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Three Phantoms - ANG F-4C


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The phinal of my three 1/48th McDonnell-Douglas Phantom builds, this is the ubiquitous Revell F-4C/D kit built as F-4C serial 64-0776 operated by the 142nd FIG out of Portland, OR by the Oregon Air National Guard in June 1989. she was named 'Miss Piggy' and was a triple Mig killer.

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This is the fifth 'Revellogram' 1/48th F-4 that I have built and I still love this kit. On the downside it has raised panel lines and a couple of small issues but in general the kit goes together really well and the end result has that essential 'Phantomness' that I have loved since I saw my first Phantom air display at RNAS Yeovilton in 1970. This is my first Hill Gray painted Phantom.

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The paints are standard Humbrol enamels with Metal Cote applied to the jet exhaust areas. I have finally lost patience with my Harder & Steenbeck Ultra airbrush - it is almost totally bunged up and I can't unbung it - so I reverted to my ancient Badger 200 airbrush and it gave me really good results. The masking went well too and the result is a very clean looking Hill Gray Phantom :)

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The decals are from Speed Hunter Graphics 'USAF Phantom MiG Killers - Part 1'. Speed Hunter Graphics is a offshoot of Reid Air Publishing and is run by one Jake Melampy who is a superb aviation photographer and has published several books for military jet modellers in the USA. Hopefully the photos give an idea of the quality of these decals, they apply very easily and they are very detailed. The Oregon eagle on the tail fin below is a three part decal:

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Even the plain side looks good:

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64-0776 is quite unique in that she is the only Phantom to have used each of its three weapons systems to destroy a Mig. I was keen to reflect this in the weapons loaded and I raided the new Academy F-4B kit which contains sprues with multiple versions of Sidewinders, Sparrows and a gun pod. This ANG F-4C carries 4 x AIM-4J Sidewinders, 4 x AIM-7F Sparrows and an SUU-23A 20mm gun pod.

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The decals and paints were sealed with a spray of Humbrol enamel matt varnish.

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I decided not to add weathering to this Phantom, the majority of ANG Phantoms of this time period were kept in very clean condition and from photos I have seen posted elsewhere 'Miss Piggy' was no exception.

What would I do better next time? I lost patience with the gap behind the rear cockpit canopy, next time I will use filler here (as another Phantom modeller has shown here recently). i also didn't really pay full attention to the application of the decals and a couple of them have silvered.

So that is the last of my three Phantoms, I really enjoyed building this one. Think I need to take a break from Phantoms for a while now!

Comments and critiques very welcome :)

Michael

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