1/48 Hasegawa Phantom FG.Mk.1 mod

Gallery Article by Sean Langley (pigsty) on May 25 2015

 

      

When I made my first submission to ARC, Hasegawa's 1/48 F-4J in the VX-4 special edition boxing, at the end I said "coming soon - the Boscombe Down Phantom!" And here it is, a mere seven or eight years later. That's "soon" if you take a long enough view. 

 

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The kit is Hasegawa's old Hi-Grade A&AEE Phantom with the white metal and steel photo-etch for the cockpit. I added DMold seamless intakes because the kit's biggest weakness is having very short intakes that end in a plastic wall. I also did a bit of work to shorten and reshape the fuel dump under the rudder to UK standard. The only other addition was a few decals to replace the gaudy 25th anniversary markings that come as standard whether you have the Hi-Grade or the normal A&AEE boxing. Most important were the unit badges on the tail, made for me by a friend.

She went together well enough, apart from a surprising amount of flash and some iffy fit. The add-ons in the cockpit weren't all a disaster but did lead to some slightly odd canopy angles. She's all brush-painted except the Halfords Appliance White, with some Future for a bit of extra sheen. And the last picture has the two of them together, for old times' sake.

Coming soon ... ah no, not falling for that one again!

Sean Langley

Photos and text © by Sean Langley