1/48 ESCI Trip-Trey F-4J Phantom

[ghodges]

Just finished my 10th for the year. This is the ESCI 1/48 F-4J kit originally released back in 1980. This was actually a bagged kit I'd picked up at our club auction and found it had a few missing minor parts, a short shot main canopy, and a broken main left gear. Also, this was a "Blue Angels" issue and thus had no underwing ordnance.  Not to worry! I had some SAC metal landing gear to take care of the undercarriage, used a spare main canopy left from the Tamiya F-4B kit, and the rest I could supply from my spares box.

I  crammed a True Details resin cockpit into the front, used some 3D printed tires, added resin burner cans to the rear, and scratchbuilt some FOD covers to avoid all of the work needed inside the intakes. I added the position light to the leading edge of the vertical fin and replaced the twin fin pitots with fine telescoping tubing. The bombs and missiles came from the spares box and were drilled and pinned to make them more secure. I built this so I could do these "lucky" VMF-333 Trip Trey Marine markings. The outer wing tanks were seldom used, but I couldn't pass up adding the shamrocks to them and hanging them in place! On to the rest of the pics!

Comments, critiques, and questions welcome as always! Cheers!

 

Gil 

Edited July 12, 2025 by ghodges

[mustang1989]

Gaaaaaaaaaaah!!! I don't see a thing wrong with that build Gil! Blown.....away.......

[Jmarc]

VVVVVVVVVer nicely done ... Way to go SIR and thank you for sharing it with us, it's quite appreciated !

[Mark Deliduka]

Magnificent work Gil! Truly stunning model! 

[WardEss]

(quotes ON)
Just finished my 10th for the year.
(quotes OFF)

I'm guessing that means the rest of your kit stash is quaking in it's boots, since it knows it can't escape, and it's just a matter of time? (Heehee. Good for you, Mr. Gil, sir!)

[ghodges]

The stash MIGHT start quaking in fear a bit IF I could stop buying/acquiring new kits...... seems I get as many as I build each year and the stash just doesn't shrink much if any.

 

Gil 

[WardEss]

>  The stash MIGHT start quaking in fear a bit IF
>  I could stop buying/acquiring new kits...... seems
>  I get as many as I build each year and the stash
>  just doesn't shrink much if any.

I think I'm beginning to understand that feeling, at least where Vacu-Formed kits go. My "secret" to obtaining lots of Vac Kits to practice on, and to learn from, now that I'm playing with Vac's, is basically to try to look up "lot" sales on eBay -- while not caring much at all what the model's actual subject matter is. Price and quantity are mainly what I'm aiming at! Finding myself something to work on that is sort of "airplane shaped" is (not always, but often enough) fun and relatively easy, if I don't care what company the kit was made by; what type it is (military versus civilian); what era (pick a decade in the 1990s, for instance) or if a model is large or small ... that sort of thing. Some of the kits I picked up recently were less than four dollars US per kit, when bought in a "lot". Not like I know of anyone who is willing to sell me kits made from resin (or high-end injection kits) that are that cheap?! And it matters to me that Vac Kits are more fun, right now, since I'm not used to them yet. Figuring out what to do, with kits I'm not used to working on, makes for a very good "dollars spent per hobby hour" goal!

[ghodges]

If you're not there already, you need to check out the Vacuform/Resin Kit Builders page on FaceBook.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/695711033832473

 

They have people there selling vacs (and groups of them) and you can also post saying you're looking to buy vacs.

If you're here in the U.S. I have a few extra vacs/vac conversions (2nd copies) I can send you, if you build in 1/48.

 

Gil 

[wdedig]

Very Well Done Gil