Hasegawa

F-4J/S Phantom II USS Midway Low-Visibility

Kit Number: 00834

Reviewed by  James Kelley , IPMS# 42106

MSRP: $36.95 On 30 December 1960, the VF-121 Pacemakers became the first Phantom operators with their F4H-1Fs (F-4As). The VF-74 Be-Devilers at NAS Oceana became the first deployable Phantom squadron when they received their F4H-1s (F-4Bs) on 8 July 1961. The squadron completed carrier qualifications in October 1961 and Phantom's first full carrier deployment between August 1962 and March 1963 aboard USS Forrestal. The second deployable US Atlantic Fleet squadron to receive F-4Bs was the VF-102 Diamondbacks who promptly took their new aircraft on the shakedown cruise of Enterprise. The first deployable US Pacific Fleet squadron to receive the F-4B was the VF-114 Aardvarks, which participated in the September 1962 cruise aboard Kitty Hawk. By the time of the Tonkin Gulf incident, 13 of 31 deployable Navy squadrons were armed with the type. F-4Bs from USS Constellation made the first Phantom combat sortie of the Vietnam War on 5 August 1964, flying bomber escort in Operation Pierce Arrow. The first Phantom air-to-air victory of the war took place on 9 April 1965 when an F-4B from VF-96 Fighting Falcons piloted by Lt JG Terence M. Murphy shot down a Chinese MiG-17 'Fresco'. The Phantom was then shot down, apparently by an AIM-7 Sparrow from one of its wingmen. On 17 June 1965, an F-4B from VF-21 Freelancers piloted by CDR Thomas C. Page and Lt John C. Smith shot down the first North Vietnamese MiG of the war. In 1968, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force purchased 140 F-4EJ Phantoms. Political controversy arose over the "self-defense" force's having "bombers," consequently, the aerial refueling and ground attack capabilities were removed (ground attack capabilities were restored in subsequent upgrades). Mitsubishi built 138 under license in Japan and 14 unarmed reconnaissance RF-4Es were imported. Of these, 96 F-4EJs have since been modified to the F-4EJ Kai ("modified"), standard with laser inertial navigation system, APG-66J radar and other avionics upgrades. Seventeen F-4EJs were equipped with LOROP pods and converted to reconnaissance aircraft. These aircraft received a similar F-4EJ Kai upgrade as the RF-4EJ. On 10 May 1972, Randy "Duke" Cunningham and William P. Driscoll, flying an F-4J with the radio call sign "Showtime 100" shot down three MiG-17s to become the first flying aces of the war. Their fifth victory was believed at the time to be over a mysterious North Vietnamese ace Colonel Toon, now considered mythical. On the return flight, the Phantom was damaged by an enemy surface-to-air missile. To avoid being captured, Cunningham and Driscoll flew upside down (the damage made the aircraft uncontrollable in a conventional attitude) and on fire until they could eject over water. During the war, Navy Phantom squadrons participated in 84 combat tours with F-4Bs, F-4Js, and F-4Ns. Navy claimed 40 air-to-air victories at the cost of 71 Phantoms lost in combat (5 to aircraft, 13 to SAMs, and 53 to AAA). An additional 54 Phantoms were lost in accidents. Of the 40 aircraft shot down by Navy and Marine Phantom crews, 22 were MiG-17s, 14 MiG-21s, two Antonov An-2s, and two MiG-19s. Of these, eight aircraft were downed by AIM-7 Sparrow missiles and 31 by AIM-9 Sidewinders. By 1983, the F-4Ns had been completely replaced by F-14 Tomcats, and by 1986 the last F-4Ss were exchanged for F/A-18 Hornets. On 25 March 1986, an F-4S belonging to VF 151 Vigilantes became the last Navy Phantom to launch from an aircraft carrier (USS Midway). On 18 October 1986, an F-4S from VF-202 Superheats made the last-ever Phantom carrier landing aboard America. In 1987, the last of the Naval Reserve-operated F-4Ss were replaced by F-14s. The only Phantoms still in service with the Navy are the QF-4 target drones operated by the Naval Air Warfare Centers. As of 2007, Japan has a fleet of 90 F-4s currently in service. Talks are underway to replace them with Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft (as reported in the Financial Times in March 2007), since the sale of American F-22 Raptor is currently blocked by US export restrictions. Upon opening the box, the modeler is greeted by 10 light grey sprues and one transparent sprue of parts. Despite the advancing age of the molds, the parts are rife with delicate details, crisply engraved panel lines, and little to no flash at all. The transparent parts in my sample were flawless. The kit is boxed with decals and parts to build either an F-4J or an F-4S Phantom II. Decals are for "low visibility" scheme aircraft off the USS Midway: 2 F-4S and 1 F-4J of VF-161 "Chargers," including the 1982 CAG and CO's birds, as well as an F-4S of VF-151 "Vigilantes." The decals are all on one sheet, and printed register is without mismatch error. The instruction sheet is, again, typical Hasegawa; A one-piece, 4-fold sheet comprising 8 pages. One page is a helpful parts map, with unused parts "shadowed out" in dark grey. Construction is straightforward, as may expect from Hasegawa. The assembly begins with the sparsely detailed cockpit. The ejection seats, 5 parts each, are really not bad for this scale…they build up nicely, and with a little dry-brushing and seat harness (bring your own) they look convincing. All forward and side instrument panels are decals. Aside from that and the pilot's control stick, there's nothing else. Don't forget to fill the hole in the RIO's deck. This tub then fits neatly into the forward section of the fuselage, on top of the nose gear bay. The aft fuselage is a two part affair as well, and fits snugly together. The side jet intakes are each comprised of 5 pieces, and this is the only place in the build that I used any filler putty. A thin line was applied to the join of the intake flange and main trunking assembly, and sanded flush. The interior of this assembly was airbrushed white. The remainder of the build is comprised of seating the completed fuselage into the wings (requiring zero filler), assembly of the landing gear, and attaching the underwing pylons and fuel tanks. I opted not to attach them. I prefer to give my jets an operational loadout or nothing at all. Since Hasegawa is known for limiting their kit's stores to minimal or no weapons, I went with nothing. However, I added the pylons so that if, at a show or someplace else inexpensive, I find a 1:72 weapons set…I'll have it's loadout! I left the canopies posed in the "open" position, and despite the sparseness of the included cockpit, it doesn't look too bad. The decaled panels and two ejection seats make it "busy" enough. The decals went down effortlessly, and after a coat of future to place them on, they look painted on with the help of Mr. Mark Softener. All painting and weathering was done with an Iwata HP-C airbrush. The markings I used were for an "all-over" Lo-Viz line bird from the VF-151 Vigilantes, circa 1986. I recommend this kit without reservations! Thanks to Hasegawa, Dragon Models USA, and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review it.

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