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F-4F Phantom II "WTD-61 Flight Test" - 1:32 Revell


Julien

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F-4F Phantom II "WTD-61 Flight Test"

1:32 Revell


box%20top.JPG


If you have not heard of the F-4 phantom where have you been for the past 56 years! The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II was conceived as an all-weather, long-range fighter bomber for the US Navy. It has been in service for over fifty years now and is still serving with distinction with air forces around the world, although active users are now becoming fewer. More than five thousand Phantoms were built.

The F-4F is a simplified, lightweight version of the US Air Forces highly capable F-4E, built specifically for the Luftwaffe however these aircraft we not to be fitted with "Beyond Visual Range" weapons so were limited to gun and sidewinders for Air-2-Air combat. The Luftwaffe's F-4Fs were upgraded under the Improved Combat Efficiency (ICE) programme in the late eighties to early nineties. The main changes under ICE were the introduction of the APG-65 radar (as in F/A-18 Hornet) and AMRAAM. Germany finally retired its phantoms in 2013.

One of the last Phantoms to Fly in Germany was one from the Flight Test Centre. This was painted in an attractive Black and Orange scheme with the words "Don't let me Die I want to Fly" painted on. This aircraft is the subject of the latest re-box from Revell.

The Kit
Revell's 1:32 Phantom now dates back to the 1990's. Even though the outer box on this kit was sealed the inner bag had been cut, and loose parts were everywhere in the box? There are parts in the box to do earlier phantoms and all the parts for am ICE Phantom if you wanted to source other decals. Parts come on a massive 10 separate sprues in a light grey plastic, and a clear sprue.

sp1.JPG


Construction starts with the ejection seats. Here Revell have provided a new sprue for these parts, with those on the main sprue not being used. New eight part seats are built up and these should look good in the cockpit.

sp10.JPG


Once the seats are made up the cockpit is then assembled. For the instrument and side panels a combination of raised detail and decals is provided. Rudder pedals, control columns and throttle levers are added. Once the cockpit is made up it is placed inside the two halves of the front fuselage and these can then be joined.

sp3.JPG


Once the two halves are joined the front wheel well is built up and added to the front underside missle well part, the gun muzzle and side air intakes can then be added. The modeller then has the choice to close nose up; or to have it open. An appropriate antenna for the APG-65 is included if the modeller wished to use it.

sp6.JPG


Once the front fuselage is completed the modeler then moves onto the main fuselage. A representative front face for the engine fans is added to the middle of the main fuselage (though it should be said there is no representation of any intake trunking at all in the kit). Once the bulkhead with the fans is installed the main fuselage sections can be joined.

sp2.JPG


The fin cap is added to the main fuselage parts along with the rear stabilisers (though suspect most modellers will leave these until the end). Next construction moves onto the main centre wing section. The lower centre section is one part with the main wheel wells moulded in. The top inner sections of the wing are then added to the bottom section, this sub assembly is then attached to the main fuselage.

sp4.JPG


Next the main and front fuselage sections are joined together. Tere does not appear to be much in the way of reinforcement to this join so the modeller may wish to add some. The Splitter plates and intakes are now added. Following this The outer main wing panels are constructed. These consist of an upper and lower panel with a separate leading edge slat. Once these are made they are attached to the main wing.

sp5.JPG


Next the engine exhausts are made up and added to the main fuselage, along with the arrestor hook and tail cone. The next sub assembly to be made up is the front landing gear. Main and weighted wheel are supplied. The main leg is curiously supplied in two parts with a join which does not look to strange with normal glue so care will need to be taken. The completed gear along with the doors are then added to the fuselage (I suspect most people will leave the doors until last).

sp7.JPG


Next its onto the main gear. Again normal and weighted wheels are supplied. The mains look a lot stronger than the nose wheel. Main gear doors and under wing airbrakes are then added.

sp9.JPG


To finish of the model a variety of external parts are added. Various intakes, aerials, pylon, fuel tanks etc are added. Both early and late centre line tanks are included but the flight test Phantom seems to have flown without this tank. The canopies can be added at last in either the open or closed positions. If you pose the canopies open then a boarding ladder is included in the kit. Finally it should be noted that a full set of Sidewinders, AMRAAMs, and an ECM pod are included in the kit which are not used.

sp8.JPG


The Canopy
The canopies all come on one fairly large sprue (well it is 1:32) They are clear, distortion free and should pose no problems.

canopy.jpg


Decals
Unsurprisingly the only decal option in the box is for the box top, the Flight Test bird. 2 Decal sheets are provided for the checks, one massive one which covers the entire bottom of the box; and a smaller supplemental sheet. Design of the decals is by the French company Syhart who seem to be doing a lot of the latest Revell "special" sheets. They are printed in Italy for Revell, and like all of their recent decals appear to be very good. Care will need to be taken to get a smooth paint finish before applying the large decals.

decals001.JPG


decals002.jpg


Conclusion
Even though this kit is getting on a bit now, its good to see it in this scheme. You get a lot of plastic for your money, and will end up with some spare parts if you have any other large Phantom kits hanging about. The kit will make a large imposing model when built up, and its one which will not break the bank.


Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers.

For further information visit logo-revell-2009.gif

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This kit I hope is a reissue of the new molds from the 90's. The previous 1/32 F-4 was issued by Revell in the 1970's but was a totally different moulding coming from the USA not Germany

Yes typed in the wrong date. I do have the 1970's one in my stash though!
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I've just bought one of these so this was very useful. However you forgot to mention that Revell have moulded the kit in that peculiar plastic which expands slightly on exposure to daylight.

Well, how else do you explain the fact that once you've taken all the sprues out of the box, they never fit back in again? :shrug:

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  • 2 weeks later...

I do have the 1970's one in my stash though!

Destroy and bury it as soon as possible before it infects the other kits in your stash! It is the styrene embodiment of pure evil!

Cheers,

Bill

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I've just bought one of these so this was very useful. However you forgot to mention that Revell have moulded the kit in that peculiar plastic which expands slightly on exposure to daylight.

Well, how else do you explain the fact that once you've taken all the sprues out of the box, they never fit back in again? :shrug:

I've just bought one of these so this was very useful. However you forgot to mention that Revell have moulded the kit in that peculiar plastic which expands slightly on exposure to daylight.

Well, how else do you explain the fact that once you've taken all the sprues out of the box, they never fit back in again? :shrug:

So that's how my stash keeps expanding!

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