F-4S resin cockpit set

[arfa1983]

I am building a Hasegawa F-4S Phantom II and I am wondering whether an F4-J cockpit would be close enough, and which manufacturer has the best quality / value resin cockpit set.

Cheers

Arthur.

[Linus]

Hi arfa1983,

the easiest to find is the 4160 Aires differences J / S are minimal and with the help of the vol. 3 Detail and Scale can find nice pictures, I on my F4J I used the set of KMC and I'm happy, but now this company is gone. However Aires has a good quality / price ratio.

Good model!!!!!!

Cheers

Linus

[Spooky56]

IIRC True Details took on the KMC range, Hannants have the F-4J cockpit TD48517 in stock

[XV571]

I am building a Hasegawa F-4S Phantom II and I am wondering whether an F4-J cockpit would be close enough, and which manufacturer has the best quality / value resin cockpit set.

Cheers

Arthur.

Hi Arthur,

The short answer is yes, you can use a F-4J cockpit. Nearly all aftermarket (and kit) F-4J cockpits are of the later configuration with the RIO's radar controller on a centre pedestal. Early F-4Js were more like the F-4B with a retractable controller to the right of the scope. When the F-4J was converted to a F-4S this was one of the changes made as part of the upgrade to the radar systems. You can see the differences here:

http://aviation.watergeek.eu/f4j-panel.html

The only set that I know of to correctly include the early F-4J layout was the Black Box set 48071 for the F-4J/FGR2. There is also set 48072 which covers the F-4S and FG.1 (and is the only one with a correct FG.1 configuration).

For your F-4S the best quality is probably the Aires set but this is a notoriously difficult fit. The True Details sets were designed for the Hasegawa kit; originally these were the ex-KMC moulds but they may now be using the Black Box\Avionix versions. I bought a TD F-4E cockpit a while back and this was the latter version (although the instructions were for the previous set!). There is also the Legends cockpit LF4027 but I've never seen one so can't comment on its fit or accuracy.

One item they all lack is a proper US Navy style Mk7 seat with the integral O₂ supply in the base cushion - the ones supplied in the sets are the USAF type with a separate bottle.

HTH

Jonathan