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Oceanic Defense - F-4EJ Kai Phantom II (1/48 Zoukei-Mura)
- Thread starter helios
- Start date
helios
Well-known member
Since the weather has turned nasty and any spray painting has entered the holding pattern I got the next couple steps of this build done. Ailerons & flaps were assembled and installed. Pictures show these aircraft were typically flaps up and ailerons drooped when parked, so that is the route I decided to go with. Options are provided in the kit to position both flaps & ailerons in the up or down position. Pretty slick. The flaps were very snug to try to finagle into position, but a slight taper trim to the alignment tabs allowed me just enough additional angle to slide them in w/o sacrificing too much strength of the tabs. Outer wings were assembled and installed. Elevators were clipped off the trees, cleaned up, and reinforcement plates added. They were then slid into the slots with no glue, as this will allow me to pull them back out for painting at a later stage. Another note to the elevators, multiple angles are provided in the kit. I opted for the mild tail edge droop. With a bit of luck this one may be seeing paint by the end of the year.
helios
Well-known member
I hear that. I'm always tempted to start the next project (looking what all I need for a MiG-21MF that is due to start around Feb)...despite how many I already have on the trot.
I'm trying to get this, the Draken, and the Mustang finished up in the next few weeks. Fortunately I've still got about a week and a half of vacation left, so I'll see what kind of a dent I can make. Got the paint ordered for the Mustang finally, and the masking material I ordered to try should be here tomorrow, so that one can move out of the holding pattern. I was hoping to hit the Draken w/ paint today, but the weather wasn't cooperating.
centaur567
Well-known member
Fantastic !! Your mighty Phantom is looking great. Gary S> XLV MMXXIV LGB
helios
Well-known member
A little more to show. Store have been assembled, primed, and base coated. Tanks will be shot in 375 next. Will be mixing up a light grey for the ASMs as I don't have anything light enough. I could use white, but I think straight white is going to be a bit too bright. Want to add a bit of grey to knock it down a hue or 2. Metal portions of the stabs have also been shot.
dig it! Love how that coat went on. Very random.
helios
Well-known member
Took forever. I bet i spent 45 minutes to an hour painting the topcoat on the tanks. Having a hell of a time trying to get enough tonal variation "for interest" without looking like it's heavily weathered/neglected. Most of the pictures I've seen of EJ Kais in this scheme are typically really clean and well maintained. I think the centerline tank is almost too much...but having it a little different than the wing tanks is good too, so I'll probably leave it for now. I almost painted one of the wing tanks blue, but changed my mind at the last minute.
That's nice! 
helios
Well-known member
Pretty good. I did need a tiny bit of cleanup around the turtleback & intakes...but that could very well have been me rather than the kit. There are a lot of close tolerances, so lots of test fitting for part clearances should be done. If you want something that falls together, Tamiya or maybe Academy may be a better option. But I absolutely love the detail in these, and I don't mind a slightly fiddley construction. For me these are the sweet spot for F-4s. They retail for about the same as an Academy, and a fair bit cheaper than a Tamiya. If you can catch a sale/deal on a Tamiya, the price gap will close. I've not personally built the Tamiya or Academy yet, so as far as ease of build my impressions are based off club members and some of the guys at Britmodeller (in the Group Build area) during the recent F-4 single type group build. I also love the multiple options for positioning of the flaps, slats, ailerons, elevators, and canopies.
It's amazing that a fairly small company puts together kits that really do go toe to toe with the big dogs. Their passion shows. VolksUSA has been on point with the orders I've placed with them as well. Extremely well packed, and quick shipping (assuming it's in stock and not a pre-order). I'm glad to be supporting the little guy. I may have "a few more" squirreled away.
helios
Well-known member
@Mo_ Here is a more detailed build thread from a chap down in Oz. He's just behind where I'm at, but has a much more detailed thread that can give you another view of the kit. He's building the exact same kit, except he's going w/ the box art (included) scheme.
https://www.britmodeller.com/forums...8-zoukei-mura-f-4ej-kai-phantom-forever-2020/
https://www.britmodeller.com/forums...8-zoukei-mura-f-4ej-kai-phantom-forever-2020/
helios
Well-known member
My modified variation to black biasing. I find using a black base makes for too stark of contrast and alteration top coat color for my personal liking. So instead of black I tried using a dark grey (XF-63 German Grey in this case) on the experiment w/ the drop tanks. I was pleased with the results there, so we'll try moving the experiment to the main airframe. Fingers crossed I don't muck this up. I do need to reattach the dorsal antennae, as I clipped the chair moving it from the desk and half dropped it. A main landing gear and the antennae were miraculously the only damage...and the MLG strut was able to reattach w/ no issues.
Sherman 18
Master at Arms
Can't wait to see this finished
Skinny_Mike
Well-known member
Looking good so far Chris!
