1/32 Tamiya F-4S Phantom (Part 1)

based on Tamiya F-4J kit

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This is the first of an upcoming series about a museum-quality 1/32 scale Tamiya F-4 Phantom. The original plastic model F-4J is converted into an F-4S, BuNo 153904. As much detail as possible are added - aftermarket parts or, most often, scratch-built items.

The series will cover all areas of the model - landing gear bays, access panels, cockpit, landing gear struts, exhaust nozzles, intakes, etc. The article illustrates the conversion process with appropriate pictures, to build a “how-to” guide that every modeller is invited to use as a reference.

The Engine Bay

Today we start with a couple of photos of the finished engine bay. The model itself is still on the workbench, and it will take probably another year to complete the full project.

The entire engine bay is scratch-built, according to many reference photos I collected from friends, maintenance people, or the museum where the original aircraft is being restored. I will come back to the how-to in a later article.

This picture shows the aft underside of the model. I opened the R/H engine bay access panels, and scratch-built the inside with styrene, wires, tubes, etc. The missing engine will be scratch-built as well, and eventually displayed beside the finished model.

A close-up view of the rear area of the engine bay, showing the keel fairing removed, heat-sensor lines and the afterburner can finger-seal. The later item – still glued with yellow Tak-O-Tac pads - is made with a small strip of aluminium, cut away from one of my wife’s pastry backing pans. :-)

The arrestor hook – partially visible to the left - is still unpainted. Note the numerous round, red-sealed access hatches to the bladder fuel tanks, located in the spine of the aircraft.

Click on images below to see larger images

This photos above show - on the left hand - the model engine bay versus the real bay. The shooting angle is not quite identical, as I could not squeeze my camera any further into the model. But you can see that almost every “real stuff” is there on the model. The most visible difference is the colour of the air intake duct, which is white on my model (traditional duct colour), and metal grey on this particular 1/1 Phantom.

Here is the underside of the model, with the bottom removed. It shows the complex geometry of the inside of the model. In particular, you can spot how the air flows from the intakes to the engine, through the white inlet ducts.

The engine position is clearly visible on the L/H mock-up, a black-painted plaster mould. A later article will explain how and why I did this part.

The afterburner can is the original Tamiya piece, from which I kept only the left side. The exhaust nozzle is missing, as it undergoes a heavy surgery process too.

I hope you enjoy the series.

Pierre – Scale PhantomPhixer

A few words about myself

I am a Swiss modeller, 49, working as Information Systems manager in an international software company. I started plastic modelling a few years ago, when I could set-up my own workbench room in the basement of my home. My 3 kids (19-16-10) often drop by to watch the progress on the Phantom project.

This is my first large-scale model, where I try every possible modelling method: out-of-the-box combined with styrene scratch-building, cast and moulding, brass photo etching, etc.

This leads me often to “undo” some work, as I find a better method to do it. The project started early in 2001, and there is still a hell of a lot ahead. :-)