Ever since this model kit came out, a few months ago, I kept reading how good it is but I tried to resist the temptation of buying it. Besides, I already have two Phantom kits in my collection: an FGR.2 from Revell (already built) and an F-4E from Zukei-Mura (waiting to be converted to a Greek F-4E AUP in the near future).
As you can guess:
a. The Phantom is one of my favourite planes and
b. I did not resist for long.
Well, what they say about this kit is true. Tamiya really did make the best possible model kit. The detail and fit of the parts is amazing. The way the parts go together is very, very very well thought out.
Since the kit is very nicely and accurately detailed on its own, I did not use many add-ons. I just added a set of seatbelts from Eduard (as Tamiya only provides the seatbelts as decals) and a set of metal Pitot tubes from Master Model (as I think they provide good value for money). Besides that, I only had to add a few cables behind the seats in the cockpit, using 0.25mm solder wire.
I chose to display the F-4B with the refueling probe in the extended position (because, why not?) and folded wingtips (saves space in the display case).
Tamiya provides 3 painting schemes. I chose the one for VF-111 as it is one of my favourites. It matches nicely the VF-111 F-14A Tomcat I built a year ago! An added bonus was the fact that this scheme does not utilize the hundreds of stensils normally used in Phantoms.
The work in progress
The finished model
Products Used
| Kit | Box | Scale | Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tamiya F-4B Phantom II |  | 1/48 | 61121 |
| Eduard F-4 seatbelts green STEEL |  | 1/48 | 49111 |
| Master Model F-4 Phantom II (short nose versions) – F-4B, C, D, J, N, S and all British variants |  | 1/48 | AM-48-049 |
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