1/32 Tamiya F-4C Phantom II  

by Miroslav Adamovic

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     I've always been a Phantom fan and through years I managed to pile up eight Tamiya kits which just sat unbuilt in my stash. So, when the Phantom Group Build kicked in here on ARC, there was no more excuses, one of my Phantoms
had to be built.  I knew straight away that it must be my favorite airframe, 67-0776 attached to 366th TFW, 389th TFS, flown by legendary Col Robert F. Titus in 1967.

     Construction started with intakes, which went on OK, but they are not seamless and I attempted to fix 'em up with some sheet styrene and putty.  After a lot of cursing and sanding I was satisfied with the way intakes inside looked, so I moved to the construction of the cockpit.  I changed the Tamiya Mk7 Ejection Seats with Cutting Edge Mk5 resin seats.  I added some detail to the cockpit using copper wire and styrene.  The last thing I added were "oxygen hoses" made of guitar string.

    After cockpit installation, I painted intake insides, but I wasn't real pleased to find out that all my hours of sanding were fruitless, there was still a bit of a seam showing in there and also, the putty cracked, so I ordered CAM FOD covers from Sprue Bros.

   Next I sanded off wing stiffener plates (they appeared in the '70s on real Phantoms, so they had to go) and while doing that I decided to sand off all raised panels on the kit ("BDR patches" or whatever they are). I sanded off triangular stiffener plates on horizontal stabs last and moved on to reinstating lost panel lines and rivets.

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      With major construction done, I assembled the ordnance next, and because my model represents the "Gunfighter", I bought the CAM SUU-23 resin gun pod, which I "backdated" to SUU-16.  That was done by sanding off an air intake above the gun nozzle.  Checking my very limited gun pod reference, I couldn't see any more external differences between the pods, so I was happy with the "conversion".  I assembled the wing drop tanks, ECM pod, made some Sidewinder covers from styrene tube and believe it or not, it was time to paint the beast.
      At that point I had already invested around 50 to 60 working hours on the model, weekend nights mostly, we are a fresh parents, so time for modeling is very limited.

      Model was painted in typical SEA Tactical Camouflage using my new toy, Iwata Custom Micron airbrush and usual Gunze acrylics.  Bare metal surfaces received different shades of Alclad II and I gave my model a few coats of "Pascoe Long Life" floor cleaner.

      While "Long Life" was curing, I assembled the landing gear which got some extra detailing with copper wire to represent hydraulic lines.  It was painted white and weathered using oil wash.  By the time I finished the landing gear, the model was ready for decals.  I used the excellent Fox One decal set (No 32-002).  They worked great with Micro Set and Micro Sol, the only problem being the red and white "flag" on the rudder, the red was too transparent and camo colours were bleeding through.  Not a big deal, it took ten minutes to mask and another ten to paint the new markings.  After all the decals had set, the model received another coat of "Long Life" and an oil wash. Everything was sealed with Pollyscale Clear Flat and final weathering done using pastel chalks.
        I also used an Eduard PE set for the canopy and Placard set for Phantom II.  Placards were pretty much a waste of time, as they can't really be seen and they are intended for E model Phantom, so I used only a few on the landing gear legs and covers.  All in all it took me over 100 work hours to finish this model.  I think I'll treat myself with a nice 1/48 build next.

          Although the gun armed Phantom II variant had been suggested by Tactical Air Command in October 1963,technical difficulties prevented the E model from entering squadron service until 1967.  So,some F-4Cs received the GE SUU-16 gun pod with the first examples going to 366th TFW based at Da Nang Air Base, Republic of Vietnam.  Using the basic M61 gatling gun, the SUU-16 was powered by a "pop out" ram air turbine which limited its use to airspeeds below 350 knots.I  t held 1200 rounds and was eventually replaced by the SUU-23 model which was powered by gun gas. 
           64-0776 bagged three MiGs on two missions.  On April 23rd 1967,Maj. Robert D. Anderson and Capt. Fred D. Kjer downed a MiG-21 using an AIM-7 Sparrow missile near Hanoi.  On May 22nd 1967 Lt.Col. Robert F. Titus with 1Lt. Milan Zimer as  his "GIB" ad led "Wander" flight on a MiGCAP for an F-105 strike against Ha Dong barracks and a supply depot in Hanoi and downed two MiG-21s,one with AIM-9 Sidewinder missile and the second with 20mm fire from the centerline SUU-16 gun pod. 

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         This versatile Phantom II is now on display at Seattle's Museum of Flight.

References:

Peter E. Davies: USAF F-4 Phantom II MiG Killers 1965-68
Lou Drendel: .And Kill MiGs, Air to Air Combat from Vietnam to the Gulf War
Fox One Decals Instruction Sheet

Miroslav

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Photos and text © by Miroslav Adamovic