Thought I'd start a new model before finishing some other models on my workbench. Getting itchy fingers for some wood working, so have started a model of an F4 phantom at 1:48 scale. Not sure of the paint scheme yet - Vietnam era air force camo (South East Asian) or some other scheme. Lot's of time to ponder this. Fuselage and wings are pine. Elevators are maple and vertical stabilizer is cherry since I didn't have a sufficiently wide piece of pine. I typically make the elevators and stabilizers from hardwood due to their inherent thinness.
Due to the 23 degree anheidral of the elevators, decided to create the associated dados in the fuselage prior to cutting out the profile shape while the underside was flat and the fuselage sides were straight. Had to make a little jig to facilitate drilling pilot holes for the dados to ensure a consistent upwards angle. Since the dado was narrower than my chisels, I shaped the end of nail to act as a chisel to facilitate gouging out the dado.
Dado for vertical stabilizer created the same way by initially drilling a series of holes. Will create the dado for mounting the wings after I have completed shaping the wings.
Lot's of stations sections on the plan I am using, so used the Lee Valley saddle square to mark the station lines (black "L" shaped piece in photo below. It's a great tool for marking the lines at this scale. I find it's lighter and better balanced than using an adjustable square for this purpose.
Tang was included at front of fuselage to allow fitting the fuselage into my carving clamp for initial shaping and sanding.
Well done so far.
Louis
Looks great! Are you going to carve the dihedral into the wings as one piece?
I've got a phantom on my list of planes to do, as well. My mother in law wants one, as that is what her father flew in the National Guard. I'll be following your build closely!
Yes, I am intending to make each wing including the dihedral from a single piece of wood. I have put together a little tutorial below on how I have tackled this. No doubt there are other ways, including a band saw if the band saw cutting height is sufficient. Mine is not.
Step 1 - Lay out the wing profile (Top, Bottom, etc.)
Step 2 - Cut a series of kerfs to facilitate removing material using a chisel. I like to use a Japanese style pull saw for cutting the kerfs. But a back saw or other type can also be used. Don't cut all the way down to the layout line to allow for possible wood tear out.
Step 3 Chisel across the grain. Do this at two or three levels to see how the kerfs split.
Step 4 Use a flat chisel to pare the surface (make the surface flat by removing thin shavings). Again, this is across the grain. Note, the chisel must be very sharp to pare thin shavings. A file can be used after paring is complete to further smooth the surface. The surface does not have to be perfectly smooth, since addition material removal is required to impart the air foil shape along the wing.
Step 5 - Rough shape the air foil using a rasp and/or file. If a rasp is not available, a course file can be used. When the wing airfoil shaping is completed, sand relatively smooth. Final shaping with sandpaper can be performed just before attaching the wing to the fuselage or after attaching.
I look forward to your Phantom.
Louis
As stated above, was not sure on the final colour scheme for the completed model. So have opted to create two models. One will be finished with the SEA (South East Asian) camouflage. The other will be painted in either a US Marine or US Navy colour scheme. Photo shows the major components which have been roughly shaped for each model.
Nice going. I am partial to the USMC Shamrock 333 Sqn
Louis
Looks great! I've recently started cutting out two sets of a model to give myself one when the other is for a friend. If I'm getting my saws out, might as well cut out a few! I look forward to watching your build for inspiration when I build one.
Thanks Lou for the referral to USMC Shamrock 333 Sqn!! I think I'll select one from the squadron to paint for the marine version.
Commenced working on shaping the fuselage starting from the middle and working to the rear. But things didn't work out when detailing the exhaust nozzles, so I scrapped that cut out and started with a new one. But this time commenced at the rear of the fuselage to ensure the blending to the exhaust nozzles would work out correctly. Getting the profile of the rear fuselage is a little tricky.
Photo 13 shows the rough out for the nozzle and rear part of the fuselage. I used a gouge chisel to carve out the fuselage profile for the engine exhaust
Due to the downwards slope of the exhaust nozzles, decided to have these as separate pieces as shown in photo 14. I wanted to reflect a slightly more realistic nozzle, rather than a solid piece of wood, so have opted to wrap three glued (PVA glue)layers of paper around a shaped dowel to provide a more 3D solution. Since the glued paper is not as strong as wood, opted to extend the paper only a little bit beyond the end of the dowel.
Have opted to fabricate two working exhaust nozzles which are painted orange to visually facilitate blending the fuselage into the nozzles.They are attached to the body using double sided tape. These are shown in photos 15 & 16. The final nozzles will be added after painting of the exhaust area is completed.
What can I say? You are talented. I love it.
Louis
That looks great! I like the paper nozzle. Novel solution!
Work continues, although at a snails pace
Decided to start shaping the upper mid fuselage first. Used a pull saw to cut some excess material above the fuselage air ducts. I am finding this style of saw easier to work with compared to a back saw. Then commenced shaping the upper part of the fuselage. Moved next to the canopy section. I was a little aggressive with the chisel so had to build up one side with wood filler.
That's looking good! Where did you get your drawings? Would you mind sharing them? I'd like to do an F-4 in the future for my mother-in-law. Her father flew them in the Air Guard.
Coming along nicely.
Louis
The two drawings were the two primary drawings which I used. I've also included a sections drawing for the fuselage. They were obtained from and internet by searching for "F4 Phantom model plans". There are several other plans on the web as well. Hope these may be of assistance.
Have added a link to a web site which has great info and dwgs for the F4. - https://soyuyo.main.jp/f4/f4e-1.html
Looks like it's coming along nicely.
Those drawings are great. Thanks, Ken!
Work progresses. Have been working on the rear part of the fuselage.Due to the thinness of the tail and elevators I opted to make them from maple to provide some additional strength.
I love the grain on the fuselage.
Louis
Great work!
Yes, the grain is striking. The wood was a pleasure to carve. It shaved very nicely with a chisel.
Progressing slowly. Fuselage has been mostly completed and sanded with the exception of the final shape of the nose. Have started assembling the parts to the fuselage. First part is the fuselage air deflector. It provides the stand off for the air intake deflector. I could have possibly carved it as part of the fuselage, but opted to have it as a separate part to obtain the appropriate fuselage and canopy shape in this area.
Note: I went to start the next steps a few hours after the fuselage deflectors were installed and discovered both pieces has warped badly due to the water content of the glue. Removed them, cut another two and installed the new ones using epoxy. Will show the results in the next posting.
Beautiful workmanship.
Louis
Wow! That is looking good! Keep the updates coming, please!
Getting there slowly. Thanks for the ongoing encouragement!
This is certainly the most complex model I have started. It's becoming somewhat of a simplified model kit with all the parts. Photo below shows all the completed parts for assembly. Not included are the air intakes and the fuselage air diverter as I installed these prior to thinking about taking a parts breakdown photo.
I abandoned using paper for parts of the nozzle as I was able to achieve the same effect but with stronger side walls using a forstner drill bit and the scroll saw. Will show the procedure for this in a subsequent posting.
I'll cut off the tang at the nose after all parts have been attached to the fuselage and final sanding / filling has been completed.
Excellent workmanship Ken
Louis
That looks great, Ken! The fuselage deflectors look really good. I'd like to see a closeup of them attached, if you can.
The new nozzles are really nice too. I look forward to your post where you explain that process.
Are both of your F-4s at this stage? Or do you carve one first to get an idea of how to do the second?
The second plane is not as far along as this one. I rough cut most of the parts for the two planes together, but perform the final shaping and assembly sequentially. This allows me to apply any learnings from the first plane to the second plane.
I'll post the photos you requested shortly.
-ken
I have captured below 2 methods to create a recessed exhaust nozzle. Both methods start off the same:
Common first steps:
1 - obtain a piece of wood which is the thickness of the nozzle from front to back. Note this is not the tapered length.
2 - Drill a series of through pilot holes to allow centring of an appropriate sized forstner bit to drill holes on both sides of the piece of wood. Anticipate some scrap pieces may occur, hence several pilot holes.
3 - Use a circle template to create the required outside diameter of the nozzle outlet and the required diameter for the nozzle attachment to the fuselage
4 - Drill the nozzle exhaust hole to the required depth using a forstner bit the size of the required inside diameter of the exhaust nozzle. Don't make the hole too deep since the nozzle sidewalls will be thin when fabrication is complete.
5 - Drill a shallow relief hole with the same forstner bit on the side of the nozzle which will be attached to the fuselage. The relief facilitates accommodating any surface irregularities when the nozzle is attached to the fuselage.
Note: The pilot hole should guide the forstner bit spur to a concentric location on both sides of the board.
If cutting using hand tools (file and sandpaper), first trim the nozzle to a rough hexagonal shape to minimize filing and sanding. Mounting surface (ie larger diameter facing up) After sawing, file and sand the nozzle until the required taper between the mounting surface and exhaust outlet is achieved.
If using a scroll saw, adjust the scroll saw table to the required angle. Position the wood to be cut with the nozzle backside on top (i.e. largest diameter on top) and cut out a circle. Recommend staying slightly outside the line to accommodate any irregularities. Sand the cut out to the final required taper. I used a pinless number 3 precision ground scroll saw blade when creating the nozzles in both pine and maple.
The formula for setting the scroll saw table angle is "arctan[(D2-D1)/2 /thickness of wood]. There are several "actan" calculators on the internet as well as on most scientific calculators. Just ensure the results are in degrees and not radians.
Once sanding is complete, plug the pilot hole. I used a pilot hole the same size as a round tooth pick.
Details on the installation of the inlet air deflector are captured below.
The air intake deflector (photo 31) was cut from a piece of hardwood (maple) due to the thin leading edge. The shape was cut out on a scroll saw, but can be hand cut if required. The scroll saw blade used was a no. 3 pinless precision ground blade. The taper on the leading edge was obtained using a file.
The air intake was originally cut short on the fuselage to allow for the installation of the fuselage air deflector (See photo 22 above). After the fuselage air deflector was installed a notched block of wood to accommodate the intake air deflector was glued in place and shaped (photo 32)
Photo 33 shows the intake air filter dry fitted.
Excellent.
Louis
Thanks for the detailed responses and photos. I like your idea of tilting the table on the scroll saw. Great details! Keep the updates coming!
Commenced fitting the wings to the fuselage using my wing clamping jig. It facilitates stabilizing wing while pressure is applied to the wing during glue up.It also facilitates checking the wing vertical positions using a vernier as shown. Upon checking the relative vertical positons at several points, I discovered one of the wings did not have the correct dihedral.
I decided to glue the wing to the fuselage, and then cut the upturned end after the glue dried. Performed some sanding to obtain the correct dihedral. Used PVA glue along with a couple of fingers to join the two pieces together. Since the butt joints involve end grain, an initial thinned layer of glue (50/50 glue & water) was applied as sizing to allow the wood capillaries to draw in the PVA. After a couple of minutes drying time full strength glue was applied to all mating surfaces.
Missile pockets carved into the fuselage. My skills at carving straight lines with a gouge require some honing.I'll tidy these up after the first coat of primer has been applied.
Attached the tail and elevators.To install the elevators, the plane was levelled and temporary support blocks were cut and installed under the elevators to prevent them from sagging while the glue dried.
Getting close to completing the parts installation
Nozzles and tail hook glue in place. I was surprised that I could cut a tail hook this size on the scroll saw. But it worked out. Due to the smallness of the tail hook, I opted to make it from maple.
Installed the intake air deflectors. Based upon the recessed exhaust nozzles and the success of cutting thin walled parts on the scroll saw, I opted to cut the air intake bodies back and cut an intake outline for installation. The outline was not too long, but has resulted in a more 3 dimensional effect on the intakes.
A couple of more parts (gun & fuel tanks) yet to be installed along with final sanding after I remove the tang and complete the nose.
Excellent so far.
Louis
Very nice, Ken! It's coming along pretty quick, I'd say.
How many models do you have in your collection?
Thanks Luke!
I have only 5 models in my collection:
- 2 Spitfires
- 1 P-51
- 2 F8 Crusaders
Although I have made several others which I have given away. If you take a look at my board, you will see the various models I have worked on, several of which were created as children's toys. ie the wings and peripherals were much thicker than scale to accommodate children's play.
Thanks, Ken. I have enjoyed reading the topics on your board. I was just curious if you had others that weren't included there. You do excellent work! Keep them coming!
Thanks for the encouragement Lou and Jordan!! I am certainly not a prolific builder.
Added the last details to the model: external fuel tanks, gun and the cooling air intakes. Since the pylons have shallow mortises for mounting, I opted to use slow curing epoxy glue due to it's high strength. The pylons were first glued into the fuel tanks. Once the glue was dry, they were epoxied the pylon to the wing.
Photos of completed build below.
Next - Onto the painting. As Jim recently posted, am anticipating the painting will cover up some of the minor issues which are noticeable in the unfinished state.
I'll also start working on the second model, but don't anticipate posting any photos of it's build since it should be the same methodology as this first one. I will however post progress photos related to the painting of this model.
I certainly enjoyed building this model. The challenging carving of the rear fuselage along with the installation of additional items (exhaust nozzles, intake cowls, deflectors, etc.) made the build different than my other models.
Wow! That looks phan-tastic! ;)
Magnificent Phantom.
Louis
Started laying down sealer and primer.
- Two initial coats of BIN shellac primer to seal the pine followed by initial wet sanding using 600 grit
- Four brushed on coats of grey primer (water based alkyd primer tinted grey), followed by wet sanding using 600 grit
- Two more brushed on coats of grey primer followed by wet sanding using 600 grit followed by 1000 grit paper
- Close up of final primed surface finish.
Great finish on the primer, Ken!
I echo Jordan's comments.
Louis
Had to place the build on hold for a while, but it's back on track. Underside and top side of fuselage and wings base coated. Still trying to figure out how to create the 3 colour camouflage with soft edges using the air brush and not have over spray on the colours already laid down. May wind up going with hard edges to keep things simple.
The tan looks to be somewhat too dark. Will ponder if I will apply a lighter version. - Oh the joys of mixing paint colours.
I read somewhere that you can cut out the pattern in paper and place a thin coat of silly putty to hold the paper 1/16" above the model and spray. Care must be taken around curves.
Louis
It's coming along nicely, Ken!
I use sticky tack rolled into "snakes". The thicker you make the snake, the more feathered your edge will be. I cover the area with tape and then just do the edge with the sticky tack. That's what I did for my C-119 and Skyraider in the Vietnam-type camouflage. On the C-119, I flattened down the sticky tack a bit too much in places and ended up with a harder edge. On the Skyraider, I left it rounder and got a better feathered edge.
I also do that for the feathered edge between olive drab top and gray underside on my P-47, P-38, and C-47.
(https://i.imgur.com/MTWztck.jpeg)
Thanks for advise on soft edges!!
I have read about both approaches, but am leaning towards the roll coils as Luke indicated. My concern is related to not mixing the 2nd and 3rd colours along the soft edge. I'll just have to be careful with the airbrush to keep the second colour (medium green) away from the edge where the dark green meets the tan.
I've decided to repaint the tan base colour as it's too brownish. No issues since there are no panel line details on the model.
I kept the masks on as I added the next colors. I painted the tan, masked with tape and sticky tack, masked the light green with tape and sticky tack, then painted the dark green.
Something else I've found is that it works best if you put the center line of the coil over the edge of the tape and press down firmly enough along the center to seal it over the edge of the tape, but not so much that you pinch down the edge, that gives me the best results.
Thanks for all the info Luke!!
You have confirmed my planned approach which is great! Nice to hear I wasn't too far off the mark. The internet indicates the masking ropes should be 2 to 3 mm in diameter for 1/48 scale models. I think I will go with the 3 mm since I may have some difficulty always keeping he air brush perpendicular to the surface.
Top side of fuselage repainted with a slightly lighter shade of tan. Although the literature indicates the tan is a federal standard colour, the online photos show vast differences. No doubt due to field repainting and the fast fade rate of the tan.
In any event on to the next colour of the camouflage once this coat has time to cure before adding the masking.
Very nice! You've probably mentioned this before, but what kinds of paint do you use? You mention mixing your own.
I use Tamiya XF (Flat) paint for most of the model coverage and sometimes supplement with craft paint for minor brush on details. Tamiya isn't a great paint to apply by brush but it's a wonderful paint to airbrush. It's also readily available in my neighbourhood.
The Tamiya line doesn't always have the required colour so you have to search the internet for the applicable blend (formula) for the colour. The underside of the F4 was a blend which worked out well. But the original tan formula I had and even the subsequent formula didn't seem to match the Federal Standard colour, so I had to come up with my own formula which seems to look acceptable. We'll have to see how things work out when the two green camo colours are applied.
Field unit paint would definitely fade, so many variations would be acceptable.
Louis
Have opted to mask most of the model using Frisket film rather than masking tape. Wanted to minimize the number of seams. The Frisket film is fairly wide and has a more gentle tack to it than masking tape. Labelled all the sections with the respective colour so I don't goof when air bushing the light and dark green sections of the camouflage.
Will be initially using rolled AK masking putty ropes only where a light green section meets a tan section of the pattern to create soft edges where these two colours meet. Once the light green has dried a sufficient time, will then lay down ropes of AK masking putty where the light green meets a dark green section to provide a soft edge between these colours.
This is definately the most complicated camo pattern I have had to airbrush.
Looks like you've got it well laid out! I look forward to the finished product.
Looks promising.
Louis
Finally getting around to air brushing the camouflage. Tried "AK Camouflage Elastic Putty" to mask the two shades of green. Worked great, but discovered it flows if left too long. I tried to obtain a feathered look where the colours meet, but wasn't successful with it. I'll no doubt try on another model down the road.
The putty was great for masking. No paint crept under it!
On to the detailed painting of the canopy and rear exhaust panels.
That looks great! Well done!
Excellent cam.
Louis