F-4N "Low-Visibility Short nose Phantom"

Well, it's time for the annual Scale Aviation Convention!
This year's challenge is to buy a new F-4 Phantom II kit and finish it in two months. 

Tamiya's latest kit has arrived!
I was able to get it for 5950 yen in Japan. 

The internal structure is well constructed. 

And eduard PE parts have arrived!
But the use of PE parts will be limited because the Tamiya kits are excellent by default. 

Consider cockpit placement ...
(I'm told that the rear instrument panel layout is different between the F-4B and F-4N, but I'm not sure). 

Plus, more fine detailing parts have arrived!
The antenna of the ALQ-126 was a surplus part from a Hasegawa kit, and a friend gave it to me.
Thank you very much! 

I do things I would normally rarely do myself... 

The difference between the F-4B and F-4N aft instrument panel, which was not clear, was interpreted as probably this. 

Parting lines occur on the top surface of the canopy.
This is not an Primacord and should be carefully treated with a file and compound. 

The parts to be painted in black are painted together. 

The cockpit is painted.
This density is so cool! 

I prefer this shade of blue on the front of the windshield. 

Lightly painted for realism, this is Tamiya quality. 

Major components glued together.
No difficulty at all when positioning the gluing! 

The inner colour is painted first. 

In addition to wavy camouflage patterns, Panzer putty is also useful for masking hollows like this. 

I painted the underside colour.
Some kind of EJ Kai camouflage colour. 

The back is a little dark grey (← cute). 

The type of antenna was inadvertently mistaken.
The Tamiya kit is type B, but for some reason it also contains parts that can be partially used for type N. 

It has a nice 'dreary cloudy sky' colour. 

This kind of fetishism, where a little can be seen through the gaps, is favoured in Japan. 

The quality of this ejection seat no longer needs resin parts. 

Detailed caution decals applied!
This is about the only thing we struggled with in this production.
That's really how stress-free the Tamiya F-4B is to assemble. 

In Ravel's Bolero, you're probably already at around the nine-minute mark. 

Mission complete! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My F-4N was recently featured prominently as an example in the March issue of Scale Aviation!
I would like to thank everyone for their support in helping me get this far. Thank you so much! 

My F-4N on display at an event in Omotesando, Tokyo, 29 April 2023. 

The other participants, who were chosen as "masterpieces", presented a wonderful selection of F-4 Phantoms.