Фиксовский Фантом FG.1 в 48 масштабе оказался
Ну не F.3 и на том спасибо
Quinta studio работы привалило
I've had the kit in my hands for about 24 hours now, and this is my take on the Airfix 1/48 FG-1 kit.
It's a very nicely tooled FGR-2.
But it needs an FGR-2 Nose Leg, nosewheel door, blanks panels over the wing root Catapult Hook recesses, a pair of unslotted stabilators and some FGR-2 decals. All these are easily obtainable in the aftermarket, or especially if you have a couple of Hasegawa/ Revell Phantoms in the stash. 😉
The Airfix kit as boxed, has the following FGR-2 features:
It has the FGR-2 Vertical fin, with the panel lines for the HF Radio Antenna, not found on the FG-1.
It has the FGR-2 rear fuselage panel lines, along with the FGR-2 "D" shaped Door 61R, on the FG-1 it is rectangular and positioned lower on the fuselage. We used to check the damper pressure for the tailhook on very After Flight Servicing through this door.
It has an FGR-2 Rear Cockpit- complete with a right hand console. On its starboard side the FG-1 had a large CB panel up to about knee height and a padded cover up to the canopy sill. No right hand Console. The Hasegawa/ Revell kit has a part for this- it may help with any conversions.
It has the "Belly Strap" modification that was much more common on FGR-2, and certainly not found on an RN FG-1 in 1969. From memory, I only ever saw this repair on the FGR-2's that 43(F) received at the end of their Phantom days, in 1988/89, to make up the numbers of flying hours for very old and well used airframes. (the strap thickness under the centreline was that of my little finger tip, so about 8mm or 5/16th Inches- this is from my quickly fading memory, so caveat emptor and all that!)
The only other issue I will be dealing with is the two octagonal panels on the outboard upper surfaces of the inner wings. The raised nature of these panels is non standard and is the result of a late life repair scheme applied on the FGR-2. These panels should be flush to the wing. (Just to be clear, I'm not referring to the perfectly correct raised "blisters" that are positioned over the Main undercarriage leg attachment structure and run fore and aft, I'm talking about the panels with the fasteners near to the wing fold.)
It is to me, somewhat ironically, the opposite of the venerable Hasegawa kit, which has all the fuselage features of an FG-1 but with additional parts and decals has been built as an FGR-2 for almost half a century!
I welcome the new Airfix effort, It is a lovely tooled kit, and I don't seem to have any quality issues with my two, and I will get one started soon. Just not in FG-1 colours
Nice to have a new Phantom!
Cock-a-doodle-do!
Troffa