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After seeing other Phantoms on the site lately, I thought I might add my own current effort. In this case it's the Monogram Pro Modeler early hard wing E, i.e. no wing leading edge slats. The kit is actually the Hasegawa 1/48th F-4E fuselage with the F-4J wing set. Kind of a mishmash of Hasegawa Phantom parts to get an early E. This is my first build of this kit and it looks like the molds were well used by the time this one came out. Some flash, a little more mold line mismatch, and the recessed panel lines seem a little less deep than original Hasegawa kits. My inspiration was seeing this photo in an F-4 Google group email several months ago. When I researched the tail number, this same photo showed up in Wikipedia, so it must be public domain now. This is the only photo with this load out that I could find. I have the Hasegawa Weapons Set B with the AGM-12B Bullpup missiles and have ordered a set of early SUU-30 CBUs for the outboard stations. This is my sixth or seventh Hasegawa F-4 and there are a couple of things I do on them now. There are always ejection pin marks on the inside of the intakes. I don't really mind the "shallow" intakes, but do have a couple of sets of seamless intakes for use on later builds. I filled in the pin depressions and sanded them smooth. Also, the back side of the intake ramps need to be filled in. The lower area is not really visible once assembled, but the upper areas are. Filled with plastic card bits and sanded smooth. After a primer coat, I'll see if they need more attention.

Hello everyone, starting with the Zoukei Mura 1/48 F-4EJ Phantom Phorever 2020 as a base kit for a Vietnam War early F-4E. The Phantom I'm making will be from the 421st TFS based at DaNang, and will be carrying either 2x SUU-23A Gun Pods on the outer pylons, with either 4x Rockeyes or Napalm canisters, plus 2x AIM-7s in the aft wells and the jamming pod in the front, along with the centreline bag. This is indeed the famous 'Chico' loadout most notably carried by (68-339). However, I want to do a normal/lesser photographed jet on the squadron as I want more freedom in the weathering choices I take, as if I do the main 'Chico' airframe (68-339), I'll follow the references as best I can, limiting the experience, freedom and individual sense to it. This is just a personal decision on how I want this project to be played out. I love the Chico mission, so I came up with the story that (68-339) was due to fly in the evening but had a sudden issue regarding maintenance come up and a second jet had to step in last minute and be flown as the Chico jet would be, sporting the total of 3x 20mm guns and 4x napalm/rockeyes, closely supporting the troops on the ground. Here's a good site explaining the 'Chico' F-4E.

Hi all, I've done a bit of preperation for an upcoming ZM F-4E project in 48th. I would like to do a F-4E from the 366th TFW with gun pods + napalm/rockeyes as a FastFAC bird, with the early style gun. Were the F-4s with the "Stormy" callsign differing airframes on each sortie? Put simply, would it be plausible for example, the pictured aircraft to be on a different day to this picture being taken, have 2x SUU-23s on the Outboard pylons and either napalm/rockeyes on the inboard wing pylons? I think yes, as I've seen a F-4E with no shark mouth alongside a F-4D, both with gun pods in a previous post thread, but I would like to make a more informed decision with your help. All information is welcome, detailing the post question, as well as any photos that showing a lot of wear on the aircraft. Would be great to hear from any stories from maintenance crews (if any roam this forum) because that would be amazing, especially to ask about the modelling focused topics of paint wear/resprays, how dirty the aircraft got, how many times they were washed etc.

Finished a few days ago - Meng's 1/48 F-4E depicting IAF Kurnass 209 of 69th "Hammer" squadron. Basic airframe built OOB with some add-ons.: - pitot from Master - cockpit from Quinta - refueling boom from Eduard - landing gear from Detail & Wonder - decals from Isra Decal (except numbers which are laser printed) - datalink pod from Reskit I've also added some selfcreated 3D printed items - Popeye missiles and its pylons and Sidewinder missile. MRP colors were used for camouflage.

Hi everybody! This is a long overdue RFI, since this build was completed in November 2023, so almost one year ago! The aircraft is and F-4E Phantom II of the 117th Combat Wing, based in Andradiva, here depicted in her 2014 "40 years Of Phantom II In Hellenic Air Force" livery. Let me start with a couple of pics, more to follow below. Here's one in natural light: Same subject, but using color auto-adjust from Irfan View A few words about the build: this was part of a double build, the WIP can be found here: The idea was to build two F-4Es with slatted wings, complementing the two kits with parts of each other, according to what is represented best in the two of them. The Hasegawa kit was used to represent a Turkish Air Force machine, whose RFI is here: For the Greek Spook, I used the Finemolds F-4EJ kit, converting it in a slatted F-4E by doing the following: Scratch built items: - Instruments panels, keeping parts of the kit ones and adding bits from stock styrene card, copper wires and spare decals - 3D printed exhaust cans and air brakes - air brakes actuators, from rigid copper wire and its plastic sleeve - canopy latches. from copper wire shaped up and hammered flat - resin outer wings, cloned from a set of Revell ones, with scratch built and re-positioned wing fences - drooped ailerons. cutting out and bending the kit parts - inner wings slat actuators, cloned from the Hasegawa kit - drop tanks from the Hasegawa kit, improved by removing the side welding strip and replacing it with thin brass pipe - rear fuselage air pressure gauge, by carving out its square hole and filling in with clear UV resin, and a generic gauge decal on the inside - DIAS ECM antennae, the intake shoulder ones using parts form the Hasegawa kit, the gun muzzle, tail fin and tail door ones from scratch, using various styrene bits and shaping them with standard sanding tools - IFF blade antennae (the ones sitting in front of the windshield) again using styrene sheet and sanding tools - home cut masks for the clear parts, designed by @Gene K and cut using my Silhouette Curio - RBF tags, printed on regular paper, soaked in Future and with copper wire glued to one end as connection wire/pin After-market items: - Quickboost seats - AIM120 and AIM9-L missiles from the dedicated Finemolds set - Pitot tube, fin sensor and AOA probe from the specific Finemolds brass set - Slime lights, canopy frames and gun compartment scavenger door from various Eduard PE sets - Decals and stencils from a Model Maker sheet for HAF special color Phantoms Paints and weathering: - Camouflage colors using Lifecolor paints - Metallics from AK Extreme Metal, Model Master Metallizers and Vallejo - Interiors painted using Lifecolor and Tamiya paints - Weathering done with tempera and oil paint washes, the chipping on the drop tanks was done with the good old salt chipping technique I'm pretty sure I forgot something, but I won't forget to thank everybody that followed my build, and especially -@Gene K for donating the kit, the 3D exhausts and air brakes, the masks cutting files and a ton of other Phantom related things that I'll be using in next builds - Silvano @phantom61, for donating Eduard PE sets and lending me a precious reference book for Greek Phantoms - Everybody else who gave advice, shared knowledge or just plainly cheered me up during the build You all wanna see some pics, now, right? There you go: Some interiors details Underneath views, from the WIP Last, a "Phamily" Photo As usual. all comments welcome! Ciao

Hi everybody! I want to ask your help in a choice of best F-4E in 48th scale. I'm quite new to your community ( now a built only one complete kit ). For many years, my favorite military aircraft of the Cold War era have been the long-nosed modifications of F-4 Phantom II ( E, F, G, Kai, Kurnass). Of course, I still need to improve my skill, but I believe that someday my skill will be enough to build a good Phantom model. Now there are at least three decent F-4 models: Hasegawa, Meng and Zoukei-Mura. Each has its pros and cons, but I would be very grateful to hear the opinion of experts. The most interesting differences would be between the modifications in service with the United States, Greece, Turkey and Israel. The most interesting differences would be between the modifications in service with the United States, Greece, Turkey and Israel I attach pictures to enjoy the view of the Phantom 😍

I am about to airbrush another of the many Hasegawa F-4s awaiting completion - before the Mengs and ZMs will take over... This time I wanted to do an F-4E (almost) OOB in the anniversary scheme of the 131st TFS. The kits instructions tell me to paint the entire undersurfaces in Medium Gray FS 36270 (or 26270), while the usual “Hill One” camo scheme of F-4s have the center and inner parts of the wings painted in Gunship Gray FS 36118. Reference pictures aren’t conclusive in my opinion. Inner Pylons seem to be Gunship Gray, but I am not sure of the rest. The front wheel bay doors look Medium Gray Anybody with better knowledge? Thanks! Stefan

Hi guys, This one has been finished for a few months but I never got around to do a proper RFI as I wasn't very happy with the pictures my iPhone was able to take. Even with some focus stacking, it didn't feel quite right. I treated myself to a second hand DSLR and after much tinkering with the settings, I have a few shots I'm happy to share. The kit is the venerable Hasegawa "modern tooling" date back to the early 90's. Aftermarket parts Eduard 73201 PE set Res-kit 72-0084 Exhausts Master AM-72-036 pitot Quickboost 72 011 Ejection seats Eduard CX135 Canopy and wheel masks Decals Main markings from Hi-Decal Line 72-057 @Diego Stencils from Caracal 72105 and Microscale 72-0051 Paints Mr Hobby Aqueous H303, H309, H310, H311 Mr Color super metallics (SM range) mixed with Mr color lacquers for color variations of the exhaust shield. GX100 for clear coats, MRP-126 satin varnish for the last coat. Canopy sealant made from strips of electrical tape (the thinnest I could find, but I don't recall the exact thickness). I "raised" the formation lights using aluminum strips prior to painting, a painfully time-consuming process which yielded 0 results on pictures The issues with the kit are well documented. In order for Hasegawa to offer all US and Japanese made production phantoms from the same core sprue set. A lot of sub-assembly are present and a lot of seems need sanding/filling. Enough chit-chat, pics below There is a mini-WIP here btw

Four F-4Es of the 20th Tac Fighter Training Squadron, 35th Tac Fighter Wing out of George AFB visiting Edwards AFB, February 1984. 66-0372 67-0327 75-0629 75-0636 Thanks for looking, Sven Old Viper Tester

F-4Es of the 196th Tac Fighter Squadron, 163rd Tac Fighter Group, California Air National Guard at March AFB, May 1990. 67-0360 67-0395 68-0305 68-0312 68-0317 68-0320 68-0321 68-0324 with tail band removed - possibly being transferred out? The same bird at Norton AFB two months earlier with the tail band applied. 68-0343 68-0358 68-0387 68-0423 68-0443 68-0466 68-0507, recent arrival from the 163TFS Indiana ANG. 68-0512 68-0514 Thanks for looking, Sven Old Viper Tester

F-4Es of the 336th Tac Fighter Squadron, 4th Tac Fighter Wing out of Seymour-Johnson AFB participating in Red Flag 81-2, February 1981. 66-0297 66-0301 68-0313 72-0160 72-0410, 334TFS squadron commander's aircraft operating with the 336TFS 74-1624 Thanks for looking, Sven Old Viper Tester

A trio of F-4Es of the 21st Tac Fighter Training Squadron, 35th Tac Fighter Wing out of George AFB, December 1982. 66-0350 67-0256 67-0266 Thanks for looking, Sven Old Viper Tester

Dropped in at George AFB to coordinate use of the Superior Valley bombing range in June, 1991. George was the home of the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing and the continental US home of F-4G Wild Weasels. At this time, the 35TFW consisted of: the 20th Tac Fighter Training Squadron ("Silver Lobos", F-4E), the 21st Tac Fighter Training Squadron ("Cheetahs", F-4E), and the 561st, 562nd, and 563rd Tac Fighter Squadrons (F-4E/G). The 20TFTS contained the 1st German Air Force Training Squadron, providing F-4E/F transition training for Luftwaffe crews. F-4E 66-0334, 20TFTS F-4E 67-0319, 20TFTS F-4E 67-0377, 163TFS Indiana Air National Guard out of Hulman Field (Terre Haute IN) F-4E 68-0361, 163TFS Indiana Air National Guard out of Hulman Field (Terre Haute IN). These jets were flown solo to George to bring back the crew that delivered 68-0516. F-4E 68-0467, 20TFTS F-4E 68-0516, 20TFTS, recently transferred from the 163TFS Indiana Air National Guard F-4G 69-0261, 562TFS F-4G 69-0265, 561TFS F-4G 69-0281, 561TFS F-4G 69-0303, recently transferred from Clark AFB to the 35TFW. F-4G 69-0305, 562TFS F-4G 69-7201, 561TFS F-4G 69-7204, 562TFS F-4G 69-7214, 562TFS F-4G 69-7216, 561TFS F-4E 69-7585, 20TFTS F-4G 69-7288 and 69-7572, 562TFS. Colorful markings still obliterated from their deployment to Desert Storm. F-4E 73-1183, 21TFTS F-4E 74-1656, 562TFS F-4E 74-1664, 562TFS F-4E 75-0631, 20TFTS F-4E 75-0635, 20TFTS F-4E 75-0636, 20TFTS Thanks for looking, Sven Old Viper Tester

F-4E 69-0305 of the F-4 Fighter Weapons School, 57th Fighter Weapons Wing, Tactical Fighter Weapons Center, Nellis AFB. On the Edwards transient ramp, August 1984. Thanks for looking, Sven

F-4E s/n 66-0284 served as a test support aircraft at Edwards AFB from 1984 through 1992. She was operated by the 6512th Test Squadron, 6510th Test Wing, Air Force Flight Test Center.. She was NOT part of the Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) chase flight, hence she did not have white upper wings when she wore the wrap-around SEA camouflage. Over the Mojave Desert, January 1985. On our wing for a straight-in approach to landing at Edwards, January 1985. Like all Edwards-based Phantoms, she got the "Albino Rhino" treatment in the 1987-88 time frame. Shown on the Edwards ramp in January 1989. Before her time at Edwards, '284 was a test support aircraft with the 3246th Test Wing at Eglin AFB. Thanks for looking' Sven

Late finish from Bomber/Strike/Ground Attack GB, a dirty F-4E "Spunky VI", Thailand 1969, loadout as parsed from photo by @f111guru, thank you Ron. General grubbiness and two tone tan to match photo. Details Kit FineMolds F-4E (early) FineMolds missiles and bombs sets Quinta studios 3D pit and seat details Master pitot scratched strike camera Xtracolor enamels brush painted (pit acrylic paints - and windscreen blue Tamiya) W&N matt varnish Flory washes errors (multiple) all my own WIP at link: At bottom my Nam pair; RB-57E from 2020, and then my trio of long-nose Rhinos: USAF F-4E (early), Thailand, 1969 - FineMolds - now USAF F-4E, Turkey, Gulf War, 1991 - Hasegawa - early 2021 JSDAF F-4EJKai, Japan, 2007- FineMolds - May 2022 Common to all, apart from my cack-handedness, Master pitot. Open to comments. My observations: Struggled with fixing the bombs and the daisycutters' extended fuses are too delicate / not parallel. Quinta studios 3D pit and seat details - really liked this though the canopy latch handles are too small for me to use. I wanted the radome to be shinier than the camo, perhaps too shiny? Chris

September 1991: The 110th Tac Fighter Squadron, 131st Tac Fighter Wing, Missouri Air National Guard, bids farewell to the Phantom after twelve years operating F-4Cs and F-4Es. A few friends came in to help commemorate the event at Lambert Field, St. Louis, Missouri. Arrival of the 131TFW flagship and static display, 68-0338 RF-4C 65-0854, 106th Tac Reconnaissance Squadron, 117th Tac Reconnaissance Wing, Alabama Air National Guard RF-4C 65-0874, 190th Tac Reconnaissance Squadron, 124th Tac Reconnaissance Group, Idaho Air National Guard out of Gowen Field, Boise Idaho F-4E 68-0411, 163rd Tac Fighter Squadron, 122nd Tac Fighter Wing, Indiana Air National Guard out of Baer Field, Fort Wayne Indiana F-4Es 67-0384 and 67-0348, 113th Tac Fighter Squadron, 181st Tac Fighter Group, Indiana Air National Guard out of Hulman Field, Terre Haute, Indiana The new birds Thanks for looking, Sven

Joining you with this Hasegawa F-4E kit, costing me £15 at IPMS Gloucester show in 2018. Instructions, already a step up on the previous 1/72 Phantoms that I've built. Engraved detail parts, another step up. And Israeli decals. Many thanks to @iainpeden for those. @VG 33 built an excellent Revell model of this aircraft for the 2019 Phantom GB

Good evening all, while building a project I like to have a second simpler project of let's say 'lesser importance' running in parallel. Like a B-side to the main project. So while I was building the Arado 196 for the Heller group build I confess I was having an affair with Hasegawa 🤭 Now that the A-side project is over and done, what was hiding in the shadows comes under the spotlight: The idea is as I understand this, to build a kit without having to worry about accuracy, details, sources, aftermarket products, expensive material etc. I failed. Stay tuned for a high cholesterol group build of sorts. 😉 Thanks for looking!

Hi everyone, now available in my web shop and from a few retailers is my latest set, a slatted wing conversion for the Zoukei Mura F-4E (early) hard wing kit. Yes, I know that ZM will eventually release their own, but this is for those who really want to build their slatted F-4E now and maybe also offers a little bit more than the out-of-the-box option will do later... In the package are: slatted outer wings (the main wing parts are cast in extra strong resin to prevent warping), drop-in slat inserts for the inner wings, ARN-101 system antenna, TISEO, upgraded WSO cockpit consoles and instruments, strike cameras, belly/wing reinforcement strap and slime lights (with paint masks). https://www.hypersonicmodels.com/product/f-4e-late-slat-conversion Some pics: Many thanks indeed! This set is forming the basis of two further projects, a Hellenic Air Force "classic" F-4E conversion as well as a HAF F-4E AUP. Both are in the works and will be released under the "Zeus Project" label at The48ers.com Cheers, Jeffrey

F-4Es of the 480th Tac Fighter Squadron, 52nd Tac Fighter Wing out of Spangdahlem AB at Nellis AFB for Red Flag exercise, June 1983. 71-1247 74-1044 74-1048 74-1049 74-1050 74-1057 Thanks for looking, Sven

Kit manufacture: Hasegawa Scale: 1/72 Type: F-4E Phantom II Extras used: Brassin missiles, bombs and bomb racks Paints and colours used: Hataka European One paint set Finished this old kit today. Raised panel lines were sanded down. Minimal weathering added, as this was a trip back to child hood. Built this about 30 years ago. Great fun Best regards Rune Norway

F-4Es of the 339th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 347th Tactical Fighter Wing, based at Moody AFB participating in the Green Flag 81-3 large force exercise at Nellis AFB, April 1981. 67-0375 67-0398 68-0326 - Funny, she's carrying a baggage pod, while the rest of the line has Mk82 bombs. 68-0387 68-0390 - Wing King's aircraft. Thanks for looking, Sven

I have deep-sixed the obnoxious airfix fresco and I'm bringing this project out of cold storage. I feel the few steps I've completed put me well within the 25% threshold, but if GB mods disagree, I'll pull the project. This is the ProModeller boxing of Hasegawa's F-4e. This is the early F-4e with un-slatted wings and two varieties of nose guns. The very nice decal sheet has several options for phantoms from Homestead Airforce Base that spent the summer of 72 in Thailand, helping out with Operation Linebacker II. I'll be building one of the two Mig killers on the sheet. Either Kelly's Heroes, with a single kill and gnarly shark mouth. Or the the aircraft flown by USAF aces Steve Ritchie and Charles DeBelleview , who scored two kills in one mission using this F-4e. They typically flew a D model. The way the USAF tallied kills, the pilot and WSO were both credited (as they both played an important role). Ritchie was a five kill ace, and De Bellevue left Vietnam with six. While the dual kill phantom may be historically more significant, I'm a sucker for a well executed shark mouth, (go home sundowners you're doing it wrong!), so I'll need to think on it a bit.

The 52nd Tac Fighter Wing team out of Spangdahlem AB at the Gunsmoke Aerial Gunnery Competition, Nellis AFB, October 1983 71-1079 72-1067 74-1052 74-1638 74-1639 Gotta love the lo-viz shark mouth... Very odd. This is F-4E 74-1639, yet the "Identi-Plate" looks like it is a generic stencil. It starts with the very first production F-4E, 66-0284, and goes up to 69-0236. Yet this is a 1974 production contract year airframe. Even if it is generic, its use makes no sense. The data block is supposed to identify the production block number so that maintainers and aircrew know the equipment and structural configuration of the jet. The inclusion of the words "Identiplate Location" is also strange. Maybe this jet escaped the paint barn without the aircraft specific data block being applied here? Thanks for looking, Sven