Tamiya 1/32nd F-4E

[JimD]

Sigh. From reading people's accounts of this kit on FB you'd think it's just as good as Taniyas new stuff. It's not. I don't know if it's denial or Stockholm syndrome from people who have finished it but this kit KS a dog. 

Problems include a rear cockpit bulkhead with terrible joint and wrong orientation. I completely rebuilt that. There's the raised battle damage panels. If you don't sand those off I refuse to take the build seriously. The late Phantoms (E&J) have burner cans out of the box that ate laughably underscale. Aires and Eduard copy this. At the time only a set from QMT for the Revell kit worked. Reskit does a set mow. 

Tbe heat shield had atrocious fit. Look at a build online and you'll likely see that unaddressed. Same goes for the bad fit of the vertical tail. Which has a profile issue. Then, there's the fact the dihedral out of the kit is 10 degrees too steep. Bought a jig to fix that. 

This one won 2nd in category and best US Aircraft at the 2022 Houaton show. 

Aftermarket includes: Quickboost seats, QMT exhaust and wheels, DEF Models FOD, Zotz primary marking, Speedhunter stencils

[TJ]

For all those issues. This still looks really good

[handiabled]

Tamiya's 1/32 F-4C offering has the same raised battle damaged panel issue. This looks stellar!

[406 Silverado]

First off, this did turn out to be a really good replication Jim. Sorry to hear about the issues from a known good kitmaker such as Tamiya though. As highly as they are commended they still do stuff sometimes that makes someone wanna scratch their head. The rear bulkhead & heat shield issues are not consistent with the monetary cost of these kits which I've seen go for well over 100 bucks. Despite the problems, you most certainly put some good time into this one to correct the problem areas. Looks great buddy and congratulations on the wins....especially that Best Aircraft of Show.

[deafpanzer]

I remember following your build on FB and you didn't let it win the battle! It came out great because you are very experienced modeler. Suppose somebody with less experience will be more likely not happy with the outcome.

You kicked ass this time! I bought Meng 1/48 Phantom after following your build so you kinda had a bad influence on me and my wallet.

[JimD]

Thanks folks. I enjoyed the torture so much I've bow got the C/D kit in tomhe corner accumulating the necessary aftermarket. My goal is to have it done by April for the show...so I'll have to start it soonish I suppose.

[JimD]

Aug 22, 2023 8:53:30 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

I remember following your build on FB and you didn't let it win the battle! It came out great because you are very experienced modeler. Suppose somebody with less experience will be more likely not happy with the outcome.

You kicked ass this time! I bought Meng 1/48 Phantom after following your build so you kinda had a bad influence on me and my wallet.

I look forward to seeing what you do with the Meng kit when you get around to it. By all accounts its a solid kit.

[Medicman71]

You did great work with a horrible kit! Very nice!

[jeaton01]

What was better at the time the kit was issued? It's great to see such a pleasing result rendered from the kit. And nice to have the info on how to give the kit some love.