Official Freewing 90mm F-4 Phantom II Thread

[Radar-Guy]

I want to build a G variant ...

Also, make sure to add the outer wing slats then!

[Radar-Guy]

Did you raise the WSO up towards the canopy? I have always thought they looked like there were sitting really low in the cockpit. From this angle it looks just about right.

Yes, I did. These are JHH pilot busts raised with some balsa. The GIB deserves his view of the outside world.

Regarding the printed ‚long nose‘ conversions. After some trials and looking at ‚good‘ drawings‘, I decided to make another design starting right in front of the wind screen including the different air scoops.

[jthenry8]

Absolutely fantastic. My Dad was the Ops Officer and later the squadron commander of the 3rd TFS at Clark. Your Rhino looks great.

Also, did you create the Standard ARM and AN/ALQ-184 pod? I am trying to pull together everything I would need to build a "G" variant, and these pieces would really help.

[jthenry8]

hi just wanted to show some pics of my rhino. maiden still to come

Looks absolutely fantastic. Is that the RC Geek "E" conversion kit?

[jthenry8]

Ready for inspection! Here's the final product. Weapons, "E" nose, cockpit, pilots, TIESO and centerline tank are 3D printed. Only one flight on it so far. It has survived the maiden but was pretty nose heavy and I bounced the landing shearing the nose gear pin. Already repaired and ready for the next sortie.

Absolutely fantastic. My Dad was the Ops Officer and later the squadron commander of the 3rd TFS at Clark. Your Rhino looks great.

[jthenry8]

Yep, crewed by JHH pilots. Visors covered with Future floor finish....

Did you raise the WSO up towards the canopy? I have always thought they looked like there were sitting really low in the cockpit. From this angle it looks just about right.

[Elbee]

Would like to hear some details about if you made the parts...

JT, I thank you for the kind words. The parts you mentioned are 3D printed mods of my design. Mostly, I took the OEM piece parameters and changed the profiles. The VIRs need to look sharp and thinned in my opinion, that was a given, the A/C intakes should look cleaner, and so on.

The pilots are JHH 1/12th scale from "The RC Geek" as are the "B" Nozzles (I did not have my printer when I bought all the parts for this build). The Cockpit is the Freewing version offered by Motion RC. It is a resin 3D print and fits perfectly.

I built the "B" variant the best I could without changing any fuselage profiles and you wrote about doing an "E" or "G". The fuselage is wide on this model, though I have seen others in this thread that have squared the cockpit section to better represent the "E". I do not know if there are other 3D printable designs for modding the Freewing "D" to an "E" or "G".

This was an early project in design for me, but all the parts turned out quite good, I think. Each design change I made was a compromise to the OEM and I did not want to stray to far from what is a very detailed and flyable model.

If you have a 3D printer or access to one, I can send G-codes of those parts. I would need to know the printer manufacturer, filament, and nozzle size you are using. The parts print nicely.

Best, LB

[jthenry8]

The G nose (Wild Weasel) is different than the E nose. I only know of two sources for the E nose and that is Tom Mansel and Chris Wolfe. Chris's is more scale. The small door on mine was hinged with a standard Dubro hinge.

I want to build a G variant, but the "E" nose variant looks a little bit off - too thick? Has anyone else noticed this? Is it because the base of the nose from the kit to round and a difficult transition? Thoughts? Please don't think this is a criticism of the work of those who developed the E nose - it is not. Those who developed that mod are amazing craftsman. Just trying to understand the build and the dimensions affecting the nose adaptation. Humbly submitted.

[jthenry8]

Hey Y'all, She's on her own feet for the first time. Some soft weathering on the upper fuselage, light touch up, airbrushing the tailhook, and a matte finish coat yet to do. Ordinance is a work in progress. :Whew:Best, LB

Love the intake ramps and the pilot figures. in the first picture it seems like he is looking directly at ground crew directing him to the catapult. I commented previously on the nozzles. Great work. Looks like you did some work on the chin air intakes. Would like to hear some details about if you made the parts or if they are available somewhere else. Overall, exceptional craftmanship.

[jthenry8]

:)Waiting for the fog to burn off this morning, got a few photos of the Phantom out on the runway. Can't say enough about how sweet flying this airplane is.

Holy Crud, Batman! What great pictures. The sky is perfectly matched to the paint scheme!

[jthenry8]

This is some great work. I really like the "dash 10" nozzles. Of the research I have done and the pictures I have from my Dad's planes - those seem to be the right ones. Love the attention to detail. Awesome stuff.

I think I am going to correct myself. It looks like the "turkey feathers" nozzle may be the right one for a 1968 produced F-4D. The definitive picture I have is of F-4D 68-709 on a low power setting and you can clearly see the collar. I mistook the constricted nozzle to be more representative of the "dash 10." Looks like upon closer inspection that the nozzle has a collar. Would love some feedback on this one.

[jthenry8]

Yes,... I put a Drop on the No.1 F-4D Nozzles and used a Plastic Drinking Cup for the Nozzles. Extended them to the Later E-Model Length.



No.2 F-4E (Early) has the FW 3DP Nozzles shown here before the Drop and Chop !!! This Extraordinarily Wide Exit Lip was unacceptable to me. This is what you get when you just stick them onto the Foam after removing the stock plastic cones. Most guys just leave it like this.





The No.3 F-4F will be getting the RCGeek LongNose F-4E/F 3DP Nozzles. They are 'Longer' and have a very nice Exit Lip on them and are already at a nice Thickness. No need for Chopping back the Foam as they are already extended past the Inner Nozzle Boundary. Depending on which Aircraft you are modeling, there is a nice set of Nozzles to be added for someone who desires a more realistic F-4C/D/E/F look on their Foamie !! Cheers

This is some great work. I really like the "dash 10" nozzles. Of the research I have done and the pictures I have from my Dad's planes - those seem to be the right ones. Love the attention to detail. Awesome stuff.

[jthenry8]

Used a FreeWing attachment to the Rail !! As Good a place as any, considering the Pylons are Multi-Use anyway !!

Here are a couple of more pictures of "709" in the air when it was assigned to the 13th TFS (circa 1969-1970). That's my Dad in the back seat.

[Elbee]

Evan D Thank you, my friend and Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, as well. Best, Steve

[Evan D]

Been a while since I’ve flown mine. A few great flights on it today. Happy thanksgiving everyone.

[okcrcpilot]

I'm a little late with the "THANK YOU's" for the photos of the Home Depot paint formulae...Sorry. The samples provided were Exactly what I needed...Thanks again!!!
Bill

Bill, Happy to know those colors are what you were looking for. Gary

[billd3]

I'm a little late with the "THANK YOU's" for the photos of the Home Depot paint formulae...Sorry. The samples provided were Exactly what I needed...Thanks again!!!
Bill

[Elbee]

GliderGuy Suburb diagnoses, methodology, and debrief. Thank you. Best, LB

[GliderGuy]

Old Reliable <my F-4> had an issue….

Futaba gear

A few weeks ago, I noticed a dramatic reduced response to roll input. A quick landing was followed by discovering the left aileron servo inop.

Changed the servo, and was back at it soon after.

However, this past Saturday morning I noticed during a vertical roll that the roll rate would suddenly slow and then increase again. Hmmmm….new servo did not correct the problem, so it seems.

1) Bad intermittent connection?
2) Bad intermittent control board?
3) RX going south?

I decided to take every connection apart and re-seat them as a start. By the way…all was working again before I tore into the wiring. The Intermittent had fixed itself.

After disconnecting and reconnecting everything, here’s what resulted….
1) RX binding light was rapidly flashing
2) The HK gyro’s light was flashing
3) All control servos were cycling back and forth

And….eventually, the RX bind LED went dead.

After double checking that all connections were correct, the disconnecting and re-connecting appears to have aggravated an intermittent issue internal to the RX (a poor internal PCB connection at the pins possibly? Aggravated a crack in a PCB trace?). Maybe I was just fortunate enough to have decided to replace the RX just before total failure.

After installing a new RX, the problem was resolved.

Interesting how stressing the RX connections aggravated the intermittent RX issue to a total RX failure. Or….maybe a lucky coincidence.

This hobby is indeed an intriguing one.

Range check and test flights planned for this afternoon.

-GG

[Spad Driver]

Thank you Elbee Sir,
I have loved painting my models different than what comes stock ever since I built my 1st plastic model as a kid.
Would it be helpful to add to my long winded rant that I found two really close matches for the metallic colors at the exhaust area?.
For the bright metallic area:
Folkart metallic finish acrylic 662E sterling silver
For the dark metallic area:
DecoArt dazzling metallics Zinc Da339
No matter how carefully you mask metallic colors something has to lift!😫
And these two match the best.
check out the photo of the exhaust area by rudder. There was lots of loose stock paint that just would rub off at the slightest touch. So lots of touchup.
S.D.