It was fate that my friend Nick got me a Christmas present of a smaller, simpler version of the F-4 I’m building. The Lindberg “Battle Damaged F-4G Phantom” (No. 70962) has fewer than 40 parts, way fewer decals, and has the option to be built in “normal” fashion or with distressed pieces that make it appear to have taken damage.
This is an excellent opportunity to take all the new stuff I learned from the Hasegawa build video — workflow, techniques, paints, tools — and practice it without worrying about screwing up a $50 kit.
(Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to skip to the YouTube video of the first part.)
Making the plan
There are seven steps in the instructions. I read through them, applied a new workflow, then made margin notes about the new order of steps.
I’m going with the “damaged” option so that I can play around with some of the metallic airbrush paints I have now.
Even for this small kit, it’s been a challenge to remap the instructions to figure out what things can be primed in batches (e.g., parts from Step 1 and Step 4), when things need to be glued first and then primed, what gets painted individually vs. what gets painted once assembled. Despite the challenge, I’m sticking with my new workflow (a.k.a. not following the instructions as written).
Let’s get to work!
Logistics
I had more trouble than I expected figuring out how to film the build. (Side note: I spent more time then I’d like to admit searching for how other model builders set up their shots, coming up empty-handed. Most of the how-to videos I found for making overhead shots for craft videos had way more involved rigs than I was willing to build/purchase.) Camera position and the built-in fish eye lens are two most troublesome issues.
- The wide angle means I have lots of things in my shot that aren’t what I’m working on.
- The current arrangement of my build area doesn’t leave me with many options of where to put the camera without my hands (or some other piece of equipment) blocking the shot.
- The tripod doesn’t really work with the spray booth because it interferes with the light source, or the shot will have my hand in the way — in which case, why make a video? Removing the walls of the spray booth to make room for the camera defeats the purpose of having the booth in the first place (i.e., atomized paint gets everywhere).
- I tried the head mount for the camera. A few problems… I can’t see the view finder, so I don’t know if the shot is lined up; lots of unhelpful movement; the fish eye lens means I have to sit really low compared to the table, which makes painting difficult.
The solution is to get a typical video camera with a regular lens, but I’m going to finish this kit before I buy anything else.
Here’s the solution I came up with… Keep the tripod for the main work area.
For the spray booth, use another piece of kit I used to film some of my group fitness classes 2 years ago: a gooseneck with clips. I get to see the shot in the view finder and keep the charging cord connected.
Priming
I wanted to batch up as much priming as made sense to get things started, which means jumping around in the instructions.
- Fuel tanks
- Air intakes
- Cockpit interior and crewmen
- Landing gear and doors
The fuel tanks are two halves that when glued together show a seam. I used some Tamiya putty (which I had never used before) to fill in the gaps.
Other equipment…
- Alclad Grey Primer & Microfiller (ALC 302)
- Iwata Revolution dual-action airbrush