[Armour Addict]

Originally Posted by STARMAN 352ND

I love my Showtime 100 made by FM she is perfect...I'm lucky to have the other Ace Phantoms as well ... Olds , Coe and Ritchie all are outstanding
and above all none of them have any decals on them all are printed tampos....Which is the way i like it...Truth be told i had at least 3 Coe Phantoms at one time because i wanted to
get the one with no decals the last one was perfect all printed tampos even the shark mouth...Got rid of the other two.
JP

JP,

if you like FM F-4s you're gonna love these babies:

[trex0770]

Originally Posted by Armour Addict

JP,

if you like FM F-4s you're gonna love these babies:

Those are beautiful AA!

[Armour Addict]

Originally Posted by trex0770

Those are beautiful AA!

Thanks Trex!

I like them very much, I consider them as some of the best FM F-4s yet.

[Hornchurch]

Originally Posted by Armour Addict

JP,

if you like FM F-4s you're gonna love these babies:

A.A. I love those pix.


The 'Ark-Royal' F.4's I saw (back in 1999) for sale in Beatties (Holborn, London, now Modelzone) ALL had a 'High-Gloss' finish !!!!!!!!

Yet your model looks MUCH more realistic - seems almost toned-down by comparison.....nowhere near as glossy (& looks much better as a result....)

Is that how it came out of the box ?

I was wondering if you'd spray/varnished it, to tone-down the gloss-finish, if that's not the case ?


As the one's in Holborn were massively reduced in price (the 'Ark-Royal' F.4 like yours was only £22, back then, in '99 !!!!!) I bought several, but the intense-gloss put me off the Royal-Navy 'Ark-Royal' version, so I bought the 'Sundowners' & 'Red-Tailed Devil' US.-Marine versions instead.

[ZS-VAN]

Originally Posted by Armour Addict

JP,

if you like FM F-4s you're gonna love these babies:

Very nice AA. Always cool to see pics.

[Armour Addict]

Originally Posted by Hornchurch

A.A. I love those pix.


The 'Ark-Royal' F.4's I saw (back in 1999) for sale in Beatties (Holborn, London, now Modelzone) ALL had a 'High-Gloss' finish !!!!!!!!

Yet your model looks MUCH more realistic - seems almost toned-down by comparison.....nowhere near as glossy (& looks much better as a result....)

Is that how it came out of the box ?

I was wondering if you'd spray/varnished it, to tone-down the gloss-finish, if that's not the case ?


As the one's in Holborn were massively reduced in price (the 'Ark-Royal' F.4 like yours was only £22, back then, in '99 !!!!!) I bought several, but the intense-gloss put me off the Royal-Navy 'Ark-Royal' version, so I bought the 'Sundowners' & 'Red-Tailed Devil' US.-Marine versions instead.

Uhm, that's interesting!

I got it this way from John Youngs (he's also on this forum). AFAIK this one is from the same timeframe.

I didn't do a thing about it. Maybe it got toned down by UV radiation thru the years? Bad thing is that the decals a silvering and start to come off.

£22 is a great price! I would have bought several, too!

You don't by any chance have one of the high-gloss models left?

[Armour Addict]

Originally Posted by ZS-VAN

Very nice AA. Always cool to see pics.

In that case here are some more:

[Hornchurch]

Originally Posted by Armour Addict

Uhm, that's interesting!

I got it this way from John Youngs (he's also on this forum). AFAIK this one is from the same timeframe.

I didn't do a thing about it. Maybe it got toned down by UV radiation thru the years? Bad thing is that the decals a silvering and start to come off.

£22 is a great price! I would have bought several, too!

You don't by any chance have one of the high-gloss models left?

Hi A.A. & thanks for reading my inquiring post

Yeah, you're right, £22 was a GREAT price back in 1999 for a (then) new 1/48th F.M. F.4 of ANY kind........

Funny enough my 'Sundowners' was (only) £24 & amazingly, my 'Red-Tail' Marine F.4 only a paltry £18 (it's a beaut'!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

They had about x 8 'Ark-Royal' Phantoms in stock that day (for £22), but like I said, the ultra-high gloss-finish & the decals put me off
so I didn't buy any........ only the two U.S. versions I've described above.
The 'Sundowners' shark's teeth decal was cracking-up so I took it off (it also had a scuffed canopy !)
The 'Red-Tailed-Devil' Marine F.4 is still 'mint'

The 'Beatties' Shop (Holborn) was in central London & was bought out by it's current owners, 'Modelzone'

I'm pretty sure you can get 'Ark Royal' F.4 markings (still) in 1/48th scale, as far as I'm aware (?)

So, it shouldn't be too hard to patch up your F.4 beauty !

Ironic that a High-Gloss surface & a drop of 'Micro-Sol' or Johnson's 'Klear' can eliminate that 'silvering' effect !!!!!!!!!

[John Youngs]

Originally Posted by Hornchurch

A.A. I love those pix.


The 'Ark-Royal' F.4's I saw (back in 1999) for sale in Beatties (Holborn, London, now Modelzone) ALL had a 'High-Gloss' finish !!!!!!!!

Yet your model looks MUCH more realistic - seems almost toned-down by comparison.....nowhere near as glossy (& looks much better as a result....)

Is that how it came out of the box ?

I was wondering if you'd spray/varnished it, to tone-down the gloss-finish, if that's not the case ?


As the one's in Holborn were massively reduced in price (the 'Ark-Royal' F.4 like yours was only £22, back then, in '99 !!!!!) I bought several, but the intense-gloss put me off the Royal-Navy 'Ark-Royal' version, so I bought the 'Sundowners' & 'Red-Tailed Devil' US.-Marine versions instead.

Hornchurch - Guess what?? You should've gotten the Brit. FG.1 Phantom back then, my friend!! Enclosed please see a few photos of the actual, real, SPECIFIC Phantom that this model was styled after - the Brits scrapped her in 1977. Gloss paint was THE REAL DEAL!! If ANYONE has ANY photos of this particular model (which was cancelled by Armour/FM shortly after their takeover from CDC) WITH A GLOSSY PAINT FINISH, I'd LOVE to see them!!!!!

By the way, I got rid of my FG.1 because of decal separation on the flat (matte) finish, as well as other considerations (look especially at the photos of the decals near the nose section of this model & you'll see what I mean!!)

Armour Addict now owns her (see my thread on "Armour Addict and Down with DHL") and that specific model is the one you see in his photos! He seems to have done some minor repairs, judging from the photos. Most of the decals had "silvered" - that is, they had begun to separate from the matte finish as the glue dried out.

Matte-finished paint is perhaps one of the absolutely WORST mediums you can apply decals to - because of that aspect of the glue that most water-slide decals use. The paint leaves thousands of little tiny "passage ways" or "channels" or "depressions" in it's surface (that's what gives it that "satin" or "matte" finish to begin with); the glue from the decals, after drying, shrinks, and as it does so over time, it allows air to seep underneath the decal which results in that horrible "plastic-y" look - see the last of the photos on this thread & you'll see what I mean.

Nope, glossy finish for this model was what the original R.N; 892 Sq; Ark Royal, FG.1 Phantom (it had the FG.1 extended nose landing gear [for carrier ops] strut replaced later on, after the Ark Royal herself had been scrapped, with the nose gear strut from an FGR.2 - the same strut assembly as the American F-4's - so Armour's rendition of this plane, regarding this style of nose strut, is technicially correct - depending upon the period of time the real plane operated that you wish to consider. She started out life with that huge, long, "gangly" nose strut that was designed to put the nose of the plane into the proper nose up attitude necessary for a catapult shot off the bow - similar to the nose strut assembly on the A-4 Skyhawk for the same reason.), #001 was originally painted and flew almost all of her life with; albiet a wee bit of fading as she got a little "long in the tooth" towards the end of her life.

I've either seen or have owned 3 of these models in years past - and ALL have had that idiotic matte finish! If you had the opportunity to get one with a true glossy finish, you SHOULD kick yourself in the ol' arse - and good!! HA! Sorry, but I just HAD to say that... - JY

[Hornchurch]

[quote=John Youngs;141331]

Hornchurch - Guess what?? You should've gotten the Brit. FG.1 Phantom back then, my friend!!

. Gloss paint was THE REAL DEAL!! If ANYONE has ANY photos of this particular model (which was cancelled by Armour/FM shortly after their takeover from CDC) WITH A GLOSSY PAINT FINISH, I'd LOVE to see them!!!!!

Nope, glossy finish for this model was what the original R.N; 892 Sq; Ark Royal, FG.1 Phantom

I've either seen or have owned 3 of these models in years past - and ALL have had that idiotic matte finish!

If you had the opportunity to get one with a true glossy finish, you SHOULD kick yourself in the ol' arse - and good!! HA! Sorry, but I just HAD to say that... - JY
[/quote]


Thanks John for the detailed & informative post !!!!!!!!!!!!

I knew about the FG.1's 'Gangly' nose-wheel Leg/Strut, but not about the Gloss paint !

Makes you wonder how it stood-up to the rigours of the North-Atlantic ????????

Intersting to hear about the switch/change/cancellation after the F.M. takover of CDC.Armour.........

Wish me luck, John, as I prepare to train for (& emulate) a "one-legged-man-in-an-Arse-kicking-contest"