Absolutely stunning, I nearly choked on my lunch when you were adding the boot marks, Long John Aircraft Techie , save some “fucks” for 2023 , superb build series

Merry christmas Matt, thanks for all the great content mate, nobody builds birds like you do.

OMG Matt. I would go to my grave if I even came 10% as my kit looking this good. Don't be so critical of your exceptional skills.

Hi Matt. Just an idea, use the 3D printed boots as a master to make some boots out of silicone, bathroom sealant or similar. They will have more give when making boot prints…..

Merry Christmas fella and to your family

Phormer Phantom Phixer here: Boot prints shouldn't be on the panels above the wheel wells. Those panels were made of fiberglass laminated over honeycomb. The panels weren't that strong. If someone walked on those panels there was a possibility they would crash through the panel, so walking on them was a big no-no. I once saw that damage on one of our F-4Es when I was stationed at Ramstein. We had a new person that no one had thought to mention that to. He slid down off the intake trunk onto the wing right on the wheel well panel and he went right through it. That's why there were the small walkways painted on the wings just in front of the fiberglass/honeycomb panels. Another detail worth adding is wear on top of the left vari-ramp. Maintenance and aircrew frequently walked across the top of the left side vari-ramp when walking from the boarding ladder or front cockpit to the rear cockpit. Some bare metal was often visible on top of the left vari-ramp on planes with older paint and weathering. There was often a lot of wear on top of the intake to the left side of the rear cockpit too, from people getting in and out of that cockpit. There would be almost no wear on the right side vari-ramp or intake because pretty much the only time anyone walked on the right side was when they were cleaning the canopies.

Exceptional model Matt. Looks really good and you should be proud of it. Really enjoy your content. Happy Holidays

Superb work!

Thanks for all your videos this year dude!

Your exhaust nozzles are spot on.

Excellent work Matt! Merry Christmas and a safe and healthy New Year!

Matt + i have the taimya's 1/32 scale kits of the f-4 fandom they are nicely detailed kits as well keep up the great work 😊

Awesome job Matt loved the build learnt so much thank you

Another great looking build Doog. Looking forward to the next one.

Top notch build Matt, good to see you back. Merry Christmas 👌

It looks beautiful to me!! Happy Holidays!!

Merry Christmas!

Watching your build video's are great journey! Beautifull work and Happy New Year! ;)

A fabulous visual presentation. You are a truly a master & genius of our hobby. I was especially fascinated with the boot prints. Can’t wait to see what you do with the Tamiya F-35. Thanks again, Eric.

Nice job, happy Christmas.

Hi Matt, great build despite what you think! Love your work mate.

Once again a great video and a fantastic result Merry Xmas Matt

Well done Matt, another great result. Nice that you stuck with it and brought it over the finish line. I think it looks really fantastic. Fingers crossed Tamiya do a new variant of Phantom in '23. Could it be an idea to print a boot soul in pre-flexed position; i.e. printing the soul on curved surface rather than flat. then you could 'roll it' on? 🤷‍♂️

Looking good! I've got a same scale Phantom that's a "Diamond Jubilee" version (75th anniversary of naval aviation). It looks like a Blue Angels plane but with different markings.

Pretty epic

Hi matt your phantom looks awesome mate also your KZfaq videos are the best.buddy. also I hope the big man drops off a tamiya f-4 phantom tomorrow for me. All the best merry Christmas to you and your family. Cheers Gary from the UK 🇬🇧.

Bravo!

Hey Matt, Brilliant video series. Ive learnt quite a lot over the course of this build,which I'll include in my next build. Unlike you I'm bit of a fan of the F-4 B & the USAF C,D. The latter long nose versions not so much. In any case I looking forward to the next video series.

That is one dirty bird, but lookin' good nonetheless. My brother was in the Corps in 1960, as was assigned to the Phantoms as a body and paint guy. He said many times that he hated the Phantoms. TPE {thermo plastic elastomer} might be the material you're looking for Matt, if someone makes it for 3d printers. I use it in my injection molder often. It's flexible and soft and might be what you're looking for. Merry Christmas to you and yours Bubba! Regards, Duck

Amazing series Matt, all of the TAM F-4B videos, thanks so much for that, extremely interesting and inspirational. Love your weathering, not overdone but still giving a nice "weight" to the F-4. Running out of steam before you over-weathered the bird may actually be a good thing (happy accident ?😊). Have you tried using a rubber eraser, carved in the shape of a boot foot print for the boots' prints? It's very effective for tank models in 1/35, so why not in 1/48. Especially if you use one of those erasers fixed on top of pencils. Very good, flexible material to use as a stamp. You can use your 3d printed ones dipped in paint to stamp the top of an eraser, then let it dry, then carefully trim off the surrounding area with a sharp blade to leave an extrusion of the rubber in the shape of a boot. Not sure how easy it will be in 1/48, but in 1/35 that I have tried it, i works great. If done correctly, you can easily do left and right boot prints and different boot sizes too. Actually, even if you don't carve the rubber away, just stamping the rubber surface with the paint from your 3D printed boots, and before the paint dries (so, immediately), using the rubber as a stamp on the model, may give you almost the same results (without the pain of trying to carve something so tiny). So using the 3D printed boot as a negative and the rubber as a positive. Or to say it differently, transferring the boot print from the hard surface of the 3D printed boot to the softer rubber material, and immediately, while the paint is still wet, use the rubber/eraser to stamp the boot shape on the model. Makes sense? Easier to actually do it than to describe it.... Oh, and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year too! 🙂

when you put in the red light. You should get if dont already have one is a wax pencil they pick small stuff really good. And release it just as good. Grate job on the F4

Un joyeux Noël à tous

Merry Christmas, Matt! May your New Year be much better than this past year. One question for you: Any idea why they flipped up the wing tips in Da Nang? On a carrier sure, but this was a large land base.

Finally watched this and I can say awesome 😎 job. I haven’t built the Tamiya B yet. I’m going to try the Meng E model. Do you or anyone out there know if Meng going to do other versions of the Phantom in the future. Still awesome build like all the kit I’ve seen from you 👍.

Thank you for pushing it over the finish line, Matt. Did you ever finish the F-104 with NM? Would love to see how that went even if it was a postmortem of the abandoned build.

Just one comment. Although the result is spectacular I feel like there is something unbalanced between the the weathering of the underneath of the aircraft and the top. Anyway great work and merry Xmas

I saw someone carve out a boot print in a pencil eraser.

Seriously why did this take so long I could build a kit this quality maybe in 1 month or 3 weeks was it a free time thing? Btw it looks great and sexy af

put PVA glue under the printet footprint

If this is bullshit, it is by far the best bullshit I have ever had!! Go at your own pace, we'll all wait for more bullshit....