Written by 10:19 pm On the Bench

WIP : Fujimi 1/72 RF-4C Phantom II Pt.4 – Painting

Finally ready for painting!

I begin as usual with a base primer of black.

I’m trying something new with a marble coat of medium gray and white colors. Not sure if it’ll affect the final paintjob though. Let’s see…

Modern USAF F-4s came in a striking 2-tone gray camouflage of FS36270 and FS36118. For the lighter FS36270 ‘Neutral Gray’ I’m going with Vallejo Model Color Medium Sea Grey. This was thinned and with a few drops of Vallejo Glaze Medium added to cut down on the paint’s opacity.

Once cured I mask off the demarcation lines. Interestingly they are a mix of hard and soft edges. So it’s masking tape for the hard ones and blutack for the soft ones. I referenced the AirDOC info sheet for the camouflage pattern.

Next is FS36118 ‘Gunship Gray’ for the darker gray tone. I’m using Mig AMMO Medium Gunship Grey.

The Hasegawa sheet comes with the dark gray walkway decals but I think it will be easier to mask and spray it. The AirDOC instruction indicates that the walkways are outlines but checking photos online they are the solid dark gray type. So it’s time for more masking tape.

I used a mix of Vallejo Model Air Dark Sea Grey and Engine Grey for the walkways. I think the tone is quite close to the photo reference.

So did the mix of gray and white marbling affect the final paintwork? In my opinion, nothing obvious. So the extra work wasn’t needed. Anyway, moving on.

Next up, the exhaust area which on the F-4 is bare metal and through time, gets gloriously weathered and stained. More masking ensues to get this done.

I went with Vallejo Metal Color Exhaust Manifold and Dull Aluminium. Weathering and staining will be done later.

The fuel tanks, pylon and ECM pod were duly painted in FS36118. The landing gear was painted as per instructed. A third metallic tone on the horizontal stabs was Model Air Metal Gun Grey.

Weathering and finishing next!

Build Log
Part 1 – Construction | Part 2 – Construction | Part 3 – Construction |
Part 4 – Painting | Part 5 – Finishing

(Visited 1,775 times, 1 visits today)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Last modified: 20 February, 2020
Close