This
is my first submission to ARC, although I’m sure everyone was tired
of hearing about my trials and tribulations building this classic kit in the Jet
Modeling and Tools
and Tips forums. I hope you enjoy the pictures (including
Pennsylvanian foliage) as much as I did building the RAF rhino. Many
thanks to Murph, eddygrantham, Dave Fleming etc. Your advice and
encouragement kept me going through the dark times.
I
used the classic Hasegawa 1/48 FGR-2 Phantom kit depicting a 41st
Squadron rhino from my home county
of Lincolnshire
with that fantastic reconnaissance pod & shark mouth. Why are RAF
recon pods so fantastically outlandish? The following aftermarket
sets were used:
-
Black
Box FGR-2/F4 J resin cockpit set
-
Hasegawa
Weapons set D. 2 TERs
-
2
sets of Flightpath resin Matra rocket pods.
-
Almark
Decals RAF Phantoms FGR-2 Sheet A48 -2: 41st Squadron 1976
Conningsby
Paints
used were airbrushed Model Master Enamels (British Dark Green, Dark Sea Grey,
Light Grey and Extra Dark Sea Grey), Model Master Metalizers (Burnt Iron, Steel
and Chrome Silver) and Pollyscale Acrylic Gloss and Matt coats. Weathering
techniques included various grey chalks/dishwashing liquid washes and Tamiya
Smoke/Clear Blue to give the burner cans that “tempered afterburner look”
and for the cockpit windshield its recommended anti-glare blue finish.
The
biggest problem I had was fitting the Black Box cockpit set. The key
lessons learned were to really thin down the resin cockpit side wall pieces and
continually dry fit. Unfortunately, by the time I learned this lesson the
starboard side of the cockpit was slightly pushed out but as I planned to have
the canopies open I didn’t have the heart to start over again. While Black Box
detail is superb, you really cannot see much with the canopies glued in place.
Still, I look forward to trying the other Black Box FG Mk.1/F4-S with my
Hasegawa FAA Phantom kit in my stash. I did have to replace the port
stabilizer plastic positing pin and also the ROI canopy pins with brass 1/16 and
1/32 pins respectively to overcome my clumsy modeling techniques. Came out
reasonably well and I plan to use brass pins for future resin/styrene
connections for additional strength and accurate positioning. Connecting
the Flightpath resin Matra rocket pods to the TERs nearly drove me insane –
thank God, I didn’t try 3 Matras per TER as SWMBO would have probably burned
my model stash and instructed me to find a more relaxing hobby.
Chris
AKA Yellowbelly
Click on
images below to see larger images
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