F-4S Phantom II ‘VF-301 Devil's Disciples' - 1:72 Hasegawa

[Paul A H]

F-4S Phantom II VF-301 Devil's Disciples'

1:72 Hasegawa

A true cold war icon, the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II was conceived as an all-weather, long-range fighter bomber for the US Navy. It flew for the first time in 1958 and, over fifty years later, it is still serving with distinction with air forces around the world including those of Germany and Greece. More than five thousand Phantoms have been built, making it one of the most successful post-war fighter aircraft.

The F-4S variant evolved from the F-4J, itself a development of the original F-4B used by the US Marines Corps and US Navy. The F-4J introduced a raft of improvements included uprated engines, a new AN/APG-59 radar, larger main landing gear wheels, slatted tail planes, and improved air-to-surface capability. The distinctive chin-mounted IRST sensor was also deleted from this version. The F-4S introduced further improvements including smokeless engines, a reinforced airframe and leading edge slats for enhanced manoeuvrability. It was equivalent in capability to the F-4J(UK) used by 74 Squadron until 1991.

Hasegawas 1:72 scale series of F-4 Phantom IIs is well established as amongst the best kits of the type available today. They possess of a good blend of accuracy, detail and fit and enjoy a good reputation as a result. This particular kit is a limited edition version of the aforementioned F-4S which includes decals for aircraft of VF-301 and VF-302, all in the Heater-Ferris scheme depicted on the box artwork. The kit is made up of 162 parts moulded in pale grey and clear plastic. The plastic is instantly recognisable as a Hasegawa product, being nicely moulded and without any significant trace of flash. The surface of the plastic is nice and glossy and the panel lines are finely engraved.

The cockpit is comprised of a tub, complete with side consoles and rudder pedals moulded in place, onto which have to be added the instrument panels, rear bulkhead, control column and seats. The ejection seats are very nicely recreated, being made up of five parts including separate pull handles. The rest of the cockpit is structurally correct, but with the exception of the WSO's starboard sidewall, lacks any raised detail. Decals are provided instead, but this Hasegawa habit is still slightly disappointing. The cockpit tub sits on top of the nose gear bay, which itself fits inside the separately moulded front lower fuselage. The rest of the front fuselage, from just in front of the engine intakes forwards, is separate to the rear fuselage. Whilst I can appreciate that Hasegawa have done this in order to maximise the number of variants they can wring out of the moulds, it does complicate construction and add another seam that must be cleaned up. Once the front fuselage halves have been joined together, the instrument panel coaming and head up display can be added, along with the decking behind the WSO's cockpit.

The rear fuselage halves a more straightforward proposition than the front fuselage, as they just need to be removed from the sprue and then joined together. In common with other kits of the Phantom II, the lower rear fuselage is moulded in one piece with the lower wing. Before you fix that part in place, however, you must add the engine air intakes. These are well-detailed parts, with each being made up of four separate pieces. The intakes are not of the full length variety, but the solid front wall of the rear fuselage at least prevents you from being able to peer inside the fuselage from the front.

The aforementioned main wing is made up of a single inner lower span, separate port and starboard tops and separate slatted outer wings. You have to drill lots of holes in the lower surface of the wing central in order to add the pylons for the weapons and drop tanks. While we're on the subject of ordnance, only the three drop tanks are provided with the kit. The inner pylons for the sidewinders are present and correct, but neither the AIM-9 Sidewinders nor the AIM-7 Sparrows are included. You'll need to raid the spares box or buy one of Hasegawa's Aircraft Weapons sets in order to fit the aircraft out with a full loading. The tail planes are solid parts, as is the rudder. A separate part is provided for the tip of the vertical tail.

The undercarriage is nicely detailed, with separate hubs for the main gear wheels and features such as torque links delicately and accurately picked out. The landing gear doors are detailed on both sides the landing gear bays feature a respectable amount of detail. The canopy is moulded in four parts and can be posed in the open position if desired. If you choose to do this, separate hydraulic arms are provided. Finishing details include various blade antennas, the landing lights and the parachute fairing in the tip of the tail.

Three marking options are provided:

• F-4S Phantom II, ND103 US Navy, "VF-301 Devil's Disciples", Heater-Ferris Scheme Aircraft, May 1984;
• F-4S Phantom II, ND111 US Navy, "VF-301 Devil's Disciples", Heater-Ferris Scheme Aircraft, May 1983;
• F-4S Phantom II, ND200 US Navy, "VF-302 Stallions", Heater-Ferris Scheme Aircraft, 1983.

The decals look pretty good. Colours are nice and bold and the details are sharp.

Conclusion

Hasegawas Phantom II has a good reputation, and on the basis of what's included in the box, it's easy to see why. I do have some minor gripes, such as the added complexity of the kit resulting from Hasegawa's desire to extract multiple variants from the moulds and the lack of detail in the cockpit, but overall it is a well detailed and well engineered kit.

Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

[DaveH]

Does look nice, dare I ask the cost.........

Dave