1/72 Tamiya Marines F4D-1 Skyray

by Jaime "JGV" Vinha

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This is my first submission and it took me sometime to gather the necessary courage to show the world how "clumsy" I am.
 
I've been practicing modelling for 3 years now and still on the learning curve (this is my 12th model), but as this site has provided me with so much information and enjoynment, I think its time to start sharing my enthusiasm for military aviaton and this hobby.
 
This build is part of my "F-4 named aircraft project" that started with an old academy "Wildcat" and is currently AGONIZING through a Revell "Phantom" (more on this one shortly, I HOPE!).
 
I choose the "Skyray" for this type strikes me as some kind of a paradox: it's futuristic design and speed record holder curriculum being haunted by it's extremely short operacional life (1956-64).
 
The aircraft represents a "Death Dealers" US Marines machine from 1958 and was built straight of the box using the kit's decal sheet.

Click on images below to see larger images

  

  

  

I used Tamiya aerosols for the upper and lower fuselage halves, and matt black, Semi-gloss black, aluminium and gun metal acrylics for the rest (all Tamiya).
 
For the weathering I used some tempera paints on the panel wash. This child-friendly, mostly school used product is highly safe, since being water soluble it runs smoothly over the panels and is easily removable if something goes wrong.The rest of the staining was done with grinded HB pencils and a cotton swab. 
As in most my kits, there is allways a major "boo-boo".  In this case, the control surfaces on the upper wings should be painted in the same insignia white as the lower fuselage. Right! A pitty, since I "discovered" it just as I was setting my last decal!
 
Speaking of decals, the red danger markings around the engine intakes gave me some serious headache to conform to the intake lips. I had to cut and peel some of the decal away and touched it up using a permanent red marker pen. Thankfully, the "Future" layer I applied after evened the tones and really looks good!

 

The only major problem during the construction was fitting and blending the engine intakes to the fuselage which required some filling and sanding. Other than that, it just snapped together.

And so it ends!  Thank you for your patience and yes! I will take care with the photo background next time so it doesn't interfere with the outline perception of the model!

See you next time!

JGV    from Portugal

Photos and text © by Jaime "JGV" Vinha