Luftwaffe F-4F 1/144th scale by Academy

[micahrogers]

Next will be the 1/144th scale Luftwaffe F-4fF by Academy. My wife brought this home from Hobby Lobby for me, she saw the price and grabbed it.


$1.19 USD was too cheap for even my wife to pass up...

3 sprues, 2 grey and 1 clear, are bagged.


A tiny waterslide decal sheet is bagged.


The instructions are 1 sheet, greyscale with camo pattern and decal placement on one side.


The flip side are simple construction drawings... not a lot of detail in this scale.


So I start by pre painting what I can on the sprue. I'm not breaking out my airbrush for something this small.

three greys, two silvers, black and white. not many colors, but I have them all.

 

[micahrogers]

Okay looking at the pics of the brush strokes, I'll get the airbrush out...

 

[micahrogers]

parts sprues washed once, may wash again...

 

[Revell-Fan]

Very nice start!

 

[micahrogers]

And interlude for this kit is a brief airbrush review...
First I have to say, I am on a fixed income, so I have to go as cheap as I can. My Harbor Freight compressor came with a "free" Harbor Freight double action airbrush,


At first glance, it looks good,
But look closer,

The overall quality is lacking, the fluid adjust post is not even plumb to the main body.
the threads all feel "gritty"... It's hard to explain, it's like they are half a thread off.

Then the siphon cup, again, look's good...
but look inside,,


The pick up tube ends almost 1/3rd of the way up the cup.... Grrrr

It's "Free" because that's all it's worth!


My going on 7 year old Neo for Iwata, will soldier on.

 

[micahrogers]

I got the sprues washed, and sprayed a coat of Vallejo Polyurethane surface primer...


Now the primer gets 24 hrs to dry...

 

[micahrogers]

major assembly and 1st round of putty and sanding...

and underside.


I puttied in the canopy,


and wiped most off while still wet.


Now waiting for that putty to dry, then the second coat of putty will go on.

 

[mijob]

looking good so far.

 

[micahrogers]

looking good so far.

Thank you.

Todays update is actually from last night, The second primer coat didn't reveal any cracks worth filling.
topside,


and bottom,


So I applied the overall USAF Light Grey, topside


and ventral.


now to give this coat 24 hours to cure, then mask off and spray the medium grey.

 

[micahrogers]

Wile I wait for the airframe color to dry, I started painting the accessories. Wheel, well doors, landing gear struts, and tire hubs painted white, as well as Sparrow missiles painted white... these missiles are way over size for this jet, but are what came in the kit.


I''ll get a pic with the missiles next to the fuel tanks, and you'll see just how out of scale they are. They aren't 1/72nd, but they are to large to be 1/144th.

 

[micahrogers]

As promised, size comparison pic Sparrow next to 370 US Gallon wing tanks.


masking tape applied to all areas, that won't be NATO Stone Grey


Stone Grey applied 3 views...


only areas to be NATO Dark Sea Grey are exposed now.


and 3 grey camo done, 3 views


My history with tape stayed true, and I had bleed under, and missed lines, so I'll take a 5/0 brush and clean up the lines tomorrow.

 

[Revell-Fan]

Very nice work! The trickiest part is always removing the mask. To get a sharp well-defined edge the paint must still be moist, not too wet and not to dry. On difficult areas with many bumps I use liquid mask.

 

[micahrogers]

Very nice work! The trickiest part is always removing the mask. To get a sharp well-defined edge the paint must still be moist, not too wet and not to dry. On difficult areas with many bumps I use liquid mask.

My bottle of liquid mask was left open, and all dried in the bottle,, so I use what I have on hand...

5/0 to the rescue... all color lines cleaned up, and over spray covered... also painted the radome black, and the jet exhaust varying silvers...



Now another 24 hour cure time, Then gloss coat for decals...

looking at these pics I noticed that I need to add the white inside landing gear bays, and inside of the intakes.

 

[micahrogers]

I got the white added to the wheel wells, and inside of intakes...


And applied Gloss Varnish, along with a few panel lines...


Tomorrow the decals start.

 

[micahrogers]

Decals, real waterslide decals...
not many of them though.


dorsal applied,


Ventral applied.


And vertical tail applied.


Once these dry, I'll apply the Matt coat, and finish it up.

 

[zathros]

Looks better with minimal decals. It's really come out excellent!!

 

[micahrogers]

I got the Matt Varnish applied, I'll get the rest of it assembled tomorrow, and try to get some beauty shots.

 

[micahrogers]

Looks better with minimal decals. It's really come out excellent!!

Too true Z, in this scale any more would be microscopic.

 

[Revell-Fan]

So no visible bug splatters on the front canopy??? Bummer...

 

[micahrogers]

So no visible bug splatters on the front canopy??? Bummer...

No, They would be microscopic as well...
Matt coat applied.
Dorsal,


and ventral.


Canopy blacked out, as best as I could with nothing to follow... and underwing stores ready to be loaded...


Underwing stores and landing gear installed...


And sitting on a paper tarmac.



If it clears up here, I'll try and get some beauty shots outside...