Fine Molds 1/72 F-4B "VF-84 Jolly Rogers"

The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy. Proving highly adaptable, it entered service with the Navy in 1961 before it was adopted by the United States Marine Corps and the United States Air Force, and by the mid-1960s it had become a major part of their air arms. Phantom production ran from 1958 to 1981 with a total of 5,195 aircraft built, making it the most produced American supersonic military aircraft in history, and cementing its position as a signature combat aircraft of the Cold War.

The initial production F4H-1 (F-4A) was quickly followed by the F-4B, the main variant that entered fleet service in 1961. This aircraft bore the brunt of USN Phantom use in the Vietnam War, operating until the end of hostilities in 1975. It was augmented by the F-4J in 1967/68. Extant F-4Bs were upgraded to F-4N with improved systems which were later incorporated into the F-4J during that types upgrade to F-4S.

Fine Molds has turned their expertise to the F-4 Phantom II. Initial releases were of the Japanese F-4EJ and they have covered many of the USAF versions from the C to the early E models. I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before they tackle the others as the kit is quite modular.

Here are some of the interesting features. In the cockpit, the side consoles are separate inserts to take into account the various differences between variants. There is full intake trunking back to the first compressor stages. Not surprising is that the forward fuselage is separate. The main fuselage is a single piece with an upper deck insert so no worries about seams. There is also a detail piece for the engine aux intake doors.

Wings are a lower section that includes most of the lower fuselage with upper halves and separate wing tips. There is no folding wing option with this kit. This kit has the 'hard wing' that was typical of the variant. The wing underside has inserts for where the cat attachment points would be on the naval versions. This kit also provides the flat wing and gear doors typical of the thinner, higher pressure tires used by this version. Also typical of early F-4Bs, there are no ESM antennas on the fit tip nor the IR seeker housing.

The metal portion of the rear fuselage is a separate item with an insert for the very aft portion. Again, to eliminate some of the usual seams one sees in other kits.  Horizontal stabs are interlocking to help with alignment. This kit provides an unreinforced, unslotted version that was installed in the F-4B and would not be appropriate for later aircraft that were retrofit with the slotted versions.

Inner main gear doors include a portion of the gear well so attaching these will be a breeze. You are provided missile pylons and three drop tanks. However, there are no weapons, those being offered in a separate weapons pack. Finally, you can do canopy open or closed with a separate closed canopy piece.

Instructions are in booklet form and are excellent, providing Gunze and FS 595 color references. Two light gull grey over gloss white options from the 1965 time frame are provided. One is the box art plane from VF-84 while the other is from VF-21. The superbly printed decal sheet includes the expected mass of stencils and also has decals for the instrument and console panels. 

As with many other kits, to build any of the options, you'll have to paint the radome and anti-glare panel as well as the yellow tips on the VF-84 option. The kit provides a lot of separate sprues as is now the norm with these sorts of kits with the AA sprue being specific to the F-4B. Note that if you are going to use aftermarket decals, you need to be sure that they are for an unupgraded F-4B. I'm sure there will be other boxings for the later planes.  Overall these are very nice kits that have pretty well superceded others in terms of detail and engineering. Not to say that your Hasegawa or Academy kits should be tossed, but just that these are a bit better.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_F-4_Phantom_II

April 2025

Copyright ModelingMadness.com. All rights reserved. No reproduction in part or in whole without express permission from the editor.