Subject: Re: RAF FGR2 Phantom
From: "Submissions for ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "SHARON PICARDO" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2014 15:41:30 -0800

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks again for sending it in.

Steve Bamford
ARC Air - Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.arcair.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: SHARON PICARDO 
  To: [email-masked] 
  Sent: Friday, February 07, 2014 6:35 AM
  Subject: RAF FGR2 Phantom

  "1/32nd F-4 Phantom FGR2" 

  by "Angelo M Picardo" 

  Please include your ARC Discussion Forum Name with your submission 
  -------------------- 

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  I like the F-4 Phantom. I especially like the Phantoms that were flown by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy.
  To build a British F-4 in 1/32nd scale means you either have to pay out a lot of money on an auction site for an out of production conversion set, or cut up an expensive kit to convert it to UK specifications.
  I do not have the money to, or would ever consider paying the prices for these conversion sets, so I opted for the cutting up and converting.
  I used Tamiya's wonderful F-4j as the basis for my conversion.
  As the Phantoms used by the RAF & RN used the Rolls Royce Spey engines, the airframe needed to be modified to get the engines in and supply them with the bigger demands for air.
  The air intakes, and fuselage need widening and the rear end needed modifying also.
  I found an article over on Large Scale Planes by Frank Mitchell who had done all the hard work by calculating where and how to cut and how much to stretch and widen by.
  I just followed his excellent article to get my FGR2.
  Having read over his method several times to make sure I understood his process, I built up the nerve to take a razor saw and scalpel to the kit.
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  Once all the cutting, stretching, widening and sanding, (and there was a lot of sanding!) was done, I could move on to other parts of the conversion. The most obvious is the fin tip mounted ECM aerial, and the engine exhausts, but others included adding the auxiliary air intakes on the fuselage sides and moving the ones on the underside forward.
  The cockpits are very similar to that of an F-4j, with some differences in the rear cockpit.
  I used an Aires set for the cockpits, modifying their parts to show the differences.
  Another after market was the centre line SUU 23 gun pod. This was a resin item from Wolf Pack and is a beautiful casting.
  I used the kit's Sparrow and Sidewinders, but have since found out that the Sidewinders that come with the kit were not used on RAF Phantoms, so a correct set have been ordered to replace them.
          
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  Once the conversion and building was complete I turned to the paint scheme. 
  I'm not a big fan of the overall grey camouflaged RAF F-4s and opted for the grey/green scheme.
  I used Xtracolour enamels to paint the scheme and as for the decals I had to turn to my spares box and painting to get what I needed. I could not source the squadron emblem that decorated the tail fin, and there was no way I could paint it either, so that is missing.
  To finish it all off, I added the pilot's entry ladder, that comes with the kit, and scratch built the steps for the rear cockpit.
  The RAF pilot is an out of production white metal casting made by the British company Chota Sahib.
  I do not claim that is 100% accurate as some of the changes to the British Phantoms are beyond my modelling skills and abilities, but it looks close enough and I am more than happy with how it has turned out.
  "Angelo M Picardo"

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  Just delete any of the boxes below you don't need.....it's not important to include them.....they are there to give you an idea of the finished article.  It is best to limit your article to no more than 60 or so photos, so the finished webpage won't take too long to open.

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        Photos and text © by 

        "Angelo M Picardo"