F-4 FGR

[dragan_mig31]

can anyone tell me which are the best starting kits for a camoflagued RAF cold war phantom?thanks a lot.

Dragan

[MQM107]

can anyone tell me which are the best starting kits for a camoflagued RAF cold war phantom?thanks a lot.

Dragan

I'm not 100% sure but I think Fujimi is the only one that makes/made British Phantoms in this scale.

Mike

Edited May 10, 2010 by MQM107

[antony robertson]

Definitely go for the Fujimi kit

Antony

[Wild Weasel V]

For 1/72, Fujimi make the only decent Spey Phantoms.

The early ones without the rectangular fin top RWR are labelled as F-4K and F-4M, the later ones with the RWR are FG1 (Royal Navy) and FGR2 (RAF). The RWR appeared in the mid-70s and mainly featured on the Air Defence squadrons, so if you want to do a mud mover go for the F-4M version. AirDoc and Model Alliance have released markings for RAF Germany and Modeldecal did just about every RAF squadron that flew the Phantom.

Avoid the Matchbox, Frog and (1/72) Hasegawa kits. On the other hand, the 1/48 Hasegawas are probably the best British Phantoms available.

[Andre]

Like the others said - Fujimi, Fujimi, Fujimi.

If you can only find the FGR.2 boxing with the RWR, as these seem to be more common in Europe: spare Hasegawa fin tops, of which any of their new tool Phantom kits contain a few, can be adapted without much effort.

HTH,

Andre

[spike7451]

For 1/72, Fujimi make the only decent Spey Phantoms.

The early ones without the rectangular fin top RWR are labelled as F-4K and F-4M, the later ones with the RWR are FG1 (Royal Navy) and FGR2 (RAF). The RWR appeared in the mid-70s and mainly featured on the Air Defence squadrons, so if you want to do a mud mover go for the F-4M version. AirDoc and Model Alliance have released markings for RAF Germany and Modeldecal did just about every RAF squadron that flew the Phantom.

Avoid the Matchbox, Frog and (1/72) Hasegawa kits. On the other hand, the 1/48 Hasegawas are probably the best British Phantoms available.

Revell's FGR kits in 1/48 are reboxed Hasagewa kits & considerably cheaper but exactly the same!

[Jennings]

The early ones without the rectangular fin top RWR are labelled as F-4K and F-4M, the later ones with the RWR are FG1 (Royal Navy) and FGR2 (RAF). The RWR appeared in the mid-70s and mainly featured on the Air Defence squadrons, so if you want to do a mud mover go for the F-4M version. AirDoc and Model Alliance have released markings for RAF Germany and Modeldecal did just about every RAF squadron that flew the Phantom.

Not quite. The F-4K & F-4M designations were never used by the RAF or RN. They were US designations only. The Brits always referred to them as FGR.2s (RAF) and FG.1s (RN and some RAF) from the beginning. The RWR fairing was fitted to all British Phantoms by the late 1970s, regardless of role.

J

[MQM107]

Revell's FGR kits in 1/48 are reboxed Hasagewa kits & considerably cheaper but exactly the same!

And I may have been asleep at the wheel but did Hasegawa really make British Phantoms in 1/72?

Mike

[Jennings]

And I may have been asleep at the wheel but did Hasegawa really make British Phantoms in 1/72?

Yes. And so did Matchbox, both LONG before Fujimi's. Both are pretty rough. Hasegawa's also came (IIRC) from Frog, and dates to the early 1970s. Matchbox's dates from around 1976.

J

[Andre]

Not quite. The F-4K & F-4M designations were never used by the RAF or RN.

I think Wild Weasel may be referring not to the real thing, but rather to the Fujimi kits - those without the RWR fairing are called "F-4K" and "F-4M" on the box tops, those with the fairing are labeled "FG.1" and "FGR.2".

Cheers,

Andre

[Jennings]

I think Wild Weasel may be referring not to the real thing, but rather to the Fujimi kits - those without the RWR fairing are called "F-4K" and "F-4M" on the box tops, those with the fairing are labeled "FG.1" and "FGR.2".

Cheers,

Andre

Ah so desuka...

[Wild Weasel V]

I think Wild Weasel may be referring not to the real thing, but rather to the Fujimi kits - those without the RWR fairing are called "F-4K" and "F-4M" on the box tops, those with the fairing are labeled "FG.1" and "FGR.2".

Cheers,

Andre

Andre's right. I did mean that it was the boxings that are labelled F-4K/M or FG1/FGR2. It was probably Fujimi's way of identifying between the original and the later service configurations. Note that Fujimi revised the moulds slightly to add the auxiliary intake doors under the fuselage and make some improvements to other areas like the Spey exhausts. There's a list somewhere that identifies the various boxings and tweaks. If I find it I'll post it here (or someone else might )

The RWR came in about 1975-6 right about the time the Jaguar began to complete the take-over of the ground support role. I've seen a couple of pics of II(AC) and maybe 41 Sqn FGR2s with RWR but the rest (6, 14, 17, 31 and 54) had already either converted or were about to disband the Phantom element, so would be unlikely to have it fitted. It took a long time to complete installation as there were still a few aircraft without it in the 1980s. As always, try to get a picture of the aircraft you want to do to be sure.

[dragan_mig31]

thanks a lot guys.