Air-to-air

RENDEZVOUS

Turn a tanker boom into a display support

BY GREG KOLASA

M
inicraft released a 1/144 scale KC-135E with New Jersey Air National
Guard (NJANG) 141st Air Refueling Squadron, and being a Jerseyite
and friends with a Stratotanker driver, I grabbed one. Immediately, my
thought was to show the tanker refueling another aircraft. Maybe an
F-16. But then it hit me: Why not have it refueling an F-4E (in this case, 67-0343)
from when the 141st was a tactical fighter squadron? Because, in reality, it’s not possible.
That’s never stopped me before!

1 2
The tanker’s refueling boom would support the F-4. That meant the I measured the kit boom with a micrometer and drew out my plan. The
KC-135 kit’s boom would need to be modified to be extended and maximum diameter I could use for the boom’s core would be .0625- or
substantially reinforced. I started with a sketch of my ideas. 1⁄16-inch music wire. Brass tube would replace the boom’s mid-section.

50 FineScale Modeler December 2020

 Kits Used

Minicraft 1/144 scale

KC-135E (No. 14627)

Platz 1/144 scale F-4E

Phantom II (No. FC-5)

Greg Kolasa reveals his secrets for

modeling a gravity-defying aerial
refueling.

3 4
With planning done, I sawed the boom into four parts. The angled tip at Starting with a small diameter drill bit chucked in a pin vise and working
the front was discarded to allow me to position the boom deployed. up to 1⁄16-inch diameter, I bored out the boom’s front and rear sections to
The center section was on its way to the bin in favor of brass tube. accept the support wire.

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 5 6
The .092-inch brass tube was opened up with a drill bit to 1⁄16-inch, too. After slicing the airfoil-shaped fairing off the kit’s boom, I superglued it
Then I slid the parts, in order starting with the rear, onto the music wire on the new brass boom according to the measurements on my plans. I’ll
and secured them with superglue. I also made sure to align the add a few details before final installation.
“ruddervators” and hinge ears.

7 8
I cut two pieces of ½-inch x 1-inch balsa wood and shaped them to fit A length of 1⁄16-inch ID brass tubing served as a socket for the boom. I
inside the KC-135’s fuselage halves for the stand mount and refueling made a jig to align the fuselage and boom, notched the wood with a
boom support. file, and epoxied the tube in place. When it was dry, I filed a channel in
the opposing block and epoxied the two halves of wood together.

9 10
The boom operator’s door is molded closed. Checking with photos of I carved a notch in the balsa support block and made a bulkhead from
KC-135 boom pods, I used the fuselage stiffening ribs as references to thin sheet styrene; a black decal simulated the operator’s window. The
mark the door and cut it open. real door is hinged at the rear and opens inward. I mounted the model’s
door to a post inserted into the balsa block.

52 FineScale Modeler December 2020

 11
The KC-135 kit didn’t come with a flight crew. I painted a pair of N scale
model railroad figures and placed them in a “cockpit” mounted to the
nose gear well. I buttered the inside of the fuselage halves with slow-
setting epoxy, installed the balsa support, and glued them together.
13
I primed the KC-135, then painted the radome and yellow alignment
stripe along the tanker’s belly. When they were dry, I masked them and
then epoxied the mounting stud. With some more masking tape, I
turned the display stand into a useful handle for painting.
15
After notching the base of the ruddervators, I painted them black with
gunship gray leading edges. The boom was painted AMC gray, while
the extension received a coat of aluminum and Day-Glo extension
marking painted on white decal film.
12
The tanker would mount to the display stand via a 10-32 threaded stud.
I drilled a hole in the fuselage and balsa insert with a 5⁄32-inch bit. To
lessen the strain on the connection, I mocked up the tanker, boom, and
F-4 to find the approximate center of gravity on the model.
14
I mixed my own Air Mobility Command (AMC) gray from airframe gray
darkened with gunship gray and used an FS595 color reference for
reference. For faded areas, I lightened with insignia white, and matched
fresh touch-up paint to an FS36173 color chip.
16
The aft ends of the engine pods received flat steel with a light shading
of jet exhaust; exhaust outlets were ringed in silver and intake openings
were trimmed with flat aluminum. Dry transfers make the lights and
markings on the anti-glare and refueling light strips.
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 17
Research revealed the large tiger head appeared only on the aircraft’s
port side. The kit decal did a good job, and I hand-painted other missing
markings on decal film or sourced them from my spares. Fine wire made
the pitot tubes.
19
But the project wasn’t finished. I began work on the Phantom II by
painting the windshield center panel transparent green. Too small to
mask, I just decanted a few drops of paint into a bottle cap and brushed
it on.
21
After painting the cockpit, I carved a block of balsa wood to provide
positive attachment for the boom, pressed it in place between the ribs,
and glued the fuselage together.
54 FineScale Modeler December 2020
18
After wiggling the boom operator’s door in place, installing a small air-
pressure probe made from fine wire at the base of the fin, and spraying
Testors Dullcote, the KC-135 was all but finished. I dotted landing and
navigation lights with gloss clear and left the boom for later.
20
The boom enters the fuselage through the refueling receptacle door at
about a 45-degree angle. When I marked it on the model, it was clear
the attachment would require internal support.
22
Real Phantoms have two slightly different shades of black on the nose.
To make a color demarcation line, I laid a No. 11 hobby blade on a stack
of steel shims and then gently scribed the circumference of the radome.
 23
Shaving the mounting tabs off the top and bottom off the intake
splitters allows them to slide into position after painting the fuselage.
That means better coverage behind the splitters, a notoriously difficult
spot to paint on Phantoms.
25
My F-4E has leading slats on the outer wing. I cut two pieces of .020-
inch sheet styrene and beveled the leading edge with a scraper and
sandpaper. The trailing edge endured similar treatment, but less severe.
Then I trimmed them to length and glued them to the leading edge.
27
Painting was complicated by scale and the plane’s shape. I couldn’t just
paint one color, mask, and paint the next. I first airbrushed the areas
that would be dark green, then applied the masks and painted the
adjacent areas medium green, then dark tan.
24
I shortened the spine-mounted antenna to match my references for the
Phantom I was modeling, and added a small, offset, swept blade
antenna made from styrene strip. The rear-hinged refueling receptacle
was carved from 1⁄8-inch square styrene strip.
26
Prepping to paint the camo and wanting to remain accurate, I sketched
a four-view drawing of 67-0343 and then traced the patterns onto low-
tack masking film using a light box. I cut out the masks, sure to mark
them so I knew which one went where.
28
I repeated the process until the entire Phantom had been camouflaged.
Each time I repeated a color, I added a drop of a lighter or darker shade
to the cup to subtly change the look of each area. After a couple of
minor touch-ups, 67-0343 emerged in its warrior best.
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 Paints
Tamiya gray surface primer
Flat aluminum
(No. 87064)

Pactra airframe gray (No. MG60)

Jet exhaust
Model Master gunship gray
(No. 1723), insignia white
Flat steel
(No. 1745), aluminum (No. 1781),
jet exhaust (No. 1796), dark green
(No. 1710), medium green
(No. 1713), dark tan (No. 1742),
gunmetal (No. 1795)

Testors flat steel (No. 1180TT), flat

aluminum (No. 1181TT), silver
(No. 1146TT)
Silver
29
The exhausts were painted shades of dark gray and steel and dry-brushed gunmetal. The fuselage’s bare
metal was base-coated with flat aluminum and then toned with grays and steel so no two panels are
identical. The stabilator panels were masked and painted individually.

30
The tail became the most labor-intensive part of the airplane. I hand-
painted the orange stripe with “New Jersey” script and pieced together
the serial number, shields to serve as ANG insignias, and NJ tail codes
from spare decals. Unit citation ribbons were painted on decal film.
31
I slung fuel tanks underneath, as well as inboard pylons with empty
Sidewinder rails. My 10/0 brush was put to good use painting the
navigation, formation, and anti-collision lights and canopy frames. With
the canopy and radome on, the Phantom was done!

32
I positioned the KC-135 above the F-4E, which had a slightly nose-up
flight attitude. Then I inserted a 6-inch-long 1⁄16-inch diameter drill
through my double-chuck pin vise, placed the shank into the tanker’s
boom support tube, and drilled a ¾-inch-deep hole in the F-4’s fuselage.
33
Three drops of epoxy mounted the boom to the tanker. I colored a piece
of .008-inch-diameter Tichy wire with a black Sharpie and glued one
end to the fairing on the boom tube and inserted the other into an
existing hole in the underside of the tanker.

56 FineScale Modeler December 2020

 References
Colors and Markings of the F-4E Phantom II Bert Kinzey
and Ray Leader, Detail & Scale, ISBN 978-0-830685370
McDonnel F-4E Phantom II Tim McGovern, Aerofax, ISBN 978-
0-942548242
Federal Standard 595B “Colors Used in Government
Procurement”, U.S. Government Publishing Office
Extra Supplies
Grafix Frisket low-tack masking film
⁄"-diameter steel music wire; 3/32" x .014" brass tubing; K&S
Precision Metals (ksmetals.com)
.008"-diameter phosphor bronze wire; Tichy Train Group (tichy-
traingroup.com)
⁄" square styrene stock; Plastruct (plastruct.com)
A drop of epoxy in the Phantom’s
refueling receptacle was all it took to
secure the boom extension. I cut a
thick felt washer for the top of the
stand’s arm to protect the tanker,
then screwed the stand to the KC-135.
At last, I printed a 141st Tigers insignia
and adhered it to the base. And then
it was finished! Such a fun and
challenging project, I’m happy with
how it turned out, but I’m done with
1/144 scale: My knees took a beating
from crawling around on the floor
looking for parts to rescue from the
Carpet Monster.
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