1/72 Revell F-4F

by Arkut Yuksel

Long ago I had decided to make a model of the old but still precious F-4 for one of my best friends. This year, after seeing the one that I would like build in a competition held at the Air Force Museum in Istanbul, Turkey, I decided to finish it.

As I was very anxious about finishing it very quick, I did not care about the accuracy of the plane too much; and I chose the Revell 1/72 F-4F kit as the one. The Revell kit is gorgeous and compares well in many ways with the old but worthy Hasegawa kit.  The only little existing problem is the photoflash cartridges that are actually moulded on the RF-4 fuselage of the Revell in the same scale; as Revell was producing the new F version, all they did was to add new sprues for the F version in which case the fuselage was common for both and as being common the details for the cartridges are there. Not concerning this little thing as a huge problem, I aimed myself at the elevators which are of great importance to me. Known by the most, the great difference between an E and the F version is the elevators; the E version has the slatted version of it where the F version still keeps the unslatted one.  

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Thank God that I have a spares box from where I could obtain the slatted elevators to finish up my project.

After construction, the kit was ready for a painting. Much time has been spent on deciding which camouflage pattern to apply on the model and at last I decided in the Euro I pattern which was used not for a very long time as the SEA pattern nor the Egypt one. (The paints used are all acrylics from the JPS Color made in Germany. The colors have the same quality  at the finish as the Gunze acrylics but only if they are thinned with water! The alcohol also works with them but not quite as well as the watered ones. Also there must be a base color before applying the main colors; other wise the paint will peel of from the surface of the plastic.)

FS numbers for the pattern are:

34079

34102

36081

The paints were airbrushed without masking with Badger 100 F.  

After painting the decals went on the kit; including the glowing formation lights. These lights are custom made by me!

Although knowing that there are some existing decals on the market, since many years I have been thinking about doing them by myself. Revell has a good one called “Night Colour” which contains flourescent particles. But the liquid is so thick that it can not be applied on a model with a brush or an air brush. So I decided to dry out the flourescent particles out of the liquid base which did not took me a lot time. After getting the flourescent powder I mixed it up with the decal making liquid and applied it on a blank decal sheet, then cut it out and put it on the model; VOILA!

 

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After applying the decals, it was time to weather the old precious Rhino. Personally I like to weather as much as I can; that means I need a lot to search for what I can do. In my opinion weathering adds life to plastic, while you do it, you must observe the real thing, so that you get closer.

That is why I have chosen to depict the Rhino flown at the 3rd Main Jet Base located at Konya; the same way camouflaged  planes are also located at the 1st Main Jet Base in Eskisehir, but since the climate there is more smooth, I have chosen Konya which has a more hours of intense sun. Also the quality of the paints play a great role on the weathering; well what more to say…          

Searching for the web, asking the friends about some photos I examined all what I obtained as a reference.

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Then it all began.

The green paints were faded a lot; that is due to their characteristics and the sun.

Also the gray received attention in that manner.

But the green colors are stayed much more matt than the gray color. Near to the nose the gray shows a more shiny appearance; may be it is because of the pigments characteristic.

But it is for sure that from the beginning of the place where the engines are installed all the colors take a matt finish; that is due to the high temperature caused by the engine.

Oil leaks are simulated by putting some black dry pastel on the surface and wiping it along the relative flight path of the plane with a damped cloth. After that gloss varnish applied on to give a shiny appearance.

Fading of the colors are achieved with Gunze acrylics.

Some paint chipping is done there and here.

After everything is finished the photos were taken by my friend’s to whom I give my thanks; UFUK AYDINER and OZKEN UNER.

Taking the photos I was the happiest man of the world at that moment; there was my kit staying in the black light with glowing formation stripes.

Hope you all enjoyed my project.

Happy modeling to all!

Arkut

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