Second completion, 2025: Academy F-4B.
Bought in 2016, so it’s been in my stash for a while. I realized that I don’t have a USMC Viet-Nam Phantom so my decision fof markings were easy: unused decals from Eduard’s “Good Morning Da Nang” reboxing, depicting a VMFA-323 ship. Weapon loadout (4 LAU-3s, 6 Mark 77 fire bombs) is based on a photo from Viet-Nam.
Academy’s F-4 isn’t bad. It’s much better than any of the Hasegawa kits, but not up to the standard set by Zoukei-Mura and Tamiya. Some of the shortcomings are:
Air Inlet ducting isn’t even close. But at least it’s there.
No standoff braces from the fuselage sides to the inlet splitter plates.
Very basic wheel well detailing
Stabilator dividing line between composite and metal is incorrectly located
Poor engine exhaust nozzles
Afftermarket parts I used:
Wolfpack Engine Exhausts
Eduard Wheels
Quinta Cockpit+Resin
Aires Wheelbays
Hypersonic Unslotted Stabilators
Hypersonic Air Inlets
Zoukei-Mura TERs and MERs
Eduard Mk77 Fire Bombs
Hasegawa LAU-3 Rocket Pods (Weapon Set B)
Eduard Canopy Mask
For decals I used Eduard VMFA-232 markings (printed in 2014 by Gartograf) and Fundekals Factory Stencils FD48-038. Altogether I applied about 370 decals.
Started Feb 2, 2025: Completed May 1, 2025
F-4B-22-MC, Bu No 152258 was MAC ship number 0956, “B” number 0466. First Flight 21 April 1965, Delivery 14 May 1965. 2258 was converted to F-4N in August 1974, and to QF-4N date unknown. Final Disposition is unknown.
Marking are for VMFA-323 at Chu Lai in 1967.
