McDonnell-Douglas F-4F Phantom II by Revell-Germany

1/72 scale
Kit No. 04307
Price: $38.00
Decals: Two versions – both Luftwaffe
Comments: Raised panel lines and rivet detail; multi-part canopy; detailed cockpit and landing gear; four AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles; center line and under wing drop tanks

History

The McDonnell (and after 1967, McDonnell-Douglas) F-4 Phantom II was perhaps the most famous, certainly among the most recognized, jet fighters in the world in the latter half of the 20th Century. It took its maiden flight on May 27, 1958, and from the outset, the F-4 was a thoroughbred. Early flight tests exceeded expectations as it reached Mach 1.01; acceleration and climb-rate figures also surpassed their goals. With its two General Electric J-79 turbojets, the F-4’s amazing performance set world records for altitude (98,537 ft. on December 6, 1958) and speed (1,606.03 mph, or Mach 2.6, on November 22, 1961). Between September 1960 and April 1962, the Phantom broke an additional 13 world records.

This ground-breaking fighter It was the result of a years-long development project begun after McDonnell lost out on a contract for a Navy carrier fighter to Chance Vought in 1953. The sting of losing to what later became the F-8 Crusader drove McDonnell to begin a series of design studies tailored to meet future needs. It began with a survey of the U.S. Navy hierarchy — the Chief of Naval Operations, the Bureau of Aeronautics, an office called Head of the Fighter Branch, the Overhaul and Repair units, and any Navy personnel willing to listen and fill out a questionnaire. The end result was the Navy’s December 17, 1958 announcement that the F4H-1, as the initial prototype was designated, had been selected as its first all-weather fighter. Poetic justice was dispensed in that the Phantom II beat out several contenders, including an advanced version of the Crusader, the F8U-3. The Phantom II was the first aircraft to make extensive use of titanium (in its keel, aft fuselage skin, engine shrouds, and part of the internal fuselage structure). It was also the first aircraft able to independently detect, intercept and destroy any target that came within radar range – other fighters of the day still needed help from surface radar units.

The Navy, in conjunction with McDonnell, embarked on a rigorous flight test program over the next three years. The first operational Phantoms, designated F-4B, entered service with the Navy and Marine Corps on March 25, 1961 – even before the completion of the test program in November. The Air Force followed suit in 1963. Over the next 25 years, a total of 17 different variants among 5,200 aircraft followed, including the gun-equipped F-4E and the Wild Weasel series. Phantoms flew for 11 nations: Australia, Greece, Iran, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Spain, West Germany, Great Britain, Turkey, and the United States.

During its service life the Phantom saw combat in the Middle East and more extensively in Southeast Asia. It was so versatile that it quickly became a multi-role fighter, serving in Vietnam as air defense, air superiority, and escort fighters as well as fighter-bombers in battlefield and deep interdiction missions. They later performed flak suppression in the Wild Weasel role. Phantoms first saw action on August 6, 1964, when five F4-B’s of VF-142 and VF-143 off the U.S.S. Constellation made a retaliatory strike on North Vietnamese patrol boat bases following the Gulf of Tonkin incident. The first air-to-air kills occurred on June 17, 1965 when F-4B’s of VF-21 shot down two North Vietnamese MiG-17’s with Sparrow missiles.

Dependence on Missiles
Like many jet fighters designed during the mid- to late-1950’s, the Phantom fell prey to the Pentagon doctrine that guns were obsolete and that air combat manuever, or “dogfighting” was a dead art, made so by the advent of sophisticated new air-to-air missiles. There was no need for a fighter to have guns if it could make a kill at the long ranges at which missiles were effective. But over time, painful experience in Southeast Asia forced a change in this thinking.

Phantoms contended with MiG-17’s, MiG-19’s, and MiG-21’s in Vietnam, all single-seat, gun-equipped fighters carrying AA-2 Atoll missiles similar to the heat-seeking AIM-9 Sidewinder. All the MiGs were slower than the Phantom except for later models of the MiG-21, all were highly maneuverable, all could out-turn the F-4. This gave the MiGs a decided advantage in dogfights, offset by the Phantom’s ability to outrun and outclimb them. Missiles allowed F-4 pilots to destroy enemy planes from (theoretically) beyond visual range, but they had certain weaknesses. They needed to fly a certain distance before they could arm themselves; electronic countermeasures, violent evasive action, and even weather conditions could hinder their performance. F-4 pilots sometimes found themselves in the uncomfortable situation of being too close to the MiGs to use their missiles, or having fired them without effect, only to find themselves well within the MiG’s effective gun range.

Also, there were problems with the dependability of the IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) radar with which they were used, and with their reliability (more of an issue with the radar-guided Sparrow than the heat-seeking Sidewinder), which sometimes led to firing them in pairs to increase chances of a hit. Adopting hit-and-run tactics to emphasize the Phantom’s strengths, rather than “fighting the MiG’s fight,” Phantom pilots accounted for 42 MiGs destroyed in Vietnam, contributing their fair share of the impressive kill ratio of 10-to-1 in favor of the Americans. Phantom pilots remained dependent on missiles until their planes were field-modified with external 20mm gun pods carried under the belly in place of the 600-gallon drop tank. The gun pods provided urgently needed firepower, but they increased drag, hampering the Phantom’s ability to manuever, and were not accurate, having a tendency to spray ammo all over the sky. A more permanent solution in the form of an internal gun was needed.

F-4F

The F-4F variant of the Phantom was a cheaper, simpler version of the F-4E modified to Luftwaffe specifications for export to West Germany. Nearly all its components, including the General Electric J79 powerplant, were identical to those of the F-4E. But it was equipped with a simplified version of the F-4E’s APQ-120 fire control radar and had as its standard armament the F-4E’s integral 20mm cannon fitted beneath the nose, coupled with four AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles (although the Luftwaffe opted not to carry the AIM-7 Sparrow). The F-4F could also carry a heavy load of ordnance, including LAU-3/LAU-10 rocket launchers, M-117 bombs, Mk 81, 82, 83 or 84 bombs, either standard or Snake Eye, or the SUU-23 20mm gun pod on the center line or outboard wing pylons, although this was not a particularly accurate air-to-air weapon and there was less need for it since the F-4F already had a 20mm cannon integrated into its airframe.

The last Phantom manufactured was an F-4E that rolled off the McDonnell-Douglas assembly line in October 1979. The F-4 was retired from front-line U.S. military units between 1992-1995, but continued to be flown by Air National Guard units until the last one decommissioned the final F-4E unit in 1997. Various service branches thereafter used modified F-4 as target drones until about 2004. As of late 2009, Phantoms remained in service with foreign nations including Germany, Greece, Iran, Japan and South Korea.

Specifications (F-4F)

Wingspan: 38 ft., 4 7/8 in.
Height: 16 ft., 5 ½ in.
Length: 62 ft., 11 ¾ in.
Powerplant: 2 General Electric J-79 Turbojets of 17,900 lbs. thrust, with afterburners
Service Ceiling: 70,000 feet
Rate of Climb: 28,000 ft. per minute
Range: 900 miles with combat load; 2,300 miles with external fuel tanks
Maximum Speed: Mach 2.4 (1,584 mph at 48,000 feet)
Armament: 20mm Vulcan cannon, variety of underwing stores

The Kit

Revell-Germany’s F-4F Phantom is injection molded in light grey plastic and consists of 86 parts. For those who have built either the Italeri F-4G Wild Weasel or the Testors RF-4C/E Phantoms, you may recognize the mold, as the F-4F has roughly 85% of the same parts, with the Italeri F-4G being the seminal kit. The F-4F cockpit features detailed ejection seats and dual control yokes, raised detail on the side panels of the cockpit tub, as well as on the main instrument panels for the pilot and weapon systems officer. And although it will be hard to see even with the canopy open, the fuselage halves feature raised relief for cockpit sidewall detail.

The fuselage consists of a dozen parts; two main halves and two additional halves for the separate nose section forward of the cockpit; a nose cone; a separately mounted rudder; two parts for each of the jet intakes consisting of a cover and the air inlet ramp; plus two horizontal “stabilators.” The three-piece wing is nicely detailed, as are the two parts for each of the jet exhaust nozzles, although with the latter parts a cautionary note is in order — the nozzles may fit rather loosely into the fuselage unless a fast-acting adhesive or thick epoxy is used. There is a separately mounted arrestor hook (a holdover from the Phantom’s origin as a fighter designed exclusively for the U.S. Navy — it is interesting that it was never deleted from the Air Force versions) and a nicely detailed housing for the Vulcan 20mm cannon beneath the nose.

It is possible with little effort to depict the Phantom in flight; depicting it with the gear down requires cutting the main landing gear doors as indicated by the instructions. Some assembly of the centerline and under wing hard points will be required if the drop tanks in these positions are to be used. Four AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles with pylons are provided also. The final bits are the cockpit fittings, consisting of the instrument panel hood and gunsight, the nose antenna and two air inlet scoops as well as a small dorsal antenna. The last two pages of the instructions provide four-view drawings of the Phantom illustrating the respective camouflage schemes, and call out Federal Standard and RAL numbers only.

Markings

The decals, printed in Germany by Revell AG, are provided for two Luftwaffe aircraft. The first is a fighter of Jabo G 35 based at Pferdsfeld in 1994; it is painted in an overall camouflage scheme of two-tone grey, the first color being a mix of Grey ((75%) and PanzerGrau (Tank Grey, 25%). The second is an aircraft of JG 74 “Molders” (honoring WWII ace Werner Molders), based at Neuberg Donau. This aircraft has a yellow tail and is depicted on the kit’s box art. However, the colors appearing on the box art, and those indicated by the instructions for this version, do not appear to match. The box art depicts a camouflage scheme of Dark Earth or Dark Olive Drab over Hemp on the fuselage, with a Medium Grey or Dark Sea Grey also evident on the wings. The instructions do not acknowledge the earth tones at all, and call out colors such as RAL 7012 (Basalt Grey), RAL 7030 (Stone Grey), and RAL 7039 (Quartz Grey). Modelers will have to decide for themselves, but getting the “right” color scheme may require some research.

Conclusion

Despite its raised panel lines, this is a nicely detailed kit of the F-4F Phantom, made to order for the West German Luftwaffe. The most interesting feature of the kit is its unusual camouflage scheme, particularly if you believe the box art and not the kit’s painting instructions.

References

• The Aviation History Online Museum, www.aviation-history.com
• McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Gun Nosed Phantoms, by Kris Hughes and Walter Dranem, Warbird Tech Series Volume 8; Specialty Press, North Branch, Minnesota, 1997.
• Modern Fighting Aircraft Volume 4: F-4 Phantom II, by Doug Richardson and Mike Spick; Arco Publishing, New York, 1984.