F4 Phantom

[Model Maker]

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.

[lastvautour]

Well done so far.

Louis

[J Luke]

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!

[Model Maker]

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.

[lastvautour]

I look forward to your Phantom.

Louis

[Model Maker]

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.

[lastvautour]

Nice going. I am partial to the USMC Shamrock 333 Sqn

Louis

[J Luke]

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.

[Model Maker]

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.

[lastvautour]

What can I say? You are talented. I love it.

Louis

[J Luke]

That looks great! I like the paper nozzle. Novel solution!

[Model Maker]

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.

[J Luke]

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.

[lastvautour]

Coming along nicely.

Louis

[Model Maker]

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