Luftwaffe F-4 drop tanks

[chrislowe]

I suspect that the Luftwaffe F-4fs carried different drop tanks from the US aircraft. Can someone confirm or correct that? 

 

I have "mislaid" the drop tanks of my 1:48 F4-F, so I will need to find some new ones.

[Creepy Pete]

Nope, they used the same external tanks as any other F-4 user since the 70's. 370 gallon wing tanks and both types of centreline tanks.

[XV571]

Hi Chris,

 

As Pete says the F-4F used the same tanks as seen on all other F-4s. In fact they were originally delivered in the same colours as USAF tanks and could be still seen like this well into the 1990s. I've seen a fair few pictures of F-4Fs carrying wing tanks with any combination of green/grey nose, centre or tail with the rest in the later Norm 90 grey scheme. If you're doing an all grey jet it could make an interesting contrast.

 

HTH,

 

Jonathan

[Hook]

In addition, German F-4F's and RF-4E's were originally delivered with the Royal Jet type, and later on retrofitted with the F-15 style HPC (High Performance Centerline) tank. 

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[chrislowe]

That's fantastic info, much appreciated Just got to find some good 1:48 tanks now. 

[Tailspin Turtle]

Note that there were three different 370-gallon tanks on USN/USMC F-4s. See https://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2013/06/things-under-wings-f4h-f-4-phantom.html; it has a link to a description of the third tank.

[tempestfan]

Only semi-related to Luftwaffe tanks I admit, but the 1965ish Airfix kit has cylindrical tanks that can only really be ment to represent the Sargent Fletcher 370s, so SF seem to miss a few years of their history? (Should have quoted TT‘s post, perhaps.) OTOH, the Revell F-4B and its incarnations have decidedly egg-shaped tanks that I recall shorter than the Airfix - an incorrect interpretation by their designers of the McAir variety?

[XV571]

On 12/22/2018 at 11:29 PM, chrislowe said:

That's fantastic info, much appreciated Just got to find some good 1:48 tanks now. 

 

I think the best 1/48 Royal Jet 370 gallon tanks are either the Monogram or Zoukei Moura ones. The Hasegawa and Italeri/ESCI ones seem too 'pointy' but can be improved by sanding the tips to a more rounded profile. The Academy version are a good shape but the prominent external stiffener is represented by a very thin line so this needs adding with some plastic strip. The only 1/48 aftermarket 370 gallon tanks I know of are the McDonnell version by Hypersonic but these aren't suitable for a German Air Force jet. Alternatively, Luftwaffe F-4Fs were often seen without outboard tanks especially once the HPC tanks was introduced so it wouldn't be out of place to leave the kit without them and just have the inner pylons and missile rails.

 

One other thing, not tank related but unique to the F-4F and a detail often overlooked, the larger forward AIM-7 fin slots were replaced by a blank panel in the front missile wells to reduce drag. The rear ones could also be faired over but this was less common once the AIM-120 was introduced. If it's not too late you can fill these slots, as desired, to reproduce this on your kit.

 

HTH,

 

Jonathan

[JeffreyK]

Just to clarify some potential confusion:

We have five different external tanks on the F-4.

For the 600gal centre line tank, there was the original F-4 specific tank, with its two small tail fins that intersected with the fuselage belly (made by Royal Jet?)

Later, this was replaced by the "F-15 style" centre line, "High Performance" tank, I think at pretty much every F-4 operator.

 

For the 370gal wing tanks there was the original F-4 MacAir tank, parabolic shaped, with prominent weld seams on either side and a separate pylon (this pylon was also utilised as the outboard weapons pylon by the USN/USMC), the much less common Royal Jet tank, also parabolic shaped, but with shorter weld seams.

Lastly, the Sargent Fletcher tank, with cylindrical centre section and and only one seam along the lower quarter. It's the most common wing tank variant and I think the only one operated by non-US F-4 operators. This is the wing tank in most F-4 kits.

 

Jeffrey

[Linus]

Hi guy,

you can find the thanks:

hypersonicmodels

airdocmodels