Retired Bob

That is such a shame about the canopies, Rich. Replacement canopies would be the best, if possible. I must admit, my finger hovered over the add to basket button for these decals, but, I have to be realistic, I've already got too many projects in my limited remaining time.

Those Quinta 3D decals are superb.

Hypersonic have released a centreline pylon for the Tamiya F-4B, the kit only supplies a 600 gallon fuel tank and the way it's attached by a raised wedge means you cannot leave it off without removing the wedge and scratch making the the details of the centreline release unit. This pylon fits onto the wedge after reducing it's height and chamfering the front edges. While the US Navy Phantoms mainly used the centreline 600 gallon tank, this pylon will be useful for a Marines aircraft, here is the pylon and an Aerobonus MER just dry fitted to a Tamiya wing section. It is a beautiful piece of moulding that is easily removed from the small pour stub and comes with all the crutching pads, I've yet to fit them between the pylon and MER.

I have posted this photo before when Dennis was building his F-4C. Caracal also produced the markings in 1/48th in both black and white lettering on their ANG F-4C/D sheet CD48038.

Tamiya do not mention the red edging to the gear doors, was this used on early F-4B aircraft from the mid 60s?

I'm not sure that the two man rule/NLZ was in force during the Cuban Missile Crisis, I talked with veterans that had been working on the nuclear deterrent during this period and it wasn't an issue. Military Police and guards only control access to the NLZ as they are not considered competent to know what the crew or weapon team are doing with the weapon, the two man rule only works if both of the team members know that the correct procedures are being carried out. Once the weapon was loaded and the bomb bay doors are closed it was considered secure. The Airfix Valiant comes with a Blue Danube weapon so there would not be a USAF guard.

Tell me about it Ray, After adding the Quinta 3D decals to the cockpit I keep poring over cockpit photos and adding details to bring the non-decaled parts up to the same standard. I think most of us have had this problem Ray, I left a fingerprint on the underside of a FW 190 wing, I now keep my digits well away when applying any thin glue.

It does work Ray, one of my sets of wings has the outer sections attached with PVA in the folded position, this so I can remove them for detail painting, like the coroguard silver paint along the leading edges after the main colours have been applied on my early F-4B.

There are a few differences between the USN seats and the ones fitted to the RAF F-4M's that I worked on, our seats had a PEC (Personal Equipment Connector) on the left side as you sat in the seat, this supplied, as implied all air supply, comms and emergency oxygen to the occupant with a quick fitting/removal connector, a similar supply connector was attached to the aircraft by a lanyard that would dis-connect on ejection. Looking at that Navy seat, the yellow knob would be to manually operate the emergency oxygen should a failure in the aircraft system occur, the other connections would be for aircraft supplied breathing air and comms.

Ray, you have worked out my cunning plan. Come on Tamiya, more F-4 variants before I get too old.

I believe that is US Navy Mk.7 seat, the reason I say that is you can see the black surround on the seat pan pack to view the emergency oxygen bottle gauge, also the hoses coming out of the seat pan pack at the near rear corner, USAF and RAF seats did not have those, they had the emergency oxygen bottle in that corner. The face screen handle has been pulled showing the fabric cover that covers the occupants face during ejection, if for various reasons (usually high G forces) it cannot be pulled there is the alternate firing handle between his legs on the front of the seat pan. The other yellow and black handle on the far side of the seat pan is the manual separation handle, pulling this disconnects all the straps from the seat, severs the drogue line from the parachute pack, and allows the occupant to quickly get out from the seat if ejection isn't an option or if it's pulled after ejection for whatever reason it does the same, it overrides the automatic sequence, removes the occupant from the seat then they have to pull the parachute operating handle themselves (Large metallic handle on the nearest shoulder strap) The cover on the top of the parachute pack and the securing straps could be either that blue/grey colour or most of the ones that I have seen were an olive green colour.

ONE..... It's Christmas come early for me with this kit, I've just paid the customs fee for my 7th one from 48ers, I didn't intend to go past the 6th but to order from the 48ers to the UK the order must be at least 160 euros plus postage. I mainly wanted the Bullseye F-4B decal sheet for a VF-114 Aardvarks aircraft, the rest is just collateral damage.

You are correct about the seats Ray, they are probably some of the best Mk.7 seats reproduced. The only thing that needs changing is the single strap on each side of the parachute container, the container was open topped with an olive drab nylon cover to keep out the rain or other debris that could affect the parachute, this cover was held in place with 2 elasticated straps on either side. It's also the first time that I have seen the rocket pack included, the tubes on the underside of the seat to paint white, these are the outboard tubes of the seats rocket pack that gave it the zero/zero capability. One thing that does amuse me is the no step on the seat pan pack, how the heck you can duck under the canopy and step into the cockpit without using the seat pan as a step is beyond me, unless you had really long legs and the prowess of a limbo/ballet dancer! (Oh my Phantom days, I was young, single, had hair and a motor bike, how I wish )

Don't forget to remove the mounting pins for the ECM ducts from the intakes Ray, Step 21 in the plans.

I've had an early fin cap on order but so far Hannants have not had any in so I thought I'd give it a go, CMK are making an early fin cap and a separate rudder for the Tamiya F-4B.