Tamiya 1/32 F-4E
By Howard Weaver
Here are a few photos of my Tamiya F-4E build of "Chico the Gunfighter". Chico was built using a cockpit detail set from Blackbox with MB7 seats, Cam SUU-23 gun pods, and MK-20 Rockeyes from a Tamiya F-15E kit. The burner cans are Cutting Edge and the decals are from Two Bobs. All of the patch panels were removed and the fuselage re-scribed. The pylons for the Gun pods are modified pylons cut from the wing drop tanks and re-worked to accommodate the gun pods. The pylons that come with the CAM pods are for a centerline positioning and do not work for the underwing application. The nose was opened up to show the radar and is mounted on rails so it can be moved out as shown in these photos, or moved back inside. The radar dish was cut loose and is able to move around some. The radar and the dish were detailed with some fine lead wire. The lower gun housing was made removable as shown in these photos, but can be snapped back into place. The centerline drop tank is from a Revell F-4 kit.
My thanks to Mike Singh for taking these photos.
© Howard Weaver
This article was published on Friday, September 27 2013; Last modified on Saturday, May 14 2016