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Typhoon number 16 has run briskly through Japan. To my dear SWS fans in Japan: did the typhoon cause any damage to you?
By the way, since historical records exist, it seems like this year is the second in terms of number of typhoons. But the typhoon season is yet to come…, hooo I hate it.
Well, this is the second part of the SWS 1/48 F-4J assembly.
Until the day you can add this mind blowing kit to your F-4 collection, please enjoy now the privilege of a scale modeler: the "prior taste" of a build.
▋This time we will start with paragraph 009 from the Instruction Manual: the nose cone, which has a "top" and "bottom" side. Pay attention to the assembly of the nose cone with the main body of the aircraft, and please test fit as many times as possible in order not to leave any space between the parts after assembly.
▋Here is the assembly until paragraph 26. Next time I will show you the process from paragraph 27 to 45, which covers every other part of the SWS 1/48 F-4J. Please look forward to it.
From the nose cone to the engines, fuselage, and main wings.
spanLet's see all of them at once this time.
▋D Runner
Nose cone, air intakes.
▋H Runner
Upper fuselage, detailed components.
▋C Runner
Cockpit, detailed components.
▋E Runner
Engine main bodies, air intakes, landing gears.
▋B Runner
Fuselage lower surface, main wings.
▋I Runner
Tail, instrument panel.
▋F Runner (two pieces)
Missiles, belly tank.
▋A Runner
Main fuselage. Pay attention to the sharp mold of the air intakes.
▋G Runner
Canopy. clear parts.
▋I attach the nose-cone to the fuselage. This is one of the highlights of the F-4. Be cautious when you proceed. The nose-cone components have an upper and a lower direction too. Please do not rush during the work, be careful to the attaching areas of every component and test-fit the parts again and again to make sure there is no space in between. Be careful not to cut both parts too much.
▋I build two engines. Here it is necessary to build upper and lower sides of the air ducts and attach them to the engines. The structure of the engines is simple, but it would be nice to test your skills on one engine and to display it to see how it looks. Just upgrading this J79-GE-10 engine is enough fun!
▋Pay attention to the tiny details under the main wings. There are the results of thorough research that kept us busy for long years. I get somehow excited just by looking at the wing parts. Say what? You too? Well, that is just what F-4 modeler/fans are supposed to be like!
▋I mount the J79-10 engines and air ducts in the main wings. The F-4 outrageous power was spread out from here. The feeling of completeness is dramatically different if you have these molds made or not. Unfortunately you cannot see the engines after building the kit, but their figures will stay vivid in your mind. This is the real power of SWS kits!!
▋Rear view of the J79-10 and air ducts. You can almost hear the sound of the twin-jet engines piercing your ears. Oooh I cannot resist anymore!!!
▋Finally the time has come to put together the engines, the main wings and the fuselage. Please do meticulous test-fit, and then assemble precisely every part. If you assemble these parts accurately, there will be no space between the fuselage and the main wings, so you can be confident and move on smoothly.
▋Rear view of the whole assembly. Please look at the shapes of the fuselage, beautifully and precisely represented. The power and the charm of Phantom cannot be told without representing these shapes. At this point you can already enjoy much of the Phantom's beauty. Yeaaaah, this aircraft called F-4 is really cool.
▋Right side of the beautiful mold of the fuselage. For some reason there are so many Phantom fans around the world and this is the utmost proof. Yaaaaay!!
▋Sooo, the fuselage and the main wings finally joint together. This volume and presence, never seen in any Phantom kit so far, are one of the main highlights of this kit. I want it, the best 1/48 Phantom! That dream is finally about to come true so I cannot help but being happy.
▋Bottom view of the work so far. How is it? This F-4 Phantom looks stunning! Don't you feel the presence of the king of jet-fighters spreading all over? That shape that only an SWS kit can represent accurately is coming at you.
So, that's it for today.
Next time I will finally show you the main wheels and armament.
The time has finally come for the "best F-4 in 1/48 scale!" I was dreaming about to be gradually revealed.
Despite being in 1/48 scale, this F-4 is, as expected, a huge double-twin engine aircraft.
It is not so common to see such a power and a charming shape all enclosed in this big aircraft.
No matter how you see it, this F-4 scale model will revive by the touch of your hands. Please be patient for a little longer.
It's coming on!!
Hideyuki Shigeta
President, Zoukei-Mura
▋"Scriber": a small scraper for plastic modeling.
Let me introduce you this awesome tool I found at the IPMS Colombia. "10cm long and 12cm large, made of steel", this little giant makes a revolutionary work with plastic models. Each piece is handmade. Made in USA. From VOLKS, here is the "Scriber".
Old Man Blog No.085
The Giant of the Jet-fighters F-4: the Answer from Zoukei-mura - Part 1
Old Man Blog No.087
The Giant of the Jet-fighters F-4: the Answer from Zoukei-mura - Part 3