1/32 Tamiya F-4S Phantom

Gallery Article by Sean McDermott on Nov 19 2012

 

 

This project originally started off as a Vietnam-era F-4J Phantom.  Then I came across a picture of a low-viz F-4S Phantom in all black stencilling.  And before I knew it, I was building another F-4S.  I used the Aires F-4J/S cockpit which is highly detailed, but takes a little effort to get to fit.  The seamless intakes came from Rhino Models that I got from Ebay.  These intakes were a breeze to fit and required very little filling and sanding.  The resin outer wings came from Isracast and the outboard slats were extras in a Cutting Edge F-4E conversion set I bought a few years ago.......glad I kept them.  Other extras used were Sidewinder launch rails from Wolfpack Designs and AIM-9 L/M's from Zactomodels.  These resin Sidewinders are beautifully detailed and easy to assemble.  The missiles were dressed up using decals from Two Bobs.

 

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I used Model Master enamel paints for the tactical gray scheme.  Light ghost gray was used for the underside and dark ghost gray was used for the sides. The medium gray for the upper surfaces was a mixture of dark ghost gray and gunship gray. The wings were painted in a slightly darker shade than the fuselage.  I then sprayed lighter mixtures of the base colors to give the model a sun bleached, faded look.  Once the model was given a final dull coat, I applied a dark water color wash to simulate dirt and grease.  Streaks and staining was accomplished using pastel chalks.

I used various shades of Metalizer paints for the bare metal surfaces.  The exhaust nozzles are from Eduard and come with a very nice resin tail hook.  With the exception of the lightning bolt, the decals were scavenged from F-14 and A-7 sheets.  The lightning bolt was masked by hand using photos as reference and then airbrushed.

Sean McDermott

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Photos and text © by Sean McDermott