of pastel dust. It’s had some Tamiya X-19 Smoke thinly sprayed along the panel lines and fasteners, with the whole lot sealed in under a coat of Tamiya X-22 Gloss. It looks a little too dirty but I’ve leaned over the years that the final coats of matt varnish will tone it all down.
The decals (330 of them! Yes, you read that right!) are applied onto the gloss surface and allowed to settle before being helped along the way with some softening solutions. There is a little silvering over some of the detail work but it’s minor and easily dealt with. Another coat of gloss, this time Johnsons Klear and once that’s had 24 hours to harden a thin oil wash is applied over virtually the whole kit. You don’t want to make the wash too dark or too thick, as it will stand out harshly against the pale grey and white. After a couple of hours, wipe away the oil with a soft cloth and it’s ready for the final bits to go on.
Final Details
Holy heck just look at this little lot! As if the days of decalling weren’t enough there’s this bunch of stuff to be hung off the thing. I opted to add some wiring to some of the parts as well as additional locks and catches for the canopy sections, plus the Remove Before Flight tags from an Eduard pre-printed set. However you look at it, the final stages of any big jet are immensely complicated but the more you add, the better it gets. Once all the bits and pieces are fitted it’s time for the final finish of Alclad 2 Matte, which still has a healthy sheen to it, after which it’s time to get the canopy fitted and the lights painted, making this Phantom complete.
Conclusion
Zoukei-Mura kits are massively well detailed; they are complicated and sometimes fiddly to build. The plastic is of beautiful quality, the mouldings are accurate and shaped perfectly but you will need to have your wits about you building this level of complexity. That is definitely no criticism as it’s the very nature of these amazing kits from Zoukei-Mura. Yes, you have to do some work but the end result is worth every bit of it.
The accuracy of this kit is something that I was really interested in as the Phantom has a multitude of shapes that will catch out the unwary manufacturer. I am happy to report that to my eye at least, this is the most accurate Phantom on the market today and I love the finished result, which means that as far as I’m concerned it was well worth the wait.
Our thanks to Zoukei-Mura for the review sample.
Kit Review
A little while ago this was sent to me for review and build, the review is already on the site so here (at long last) is the build. My apologies to Zoukei-Mura for the time it took but I’ve had a lot of builds to do for the various books, so the web-site bits take a back seat.
Let's do this one a bit differently, just photo-based as it is good to show now the kit builds
Construction
Most people will start with the cockpit and as beautifully executed as it is, there is still room for improvement. In this case with homemade seat belts and some additional wires and fittings for the rear instrument panel. Careful painting will bring out all the well-moulded detail work.
You get two J-79 engines to build, although they are very simple versions they would be the perfect starting point for some serious detailing. The stand is made from pieces located in the sprues, which is a nice touch, but you really need both engines in the model or it will be completely see-through.
The completed engines and their associated intakes are firmly attached to the lower wing section. It all fits easily, with positive locations and check out the boxed-in main wheel bays, also very well done.
There are a couple of additions to make to get the right details for the right version. Here you can see the little extra lump on the upper wing, which on the real aircraft is a fairing covering the main undercarriage leg hinge.
The fuselage halves close up reasonably well around the interior parts and the centre line joint is well hidden under inserts along the spine. Throughout the instructions you are advised to; “Adjust the shapes to have no space between the parts and assemble.” Basically that’s Zoukei-Mura telling you to do your trial fits and trims.
I over-exposed this image on purpose to get a better view of the cockpit interior and you can see that the detail looks lovely once it’s tucked away inside the fuselage. The addition of seat belts is an absolute must. If you don’t, the whole area will look amazingly bare.
Fitting the wing section to the fuselage is not without it’s difficulties as there’s a lot to line up but the shapes are spot on, leaving no gaps anywhere if you get it right. You do have to take care though, the more you add to the kit, the more complex it becomes and the easier it is to make mistakes.
The inner flap and outer flaperon (yes that’s a real word) are a very neat fit but sadly only in the neutral position. The way they are attached and the shapes of the moulded parts mean that they cannot be drooped at all without some complex surgery. It would have been good to see them poseable to give the slab wing a bit more character.
The outer wing panels also need to be carefully aligned to get the right Anhedral, even though they are moulded with big location tabs on them.
The transparent parts are beautifully clear and have neatly defined framework, so they are easy to mask and they also fit perfectly. Sadly the same cannot be said for the intake structures, which need considerable fettling to get them to nestle into the right spot. The detail work on the exterior surface is excellent though.
Colour & Markings
The start of the paint process and even though it doesn’t look like it here, the main colour is actually an off-white, with gloss white for the gear and airbrake bays. The underside of the Phantom is complicated and the shapes look perfect on this kit.
Light Gull Gray FS16440 has any number of shades, depending on the paint manufacturer but I find the Gunze Aqueous Hobby Colour H315 is a really good starting point before all the weathering goes on over the top.Note the small areas of black at the wingtips and the intakes on the nose. These are going to be the only markings painted, I’m going to see how the decals perform for the rest of it.
Alclad 2 metallic lacquers and lots of different mixed shades to get the hot and dirty look to the Titanium and Inconel metal section of the tail. It’s important to get this bit looking right, as it’s an iconic bit of the airframe.
The upper section of metallic bits is just as important as the bits underneath. The slab tails need to be carefully masked and the application of the shades needs to be as close to the real thing as possible because the human eye is so good at picking out things that just don’t “fit”. If you get it wrong you’ll know it.
Here you can see the multiple stages of the weathering process all in one shot. There are some of the smaller panels picked out in a lighter Gull Gray to give it a bit more character, then the dirt streaks are applied with various colours of pastel dust. It’s had some Tamiya X-19 Smoke thinly sprayed along the panel lines and fasteners, with the whole lot sealed in under a coat of Tamiya X-22 Gloss. It looks a little too dirty but I’ve leaned over the years that the final coats of matt varnish will tone it all down.
The decals (330 of them! Yes, you read that right!) are applied onto the gloss surface and allowed to settle before being helped along the way with some softening solutions. There is a little silvering over some of the detail work but it’s minor and easily dealt with. Another coat of gloss, this time Johnsons Klear and once that’s had 24 hours to harden a thin oil wash is applied over virtually the whole kit. You don’t want to make the wash too dark or too thick, as it will stand out harshly against the pale grey and white. After a couple of hours, wipe away the oil with a soft cloth and it’s ready for the final bits to go on.Final Details
Holy heck just look at this little lot! As if the days of decalling weren’t enough there’s this bunch of stuff to be hung off the thing. I opted to add some wiring to some of the parts as well as additional locks and catches for the canopy sections, plus the Remove Before Flight tags from an Eduard pre-printed set. However you look at it, the final stages of any big jet are immensely complicated but the more you add, the better it gets. Once all the bits and pieces are fitted it’s time for the final finish of Alclad 2 Matte, which still has a healthy sheen to it, after which it’s time to get the canopy fitted and the lights painted, making this Phantom complete.Conclusion
Zoukei-Mura kits are massively well detailed; they are complicated and sometimes fiddly to build. The plastic is of beautiful quality, the mouldings are accurate and shaped perfectly but you will need to have your wits about you building this level of complexity. That is definitely no criticism as it’s the very nature of these amazing kits from Zoukei-Mura. Yes, you have to do some work but the end result is worth every bit of it.
The accuracy of this kit is something that I was really interested in as the Phantom has a multitude of shapes that will catch out the unwary manufacturer. I am happy to report that to my eye at least, this is the most accurate Phantom on the market today and I love the finished result, which means that as far as I’m concerned it was well worth the wait.
Our thanks to Zoukei-Mura for the review sample.
