Hasewaga RF-4B Phantom II VMFP-3 Special (Ltd Edition) 1:48

[Whiterook]

Hasewaga RF-4B Phantom II VMFP-3 Special (Ltd Edition) 1:48

I built this kit starting back in January 2010 as a special project, whic I'll get into more in a minute. I spent a good part of a week searching for just the right version of the USMC RF 4B Phantom; and alternatively, I was looking at 4J’s and 4N’s, as well, but I was setting my attention to the 4B. I finally found just the right one for my purpose at from EA Hobby out of New York. It's a $60 kit, which I got for $33.25 (with shipping, $39.15). A good price, for sure!

A friend at work, who was due to retire shortly, is a Marine that served in 'Nam and beyond; he worked in the division I worked in back then....I've since moved on, and he did retire; I finished the kit just in time to send him off in style. He's a real nice, stand-up guy. He was a GIB (Guy In Back) in F4B, J, and N Phantom II's. His squadron of choice (that he flew in) was a photo recce unit off of the USS Coral Sea.

I decided I wanted to build an RF-4B for him for his retirement…..a token of my thanks for good laughs, kind words, and of course, his service to our country. I'd been
grilling him, covertly seeking out stories of his favorite times, ship, bird....that sort of thing. I narrowed down the RF-4B Phantom II as his favorite, and then his squadron he flew in that bird. Did some quick research and found a picture online, which I emailed him with a "Look familiar?", and he came back with.... that was his exact birdie! ...though that picture I sent him was when the bird was about to be put to pasture. I found the kit mentioned above....and the after-market decals of his squadron, which saved a lot of time from hand painting it custom. To be honest, I was shooting for a little less price-wise, but he deserved a good build for his service in the Corps!

I had nailed down a little more about what he flew. It was basically the bird I showed a picture of to him, but that pic was from another time, not when he flew. I figured out the markings that needed to go on the bird, and bought a set of Eagle Strike RF-4B/RF-4C Phantom II "Eyes in the Sky" Pt II #48198 decals from Squadron. I just needed to hold back on ordering them for a little until my bankbook caught up with my inspiration!

I also looked at a Martin Baker Mk H7 Ejection Seat set that could make it pop a little more....but had decided to wait to see what Hasewaga put in there first. I was looking at a Verlinden set also, but it has seats that were reviewed as being "in maintenance mode". Nope! Also looked a Quickboost Ejection Seat set, and was swayed with these as well, but the Martin Baker set looked awesome.

I did look at other scales, as well. The 1:32 scale birds were MAGNIFICENT......but way out of my cost range for the project, at over $100 USD each. Tamiya
seems to be the big seller in that scale. 1:72 had an awesome range, but for one, I worried they'd be too small for what I want to produce; and I
also couldn't find his RF-4B bird, and would have had to either try and find decals for his squadron, or hand paint them. I went with the 1/48 in the end, as it had a great, dynamic visual appeal, so it probably worked out that Karma decided long before I made my decision! I'm happy with it, too!!! I had heard good words on Hasegawa, too.....though it was the first time I built that line.

Up to that point, it had probably been somewhere near 35 years since I did a modern bird, so it was to be a nice circle ‘round!



A little history:

In the initial Model 98 package that was submitted to the Navy, McDonnell had included a Model 98P, which was a photographic reconnaissance version of the basic design. The Navy initially expressed no interest in the Model 98P proposal, since they were perfectly happy with the F8U-1P reconnaissance version of the Crusader. However, the F8U-1P lacked the night reconnaissance capability that was being planned in early 1962 for the Air Force's RF-110A reconnaissance version of the land-based Phantom. This caused the Navy to take a second look at the Model 98P, and in February 1963 the Marine Corps agreed to acquire the first 9 of an eventual 46 RF-4Bs.

In initial proposals and in pre-contract negotiations, this aircraft had initially been referred to as F4H-1P. However, this was changed to RF-4B in September 1962 when the new unified designation scheme came into effect.

The RF-4B was quite similar to the much more numerous RF-4C of the USAF. Like the RF-4C, the RF-4B was unarmed. The fighter's radar-equipped nose was replaced
with a special nose specifically designed for reconnaissance applications. This nose was 4 feet 8 7/8 inches longer than the nose of the armed F-4B. The AN/APQ-72 radar of the F-4B was replaced by the much smaller Texas Instruments AN/APQ-99 forward-looking J-band monopulse radar which was optimized for terrain avoidance and terrain-following modes, and could also be used for ground mapping. There were three separate camera bays in the nose, designated Stations 1, 2, and 3.
Station 1 could carry a single forward oblique or vertical KS-87 camera, Station 2 could carry a single KA-87 low-altitude camera, and Station 3 normally carried a single KA-55A or KA-91 high-altitude panoramic camera. The much larger KS-91 or KS-127A camera could also be carried. Unlike the cameras of the Air Force's RF-4Cs, the RF-4B's cameras were fitted on rotating mounts so that the pilot could aim them at targets off the flight path.

The rear cockpit was configured for a reconnaissance systems operator, with no flight controls being provided. Two ALE-29A/B chaff/flare dispensers were installed, one on each side of the aircraft above the rear fuselage. For nighttime photography, a set of photoflash cartridges could be ejected upward from each side of the aircraft.

An AN/APQ-102 reconnaissance SLAR was fitted, with antenna faired into the lower fuselage sides, just ahead of the intakes. This SLAR was capable of tracking both fixed and moving targets. An AN/AAD-4 infrared reconnaissance system was fitted in the fuselage belly just behind the SLAR. AN APR-25/27 radar homing and
warning system was used, an ASW-25B one-way datalink was installed. An ALQ-126 deceptive electronic countermeasures package was installed, which obviated the need to carry external jammer pods. An ARC-105 communication transceiver was fitted, which required that large fin-skin shunt antennae be faired into both sides of the vertical fin. A Litton ASN-48 inertial navigation system was carried.

The first 34 RF-4Bs (BuNos 151975/151982 and 152089/153113) retained the powerplants and the basic airframe of the F-4B. However, the last twelve (BuNos
153114, 153115, and 157342/157351) were built with the wide wheels and the "thick" wing of the F-4J. The last three of these (157349/157351) were completed with the smoothly-rounded undernose bulge similar to that seen on many USAF RF-4Cs. This adaptation improved the aerodynamics and increased the internal volume. However, on these three aircraft, the pilot no longer had control of the angle of a KS-87 camera on station 2, which was made fixed.

The film could be developed in flight and film cassettes could be ejected at low altitude so that ground commanders could get aerial intelligence as rapidly as possible.

The first RF-4B flew on March 12, 1965, and deliveries of 46 examples took place between May 1965 and December 1970. All of them went to the Marine Corps.

The RF-4B was first delivered to VMCJ-3 based at MCAS El Toro in May of 1965, and soon after to VMCJ-2 at MCAS Cherry Point and to VMCJ-1 at Iwakuni in Japan.

VMCJ-1 based at Iwakuni in Japan took its RF-4Bs to Da Nang in October of 1966. During the Southeast Asia conflict, three RF-4Bs were lost to ground fire and one was destroyed in an operational accident.

Beginning in 1975, surviving Marine Corps RF-4Bs were upgraded as part of Project *SURE* (Sensor Update and Refurbishment Effort). There was some local strengthening of the airframe and the wiring was entirely replaced. These planes were fitted with the AN/ASN-92 carrier aircraft inertial navigation system (CAINS)
which replaced the ASN-48. They were also fitted with the AN/ASW-25B datalink, the AN/APD-10B SLAR (replacing the APQ-102A), and the AN/AAD-5
infrared reconnaissance set (replacing the AN/AAD-4). Various externally-mounted electronic countermeasures pods were replaced by the internally-mounted ALQ-126 or -126B electronic countermeasures suite with characteristic cable ducts mounted on the sides of the intakes. The J79-GE-8 engines were later replaced by J79-GE-10 engines.

In 1975, two years after combat in Southeast Asia had ended, the surviving RF-4Bs were regrouped into a new squadron, VMFP-3, based at MCAS El Toro. VMFP-3 stood down in August of 1990, bringing Marine Corps operations of the RF-4B to an end.

Serial numbers of the RF-4B:

151975/151977 McDonnell RF-4B-20-MC Phantom (USMC)
151978/151979 McDonnell RF-4B-21-MC Phantom (USMC)
151980/151981 McDonnell RF-4B-22-MC Phantom (USMC)
151982/151983 McDonnell RF-4B-23-MC Phantom (USMC)
153089/153094 McDonnell RF-4B-24-MC Phantom (USMC)
153095/153100 McDonnell RF-4B-25-MC Phantom (USMC)
153101/153107 McDonnell RF-4B-26-MC Phantom (USMC)
153108/153115 McDonnell RF-4B-27-MC Phantom (USMC)
157342/157346 McDonnell RF-4B-41-MC Phantom (USMC)
157347/157351 McDonnell RF-4B-43-MC Phantom (USMC)

Sources:

1. The World's Fighting Planes, William Green, Doubleday, 1964.
2. McDonnell F-4 Phantom: Spirit in the Skies. Airtime Publishing, 1992.
3. The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and Peter Bowers, Orion, 1987.
4. United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, Gordon Swanborough and Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.

[Whiterook]

The kit was gorgeous, and I knew it would be a joy to build! Of what you see pictured here, the only thing not being used are the decals, as I ordered from Eagle Strike's "Eyes in the Sky, Part II" decals, which are the marking of the squadron the friend flew in.





First up, the crew! I started on the crew, which consists of the pilot and the GIB. The crew members were first cleared of all “flash”…taking a craft knife, and scraping down the seam lines left from the molding process.



This took a lot of time, as these figs are small, but have a lot of detail which I didn't want to lose....so it was slow and meticulous. I then glued the arms and heads on. The two figures are about a little over an inch tall, each; and this all took about two hours to scrape clean, and glue bits together. The pair are rested on empty Meow Mix containers, and nestled in BlueTac to hold them steady...

[Whiterook]

One of my discoveries BTW was micromesh style sandpaper, which is AWESOME stuff! I used it to get a smooth finish on where I scraped the seams off the goggle visors!

These were the sanding sheets I bought, along with some Squadron Putty, Mico Sol and Micro Set decal setting solutions, some Liquid Glue (I couldn't get Tamiya, so I'll try out Model Masrters'), and some paints, all for the build.....a cool $40 spent...YIKES!

[Whiterook]

I then started on the Ejection Seats. Originally, I was thinking of going with aftermarket seats, but seeing the seats that came with the kit, they really aren't bad at all, and decided on tweaking them with some scratchbuilt bits!

First up was gluing the sides after they'd been cleaned up, to a central post, which had perfectly aligned pins and recesses.



I then painted the cushioned seats in Tamiya Olive Drab straight from the bottle, hand brushed. I painted straight from the bottle as the color was (for once) spot on with the reference photos I'd dug up, plus I'm going to detail/weather them. Once painted, I glued them to the sides while those sides were still not fully cured and 'movable'......



I then cleaned up the tops of the seats, being EXTREMELY careful not to
break or damage the emergency pulls....these glued in place in a
perfect fit.



The sides and top were painted flat black, and the loops painted yellow
and black striped, all hand painted with Folk Art Acrylics.

[Whiterook]

That was pretty much it for the seats provided.



Next up came some scratchbuilding. In this case, the research I did on the ejection seats showed me a yellow/black striped grab ring on the front, bottom of the seat between the crew member’s legs. These may not be specifically to scale, but of several F4 ejection seats I found images for, the grab ring was different sizes to a degree…so artistic license wpuld rule the day! To achieve what I wanted to do, I assembled some fine wire and Evergreen plasticard bits I have lying about for my scratchbuilding projects and started to work creating this detail.



First up was taking a piece of plasticard and cutting a small piece, and then trimming it into a small round-ish shape. In truth, I know it’s not the exact shape of the actual piece, but it’s just a representation that will be mostly out of sight. I then cut a small snip of wire and bent a crude loop. Next was filing a small groove in one side of the plasticard that would accept the wire; and then I super glued the wire in place.



After allowed to cure several hours, I flipped the pieces over and filed down the surface to reduce the thickness. Next came some paint again, with the yellow/black stripes. Man, this was some fine painting detail. When all was dry, I sanded down the area on the ejection seats where the pieces would be glued, which allowed the liquid glue to melt the plastic of each respective part to seat, and glued them in place. Finally, the loops were shaped a bit to conform to what I thought they should look like.

[Whiterook]

Then some detailing and weathering to the cushions. Basically, I only had to do the top sides, and some of the bottom foot area, as the Pilot and GIB (Guy in Back) will be glued in place covering a lot of the area of the cushions.



I painted the loop plate at the foot of the chair, which I had scratchbuilt....



And painted some detail on top with Folk Art Gold, and then brogught back down again with drybrushing some black back on top; this gave a nice weathered effect.....

[Whiterook]

A few more shots....







Now keep in mind, there is more detailing and weathering to be done to these! Next up will come the crew, so stay tuned: Same Bat Time, Same Bat Chanel!!!

[deafpanzer]

Always liked those F4s... one day I have to build if somebody makes me do post WWII plane. Kit looks much better this time...

[bbd468]

Sweet!!! Thats a BAD A$$ war bird. I remember seeing them from time to time flying over the house from Reese AFB in west Texas as a youngster. Big trail of black smoke...ah the memories flood once again!

[Leon]

Seats are looking good.On with the build.

[Deleted]

A big H Phantom, this should be good! I'm in   

Great start on the office buddy 

[Whiterook]

Thanks guys...yeah, she's a beauty. Of the models I've given away, I miss this one a lot!

[Whiterook]

OK.... the Crew! This takes place over several stages of hand brushing. First up was a coat of Tamiya Olive Drab on the flight suits and gloves. Again, straight from the bottle, but this time not because it matched the color I wanted for the final suit color, but rather was the perfect color for the basecoat recesses.....



The Folk Art Acrylic Light Green was dry-brushed over the surface of the flight suits, and as a basecoat to the mask and hoses.....





Then, Folk Art Black were painted on the boots, making a semi gloss. And then Tamiya Gloss White to the helmets, and Tamiya Semi-gloss Black to the visor; as well as Tamiya Khaki Drab to the gloves mask, hose, and harness......

[Whiterook]

And then some tweaking of the flight suits with more highlights, but not too much, as I wanted a slightly faded and worn uniform, but not tattered....and also some dust on the boots. Then some detail went on the ejection seats, painting details of hydraulics, pistons, and canisters. Also a pull handle on the right of the seat with
yellow/black.



Then, the crew were super-glued to the seats.









The ejection seats will see a little more work in getting some very minor chipping and highlight fading, as well as some red detail to the top pull loops bar.

Note the pull between the legs....I was very pleased with the result on this.

[Whiterook]

I put the cockpit details together, and there are some nice detail on these! The instrument panel is well defined, which was a pleasant discovery. I even had my first go with Squadron Putty, which you can just make out that would have been a joy stick in the GIB (Guy In Back) compartment.






After glued up and cured, I test fit the crew, and they fit perfect!

[thug626]

This is one of my favorite jet warbirds. One doesn't often see a recce version built. Count me in.
That is a mighty fine gesture, building it for your buddy. Kudo to you
Dave

[Whiterook]

Thanks guys!!! And yes, it is a very cool warbird, and awesome to build.

[Whiterook]

The first real problem I had with the kit was part of the instruction, mainly that dealt with the GIB rear crew compartment, and the placing of the cushioned panel and side stick thing, listed as "Q4".....



As you can see from the diagram, it shows generally *where* to place it, but not exactly! There were no guidelines inside the fuselage, so it was a guessing game. There were no reference pics to check out, so I guesstimated; and in the end, I believe it was the right locale, when all was said in done with the fuselage halves glued together and the cockpit and crew in, as you will see soon.



I used clamps to hold the panel in place while the glue dried.

[Whiterook]

Since the instructions are just diagrams with little to no written instructions, I haven't a clue what the name of some of this stuff is...so without any knowledge on the innards of one of these puppies, I next put on the Flux Capacitor!



The wall it sits on and the front camera bay are all to be painted flat black, so I used Folk Art Acrylic for it. The Flux Capacitor, and one of the recon cameras needed grey, and I mixed up a batch of Folk Art Acrylic for those as well, based on some research which shows them looking a different shade of gray for some reason. I also placed a light wash of black/brown to grease it up a tad on the Flux Capacitor. I just like saying, Flux Capacitor!

The next problem arose with the placement of the crew/cockpit deck....again, the instructions showed the genral area, but not specifically! I dry fitted the unit in place, with no guidelines to go by, other than some bas relied wiring inside the fusilage, and went with my gut. BTW, some paint went on the entire flight deck prior to glueing. I am learning, through my faux pas with the innards of a Marder III build, and not airbrushing the insides that are hard to get too, to paint selectively during the construction process!



Putting the camera together was a hassle, in placement in the fuselage. Basically, a tiny post holding the whole damned thing in place! I mean, come on!!!



And then with the rest of the camera assembly, more weight!

[Whiterook]

The fuselage was glued together, and this was my first ever use on the bottled, watery liquid glue! Man, the stuff is awesome!!! It's the Model Master stuff, as I couldn't get Tamiya's anywhere around here, but it was good stuff. I held the halves together, and applied the glue to the seam, letting capillary action do it's thing. The glue left on the surface evaporates almost completely off, and just a little sanding was necessary here and there.

The flight control panels just have a basecoat of Folk Art acrylic Flat Black at this stage. I went in with a liner brush afterwards and put some gray back in, as well as Tamiya Clear Red and Clear Green on some of the dials. I also put some more gray in on the floor with a brush.



v



The seams will get some putty later down the line.

[Whiterook]

So this is where she really started to look like something!





The intakes were painted Folk Art acrylic flat white. I was going to airbrush them, but I wanted that rough look I see in the pictures, so I went with the brush.

[Whiterook]

The air intakes were assembled and glued in place...a marvelous fit! But....time for the next problem: Squadron Putty. No idea (then) how to use it so I just went for it. Bad idea. I used a dab on the end of my rubber gloved finger to apply it to panel lines that needed filling, per the instructions ....Yup, smeared EVERYWHERE! What a sanding nightmare not to lose any detail that wasn't supposed to be lost!!! But got the job done, just the same. I learned how to apply it later when I tackled the fuselage seams with a painter's trowel and outer-masking tape.







Next hassle....removal of a couple nubs. Man, these were HUGE! Thankfully, not hollow on the reverse, but that very solidity made them a real pain to get gone. Thank God for needle files!

[Whiterook]

Next came wing assembly. These went together fairly smooth, though the fit was a bit "gappy" for my tastes. I had another date with Squadron Putty! I used clamps to get the wings to cure with a good seal. I used my regular liquid glue for the main part gluing, and then the Model Master watery stuff for the seams. I am finding I like using the combo as needed for what I want to get done did!



Oh, and my Tamiya Acrylic stock is growing (at least, until I can get me some Vallejo!)!



Next, the wing assembly went on, as well as the tail fins. Those tail fins I thought were going to give me problems, as they needed to be put on a certain angle...at least the instructions called out the angle degree, but as usual, did not specify exact horizontal pitch against the fuselage; basically, more research on photo references helped me figure it out......



More recce camera gear....



And my first Optional Placement decision....vents flaps open or closed? I went open simply 'cause when I dry fitted them closed, it was going to look awful compared to open, as they didn't want to seat properly without massive amounts of glue in all edges.

[Whiterook]

I put a small detail piece on the top, the thrusters in the back, and some fin detail pieces.....





And after finishing out some cockpit painting on dials, glued the crew in.



The exterior still needed airbrushing, and the canopy would wait until after painting, mainly because I'd decided to go with the open canopy option rather than closed. In the meantime, I'd just plug and tape off the crew prior to painting.

I still have the underside to construct, including the running gear before that, though!

So, I ended up just drybrushing a touch of white on the instrument panel....just enough to simulate a little light dials color, but just a hint. I think it actually tied it all together nicely. I have started work on the bottom of the craft and started puting 'galss' in the bottom nose area. I actually hadn't noticed that I needed to paint the underside (inside) of the nose camera bay 'glass' flat black, so I did that first, and then attached the pieces. It was then that I ran into the first (and I hoped only) major problem on the build!

Remember I said I had issues with the cockpit flight deck placement, as the instructions showed just the basic area it attaches too? Well, I went to put on a major bottom piece that fits just under the crew compartment, and it was sitting far too low!!!

Oh CRAP! That sucker (the flight deck) was glued on real good, too! Well, out came the X-Acto craft knife at full extension to start and break the glue seal; then some gentle prying with a putty knife. This was slow and tedious, as I wanted to minimize any unintentional damage. It just didn't want to budge. I put myself in a frame of mind to take it slow.

Then came the part that separates the men from the boys/the women from the girls: Hammer Time! Yup, I said hammer. Well placed taping made the part understand real quick who was boss, and I was able to sink the flight deck up into the fuselage where it needed to be, and dry fit that bottom fuselage piece that wouldn't go on. Success! I put some more glue back on the flight deck sides to get a good seal again, and then glued that bottom fuselage piece on. Clamped and cured.

Damage? Well, just two items: A glue fingerprint, but minor...which was later sanded off; and in oder to get the flight deck up, I had to cut the GIB console off of the fuselage brace that separates the Pilot and GIB compartments. It cracked the brace, but a clean split, so I was able to glue it back together and putty. I've done worse on other models so wasn't too worried.

It really ticks me a little that Hasewaga does such a nice kit, but stinks in the instructions department (at least on this kit)....kinda like Roden. Oh well, spice of life, right?

So, the bird was really starting to come together. More to come!

[Mence]

Very nice, I have an F-4 calling to me, following this is making me weaken very quickly!

[deafpanzer]

Looking REAL good!!!

[Whiterook]

Thanks guys!!! I almost bought another one at ValleyCon just for me, but I ran out of money buying AK Interactive gear and the Batmobile!!!

[Leon]

Making good progress WR.Looking sweet.

[dupes]

Mmmmmmm...Phantom! Who doesn't like a good Phantom?

Mar 22, 2013 21:37:40 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

Always liked those F4s... one day I have to build if somebody makes me do post WWII plane. Kit looks much better this time...

Andy - I may have to make you do just that...we'll talk.

[deafpanzer]

Mar 27, 2013 8:20:58 GMT -5 dupes said:

Mmmmmmm...Phantom! Who doesn't like a good Phantom?

Mar 22, 2013 21:37:40 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

Always liked those F4s... one day I have to build if somebody makes me do post WWII plane. Kit looks much better this time...

Andy - I may have to make you do just that...we'll talk.

Only if you have plenty of F4 kits to spare... LOL