1:48 Canopy And Wheels Paint Masks For F-4J Phantom II Zoukei-Mura SWS

The Phantom II in naval service

The F-4J version was the fighter form of the Phantom for the US Navy and the Marine Corps. Compared with the older machines it received more powerful engines, a fixed leading-edge slot on the wing and above all a radar with pulse-Doppler processing, which could track a target against the background of the ground. It was precisely these machines that carried colorful squadron markings on their fin surfaces, and they became one of the most rewarding subjects of the whole family for modelers.

Two places where time is saved

The set deals with the two jobs that hold a builder up the most. The first is the canopy glazing, which on the Phantom has a broken-up frame with several curves. The second is the tires, where the hub is masked off against the tread. The parts are cut to match one particular kit from the Japanese brand, so the position of the frames agrees with the molding.

A circle the hand cannot manage

Masking a wheel is a textbook case where a stencil wins outright. The transition between the hub and the rubber is a perfect circle, and any departure from it shows up immediately, because the wheel can be turned and the error travels all the way around. Cutting a ring freehand with a knife means accepting a wobble along the circumference, whereas machine-cut film holds the radius identical all the way around.

With the glazing the situation is different. The film sits excellently on flat and slightly domed panes, but a strongly bulged canopy forces it to stretch and it can wrinkle in the corners. There it helps to divide the part and cover the edge with a small separate piece.