F-4J VF-96 Showtime 100 - 1:72 Academy

[Julien]

F-4J VF-96 Showtime 100

1:72 Academy

Does the F-4 Phantom really need an introduction? Probably one of the most recognisable aircraft ever which severed with many NATO and Allied Nations Air Forces. The aircraft was originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft as a long range, supersonic interceptor/fighter bomber for the US Navy. Its use would then expand to the US Marine Corps, the US Air Force and many other nations.

The F-4J model was an improvement of the original F-4B for the US Navy and Marine Corps, the emphasis to was improve air-to-air capability. new engines would give additional thrust, a AN/APG-59 pulse Doppler radar couples with an AN/AWG-10 fire control system would give a look-down shoot-down capability. Larger main wheel would be fitted giving rise to the larger wheel housing bulges similar to the USAF F-4C. New slatted tailplanes would be fitted, along with ailerons dropping to 16.5° which would bring down the aircrafts landing speed. Zero Zero ejection seats would be fitted to enhance crew survivability. There would be no IRST sensor under the nose of the F-4J.

Show Time 100 is probably the most famous F-4 Phantom in the US Navy. Lt Randy Cunningham and Lt(JG) Willie Driscoll were to shoot down 3 MiG's on the 10th May 1972 while taking part in the Linebacker campaign. This would make Lt Cunningham the top scoring US Navy pilot and ace in Vietnam taking his tally to 5 victories. Lt Driscoll as the Radar Intercept Officer would also become an Ace in line with US practice in crediting both crew members with victories. Showtime 100 or F-4J 155800 would not be so lucky, as on the return from the famous engagement she was to be hit by a Surface to Air Missile. Both crew would eject to safety. Both crew members would receive the Navy Cross. It is sad to reflect that Randy Cunningham will be remembered more for his subsequent corruption conviction than his Navy record.

The Kit
There was quite a lot of talk when Academy announced the release of a new tool F-4J in 1.72 scale, this turned a bit to scepticism when it became apparent this would be snap together kit, however this has proved to be a bit misleading. The kit is designed in multi coloured plastic with the ability to put it together without any glue, or paint; and to this extent a set of stickers is provided in addition to the normal waterslide transfers. However this has not resulted in a toy like model. The kit features full length intake trunking with engine fan fronts and one part exhausts. The detail level appears to be outstanding and modeller who have the kit say that the fit is good. The one downside that is visible straight away is that the weapons supplied seem to be a little undersize. In a flashback to the Matchbox days the kit arrives on multi-coloured sprues. You get three sprues of white plastic, two of grey plastic, and two of black plastic. In addition you get a one part main fuselage (no pesky centre seam to deal with), and a one part (closed) canopy. All the parts look to be well moulded with no flash.

Construction starts with shockingly enough with the cockpit. The control column and rudder pedals are made up fro the front seater, these are then added to the cockpit tub along with the front and rear bulkheads and rear side consoles. Next the front instrument coaming, and the rear engine bulk head are added to the one part upper fuselage. Following this the completed cockpit tub, two internal bulkheads and the one part engines are added to the lower fuselage/wing part. Once these are in the upper fuselage can be attached as well as the rear fuselage part above the engines.

Once the lower wing & main fuselage parts are together its time to work on the underside of this main assembly. The aux intake doors are added along with the arrestor hook. Construction then again shifts to the top side. The three part ejection seats (no firing handles supplied) are made up and added to the cockpits. The full length intakes are then constructed. These are four part. A front and back, the engine face and the splitter plate. It would like the splitter plate can be added later for painting purposes, but the modeller would need to double check this. Once made up the intakes are attached to the main fuselage along with the radome. Next up the upper wings are added, along with the tail plane and the fin cap.

Construction then moves back to the underside of the aircraft. The main landing gear legs are made up (leg, wheel, strut and door). The tyres on these are split n the traditional way. The main gear, the gear doors, and underwing airbrakes are then added. Next up is the nose gear. This consists of the main leg, scissors, retraction strut, and small door. This sub assembly is added along with the main nose gear door, and then the cooling inlets on the nose. It should be noted that all gear doors can be fitted in the closed position and the landing gear left off if the modeller wishes to do so.

The last construction step is to add the underwing stores. Fuel tanks are supplied for the wings, and the main under fuselage one. Sparrows are supplied for the fuselage wells, and for the inner pylons Sidewinders and what look to be 5000lb bombs are supplied along with their TER's. It is slightly disappointing to see the weapons look undersize. Lastly the canopy is added, this is one part and can only be used in the closed position.

Decals & Stickers
Once again for an F-4J we get markings for Showtime 100, as it is probably the most phamous F-4J it is understandable but still frustrating. As well as these marking you get markings for another F-4J from VF-96 on the USS Constellation at that time, nose number 107 (again flown by Lt Cunningham this time with Lt Smith in the Back seat. Unlike other Academy kits these decals seem to be in house and not by Cartograf. They seem to be well printed with minimal carrier film, no registration issues and seem to be colour dense.

There is not much to say about the stickers, they look well printed, how long they will stay on for I dont know.

Conclusion
The kit has main items in its favour such as the one part upper fuselage, full length intake trunking and one part exhausts. The kit should make up into a good looking model, it still looks toy like in some ways to the reviewer (more so if you look at the weapons). The kit should be useful in helping to bring younger modellers into the fold as it can be assembled without paint, glue or waterslide decals and will look pretty good if done like this. Adult supervision will still be needed as there are parts to be removed from the sprues and trimmed. The kit should also appeal to adult modellers who will make a good job of the kit. Recommended.

Review sample courtesy of
UK Distributors for

[Gene K]

... it still looks toy like in some ways to the reviewer (more so if you look at the weapons).

Nice review, thanks, but I think you're selling this excellent kit short with that unsubstantiated conclusion (yes, I appreciate that it's your opinion vice mine))!!

I didn't measure the weapons that you said "looked" short - are they?

The only disappointment I had with the kit was that the stabilator slots, like its 48 brother, have the small attachment "fins" perpendicular to the stabs leading edges, vice being aligned fore and aft with the fuselage ref line. Also, some pieces, like the pylons are on the slim side.

The kit should make up into a good looking model,

It does, owing in large part to the outstanding fit, and I hope you don't put the kit aside as a toy. Personally, I'm eagerly looking toward the next release.

Gene K

[Dave T]

Hannants are saying 22.99.... ouch, that hurts...!!!

[Julien]

Cheers Gene, as regards the weapons I had a set of Eduard brassin winders on the desk and these are a good deal shorter than them, also the bombs looked shorter and thinner than those in my weapons set.

I am not trying to sell it short just pointing out it has a couple of short comings in my view. It has been well engineered and should appeal to a cross section of people. I dont think in all honesty Dave that the price is too steep for a new tool kit.

[FZ6]

Good review. One other thing to point out is when you study the sprues carefully there is a lot of clever slide moulding used on some parts.

The fairings on the intakes are marked as not for use on showtime 100 but the holes are pre drilled so they will need to be filled. Not a massive problem though.

[MajorClanger]

I've got this in my to-build pile; not cheap, but it looks like it will make a very nice build.

One thing I've noted is that if this is meant to represent 'Showtime 100' on its final mission then the weapons loadout is not quite right. There's a fair bit of discussion online regarding previous kits of this aircraft and it seems reasonably clear that the fit should be:

Centreline tank

No wing tanks (but pylons still fitted)

2 (not 4!) x Sparrow, in rear fuselage wells

4 x Sidewinder

2 x CBU-100 Rockeye II cluster bombs on each triple ejector rack (left and right on each rack, middle vacant).

There's some debate over how many Rockeye were carried on the final mission (4 or 6). Consensus seems to be that 4 was the normal fit for carrier ops and that if 2 rather than 3 were fitted to a TER then the bottom middle slot was left vacant, both for clearance reasons and because this fitted the default sequencing of weapons release.

[Flashman]

So you weren't put off by the box art then!

[Julien]

So you weren't put off by the box art then!

I am not sure I understand your question? I never mentioned the box art in the review though it is a good exploded view of how it goes together?

Julien

[MajorClanger]

I've finally finished mine - pictures and some comments on the kit here:

RFI - Academy 1/72 F-4J "Showtime 100"

To add to my comments there:

• The decal sheet in my box was noticeably out of registration in places. I used it anyway but I'd suggest taking a good look at the sheet if you want to build it out of the box.
• The decal placement picture could do with being a lot bigger! It's not at all clear which way up some of the smaller decals are meant to go because they're little more than dots on the diagram.
• The review in Airfix Model World suggests removing a lot of the snap-fit locater tabs. I wish I'd done this because it might have made for a more practical assembly order, e.g. putting the aft fuselage (the bare-metal area) in last.
• It would have been smarter to paint the horizontal stabilisers first and then fit them! Ditto the radome.
• The panel lines on the wings are very shallow and pretty much disappeared under primer and one layer of paint.
• You might as well break off the fin pitot tubes at the outset. It saves time and disappointment later. (I ended up replacing them with fine metal tube.)
• The wheels are snap-fit and as such only fit in one position. I found this out after filing flat patches onto them. I just cut the mounting stub off the undercarriage legs and glued the wheels in place.
• Re the above, I should have done a dry-fit first. However (as other reviews have noted) I'd already found that the snap-fit is quite tight and be warned that it can actually be difficult to prise the parts apart again. There were several parts I didn't end up gluing as it was pretty clear they were staying put once assembled.

Those are mostly nitpicks though. This is a nice kit that builds well and the parts breakdown is very good at avoiding seams.