Hasegawa F-4 Phantom II Eggplane
| KIT #: | 60105 |
| PRICE: | $11.98 MSRP |
| DECALS: | Two options |
| REVIEWER: | Scott Van Aken |
| NOTES: | Reissue |
| HISTORY |
History? This is about as much of a caricature of an aircraft as anything around. If you want a history of the F-4, then try www.google.com.
| THE KIT |
So, what's in the box? Well, you get two well done sprues of somewhat thick, raised panel line plastic. The kit includes a nicely molded one-piece canopy and while there is no cockpit detail, there is a pilot figure to paint. For things under wings, a pair of missiles that are probably supposed to be Sparrows, but look like Harpoons are included. There is something missing from this, the third incarnation of this kit and you can spot the absences from the gaps in the sprues. While the Phantom Boy figure is here, gone are the cart, bombs, Gatling gun and stand that came with the earlier incarnations. I'm not really sure why they decided to leave these off unless they didn't want to bother with the piece of bent wire that was required with the stand.
Markings are for two planes. One from 302 Sq JASDF and the other from the 388 TFW in SEA camo. Neither marking option is specifically identified. You might also notice that there is no back-seater as any 'real' F-4 would have. Decals are the usual thick and semi-transparent Japanese stuff, but finding alternatives won't be easy. What has been added is a second smaller sheet with more accurate stencil markings for the USAF and JASDF versions. The painting guide
is with the usual Gunze paints.| CONCLUSIONS |
These kits are not about accuracy, but about having fun building a model. Despite having been molded many times, the kit is still in fairly good condition with only a bit of flash. Those who are so inclined could easily scrounge markings for other countries from the spares box and, of course, there are those unique personal liveries that would not look out of place at all on a model like this one. If you find one of these in your wanderings, do yourself a favor and pick it up. You'll be very pleased that you did.
Thanks to 'store credit' at CRM for this one.
February 2009
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