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1/72 US Navy F-4J in 1970 - what are my options?


k5054nz

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Hi all,

After listening to an interview with the pilot I'm struck by a desire to build F-4J BuNo 155875/NK 201 “Dakota 201” of VF-142, as it was on March 28 1970 when LT Jerome Eugene (Jerry) Beaulier and LT Stephen John Barkley shot down a North Vietnamese MiG-21.

 

Unfortunately when it comes to non-UK variants of the Phantom I'm clueless. What is the best option in 1/72 for this aircraft in terms of accuracy and price? Is there one that comes with these markings so I don't need to shell out for an aftermarket sheet?

 

I'd be grateful for any advice!

Edited by k5054nz
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Starting with the decals, 155875 "NK-201" is included in Print Scale sheet 72-266, that is currently in their catalogue and easily available. Don't know how accurate these decals are and I personally consider Print Scale sheets a bit on the expensive side, but at least you don't have to search for old and hard to find sheets in some shop far away.

Unfortunately no kit that I know of comes with these markings.

 

My personal choice in terms of kits would be between the Hasegawa one and the Academy offering. The latter is a hybrid between a standard kit and an easy-build, however it is a very nice kit, although with some semplifications. Have a look online to see if you like the style.

Pricewise none of these is particularly cheap, but there is one big difference that will likely steer you choice: the Academy kit is easily available, the Hasegawa kit is quite hard to find as Hasegawa keeps repopping their F-4B/N but the J has not been reboxed too often. If buying the Academy kit, it's worth checking the Korean Ebay shops, they can do pretty good deals. Of course in this case you may have to pay the various handling fees when the kit reaches the UK, so consider these in the final price.

 

The Esci kit would be a decent option if you don't mind a cockpit that bears very little resemblance to the real one... the kit also lacks a few features of the J, like the catapult hooks and the bulge over the landing gear attachment point. In any case it's a nice kit and the Italeri rebox is easily available at a good price.

Quite similar is the Fujimi kit, that suffers from the same poor cockpit of the Esci kit while being superior in other areas, but this is also not easy to find and generally expensive, so IMHO is not worth chasing.

 

Last but not least... If you don't mind raised panel lines or are happy to rescribe, the Monogram J, today sold by Revell, is a very good kit, well detailed and IIRC is very accurate in shape. As with many Monogram kits, fit is not as good as that of the Japanese kits or even the esci one. It is however probably the cheapest option on the market, I've seen them for as little as £15. There's a very nice build of this same kit in the WIP section of the forum, may be worth to have a look and see if you like the kit. If you're on a budget, this could be a good choice afterall

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I would agree with Giorgio's assessments of the various J kits, and would also give high marks to the Monogram kit, which does have raised panel lines which can either be reduced or used as a guide to scribe replacements; it also has a very accurate cockpit  for a J and it is well detailed, rivaling some resin sets for fineness and accuracy. They can be gotten fairly cheaply, as G has stated, either as the Revell boxing or on auction sites. Unfortunately, you are a long way from the U.S. where they are plentiful and cheap at almost every vendor's table or swap meet! I have the Monogram and  Fujimi F-4J's and I prefer the Monogram kit overall. I agree with Giorgio that we are overdue for Hasegawa to re-release their 2nd generation F-4J!

Mike

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4 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

The Esci kit  (...) also lacks a few features of the J, like the catapult hooks and the bulge over the landing gear attachment point.

If going the Esci route, you could try asking around in the spares section - all Hase kits including the landbased versions include these parts.

 

HTH,

 

Andre

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Thank you gents, that's some very helpful information! As I said if it doesn't have Speys I've never looked at buying it, so I appreciate the help.

 

I'm actually in New Zealand so that makes the Academy offering a better option for me price-wise, although I'll start looking at both that and the Monogram kit in its various forms. Over at ARC the Monogram kit and its Accurate Miniatures rebox have been strongly recommended.

 

When looking for reference photos of Beaulier's aircraft all I found were profiles and decal sheets so I figured there would be options available. The only issue will be what I can justify paying when i only need the one option! 😆

Edited by k5054nz
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The Monogram (now Revell) 1/72 F-4J is still far and away the most technically accurate one out there, if a little dodgy on the buildability side of the ledger.  But with some effort it can be built into a really nice model.  And it has a cockpit.

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1 hour ago, NorthBayKid said:

The Monogram (now Revell) 1/72 F-4J is still far and away the most technically accurate one out there, if a little dodgy on the buildability side of the ledger.  But with some effort it can be built into a really nice model.  And it has a cockpit.

I see Revell has also reboxed this in the past few years so that may be a cheaper option for me.

 

After reading the excellent review elsewhere on BM, I read @MajorClanger's RFI - both of which have put the Academy to the top of my wishlist when I have the cash.

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  • 3 weeks later...

A friend gifted me the Academy kit, man I was not expecting such a big box with so much plastic! It looks gorgeous in the box.

 

Now to find decals for 155875/NK-201....anyone got those from Print Scale 72-266 going spare?

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