May 25, 2020

Revell F-4G Phantom II: Part 7

The seventh step in the build is the exhaust. This step took 4 hrs 37 min.

Assembly

Three parts per exhaust assembly; lots of trimming to do.
Parts trimmed, ready for the hobby knife and sanding sticks
All parts cleaned up and ready for assembly
Afterburner and flame-holder parts
Flame holders glued into afterburners (Model Master Liquid Cement)
Exhaust nozzles taped in place for gluing (Tamiya Extra Thin Cement)
Alclad grey primer and microfiller

For this project I purchased an airbrush with a smaller needle (0.2 vs 0.4 mm) for finer work, so I used this opportunity to try it out. My mainstay has been the Iwata Evolution. I’m trying out the Harder & Steenbeck Evolution model. The latter has more control for how much paint is dispersed, and is a bit easier to thoroughly clean.

Painting

Vallejo flat black

I’m following a script from this video build for the painting and weathering, as it looked intriguing.

Alclad dull aluminum on top of the flat black
Aluminum on the inside as well
Right side has Alclad Burnt Iron applied in a light coat
Left side has Alclad Jet Exhaust applied in a light coat
I used some fibers from a cheap air conditioner filer for masking
Holding the fibers over the piece
Right piece has Alclad Chromium through the fiber filter
Chromium through fiber mesh filter
I masked off the raised portions of the exhaust nozzles (16 per nozzle)
If you cut the 0.5mm Tamiya masking tape diagonally you can get better alignment
Masked and ready for painting!
Alcad Transparent Smoke airbrushed on the outside
Recessed areas have higher contrast now
Raised vs. recessed

Next, I used some oil-based paints from Oilbrusher to simulate the heat fatigue on the inside and outside of the exhaust parts. Specifically I used medium grey and mud brown.

First application of grey
Left side has been weathered with oil paints
I test-fitted the exhaust parts to the fuselage, and am hopeful for the final product!
Exhaust parts (interior and exterior have been weathered)
Exterior heat weathering

Next step

Step 8 involves filling, sanding, and rescribing panel lines on the main aircraft body in preparation for painting.