New Tamiya 1/48 F-4B Phantom review & test fit video

[Chek]

Matt over at Doog's Models has put together a video showing the features and fit of the new kit.

A taped together kit looking 95% complete and standing on its wheels?

Yup you'd better believe it. That's Tamiya standard of fit now.

Everything from the radome to the perfectly angled jetpipes that don't look like they need resin replacements to the easily folded wing.

Breahtaking.

Just waiting to see how much sub-£100 they'll go for in the UK.

[Ben Brown]

Very impressive. Those afterburner nozzles are beautiful! I hope they release a D someday.

 

Ben

[DonH]

1 hour ago, Ben Brown said:

Very impressive. Those afterburner nozzles are beautiful! I hope they release a D someday.

 

Ben

Never mind the D, gimme an FG.1 and FGR.2!!!

 

In 1/32

[DonH]

Great video. I didn't want one. Now I do.

[Daywalker]

Got mine a couple of days ago, haven't yet had the chance to really tear into it but from what I can see already it's really good. Bravo Tamiya! 

[scvrobeson]

Somehow, the engineering looks better than the F-14.  I don't know how they get better each kit.

 

 

 

Matt 

[LSP_K2]

Yet another to add to the already large "to get" list.

[DonH]

4 hours ago, Jennings Heilig said:

I’ve had more of a chance to dissect the kit.  Wow.  Just wow.  It’s breathtaking.  Easily the most accurate F-4 kit ever done by anyone in any scale.  I can’t wait for them to bring out the C/D and J!

I will get me a J for sure!

[Tony T]

Looks very tempting — how I wish it was 1/32!  I may succumb to buying a B if Tamiya release a J to accompany it. 

 

Price isn't especially off-putting but becomes an issue as 1/48 is really for multiples. 

 

To put it in context, back in 1979 I paid £8 for Tamiya's brand new "leading edge" 1/48 F-15A, which is like paying £38 now.    

Is the Tamiya F-4B 2-3 times as good?  Probably.

 

Tony

[MikeC]

Am I dreaming a bit too much if I mention an RF-4C?

Edited July 2, 2021 by MikeC

[cbk57]

I am presently building the Tamiya p-38(with some of those special decals from a certain contributor.)I thought the fit of tamiya kits was good before, I know the reviews of this kit were stellar, but it is better than even I thought possible.  Take the installation of the instrument panel.  You have a whole series of interlocking parts into which the IP slots, then when it is time for the front windshield to go in, you install the IP shroud which has a little slot on the underside, it turns out that is there to give the IP room to fit and stay true to size and it all interlocks perfectly.  We have had lots of discussion about how the booms align but oh the other parts from the wheel bays to the ball bearings to balance the whole thing.  

 

I am tempted to just sell my big f-4c and hope for a tamiya 1/48 kit because I just know it will all go together.  As it is I have parked my project as I am hoping we will see Quinta cockpit internals for the 4C soon.   Tamiya in many regards have been ahead of everyone else from the start and they just keep getting better.

[MikeC]

1 hour ago, Jennings Heilig said:

Yes

Perhaps, but a chap can still dream.   I'm thinking that the grey and white USAF scheme in 10th TRW markings  would be favourite.

Edited July 2, 2021 by MikeC

[Tony T]

4 hours ago, MikeC said:

Am I dreaming a bit too much if I mention an RF-4C?

 

Probably. I'm hoping the F-4B and what follows is such a runaway success that we get an RF-4E from which to build a USAF recce jet.

I'm guessing we'll get an F-4J and possibly an F-4EJ hard-wing, before Tamiya lose interest. 

 

The Hasegawa RF-4 kits are nice, but need new inlets etc and these kits are no longer as cheap as chips. 

 

Tony

[Chek]

4 hours ago, Tony T said:

Looks very tempting — how I wish it was 1/32!  I may succumb to buying a B if Tamiya release a J to accompany it. 

 

Price isn't especially off-putting but becomes an issue as 1/48 is really for multiples. 

 

To put it in context, back in 1979 I paid £8 for Tamiya's brand new "leading edge" 1/48 F-15A, which is like paying £38 now.    

Is the Tamiya F-4B 2-3 times as good?  Probably.

 

Tony

 

I was recalling that it was a hefty chunk of a weeks wages to buy the Hasegawa F-4B and J when they first appeared together in the model shop that was opposite Homerton hospital in Hackney about 1982. Fast forward 40 years to 2021 and with a discount it might be possible to get a Tamiya F-4B and another to be an N from the state pension portion of post retirement income.

[Dave Williams]

Looking at how the sprues are arranged, there are strong indications that a USAF version is in the cards.

 

• The right side forward fuselage has a separate forward section with the USN refueling probe.  This section could be swapped out with a section with the probe deleted, and there is a an empty spot on the sprue opposite where the current nose section is.
• Almost all of the thin wing specific parts are on one sprue that could be simply replaced with a thick wing sprue.  The thin main wheels are on a subsprue attached to a common sprue with seats and wing tanks, so the subsprue could be deleted and replaced somewhere with the thick wheels.
• Both USN and USAF seat parts are in the kit.  The back cushion has the USAF O2 bottle in the notch, which you have to cut off for this kit.  Also, there are two bottom cushions in the kit, one with the round viewing hole for the USN O2 gauge, and one without for the USAF style seats.
• One sprue contains the USN style inboard pylons, USN nose gear door,  and spine without the USAF refueling door, so that could be replaced with a sprue with the curved pylons, different nose gear door and new spine.
• The cockpit parts, F-4B IPs and rear cockpit, are on their own subsprue that could easily be changed for a USAF aircraft.
• The clear sprue has the USAF nose gear door landing lights.

A F-4J would also be possible, as that would need the thick wing and new cockpit parts.  You’d need new exhaust parts, but the exhausts are also on their own subsprue attached to a larger common sprue.  The vertical tail has two different styles of ram air intake at the base, which the one you cut off being the one on the -J (as well as the E/F/G/S)

 

That said, Tamiya has a history of having sprue layouts, as well as extra unused parts, that hint of other versions that never get released (two seat F-16s).  They usually only do 2, sometimes 3, versions from a set of molds, even when more are possible.  My betting is that the next release is a USAF-4C/D, and if they do a third, it will likely be a F-4J.  I don’t really see them doing slatted wings, or gun or recon noses.