F-4J & F-4J (UK) differences?

[RMP2]

Hello people, hope 2020 finds you well.

 

I have got me the Hasegawa 1/48 Showtime F-4J as a base to work with to make a 74 Sqn aircraft.
 

Now there are some obvious differences such as the undernose antenna on the J that isnt on the J(UK) along with the formation lights on the J(UK) that arent on the plain J, but are there many other obvious differences internally and externally that are of note in this scale?

 

Sqn decals are sorted I think as are some AIM-9s from Eduard, but...

Cockpit PE bits?
MB seats?

Stencils? I believe these to be in white for the J(UK) but not sure where I may find them?
Anything else I should be looking at that are worthy of note?

Thanks in advance for any help.
 

[Silverkite]

2 hours ago, RMP2 said:

Hello people, hope 2020 finds you well.

 

I have got me the Hasegawa 1/48 Showtime F-4J as a base to work with to make a 74 Sqn aircraft.
 

Now there are some obvious differences such as the undernose antenna on the J that isnt on the J(UK) along with the formation lights on the J(UK) that arent on the plain J, but are there many other obvious differences internally and externally that are of note in this scale?

 

Sqn decals are sorted I think as are some AIM-9s from Eduard, but...

Cockpit PE bits?
MB seats?

Stencils? I believe these to be in white for the J(UK) but not sure where I may find them?
Anything else I should be looking at that are worthy of note?

Thanks in advance for any help.
 

I did a research around a year ago, but I stopped to the stencil data and a couple of other things as I wanted to find pictures of the entire batch that was sold to the UK just to be sure

 

Internal things I guess it is sorted out by Verlinden's Lock On book, if anything port side periscope pictures can be found onnaweb

Bridle hooks were not present so you have to shave them off and leave a faired off(?) void

All ECM antennas on the belly are not present 'cept the two in the NGL door area

Spine antenna in the middle of the fuselage is present on some and seems to be absent in a couple of others

Wing reinforcement stripes were kinda on

Buttoned or riveted eyes on drag chute door

At the base of the vertical stab Phantoms have some sort of intake, some aircraft such as ZE 353 58 and 54 have a kind of of dent and it looks clear, others like ZE360 and 351 doesn't look so clear

 

edit also don't forget the wisker-ish antenna on the port side air scoop beneath the nose

 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/F-4S_Phantom_II_of_VMFA-321_taxiing_in_1987.JPEG

 

I'm not an expert, just someone whom wastes time staring pictures

 

Luigi

Edited January 10, 2020 by Silverkite

[Julien]

Seats were the same USN one for a while as RAF aircrew had to use USN equipment, thogh this was changed to UK speac fiarly soon befor ethey were retired!

 

 

[bar side]

Does that mean ZE359 at Duxford is painted as US Navy but might contain UK seats and mods?  As they say, a prototype for everything!

[XV571]

The F-4J(UK) is basically a 'slatless' F-4S but retains some F-4J features such as the original style ECS intake type on the left (no central splitter plate) and full length vents either side of the nose wheel well. The VTAS mounting brackets were installed on the canopies but the sensors were never fitted. I think Luigi has covered the other differences; I think in his last point he's referring to the aft fuselage cooling intake. This has an extended strake on all F-4Js (as in the Hasegawa kit), earlier aircraft (e.g. the F-4B & F-4C) just had the vertical splitter. Also, don't forget that ZE350 was unique in not having the short ECM ducts on the intake shoulders.

 

Most aftermarket cockpit bits for the F-4J are for the 'late' configuration with the central radar controller joystick so are useable for a F-4J(UK). You'll have to scratchbuild the TASS periscope though; but as most of the time it wasn't fitted you could just add a circular blanking plate and paint over the glazing.

 

As Julien says, the seats were originally US Navy standard but were changed late in life to the UK version. Nobody has yet done an accurate 1/48 USN Mk7 seat with the integral oxygen bottle so it's personal preference on which US type seat you want to use (I tend to use the Quickboost ones as the straps are integral which I prefer to PE ones). Quickboost and Mastercasters now have seats for British Phantoms so they could be used for a late aircraft.

 

Stencils are white but were minimal on the real thing, Most seem to just be the panel numbers. Zoukei Mura released a F-4J(UK) sheet SWS48-04-D01 which although expensive (about £20) it covers all the jets across its full service life and was researched and designed by Dave Roof of Flying Leathernecks Decals so will be accurate. Icarus Decals do a white stencil sheet https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/IC48005?result-token=ysKTS but these are probably over the top for a RAF F-4J(UK). KitsWorld also have a sheet with white stencils https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/KW48118?result-token=ysKTS but even then you probably only need a few from the white section.

 

You may find this thead interesting, it started off as a colour question but evolved into a more general topic on the F-4J(UK): https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/35997-f-4j-uk-phantom/. It used to be pinned; maybe the mods could re-pin it?

 

HTH,

 

Jonathan

 

 

[RMP2]

Thanks for that, guys, much appreciated.

 

The decals i have are from the Smokers sheet - ZE361 (P). Plenty of photos of it available online. I want to paint it in the delivery colours (Zoukei Mura suggest it was one of 4 repainted in RAF colours in 1989 - ZE354, 357, 361 and 364 being listed) so the link to the funny off-colours is helpful as is the other info in there, thank you.

 

Re the cockpit then - would the FGR2 Eduard PE set be close enough for the IPs? I dont see any available for the Hasegawa J is why I ask.

Stencil wise then, going by photos and reference books here I think I am right in thinking that its pretty much just:
The wing root walkway areas that are bordered with and infilled with a darker grey?
Warning triangles etc on the fuselage can either be in grey or full colour depending what year I go for?

 

Got to say - ZE361 looks a little less "blue" than some of the others in the photos I have found, but then very few photos come with a date. Is the nose cone demarcation between upper and lower colours a safe bet as being the original delivery scheme?
 

[iainpeden]

There's a lot of related information on this thread:

 

https://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=79313

 

Note that ZE350 didn't have the ecm fairings on the intakes and only 3 of the a/c underwent a repaint.