FUJIMI 1:72 MCD.D F-4C/D PHANTOM II
"30TH ANNIVERSARY"

 

Reviewer: Carlos Giani  (carlos_giani2002@yahoo.de)
Kit Review submitted:  5 August 2006

Kit Details:

Fujimi 1/72nd scale McDonnell F-4C/D Phantom „30th Anniversary“ (Kit N° 7A-6103 ). Produced in Japan.

Aircraft History:

There's nothing new that can be written about this wonderful airplane. Being originally developed for the US Navy (F-4B), the USAF soon became interested in it, and so the land-based versions F-4C and F-4D evolved, having sturdier landing gear, better avionics and stronger engines than the F-4B.

The Kit:

I bought this kit some 15 years ago in a sale. In those days, I used to take all parts from the sprues and clean them up with every new acquisition, convinced that later I would have no problem identifying and gluing them it the right place. Well, as you can guess, that was nonsense, specially if the subject was going to be built at last 15 years later!

According to the instructions, there were 6 sprues containing some 85 very crisp, well molded parts with finely engraved panel lines. Since they cover (at least) two versions, not all parts are used, but you have to look with a magnifying glass at the instructions sheet's sprues layout to identify them. Furthermore, you get a transparent sprue containing 4 very clear parts,  and a little bag containing 4 white metal rims and four vinyl tires (they look great when completed!).

Instructions:

Consists of one sheet of paper of aprox. 24cm x 51cm folded twice, printed on both sides. One side provides a brief history in Japanese, English, German and French, some modelling advice in these languages, a microscopic sprues layout and the painting / decaling guide for three versions. The other side shows construction in 8 steps, mostly clear enough even for the beginner. Detailed coloring guides are given throughout for the Gunze range, the main camouflage colors fortunately also having a FS number.

Construction:

It took a very long period of time to build this kit, and I took no notes; consequently, this part of the review will be  brief. You start with a well detailed cockpit, including tub, seats, control sticks, instrument panels and bulkheads; for the instrument you get decals (which are a bit too big, as usual). The cockpit is glued over a lower fuselage front section, creating this way a fully enclosed wheel well. This assembly is then attached from the bottom to the two fuselage halves, which are split vertically and include the fin.

The wings are one lower half and two upper halves, conforming to have enclosed wells for the main gear. The stabilizers are one part each, and you get a little diagram to help you to place them at the correct angle. The well's doors are thin and well detailed, and look very realistic. The gears struts are very good, including appropriate levers, and you get beautiful wheels consisting of white metal rims (need no clean-up!) and vinyl tires.

The canopies can be shown open, needing a bit of clean up work if you use them closed (this is noted in the instructions). The stores consists of three external fuel tanks and two different „quartets“ of missiles; there are no options. Finally, some little external „odds and ends“ round up the whole thing.

I had no problems building this kit, just needing a bit of putty around the lower front fuselage section and at the main air intakes (which occurs on most of the jets having such intakes, regardless of the kit producer). Construction was straight forward, but given the erratic way I built it, my subject didn't look too good (please keep this in mind when you look at the photo at the bottom of this review).

Colour Schemes:

All versions show an all-around camouflage in two-tone grey. The front fuselage, the wing tips and the vertical fin are FS36270 Satin US Medium Grey (Humbrol H126), the rest being FS36118 Satin US Dark Grey (Humbrol H125). Version N°1 has a black nose cone. Cockpit interior was painted with Humbrol H167, while the wheel wells are painted white.

  1. F-4D (66-7765) 906TFG / 89TFS „30th Anniversary“

  2. F-4C (64-0777) Oregon ANG 142FIG / 123FIS

  3. F-4D (66-7550) 419TFW / 507TFG / 465TFS „Mig killer“

Decals:

Very, very extensive, including each and every little lettering you'll find in the real bird (like some of the newer Revell decal sheets). The carrier film is rather thick, but the decals were very easy to handle.

Overall:

Despite my own misfortune, I would warmly recommend this kit to everybody. I have no references to compare it with, but it looks like a Phantom and, being Fujimi, it is probably spot on.


© Carlos Giani 2006

 

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