F-4B For the 2022 Group build. COMPLETED

Donald Dickson II
OK, so I saw that the GB is the Phantom. I can NOT pass up a Phantom build. Plus its been a while since I did one. So after staring at the dozen or so kits I have, it came down to the 1/32 Tamiya C, or the Good Morning Danang Eduard boxing of the 1/48 Academy B. I went with the Academy because I have never done a Navy/Marine Phantom. Always been USAF. Now I know everyone and their mother has done the Sundowners, but *I* have not. So there ya go.

Sergej I
My mother did a Jolly Roger, not a Sundowner 😉
Watchin' 😄

Donald Dickson II
Serg, LOL. I haven't done one of those either.

Konrad -
Awesome my absolutely favorite scheme! Looking forward to this one 👍!

Donald Dickson II
I got it primarily together and the gray sprayed.

This is going to be my last group build. I have lost my enthusiasm for building on a schedule and all that. My enthusiasm for posting in general has waned. In the future I may post an initial then the finished model. We shall see.

Sergej I
I understand you, my Phantom is in the same state 🙂
...but plenty of time left too. Enjoy first. 👍

Donald Dickson II
White painted on. Most everything is painted now.

Donald Dickson II
Well, not being able to sleep lets one get in some more bench time.

Donald Dickson II
Decals have begun. I wish they had one for the anti glare area. I hate trying to get the curve even and all that. And, how many of those damned stencils will I actually put on? We shall see.

Martin Oostrom
This one I have to see!
Please keep posting Donald, there's much to learn

Spanjaard
looking good. certainly will not miss it.

Donald Dickson II
Thank you guys. 🙂

Did a bit more. Got the left side finished up. Anti glare painted. Getting the sharks mouth to work was a pain. It seems like they can never get decals to go around curves and the like without a lot of fuss.

Donald Dickson II
Legs on. Working on the missile racks, tanks etc. Likely get back on stencils tomorrow.

Sergej I
What a nice smooth Phantom 👍!
But seeing the year 1972 on that F-4B, most planes would by then already have been repainted at depots, and some stencils would not have been replaced. Tamiya has its Sundowner #3019 specifically marked to not use stencils...

Here some OCD discussion on stencils:
arcforums.com/forums..-f-4-stencil-colors/

And apparently, we should wait for fundekals instructions, as they will most probably be the most exact and complete Phantom stencil study so far:
hyperscale.com/2022/..ls48038preview_1.htm
F-4B/C/D/E/J RF-4B/C/E Facto..s (fündekals FD48038, 1:48)

So... I am waiting for after summer vacation with my Phantom 🙂

Donald Dickson II
I may get those for the next C,D,or E I do. I decided I was only going to put on the safety stencils and not all the access panel ones. I figured that would be sufficient. LOL

And thank you. 🙂

Thomas Bischoff
Awesome information on stencilling - glad I didn't put all on mine.
Happy to join the show - great progress and would not mind more pictures 😉 (failed myself on my build- shame on me)

Donald Dickson II
Thomas, at the point of doing the extras like weapons and the like, so not much to take pics of.

Thomas Bischoff
That's the part I don't like. The airframe looks almost finished but it takes so long to do all the bits and pieces to complete

Donald Dickson II
Thomas, you are correct. The plane itself.is essentially done build and paint wise. I finished up painting the tanks and missiles tonight. Have to put the stencils on those as well. Do the ejection seats and attach everything and I will be done. But that takes a while when you can only sit at the bench an hour maybe 2 max.

Donald Dickson II
Sidewinders all marked. 14 decals each. And I didn't use every one. That's 56 just for those missiles. Oy. And yes, I know one or two ended up wrong ways. I didn't realize until I took the pic.

Donald Dickson II
Slowly making progress

Donald Dickson II
All done

Martin Oostrom
Ooooh! Beautiful work DD! You can be proud of this one 👍

Robin (WhiteGlint)
She came out great! 👍

Donald Dickson II
Thank you gents. 😊

Sergej I
Absolute beautiful model, Donald! 👍

Donald Dickson II
Serg, thanks! And I think that from this point forward, I will only mess with the major stencils, like jet exhaust warnings and ejection markings and the like. All the no step and junk will be left out. Since the F-4 and F-15 are my two faves, and they have the most stencils in the history of ever, this will save my sanity in the future.

Dean Harpster
Excellent work! Don't worry, I don't think anyone gets tired of seeing a Sundowners Phantom paint scheme. Especially one that is this well done!

Donald Dickson II
Thank you Dean. 🙂