F-4E Phantom II

by Jason Cameron

Hasegawa's 1/48 scale F-4E Phantom II is available online from Squadron

Here is my 1/48 scale Hasegawa F-4E Bicentennial Phantom. This is a new packaging of the Hasegawa F-4 line of kits.

I wanted to depict this complex paint job because it looked like a good challenge. The kit does include the three-color tail decals but it just doesn't look the same as using paint.

The amount of flash on the parts was surprisingly heavy. Fortunately, the details are still there and the plastic cleans up okay.

I have built five of these kits so I know their weak spots. I spent a lot of time getting rid of the seams on the inlet fuselage, the rear cockpit fairing, and the front windscreen. For these areas, I used Mr. Surfacer 500. I am happy with the results...I think Mr. Surfacer is the best thing to hit this hobby since the advent of photo-etched parts.

To get the natural metal finish looking good, you cannot apply it over paint, especially the flat Vietnam-style scheme seen here. Therefore, I use what I call a "binary masking" technique.

Once the kit is built and ready for paint, I mask off the natural metal areas and paint the fuselage. I then clear coat the model with Future and apply the decals. I then cover the model with a flat finish and weather it. Once that is done, I take off the masking on the exhaust area and proceed to mask the areas around the exhaust.

This is a very delicate step since tape will pull off the decals or the clear flat finish. I use Post-It notes or wet newspaper cut into strips. I thought about masking this area for several weeks before I actually did it. Get this: the actual time to mask and paint the exhaust area was 20 minutes. The results look good so I will use this technique again.

I am very happy with this model and the unusual combination of natural metal, the bright tail, and the Vietnam scheme. Other than the resin seats and the flattened wheels, this model is out of the box.

 

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Model, Images and Text Copyright © 2003 by Jason Cameron
Page Created 29 January, 2003
Last Updated 17 March, 2004

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