SPA Modeler

I received word today that my pre order of the Zoukei Mura F 4J has shipped from California. I've built the 1/32 ZM Ho 229 and P 51K and I'm impressed by the fit and finish of heir kits. Some complain about all the hidden detail but I enjoy building and my wife gets upset if an expensive kit gets done in a month or less. Tamiya does the same thing to a lesser extent with their 1/32 kits. I've built their Mosquito, Bubble canopy Corsair and F 6D Mustang and the engines on them are all pretty detailed and hidden. I'm looking forward to the Phantom. I didn't get to work on them while I was in the Air Force. Spent my 10 years working on the F 102A radar system in Holland and the F 101B radar system in Oregon. The F 4 was just coming into service when I got out. All I remember is that it was really noisy. Two J 57's on a 101B seemed about half as loud as the two J 79's on the F 4

Looking forward to hearing about it,have not done a Phantom in about 15 years,the old venerable Hasegawa Phantoms.Will have to take a look at this one.

This will be fun to watch!

I saw one of these today at the LHS. They opened it up and let me peek at the spruces. All I can say is WOW! They did a beautiful job on the detailing. Two full J79 engines with intake trunking, and intake and exhaust ends beautifully represented.

Got Eduard´s Brassin exhaust for this kit. Honestly, not really a major improvement on the kit parts. The exhausts only have a very little more detail, hard to see by the naked eye. What you get is a resin/PE afterburner ring, to be hidden inside the plastic engines. I will see if this will be easily seen after having finished the engines...

I don't know about the Eduard Brassin stuff, but the shop also had some of the ZM upgrade AM parts. Mind you, those parts are wonderfully detailed. But the basic kit parts are so well done, there is really no need to go spend extra money. Aside from perhaps other weapons or markings, the out of box kit is fantastic. The kit just has a basic load of 4x AIM-9D/G/H, 4x AIM-7, and wing & centerline drop tanks.

I am with you, Carlos! This kit is fine and already offers all that´s needed.

Mine has been done for about a month. The fit and finish were near perfect. This is the third ZM kit I've built and their attention to detail is incredible. The P 51K has all the piping from the radiator to the engine. You'll never see it but it was fun installing. I would place them a bit above Tamiya in detail. The fit and finish of parts are about the same. I'm working on the 1/48 Tamiya F 14A right now and it is also a great fitting kit. We're really fortunate these days for the quality of kits that are available.

Pictures, or it didn´t happen...

Thomas_M wrote:Pictures, or it didn´t happen...