Platz

1/144 F-4EJ Kai Phantom II

Kit Number: PF015

Reviewed by  Jim Pearsall, IPMS# 2209

MSRP: $14.95 Distributed by Dragon Models USA: www.dragonmodelsusa.com The Plane: I am NOT a Phantom Phanatic … well, maybe just a little. OK, I drove 155 miles to see a pair of F-4Es depart Springfield, Illinois. But I did NOT jump up and down and holler when I saw one of the "Heritage Flight" QF-4s on final into Luke AFB for the air show last spring. I just stood there with my mouth in a big grin. I have built more Thunder Rhinos than P-51s or Bf-109s. But with retirement came space limitations, and I now mostly build 1/144 F-4s. The F-4 is still going strong in Japan, Greece, and Turkey, with aircraft still flying ops in Iran, South Korea, Germany, and Egypt; although Germany is giving up the F-4 by 2011 or so. So there are plenty of F-4s around, and a new model is welcome. For a long time, the only "microscope scale" F-4s were an F-4B from Arii, another from Starfix, and the LS F-4E. The first two are basic shapes, although the Arii kit is much better than the Starfix. The LS kit, which has been released and re-released in several boxes is most easily found in the US in the AMT box. The fact that the sprue still has LS on it is pretty much a giveaway of the origin. It’s currently available as an Aoshima release. But now we get a modern kit of this beloved warhorse…actually, we get two in one box.

The Kit: I recently built the AMT F-4E (the LS kit) as an F-4EJ aggressor. I used the Matador Models 1/144 metal seats. They were nice. But I’m not sure they were that much nicer than the seats you get in this kit. The interior is sparse, but there are consoles, a panel for the back seater AND there are human-looking pilot figures. I made some decals and put them in the cockpit. Invisible, sure, but I know they’re there. I found it interesting that the crew members were molded in clear plastic, but you can see that they have legs, arms, helmets, and masks. I have seen finer molding on carrier deck crew figures in 1/144 aircraft kits, but these are the best aircrew I’ve seen in this scale so far. There are two complete aircraft kits in the box, with two complete sets of markings; both aircraft from the 3rd Air Wing, 8th TFS. One is a 50th Anniversary (1957-2007) spectacular scheme, the other is a gray-on-gray workhorse.

The Build: This is a very easy kit to build. Part of that is because all of the parts are cleanly molded, the edges all meet nicely and everything just fits. The other part is that this kit can be built as a snap-together. The main gear, consisting of two doors, gear leg and wheel is one piece. The nose gear is also one piece. This makes for easy assembly, and the parts are finely molded. It also makes painting the wheels and tires more of a chore. Painting: Here’s a photo of the first paint job I put on the aircraft. I hated the color. It just doesn’t look like the box art or the photo on the box top. The lighter of the 2 blues (35164) is too pale and too grey. So I repainted it with 35183 bright blue. Looks a lot more like the picture. It’s great to have all those FS 595 colors available. Decals: The decals are printed by Cartograf of Italy. The decals are what make this particular aircraft one that stands out at any air show. There are 20+ decals for the 50th anniversary scheme, and they’re large (for 1/144) and complete. Note the armament markings, the little white maintenance reminders and all those other things you never see on an F-4 in 1/72, let alone 1/144. The decals are what move this kit out of the "kits for kids" category. I had some trouble getting everything to line up, but I did get pretty close. Overall Evaluation: Recommended. Nice detail, engraved panel lines, good fit and super decals. Even if it is simplified, it’s good. This may not be the kit we’ve been waiting for in 1/144, but it’ll do until that one comes along. The fact that it’s an F-4EJ Kai makes it tough to use it for other models, like an F-4F ICE or F-4E Kurnass, but there are certainly a lot of JASDF schemes which can be used with this kit. Thanks to Platz and IPMS/USA for the chance to build a better Phantom.

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