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I am throwing my hat in the ring for this fantastic group build. There has been some amazing work done so far and I am hoping that this endeavour will be at least half as good as what I have seen. There have been some awesome Phantom builds online and I have always been fan. Even when I was a kid and started modelling, this kit and jet held my fascination but was always out of reach from a skill set and financial standpoint. Now that I am older and back in the hobby, I could finally get my hands on this beast. I picked this kit up a few years ago and now that I am getting more proficient its about time to tackle this kit. This group build has been the impetus for seeing if I can do justice for the kit. So I have the kit and will be getting the Eduard PE as well as the Hobby Decal markings for the VF-84 Jolly Rogers. Thats about all I will added to the build as i am hoping to scratch and modify anything that needs to be added. I am also looking at setting her up on a diorama ready to be launched from a carrier catapult. I also know there are some challenges with the kit and so I am using the tweak list from Thierry Laurent as well as several other build logs such as this one on ARC as part of my references. As usual please comment. If its wrong or you have suggestions please let me know. I can improve through hard work and guidance from this great community. Thanks for Reading Gord

Continuing with the F-4 theme after the recently announced F-4 airframe data and VF-154 sheets, here are three "small" sheets covering USMC F-4 Phantoms in the Vietnam War. 32-032 three F-4B Phantoms of VMFA-323 Death Rattlers 32-033 two F-4J Phantoms of VMFA-232 Red Devils 32-034 one F-4J Phantom of VMFA-212 Lancers Each sheet will also include a set of the full airframe data (sheet 32-031). Estimated release in March. now available at: www.AOAdecals.com As mentioned, all three will also include airframe data:

Next 1/32 AOA sheet (32-016) release is a little different as it covers one specific F-4J Phantom (BuNo 155887) as she appeared during three Vietnam cruises while with the same squadron (VF-143 Pukin' Dogs, callsign "Taproom") and also same modex each time (102). Not a MiG killer, just one example of the many, many other Phantoms that took part in the war daily. The Pukin' Dogs Vietnam F-4B's have been covered in decal form before (again, because of MiG kills), their later wartime F-4Js have been neglected until now. Sheet covers the Vietnam/WESTPAC cruises: USS Constellation 1969-70, USS Enterprise 1971-72, and USS Enterprise 1972-73. Among others, thankfully received help from 102's own plane captain Tom Chergi from the 72-73 cruise. For the 1972-73 cruise, this aircraft also bore the name of 143's XO, CDR Harley Hall, who sadly become the last Navy combat loss on 27 January 1973 flying Taproom 113 (the day the Paris Peace Accords were signed) and last American to be listed as POW. While his RIO was later released, there is still controversy and contradictions surrounding the ultimate fate of CDR Hall. If anyone saw the 1975 documentary "Threshold - The Blue Angel Experience", this was filmed during CDR Hall's time when he was the Blue Angels flight leader and as such is featured in it. Back to the sheet: Unlike vast majority of AOA releases, only minimal stenciling/common markings are included, such as the different ejection seat warning triangles used for each cruise, static port stencils, national insignias, and two styles of jet intake warnings and RESCUE markings. F-4's were liberally covered with stencils and is too large of a project to be covered for this release. A full F-4 stencil and panel number decal sheet may be a future release from AOA (not currently planned as of today). The sheet also includes fuel tank and FOD cover squadron identifiers. Now in stock. Printed by Cartograf. Price $22 (free shipping in the US) www.AOAdecals.com (Click image for larger view)

Take a look at what i was dealing with this Fall`16!!! The newest F-4J in 1/48 is a SWS kit from Zoukei-Mura and they invited me to participate in the kit`s Concept Note. Such an honor and excitement. About the model: i built it as a typical standalone model, nothing too fancy like movable parts, only some texturising, riveting, seatbelts from paper tape, and wiring. I may forget something, but the complete build review is in the book. I`m waiting it to arrive and to see which pics are included, and plan to post here something like walkaround pics. Here are just two from top and bellow. About the airframe: VF-92 Silver Kings from the Vietnam period - with the yellow tail, heavily weathered, parked, open canopies... Now some texturising Yet in the Concept Note should be included more info (about how it looks before/after painting, which areas, etc.) and i tried to capture only the final effect as much as i can. So this is my first finished model with texturising. It`s 1/48 and the "textures" are much smaller, more subtle, and thus even invisible. Still at a certain angle... this is in dark room and with a small light pointed at a very shallow angle. I don`t know if the difference between texturising and preshading is noticeable... ... but at normal daylight the effect is basically invisible, and i weathered it quite much too, so the surfaces are not exactly glossy: Here the rivet lines of the stabilators are texturised, and it is more noticeable: Phabulous Phantom! It`s a wonderful kit... it`s just connecting parts and the joint lines disappear. The canopy is so crisp and clear, because it`s very thin. The plastic is very strange - so dry and easy for sanding, like resin. The large parts are also thin and even look brittle, but when assembled and glued - become "rock solid". This kit in a word: sophisticated.

Hello all, I'm new here and wanted to share a recent project, one that is nine tenths finshed - but may benefit from being shown from the beginning. I've loved Phantoms since I was a child - their taut, 'business-like' appearance and reputation for power and speed always appealed. Later, as a young(er) adult I was also fortunate enough to see, courtesy of Her Majesty, an RAF version engage ground targets with its vulcan gun. Not something to forget in a hurry. Anyhow, my build is a US Navy version, namely the VF-92 aircraft flown by Curt Dose and Jim McDevitt in their successful raid on Kep airfield in 1972. It is a fascinating story - engagingly told by the pilot himself here . I also like the white noses of that squadron and the 'I-don't-give-a-damn-whether-you-can-see-me-or-not' attitude of the overall schemes of that period. My version is a bit different from most models of this or similar subjects, however. I set out to build-in the following features: working flight controls, retractable undercart, wheel suspension, working lights, illuminated cockpit and gunsight, openable canopy, deployable flaps and arrester hook and spinning compressor blades. It is, as you can imagine, quite a lot to pack into a model, even of this size. And how well it works, well, you'll be able to judge for yourselves. Why? Well I had some success doing some of this with a 1:24 Trumpeter Hurricane a couple of years back and fancied the challenge of mimicking the very different operation of a jet's controls - more on that later. But generally, I like the idea of a model being able to show some of the life of the real thing, so the model can sort of explain itself in other words. Some other boat and vehicle projects I've done in the same vein can be seen here if anyone is interested. Where to begin? I started with the wheels, imagining - wrongly - that these would be straightforward, especially after the nightmare complexity of the Hurricane. But, in reality F4s have, like a lot of naval aircraft, quite complex wheel geometry - not apparent when you look at them - to say nothing of the linkages between the landing leg itself and the secondary doors. So I had to make each of the main struts in brass, and adjustable in all axes, so I could firm up on the motion when I had worked out what it should be. You can just about make out the screw that will tighten the landing gear when the correct angle was worked out. Next discovery was that the gear struts themselves are almost certainly not quite in the right place on the model. No matter how I tried to work it, the wheels and doors could not function properly, this close to the fuselage. And indeed if you compare the wheel doors to available drawings, the secondary door (the little outboard gear door on each main wheel) is larger in real life than on the model. I concluded the wheels must be about 2 or 3mm too far inboard. I also wanted the wheels to turn freely so fitted bearings. You can more or less see that the strut itself looks like real chrome... and that is because it is. I found this remarkable - as in easy to use - kit from the US that allows you to chrome up (well polished) brass tube and I made a lot of use of it on this project. The oleo struts are supported by small springs in the cylinder. The slot in the oleo is to keep the wheel pointing in one direction as it slides up and down past a locating pin. The nose gear works the same way. You can see I had to replace the plastic 'scissors' as the orignals would break quickly when the gear moves up and down. Here you can see one of the main gear struts in the retracted position. The scissors are from the Eduard set and are useful for this kind of project, as long as the pieces are soldered rather than glued. You can just about make out what turned out to be the solution to the geometry issue. The main hinge is angled downward in the forward direction and slightly outward from the fuselage in the horizontal axis. This general arrangement was found by experiment - and confirmed by photographs. It is also worth mentioning that either the model wing section is too shallow or the gear too deep but, as supplied, they cannot possibly retract and I had to narrow the tires and wheels by about 1.5mm. Also, there is a sort of connecting piece across the well that is severely in error and prevents retraction, whatever the shape or thickness of the gear. That had to go. But because no one will see in the wheel well I have not replaced it with a corrected part. Hope this is of interest. Next up, engines and fans...

This F-4J Phantom scheme I wanted for probably 15+ years for myself and finally decided to do it and release it as a simple "low budget" sheet that features only the squadron specific markings. Although VMFA-334 Falcons has been covered before, the falcon insignia in particular was somewhat lacking in any scale until now. Also in order to keep cost down, only one aircraft is covered, although it can be represented either from Vietnam or later in 1969 when -334 were in Japan. (edit...) Contrary to what I initially planned, included will be national insignia and intake warnings as well as a few other common markings (similar to what was provided on my earlier F-4J VF-143 sheet) Now in stock. Price $11.50 Printed by Microscale www.AOAdecals.com

Hi gents, after starting my F-16, I got the hankering for another jet, and realised that I had a F-4J, which has been languishing on the SOD for around a decade. In a sense I would like to dedicate this model to Larry Hawkins, as we discussed it on and off, when I had originally started it. I'll have to see how I can spruce up the pit……. perhaps add two figures….. and then I have to settle on a scheme…. probably the bi-centenial Warlords scheme.

Being the new guy around here and having a few 1/32 Revell "Old Mold" Phantoms (F-4J and RF-4B) I could use some hints and tips for these kits. I have marveled at the detail you guys here have done to some basic kits but all the conversion kits and updates I have found these days seem to be directed to the Tamiya kits. The old mold kits have the flat cockpit floors with 4 mounting tabs, molded in seat bottoms and flat instrument panels. How can I convert a cockpit set designed for a Tamiya kit to the Revell kit??? Has anyone added some Seamless Intakes to one of these type kits?? How do you do it? For the J model does anyone make a wing fold set?? What needs to be added to the nose gear fro Navy aircraft?? Does anyone make the little V thing for the tail hook? Thanks in advance!