Hasegawa's 1/72 scale
F-4J Phantom II

by Satoshi Hashimoto

Hasegawa's 1/72 scale F-4J Phantom II is available online from Squadron

Here is my Hasegawa 1/72 scale F-4J Phantom II representing Bu.No.155541ag "Love Bug 1".

This aircraft was flown by Lt.Col. Sam D'Angelo & Capt. Ken Strayhorn, United States Marine Corps VMFA-334 "Falcons", Chu Lai, Vietnam, Spring 1969.

When I started to make this F-4J, I limitted the number of main points for detailing.
Ejection seats, busy wiring behind the rear instrument panel, and tail section.

I think that Hasegawa's Martin Baker Mk.7s are a good basis for further detailing so I just enhanced them with some plastic rod, metal wires and lead strip. The overhead face curtain handles are made with fine brass lines.

Re-creating the F-4's "busy office", I had to pack a lot of enamel wires into the tight space, but, it was something that I really enjoyed.

For the tail section, I was pleased to have the help of the Aires resin nozzles. You can almost feel
the massive power of a pair of J79-GE-10s through these intricate resin parts.

I added undulations to the heat-resistant panels with plastic and lacquer putty.

Some inlets and the fuel dump vent mast were added from thin aluminum sheets and brass tubes.

Paint

As always, Mr.Color & ALCLAD II lacquers were used for the basic painting, and Tamiya enamel with turpentine for the weathering washes.

Tamiya "Weathering Master" is used around the tail.

A thin coat of flat clear and polishing cloth were used for the non-specular gull gray.

Decals

Decals were chosen from FOX ONE's "USMC PHANTOMS IN S.E. ASIA" and stencils from IsraDecal and HOBBYDECAL.

My blog, "Vapor Trails" - http://ryukin.blog82.fc2.com/

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Images and Text Copyright © 2009 by Satoshi Hashimoto
Page Created 3 March, 2009
Last Updated 3 March, 2009

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