McDD F-4J Phantom 'Showtime 100'
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Kit Review
This is a new tooling from Academy and it features both their MCP (Multi-Coloured Parts) system of injected components and a snap-together assembly.
For our preview of this kit visit here.
Construction
The first thing is to remember that snap-together does not mean the same today as it did 20+ years ago, these are not basic or old kits modified to allow assembly without glue. If you look at the kits produced by Zvezda for instance, they are some of the best in the scale, but they are still essentially snap-together. This new example from Academy follows similar lines, but all the assembly is not really possible without glue, as some bits will need a drop here an there. The instructions kick off with the cockpit, which is fine for the scale and you can always update with the numerous resin and etched sets already on the market for this kit. The only thing to remember is that the diagram for the placement of the decals for the side consoles and instruments panels are on the separate sheet containing all the marking details for the options in the kit, don't miss it or you will have a very bare looking cockpit area. I just added some pre-painted etched seat belts from a set I think was for a Hasegawa F-4. You can leave off the instrument coaming (#F21) and projector (#G2) in stage 2, as these can be added at the end. All the other parts fit into place well, although I admit gluing in place the internal parts like E17, E10, and I2 (x2), as I did not want these coming loose later in the build! Leave off the ventral doors (A6 & A9), as these can be added at the end and you can also leave off the arrestor hook (M1), as that also can go on towards the end. The breakdown of the intakes is such that you can spray the insides of each half (C1/E25 and D1/E24) white before assembly and leave off the splitter plate (B4 & B5) until much later, which thus allows you to paint these latter two parts separately and get the white/grey demarcation on them. Watch out for the two holes on either side of these intakes, as they are later shown covered with a sticker, so you in fact need to fill these before the overall paint job starts. You can pack the nose cone (F8) with weight, and in this instant I found the new Uschi van der Rosen Three Green putty weight ideal for the job as it allows you to pack it into place, then attach the nose cone temporarily and thus make any projections inside create imprints in the putty that will mean they don't get in the way later. I did ditch the kit wheels, feeling that the resin ones from Brassin (#672 078) were much better and made painting and weathering easier. The push-on nature of the original kit wheels does mean you will have to drill out the axles on these new resin wheels slightly, but it was not too difficult to do even with them still on their casting blocks. The inclusion of self-adhesive masks in the set makes painting the hubs a lot easier too. All the undercarriage doors, flaps and other 'dangly' bits were painted and weathered in the sprues, to be added at the end of the build, as was all the ordnance and pylons. The canopy can be left off until laster in the build, although to mask it I used the excellent die-cut, self-adhesive masks from Eduard (#CX417) because they just make life so much easier.
Colour Options
There are two schemes in the kit.
• BuNo.155800), '100' of VF-96 on USS Constellation and flown by Lt Randy Cunningham and Lt Jg. William P. Driscoll on the 10th May 1972
• BuNo.155792, '107' also of VF-96 on USS Constellation in March 1972
I opted for the first option because I just liked the additional markings of this 'MiG killer' in comparison with the other option. All the colours are keyed to the Humbrol, Gunze-Sangyo Aqueous or Mr Color and Lifecolor ranges, but for this build I went with Mr Aqueous for the FS colours and Tamiya for the basic white and black. The whole model was actually primed with Mr Surfacer 1500 Black, as this removes the need for any post-shading. I then started with the lightest colour, namely white for the undersides, filling the centre of each panel first, then once all of these were done, the rest of the undersides were given a mist of white to level everything and blend it together. This takes a little practice and you need to know when to stop, but it is a very effective way of weathering white and light grey areas without the risks associated with post-shading. The upper surfaces that where white (rudder, flaps etc.) were also done at the same time. Once all had hardened off overnight, the white was polished with a piece of fabric, just to take the roughness off the paint, as white is notorious for being 'pebbledash' otherwise. All the white was then sealed with two light coats of Johnson's Klear and left for 24 hours to harden. Once this was dry the demarcations were masked (I got it wrong here, as I did straight lines, when they should be wavy!) and the upper surface Light Gull Grey FS16440 was applied in the same manner as the white; dense areas in the middle of each panel, then a build up of light overspray to the rest to level and combine all the colour whilst still leaving the panel lines darker. Again this gets the polishing after the paint is dry, followed by gloss and a 24 hour drying spell. All of the metal areas around the tail would be dealt with later. At this stage, with the model sufficiently glossy, the decals could be applied
Decals
Now here I came unstuck, as I just did not get on with the decals in the kit. They look beautiful on the paper and come off no problem, but they just would not conform to shapes or stick down. In the end I resorted in 'sticking' them in place with Johnson's Klear! Some of the stencils though were a no-go as a result, for things like the missiles and bombs, as they just would not stick around them and stay in situ. As a result only those stencils that were 'level' and did not need to go round anything were applied. It may be me, not applying them correctly, but they just would not work and had I had the option to go with an aftermarket sheet I would have done so. The volume of stencils means that you have to do this one in stages, so I added the walkway markings first, left them to dry overnight, then the next night did the upper surface stencils, followed the next night by the underside stencils - phew a long job, made worse by having to stick many in place with varnish! Take care with the black cheatlines around and behind the cockpit, as you will have to lightly attach the canopy and work these in place, although I opted to add the black areas ahead of the cockpit and along the canopy sills in paint rather then decals; just the aft section, where the two lines converge are decals.
Final Details
All the ordnance, missiles and tanks were painted at the same time as the main airframe and my problems with the decals meant I had to attempt to mask and paint the yellow nose bands on the bombs, six times over! The tailplanes are a lovely mix of metal shades and white panels, so this was all done stage by stage using Alclad 2 metal shades over the black base I had applied. The jet exhaust area was done in the same manner, once all the overall paint and decals were safely under a coat of varnish. The undercarriage doors and flaps were all painted black, then white in the same manner as the underside, then glossed before a dark wash was applied. Finally the red edges were hand-painted on using the excellent Vallejo paint, as it remained bright over the white base. The resin wheels were painted matt black on the sides and tyre black around the circumference, then the hubs were painted white before a dark wash brought out all the detail. The final weathering of the types was to add earth tone pastel dust around the edges of the circumference, mixed and fixed in place with the fixing medium from MIG Productions. The final job was to attach everything and although push-fit may have been good enough in some areas (the canopy for instance), I found that the pylons and undercarriage all needed to be glued in place, whilst the undercarriage doors had big enough locating pins to go with or without glue.
Conclusion
A nice kit that is only (possibly) let down by the decals, or maybe it was me? Overall though it built easily and looks like a Phantom once completed, and although I spent time with all the weathering etc. the build itself probably took less that a couple of evenings.
Highly recommended to all, regardless of your skill/experience level.
Our thanks to Pocketbond Ltd (www.pocketbond.co.uk) for the review sample.
This is a new tooling from Academy and it features both their MCP (Multi-Coloured Parts) system of injected components and a snap-together assembly.
For our preview of this kit visit here.
Construction
The first thing is to remember that snap-together does not mean the same today as it did 20+ years ago, these are not basic or old kits modified to allow assembly without glue. If you look at the kits produced by Zvezda for instance, they are some of the best in the scale, but they are still essentially snap-together. This new example from Academy follows similar lines, but all the assembly is not really possible without glue, as some bits will need a drop here an there. The instructions kick off with the cockpit, which is fine for the scale and you can always update with the numerous resin and etched sets already on the market for this kit. The only thing to remember is that the diagram for the placement of the decals for the side consoles and instruments panels are on the separate sheet containing all the marking details for the options in the kit, don't miss it or you will have a very bare looking cockpit area. I just added some pre-painted etched seat belts from a set I think was for a Hasegawa F-4. You can leave off the instrument coaming (#F21) and projector (#G2) in stage 2, as these can be added at the end. All the other parts fit into place well, although I admit gluing in place the internal parts like E17, E10, and I2 (x2), as I did not want these coming loose later in the build! Leave off the ventral doors (A6 & A9), as these can be added at the end and you can also leave off the arrestor hook (M1), as that also can go on towards the end. The breakdown of the intakes is such that you can spray the insides of each half (C1/E25 and D1/E24) white before assembly and leave off the splitter plate (B4 & B5) until much later, which thus allows you to paint these latter two parts separately and get the white/grey demarcation on them. Watch out for the two holes on either side of these intakes, as they are later shown covered with a sticker, so you in fact need to fill these before the overall paint job starts. You can pack the nose cone (F8) with weight, and in this instant I found the new Uschi van der Rosen Three Green putty weight ideal for the job as it allows you to pack it into place, then attach the nose cone temporarily and thus make any projections inside create imprints in the putty that will mean they don't get in the way later. I did ditch the kit wheels, feeling that the resin ones from Brassin (#672 078) were much better and made painting and weathering easier. The push-on nature of the original kit wheels does mean you will have to drill out the axles on these new resin wheels slightly, but it was not too difficult to do even with them still on their casting blocks. The inclusion of self-adhesive masks in the set makes painting the hubs a lot easier too. All the undercarriage doors, flaps and other 'dangly' bits were painted and weathered in the sprues, to be added at the end of the build, as was all the ordnance and pylons. The canopy can be left off until laster in the build, although to mask it I used the excellent die-cut, self-adhesive masks from Eduard (#CX417) because they just make life so much easier.
Colour Options
There are two schemes in the kit.
• BuNo.155800), '100' of VF-96 on USS Constellation and flown by Lt Randy Cunningham and Lt Jg. William P. Driscoll on the 10th May 1972
• BuNo.155792, '107' also of VF-96 on USS Constellation in March 1972
I opted for the first option because I just liked the additional markings of this 'MiG killer' in comparison with the other option. All the colours are keyed to the Humbrol, Gunze-Sangyo Aqueous or Mr Color and Lifecolor ranges, but for this build I went with Mr Aqueous for the FS colours and Tamiya for the basic white and black. The whole model was actually primed with Mr Surfacer 1500 Black, as this removes the need for any post-shading. I then started with the lightest colour, namely white for the undersides, filling the centre of each panel first, then once all of these were done, the rest of the undersides were given a mist of white to level everything and blend it together. This takes a little practice and you need to know when to stop, but it is a very effective way of weathering white and light grey areas without the risks associated with post-shading. The upper surfaces that where white (rudder, flaps etc.) were also done at the same time. Once all had hardened off overnight, the white was polished with a piece of fabric, just to take the roughness off the paint, as white is notorious for being 'pebbledash' otherwise. All the white was then sealed with two light coats of Johnson's Klear and left for 24 hours to harden. Once this was dry the demarcations were masked (I got it wrong here, as I did straight lines, when they should be wavy!) and the upper surface Light Gull Grey FS16440 was applied in the same manner as the white; dense areas in the middle of each panel, then a build up of light overspray to the rest to level and combine all the colour whilst still leaving the panel lines darker. Again this gets the polishing after the paint is dry, followed by gloss and a 24 hour drying spell. All of the metal areas around the tail would be dealt with later. At this stage, with the model sufficiently glossy, the decals could be applied
Decals
Now here I came unstuck, as I just did not get on with the decals in the kit. They look beautiful on the paper and come off no problem, but they just would not conform to shapes or stick down. In the end I resorted in 'sticking' them in place with Johnson's Klear! Some of the stencils though were a no-go as a result, for things like the missiles and bombs, as they just would not stick around them and stay in situ. As a result only those stencils that were 'level' and did not need to go round anything were applied. It may be me, not applying them correctly, but they just would not work and had I had the option to go with an aftermarket sheet I would have done so. The volume of stencils means that you have to do this one in stages, so I added the walkway markings first, left them to dry overnight, then the next night did the upper surface stencils, followed the next night by the underside stencils - phew a long job, made worse by having to stick many in place with varnish! Take care with the black cheatlines around and behind the cockpit, as you will have to lightly attach the canopy and work these in place, although I opted to add the black areas ahead of the cockpit and along the canopy sills in paint rather then decals; just the aft section, where the two lines converge are decals.
Final Details
All the ordnance, missiles and tanks were painted at the same time as the main airframe and my problems with the decals meant I had to attempt to mask and paint the yellow nose bands on the bombs, six times over! The tailplanes are a lovely mix of metal shades and white panels, so this was all done stage by stage using Alclad 2 metal shades over the black base I had applied. The jet exhaust area was done in the same manner, once all the overall paint and decals were safely under a coat of varnish. The undercarriage doors and flaps were all painted black, then white in the same manner as the underside, then glossed before a dark wash was applied. Finally the red edges were hand-painted on using the excellent Vallejo paint, as it remained bright over the white base. The resin wheels were painted matt black on the sides and tyre black around the circumference, then the hubs were painted white before a dark wash brought out all the detail. The final weathering of the types was to add earth tone pastel dust around the edges of the circumference, mixed and fixed in place with the fixing medium from MIG Productions. The final job was to attach everything and although push-fit may have been good enough in some areas (the canopy for instance), I found that the pylons and undercarriage all needed to be glued in place, whilst the undercarriage doors had big enough locating pins to go with or without glue.
Conclusion
A nice kit that is only (possibly) let down by the decals, or maybe it was me? Overall though it built easily and looks like a Phantom once completed, and although I spent time with all the weathering etc. the build itself probably took less that a couple of evenings.
Highly recommended to all, regardless of your skill/experience level.
Our thanks to Pocketbond Ltd (www.pocketbond.co.uk) for the review sample.
