It’s worth saying again; You can never have too many F-4s. Once the backbone fighter for the US Air Force, Navy & Marines, the F-4 is long gone from US service, though still soldiers on in the the forces of Japan, Germany, Turkey and other countries.

This is the third set in the Phantoms Phorever line from Eagle Strike. All three a/c are in the gull gray over white scheme. The decals are on one large & one small sheet. There are only enough common markings to do one aircraft. No walkways or maintenance stenciling is provided. The national insignia is a 3 piece affair, with the blue/white area as one piece, with the 2 red stripes as separate decals.

The first a/c is an F-4N from VF-51 "Screaming Eagles" from the 1976 Bicentennial time frame. This paint scheme is a good representation of the squadron markings after changing over from the "supersonic can opener" eagle design from the Viet Nam era. There are several special bicentennial decals. The red, white, & blue "Screaming Eagles" written in script on the side of the fuselage is a three piece decal, with the decal split along each color demarcation line. The multicolor 76 in the last four of the BuNo. follows the same three piece construction. The large blue disc on the nose with the white 76, & 13 white stars is a one piece decal. The three stripes on the vertical tail are red, white, & blue also. The VF-51 & USS Coral Sea on the fuselage side are 2 piece decals, with solid red lettering, and the black shadowing as a separate piece. Eagle Strike wisely left the white NL tail code as a white outline, with the modeler painting the tail, wingtips, & canopy hood black. Thin red decal stripes are provided to trim the black wingtip areas. The names on the canopy are false, but humorous, with G. Washington, J. Adams, T. Jefferson, & B. Franklin as crewmembers.

The second a/c is an F-4J from VF-74 "Be-Devilers", circa 1973, which is not long after they transitioned to the J from the B. The huge, red lightning bolt on the fuselage & tail is a 2 piece decal, with the corner of the tail piece touching the corner of the fuselage piece. The white & black modex, & VF-74 markings are solid white, with another decal provided for the black shadowing.

The final a/c on this sheet is an F-4J from VF-191 "Satan’s Kittens" from 1976 (partial decal shown on right). This squadron shot down a MiG-17 while flying F-8Es in Viet Nam. This a/c also has bicentennial markings in the form of a broad red, white, & blue fuselage band . This band is a four piece deal, with the left & right bands meeting just behind the RIO’s canopy, & the blue portion of the bicentennial "pretzel" as a separate piece. All other VF-191 markings are standard for that squadron.

All of these squadrons would go on to operate the F-14, but none are around today. VF-51 was slated to become an F-14D squadron, but budget cuts forced the decommissioning of the squadron in 1993. VF-74 would operate the A & B versions of the Tomcat after spending more than 20 years operating F-4s, but this squadron also was decommissioned due to budget cuts. VF-191 was decommissioned in 1978, then recommisioned in 1986 to fly the F-14, but was decommisioned again for the final time in 1988.

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