AndrewE Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Since I seem to be building all of my aircraft builds this year as pairs I thought I would dig these two Esci Phantoms out of the stash for this GB. I missed the F-4 GB earlier in the year so I am sort of catching up on my modelling with these two. Hopefully I will also find time for a CH-46 later on as well. I have had one of these almost since the time the kit was first released in 1985 and it looks as though somewhere along the way I have attached the cockpit tub to the floor but other than that it is unstarted. I shall be completing one as a Navy F-4 from VF-142 which was flown by Scott Davis and Jeff Ulrich on December 28th 1972 when they shot down a Mig-21. This was one of the last victories of the war and I think the only one flown by a bird from USS Enterprise. Unfortunately this aircraft was shot down over North Vietnam on 3rd May 1973. There does seem to be some confusion over the number of this aircraft. The decals show it as NK-212 but some references refer to it as NK-214. I have two side profiles of the aircraft in my references, the Squadron Signal book "...and Kill Migs" shows NK-212 while the Osprey book "US Navy F-4 Pjhantom II Mig Killers 1972-72" shows it as NK-214. The only picture I can find shows it as 212 but the picture also shows an all white radome which does not fit with pictures of other VF-142 aircraft from the same deployment. I may well just go with the decals unless anyone knows different. The second one will be finished as a Marine F-4 from VMFA-232 based at Chu Lai, South Vietnam in April 1969. This aircraft was with VMFA-232 for only a couple of years but had a long career with the Navy until eventually being struck off charge on 1th January 2003. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper_city Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Welcome Andrew. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight_Flyer Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 FWIW I have another book on Vietnam era MiG Killers. This one says the callsign is Dakota 214 and the BuNo as 155846. However, the pic shows 212 with the same BuNo. Date and location is unknown. Is it possible the airframe was originally 212 and later became 214? I guess in the absence of any further evidence you may as well go with the decals. Will be interested to see how your builds turn out and also the CH-46 as I have the Fujimi kit in the stash. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Bu.No. 155846 was sure coded 214 in 1971, there's a well known picture showing her with such codes on several sources... including wikipedia https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/F-4J_Phantoms_of_VF-142_in_flight_c1971.jpg Problem is that this code was carried while in the US between the previous deployment on USS Constellation and the following on USS Enterprise. Aircrafts within USN squadrons can have their numbers changed, and here we have two pictures of the same aircraft with different codes (and differently painted radomes, but radomes can be swapped). 212 was carried at a later date, we only have to find out what number was carried the day of the MiG kill 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight_Flyer Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Bu.No. 155846 was sure coded 214 in 1971, there's a well known picture showing her with such codes on several sources... including wikipedia https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/F-4J_Phantoms_of_VF-142_in_flight_c1971.jpg Problem is that this code was carried while in the US between the previous deployment on USS Constellation and the following on USS Enterprise. Aircrafts within USN squadrons can have their numbers changed, and here we have two pictures of the same aircraft with different codes (and differently painted radomes, but radomes can be swapped). 212 was carried at a later date, we only have to find out what number was carried the day of the MiG kill That kinda makes sense saying the airframe started as 214 and then became 212. So maybe 212 really is the modex on the day and the callsign is either wrong or they continued using it after the new number was assigned. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 The callsign would have been changed at the same time the modex was changed 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewE Posted October 4, 2015 Author Share Posted October 4, 2015 Thanks for all the input into the discussion over the correct call sign. In the absence of any firm confirmation one way or another I shall go with the decals and use 212. Progress has been made on both these builds so far as follows. Cockpits were adjusted slightly to convert to Navy configuration with no side consoles in the rear. Ejection seats are white metal with fuse wire handles but everything else is as per the kit with decals used for the panels. The canopies will be closed so hopefully this level of detail should be sufficient. The fuselages went together very quickly after the cockpits were finished, I fitted some spacers towards the rear of the fuselage to make them more rigid. The fit overall was OK except underneath at the join of the wing to the forward fuselage where a step resulted in one of the builds so is probably down to me rather than the kit. One or two sink marks have had to be filled in but everything is now just about ready for painting. The armament has all come from the Hasegawa weapons set. The kit does not include any centre line fuel tanks but thankfully I had an old one in the spares box which I think is off an old Hasegawa Phantom, This was duly broken apart and reassembled and rear fins added from other surplus stores. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewE Posted November 1, 2015 Author Share Posted November 1, 2015 I have made some progress since my last post. Both f-4's are now painted and have had decals applied. No major problems so far. For some reason I painted the upper surfaces of the stabilizers in grey instead of white but fortunately I realised my mistake in time to correct it. The decals are quite old but apart from one or two of the small data ones breaking up they went on without any trouble. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper_city Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 They are both looking great Andrew. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
It'sAllGoneHorriblyWrong Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Lovely stuff, looking very smart. It's been 35 years or so since I last built a Phantom - perhaps I should have a go at another. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEMPESTMK5 Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 Good morning Andrew Very good job your build reminds me that I had build NK 212 also using the Esci Kit and the Microscale decals sheet in the late 80s .. Patrice 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewE Posted November 21, 2015 Author Share Posted November 21, 2015 Finished these two off last week and finally got around to taking some pictures today. I never used to particularly like Phantoms with the all black radome but having done this one I think I have now changed my mind. Makes the choice of scheme for the 1/48 Academy F-4B I have in the stash even harder now! 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smudge Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Very nice work on those ESCI Phantom's. I can feel the one's in my stash edging towards the front. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper_city Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Great finish Andrew. They look superb.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight_Flyer Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Awesome finish, they're both really cool builds. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEMPESTMK5 Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 Good afternoon Andrew Great job you have done Patrice 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Very good looking models ! Good job 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rs2man Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Excellent models . The Esci Phantom has always been my favourite as it looks good & is an easier build than either the Hasegawa or Fujimi kits . It just needs a little cockpit detail adding . Incidentally , the Airwaves etched brass cockpit set for the Hasegawa F-4J is a pretty good fit in the Esci kit & improves it greatly . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 Superb job on the Phantoms!!! Outstanding models through and through. Congrats JR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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