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Planning my Tamiya F-4J build. Have a question.


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I'm doing my Tamiya F-4J as a ground based USMC plane and want it set up for ground support. I'm doing VMFA-232 Red Devils 1971-72. I'm planning on 2 Zuni pods on each inboard pylon, an MER on centerline with some type of free fall weapons. Maybe Mk82s, Cluster Bombs or Napalm and fuel tanks on the outer pylons. Did they do the ground support mission without any defensive weapons incase they were jumped by Migs? Would they have flown in a group with planes set up for air to air?

 

I'm waiting for a couple of books to come in the mail so I can do some reading but can you guys make any recommendations for good books? I ordered Spirit in the Sky and the Osprey book USMC F-4 Phantoms of the Vietnam War. 

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Here are the squadron reports from the time period:

 

http://www.recordsofwar.com/vietnam/usmc/VMFA-232.htm

 

the chronology ones give numbers of munitions used during that particular period. Click on the date and then the PDF icon to open the file. Of course any operations in the North, or close to the border would requires some air to air weapons, a pair of Sparrows in the aft wells seemed to be common.

 

Jari

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25 minutes ago, Finn said:

Here are the squadron reports from the time period:

 

http://www.recordsofwar.com/vietnam/usmc/VMFA-232.htm

 

the chronology ones give numbers of munitions used during that particular period. Click on the date and then the PDF icon to open the file. Of course any operations in the North, or close to the border would requires some air to air weapons, a pair of Sparrows in the aft wells seemed to be common.

 

Jari

I never knew anything like this was available. It's an amazing resource and I'm looking forward to reading through it. Just quickly looking at a couple of pages I came across this:

 

"The versatility in ordnance loads carried by the Red Devils Phantoms was instrumental in producing a large BDA as well as gaining a favorable· 1m .. pression by the Forward Air Controllers. Particularly noteworthy was the configuration consisting of four (4) MK 20 Rockeys II cannisters, four· (4) five-inch Zuni rockets with anti-personnel warheads, two (.2) MK 8.2 LOOP five hundred pound bombs with extended fuses, and two (.2) MK 8.2 LDGP standard five hundred pound bombs. This load was effective· against all targets; armor, personnel and reinforced structures. The Zunies fired from the LAU 33/A, two shot pod, were used as an effective flak suppression weapon, when attacking active gun sites because of the capability to fire them during the same delivery run as the bombs or Rockeys II cannisters. Rockeye has shown to be one of the, most effective , deadly, weapons carried. By nature of its design, it is ideal against all types of targets. Two specific missions flown during November will serve to illustrate the effectiveness of this ordnance configuration:"

 

Thank you very much for the link. It will be used a lot.

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7 hours ago, Finn said:

Of course any operations in the North, or close to the border would requires some air to air weapons, a pair of Sparrows in the aft wells seemed to be common.

 

Do you have any pics of this specific to -232 for 1972-73? I've not been able to find any pics showing them carrying mixed AA with AG loads during that Rose Garden period for some reason. The AA Linebacker config I've seen for -232 had them carrying their Sparrows only in the front wells even with the c/l tank and nothing in the rear. From what I've seen Sparrows in the front well only also seemed common for -115, -212, and -314; while -323 and 334 put them in the rear (talking only Vietnam).

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7 hours ago, scimitarf1 said:

Spirit in the Sky is excellent but you may need something else for details. The Verlinden Lock on features the RAF F-4 including the J and I found that very useful

I have used the Lock On books and looked for that one but when it's available seems to cost a fortune. I think the cheapest I saw it for was $75. I don't mind spending money on books but that seems a bit steep.

 

It looks like I have a lot to learn. For me that's as much fun as modeling though. 

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9 hours ago, scimitarf1 said:

Spirit in the Sky is excellent but you may need something else for details. The Verlinden Lock on features the RAF F-4 including the J and I found that very useful

 

I'm aware of at least two varlindun books that cover RAF Phantoms, which one are you referring to, specifically?

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30 minutes ago, scimitarf1 said:

It is Number 10 published in the early nineties. 

 

3 minutes ago, LSP_K2 said:

 

OK, thanks. I have both, but wasn't sure which one you were referring to.

I've seen that one and it seems to go for big bucks. I just found the in detail & scale book on USN & USMC Phantoms and purchased it for pretty little money. 

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16 hours ago, ziggyfoos said:

 

Do you have any pics of this specific to -232 for 1972-73? I've not been able to find any pics showing them carrying mixed AA with AG loads during that Rose Garden period for some reason. The AA Linebacker config I've seen for -232 had them carrying their Sparrows only in the front wells even with the c/l tank and nothing in the rear. From what I've seen Sparrows in the front well only also seemed common for -115, -212, and -314; while -323 and 334 put them in the rear (talking only Vietnam).

 

I haven't seen any pics but it is possible they did have some AIM-7s in the rear wells for two reasons, if in the forward well then the c/l tank would have to be jettisoned in order to fire it. Second, having the wings and fins of the Sparrows hanging down where the ground crews normally crawled under the fuselage would probably result in a few cuts and bruises. 

 

Jari 

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